At the moment when the night over Snowfall Pass was being swallowed by wind and snow, the candlelight in the side hall of the vice-general's manor was burning bright.
Liang Si was staring blankly at the table of cold leftovers and at that official document on the disposal of the Myriad Gold Pavilion that had just been finalized.
Though the Myriad Gold Pavilion had been eliminated, the Northern Territory's intelligence network had fallen into the awkward predicament of needing to fill the vacancy.
For the coming beast tide, this was no different from cutting off one's own arm—though it was scraping poison from the bone, this period of pain was truly a headache.
And just as he was nursing this headache, Gu Chengming's visit interrupted his thoughts.
The other party's purpose rather surprised him.
"Vice-General Liang."
Gu Chengming's voice rang out at just the right moment: "The Myriad Gold Pavilion has fallen, but this vacancy in intelligence must be filled by someone. Rather than let those rogue cultivators be gathered up by other ill-intentioned powers during this gap, why not let us establish the rules for them?"
Liang Si's heart stirred. His gaze lifted from the document and fell upon Gu Chengming's face. Puzzled, he said: "The rogue cultivators of the Northern Territory are as numerous as carp crossing a river, and most are unruly sorts. Even Qian Tong before relied on binding them with profit to barely maintain control. How do you intend to establish anything?"
Seeing the other party's interest piqued, Gu Chengming quickly produced the Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method, then explained the marvels of this method, cutting through the complexity to the essentials.
Liang Si was at first somewhat skeptical.
After all, as a vice-general of Mohist Gate origin, he had seen countless arcane formations and message-transmitting arrays. But if this world truly held a method that could link the souls of hundreds and thousands while ignoring all obstruction, would that not be a hundred times more brilliant than the Mohist's "Heaven's Work Message Bird"?
However, when he, half-believing, ran the cultivation and entered the Myriad Wonders Assembly—
"Clang."
Liang Si abruptly rose to his feet, the motion so great it even knocked over the grand master's chair behind him.
[The «Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method» secretly cried out in delight: So satisfying]
[It had felt the shock of this fourth-realm great cultivator—this was the treatment it deserved as the mastermind behind the scenes]
[It had been stifled in the Capital for so long; now it could finally stretch its limbs across this vast world!]
After a long while, Liang Si finally pulled himself free of the marvels of this method and asked, hitting the nail on the head: "You want official endorsement?"
"Rogue cultivators are suspicious. Without the tacit approval of the Great Qian, this thing can't be spread." Gu Chengming smiled. "Moreover, it would also make it convenient for Vice-General Liang to monitor the movements of the Northern Territory in the future."
The two exchanged a glance, each seeing the tacit understanding in the other's eyes.
"Good." Liang Si settled it with a single stroke: "From this day forward, the Northern Garrison Manor will release word that this is a newly developed Spirit-Link Formation of the Mohist Gate, and that to resist the beast tide, certain rogue cultivators are specially permitted to connect to it."
...
That night, the wind and snow grew fiercer.
News of "a single spirit-link thought, reaching ten thousand miles" spread out through official channels.
Eighty li outside Snowfall Pass, there was a natural windbreak harbor called "Windbreak Gap," where a large band of rogue cultivators gathered year-round, using it as their base.
Unlike the glamour of sect disciples, every cultivator here was a desperado who scraped a living under the fangs and claws of demon beasts.
Old Yan was crouching in a sheltered rock crevice, clutching half a piece of dried meat as hard as stone, chewing it with effort.
He was a typical Northern Territory rogue cultivator—his cultivation was not high, having only just touched the threshold of the second realm, but he won out by being tough-lived and very good at seeking fortune and avoiding calamity.
"Pah, what rotten luck."
Old Yan spat out a piece of meat sinew he couldn't chew through, cursing under his breath.
These past few days, news of the Myriad Gold Pavilion's collapse had spread far and wide, and along with it, the originally fixed channels for fencing stolen goods had been cut off.
Those few snow-wolf pelts he'd hoarded—if he didn't move them soon, he feared they'd rot in his hands.
"Old Yan, still fretting over those pelts?"
A scrawny fellow sidled up beside him, wrapped in a tattered sheepskin coat, and mysteriously held out a rough wooden token, carved with several seemingly chaotic, disordered spirit patterns.
"Get lost, get lost, don't bother me." Old Yan waved his hand impatiently. "I've got no money to buy your fake protective charms."
"Heh, you don't know quality goods! This is a new thing that flowed out from Snowfall Pass, called a Spirit-Link Token." The scrawny fellow wasn't angered; instead he lowered his voice: "I hear it was made by that newly arrived 'Murder-Fiend' Lord Gu. Just run the method according to this token, and with a single stir of divine sense, you can know where there are demon beasts, where materials are bought—truly miraculous!"
"Lord Gu?"
Old Yan's heart leapt.
A man's name, a tree's shadow—now this title of "The Murder-Fiend of Snowfall Pass" was, among the Northern Territory's rogue cultivator circles, an existence that could stop a child from crying at night.
He suspiciously took the wooden token; it felt slightly cool in his hand, with no special spiritual fluctuation whatsoever.
"Is it really that miraculous?"
Old Yan muttered aloud, but in his heart he half-believed it.
After all, it was the work of that ruthless figure; he surely wouldn't deign to deceive a bunch of poor wretches like them.
Following the method the scrawny fellow had taught him, he carefully probed a strand of divine sense into it, then ran its method.
"Hummm—"
No backlash or attack as imagined appeared in his mind; he only felt a slight blur before his eyes, and when his consciousness refocused, Old Yan was so startled he nearly threw away the dried meat in his hand.
Within a grey, misty space of fog floated countless light screens flickering on and off, upon which flowed line after line of clear text, just like the notice boards in the great cities of the secular world, yet a thousand, ten thousand times more complex.
[Seeking to buy: One second-realm snow-ape gallbladder, offering three hundred spirit stones, transaction at Snowfall Pass east gate. ——Signed: Iron Hand]
[Intelligence: Thirty li north of Windbreak Gap, a small pack of ice wolves spotted active, suspected to have a second-realm lead wolf. Passing fellow Daoists, proceed with caution!]
[For sale: Three bottles of surplus Qi-Restoring Pills, urgently exchanging for healing medicine; those who have it, private message! ——Signed: Survive]
Old Yan stared dumbfounded at all this, and only after a long while did he come back to his senses. Tentatively, he used his divine thought to trace out a line of words on the light screen:
[For sale: Five complete snow-wolf pelts, top-grade quality, exchanging only for ready spirit stones, fair price.]
The instant the message was sent, Old Yan's heart leapt into his throat.
Did anyone really look at this thing? It wouldn't just sink like a stone into the sea, would it?
However, in less than three breaths.
That strand of divine thought suddenly jumped, and an unfamiliar message surfaced directly within his sea of consciousness.
"Five pelts? If the quality is truly as you say, six hundred spirit stones, I'll take them. In half an hour, meet at Ten-Li Slope outside Snowfall Pass's north gate."
Old Yan's eyes snapped open.
"Six hundred spirit stones?"
He abruptly clenched the wooden token tight.
On ordinary days, those crooked merchants would beat down the price; selling these five pelts for four hundred would already count as burning high incense. Now he could actually sell them for two hundred more?
"Old Yan? How is it?" Seeing his expression, the scrawny fellow beside him asked somewhat anxiously.
Old Yan ignored him and instead nimbly rolled up the bundle on the ground and slung it onto his back: "How is it? It's a damn good thing, that's how!"
"That cocksucking Murder-Fiend Lord Gu really is our savior."
Cursing as he went, he charged out of the rock crevice into the wind and snow, his steps so light he didn't seem like a rogue cultivator over a hundred years old.
The same scene was playing out in every corner inside and outside Snowfall Pass.
At first it was suspicion, probing, cautiousness.
But when the first person exchanged for life-saving medicinal pills through this "Myriad Wonders Assembly," when the first small team avoided an ambush of the beast tide because they saw the warning posted on it, when that information which was usually blocked began to flow freely among the rogue cultivators like running water, the seed of the Myriad Wonders Assembly took root and sprouted in the frozen soil of the Northern Territory.
Northern Garrison Manor, side hall.
Gu Chengming stood before the window, watching the snow flying outside, filling the sky.
[The «Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method» was in a state of cheering]
[Myriad Wonders Assembly connected members: three hundred twenty-seven... four hundred fifty... eight hundred...]
[This feeling of controlling everything put it in quite a good mood; it even began to proactively screen out the valuable intelligence, marking it with "urgent" and "pinned" labels, thoughtfully pushing it into Gu Chengming's sea of consciousness]
[It couldn't help but say: Gu Chengming, it seems we're really about to become the underground emperors of the Northern Territory!]
"This is nothing yet." Gu Chengming found it amusing inwardly.
The spread of the Myriad Wonders Assembly had already taken initial shape, and he finally had time to convert his earlier gains into immediate combat power.
In the merit storehouse of Snowfall Pass, the furnace fire burned bright.
The quartermaster in charge of exchanges was an old one-eyed veteran. Using his only remaining eye, he checked the numbers on Gu Chengming's command token, and his weather-beaten face couldn't help but reveal a look of astonishment.
Fist-killing demon creatures, smashing the Myriad Gold Pavilion, entrapping to death the fourth-realm Qian Tong—these strings of merits added together formed a number that could let an ordinary captain strive for ten years.
"Exchanging it all?" the old veteran looked up to confirm.
"Exchange."
Gu Chengming's tone was calm. He pointed at the short sword hanging in the deepest part of the storehouse, locked by three restrictive seals.
That was a Tier-Three low-grade Dharma Sword in the storehouse—[Evil-Repeller].
This sword had not come from a master's hand, but was the relic of a sword cultivator who had died in battle at Snowfall Pass.
The sword body was forged from North Sea cold iron mixed with a trace of lightning-struck wood. Though it lacked spirituality, it won out in the toughness of its material, and carried an upright, demon-breaking righteous aura of its own.
As the merits were deducted, the restrictive seals dispersed.
Gu Chengming raised his hand and grasped at the air; [Evil-Repeller] turned into a streak of flowing light into his hand.
Within his sea of consciousness, a hum suddenly rose.
The five Dharma Swords originally floating there—the Wave-Listening Sword, the Jiao-Slayer, and the remaining three Tier-Two Dharma Swords—now, with the addition of [Evil-Repeller], instantly formed a formation of their own accord.
The six long swords linked head to tail, not in a simple arrangement, but faintly corresponding to the directions of heaven and earth's six harmonies—up, down, east, south, west, north.
As the sword-qi flowed, it was no longer merely sharp, but gave rise to a sense of round, harmonious completeness, ceaselessly generating and cyclically recurring.
[Bond / Dharma Swords (6/6) activated]
[Bond special effect upgraded: Six Harmonies Sword Formation.]
[Effect: When the sword formation unfolds, it forms a small world unto itself. Within the formation, the sword-qi flows ceaselessly, exerting all-around suppression upon the enemy.]
Gu Chengming felt the feedback of that brand-new power, and his heart settled.
He sheathed his swords and walked out of the merit storehouse.
The biting cold wind that met him head-on brought him no chill at all; instead it made the surging sword intent within his body even more refined.
The snow beneath his feet gave a soft "crunch"; with each step that fell, the aura about Gu Chengming grew a measure more harmonious.
Returning to his lodging, he sat cross-legged on the bed and did not deliberately guide anything.
From the fifth layer of the second realm to the sixth layer, the bottleneck that should have existed in between had long become a mere formality under these days of slaughter and sudden enlightenment.
"Break."
He silently recited a single word in his heart.
The spiritual energy of his entire body poured back into him like a great whale drinking water; the true essence within his meridians broadened once more, its circulation speed over thirty percent faster than before.
Second realm, sixth layer—achieved as naturally as water flowing into a channel.
Gu Chengming slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air, his aura even deeper and more restrained than before.
[Hundred Bones Resonance was the first to cheer: Heavenly Emperor Gu breaking through realms is as simple as drinking water!]
[Hundred Bones Resonance favorability +5]
Gu Chengming thought to himself: this damned Hundred—you've found yourself another casual excuse to add favorability again.
[The «Qingxin Formula», meanwhile, cupped its face, those purple eyes brimming with adoration]
[For some reason, so long as it could watch you grow stronger, it felt incomparably at ease]
[Or perhaps it was not the peace of mind brought by your growing stronger? But rather the peace of knowing that the dangers you would face in the future had lessened by a few more measures?]
[In any case, it was genuinely happy for you from the bottom of its heart]
The moment these words fell, a rustling commotion came from the corner beside him.
[The «Huiyuan Sword Formula» at this moment actually pulled out a little notebook and a pen from somewhere]
[It kept its pretty face stern, but its ears were pricked up high; while stealing glances at the Qingxin Formula, it wielded its pen like the wind, swiftly recording something in the notebook.]
["So long as it can watch you grow stronger, it will feel at ease..."]
[Ah, no, it's "the peace of knowing that the dangers you would face in the future had lessened by a few more measures"]
[Mm, write this line down—it'll surely come in handy someday!]
[Having finished writing, the Huiyuan Sword Formula seemed to sense your gaze; its little face flushed red in an instant, like a cat caught doing something bad, and it flusteredly hid the little notebook behind its back.]
Gu Chengming couldn't help but laugh.
As his cultivation stabilized, Gu Chengming was in no hurry to leave seclusion.
During this period, with Vice-General Liang's endorsement and promotion, the "Myriad Wonders Assembly" had completely spread out among the Northern Territory's rogue cultivator population.
From the few hundred at the start, it now covered nearly three thousand cultivators inside and outside Snowfall Pass.
[The «Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method» watched the streams of information converging like rivulets: the tracks of demon beasts, the origins of spirit medicines, the bounties of the black market, even the uneven division of spoils within some small team—all of this, everything, was within its control.]
[This feeling of being the mastermind behind the scenes sent its favorability soaring all the way up.]
[Current favorability: 80 / Fond]
Gu Chengming was quite satisfied with this.
Having dealt with these trivial matters, Gu Chengming took out a pile of miscellaneous items from his storage pouch.
Those were Qian Tong's relics.
As the pavilion master of the Myriad Gold Pavilion, this old thing's fortune was indeed substantial; the spirit stones and pills alone were a tidy sum.
But what interested Gu Chengming most was still the cultivation method he had practiced.
After all, someone who could grow his business so large, and who could collude with crooked, demonic sects like the Eternal Life Sect without capsizing, surely had to have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Several jade slips were laid out one by one.
Gu Chengming's divine sense swept over them, but his brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
«Blood-Malice Corpse-Refining Method», «Yin-Yang Harvesting Art», «Five Ghosts Wealth-Conveying Formula»...
"All third-rate heterodox arts."
Gu Chengming shook his head and casually tossed these jade slips aside.
Although these methods were considered rare at this tier, most required the price of living people's flesh and blood or the depletion of one's hidden virtue. Their power was great, but their hidden dangers were greater—to him, they were simply garbage.
He packed up all these evil methods together, intending to take them to the secret storehouse of the Night-Watch Bureau the next day to exchange for merit.
Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, an utterly inconspicuous grey jade slip hidden in a corner caught his attention.
This jade slip carried not the slightest evil aura; instead it exuded a faint scent of mortal-world smoke and fire.
Gu Chengming reached out and drew it over, probing in with his divine sense.
After a moment, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.
«Heart-Drawing Thought-Shifting Formula».
This was not any sort of offensive art, nor could it even count as defensive; rather, it was an extremely unorthodox auxiliary-class spell technique.
According to the general outline at the beginning, once this technique was cultivated to completion, it had no substantive destructive power; its sole function was to "draw."
Using one's own emotions as bait, to hook, amplify, and even guide the emotions of others.
If cultivated to a profound level, one could even, without the other party's awareness, through a few simple words, infinitely amplify some thought in the other's subconscious, thereby inducing them to speak the truth, or to make a decision that conformed to the caster's expectations.
"No wonder..."
Gu Chengming fell into thought.
The reason the Myriad Gold Pavilion could stand unshaken in the Northern Territory, and even make so many rogue cultivators come despite knowing they were being swindled, was likely owed in no small part to this «Heart-Drawing Thought-Shifting Formula».
He could precisely capture each customer's greed, fear, and urgency, then exploit these emotions to maximize profit.
"This thing..."
Gu Chengming stroked the jade slip.
This method was somewhat similar to his Red Dust Art; both had the effect of perceiving emotions.
But the Red Dust Art was passive—like a mirror reflecting the joys, angers, sorrows, and delights of those around him; whereas this Heart-Drawing Thought-Shifting Formula was active—like an invisible hand, plucking those strings called "emotions."
If the Red Dust Art was "seeing," then this Heart-Drawing Thought-Shifting Formula was "controlling."
"Somewhat interesting."
Gu Chengming did not discard it as he had the other evil methods, but instead kept it.
After all, it was a spell technique, and its entry requirements were very low.
Just as he was about to study it carefully, a strange fluctuation suddenly came from within his sea of consciousness.
The «Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method», which had all along been immersed in processing intelligence, abruptly froze upon sensing the contents of this jade slip.
[It stared at the core scripture of that «Heart-Drawing Thought-Shifting Formula» as if it had seen the key to opening a new world.]
[The «Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method» had a flash of inspiration!]
[It had long been troubled that the Myriad Wonders Assembly could currently only serve as a distribution hub for information—though it could control intelligence, it could not truly control the people who posted that intelligence.]
[This spell technique happened to give it a new line of thought!]
[The Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method entered a state of comprehension]
"?"
I see your comprehension is not the least bit inferior to Heavenly Emperor Hundred's.
The winter days of Snowfall Pass were always especially long; the daylight was short as a sigh, swallowed in the blink of an eye by the howling wind and snow.
However, for the rogue cultivators of Snowfall Pass now, these long winter nights were no longer merely the torment of huddling by the stove and dragging through the days; instead they had become the liveliest hours.
With the spread of the "Myriad Wonders Assembly," that invisible great net had already shrouded the entire pass within it.
In the side hall of the Northern Garrison Manor, the earth-dragon heating burned bright, dispelling the bone-piercing chill.
Gu Chengming sat upright in the main seat, leafing through message jade slips one by one—these were the core intelligence summaries fed back by the Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method.
And below him, that "esteemed disciple" of the Myriad-Theft Gate, Nuo Tao, was at this moment sprawled across the desk in a most undignified manner, pen in hand, on the verge of tears before the mountains of account books and intelligence classifications piled before her.
"Brother Gu." Nuo Tao finally couldn't hold back. She lifted her little face and looked pitifully at Gu Chengming:
"Isn't this just too much? Can't we recruit some helpers? I came here to undergo tribulation, not to be a bookkeeper!"
"Undergoing tribulation tempers the heart, toiling the muscles and bones—this too is part of cultivation." Gu Chengming hoodwinked her in all earnestness: "Besides, every single piece of intelligence here might concern the movements of the Eternal Life Sect. Apart from you, an esteemed disciple of the Myriad-Theft Gate sensitive to the aura of cause and effect, I wouldn't feel at ease handing it to anyone else."
Nuo Tao thought to herself: This is exploitation! Blatant exploitation!
But Gu Chengming's rhetoric of "no one but you will do" also made her a little too embarrassed to say the words out loud.
However, when this scene fell into the eyes of Yu Wenqiu—who was not far off, cradling a teacup, seemingly spacing out but in fact pricking up her ears—its flavor changed entirely.
Yu Wenqiu wore a dark green everyday robe today, draped over with a thick white fox fur, her whole person nestled into the soft couch. The storybook in her hand, which she hadn't turned a page of for a good long while, was now being pinched somewhat out of shape by her.
From her angle, that Nuo Tao was practically about to press herself against Gu Chengming.
That radiant, captivating look, that lowered voice, those heads leaning close together—no matter how she looked at it, it gave off an air of murky, ambiguous something-or-other.
What made Yu Wenqiu feel most suffocated was that Little Gu had actually smiled.
"Idiot Little Gu..."
Yu Wenqiu cursed in her heart, hating iron for not becoming steel.
In her view, although Gu Chengming was extraordinarily talented and his actions decisive enough, he was after all young in years and shallow in experience.
These women out of the Myriad-Theft Gate—was there ever a single one that was a lamp that didn't drink oil? Those were ancestral grandmasters who'd made their start by swindling and conning!
This girl was clearly advancing by retreating, dangling those half-true, half-false bits of intelligence to keep him hooked—who knew what wicked schemes she harbored in her heart, wanting to toy with Little Gu in the palm of her hand, so as to seize a chance to flee or plot something untoward.
Yet Little Gu hadn't noticed in the slightest.
Returning to her own little courtyard, Yu Wenqiu looked at the swing covered with wind and snow, and lost even the usual mood to sit on it and sway.
She pushed open the door, threw herself into that recliner laid with thick soft cushions, casually grabbed a throw pillow to hug in her arms, propped her chin on the pillow, and stared blankly at the snow flying outside the window.
"Should I drop him a few hints?" Yu Wenqiu agonized endlessly in her heart.
If she said directly, "That woman isn't a good person, stay away from her," wouldn't it make her seem too petty and small-minded, meddling in a junior's private affairs?
After all, Gu Chengming was now an official of the Night-Watch Bureau capable of holding his own. If she managed too much, wouldn't it annoy him?
But if she didn't say anything, watching that demoness loiter before Little Gu all day, she had the feeling of having done nothing while someone else got the jump on her...
"Haah..."
Yu Wenqiu let out a long sigh in her heart, her fingertips unconsciously picking at the cloud-brocade pattern on the soft couch.
This awkward feeling of wanting to speak yet being unable to, wanting to grow closer yet finding no pretext...
It really was the first time in her life.
Just as she had agonized to the point of nearly picking a hole in that cloud-brocade, a sound of footsteps stopped at her side.
Following that, a faint scent of ink mingled with a familiar, steady aura came over along with a voice.
"Elder, this tea has gone cold."
——Why has Little Gu come?
Yu Wenqiu's body stiffened slightly, and she muttered: "Cold is fine; it'll just cool my temper down."
The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them.
This tone sounded as if she'd suffered some grievance, but in the end wasn't it just her own heart being awkward? Why let this kind of emotion show before Little Gu?
Gu Chengming merely chuckled softly and gently set a cup of freshly replaced hot tea on the little table beside her hand.
Then, from his sleeve he took out a thick stack of books carefully bound with red cord, and with slow, gentle motions pushed it before Yu Wenqiu.
"Cooling your temper won't work, but as for something to relieve the boredom, that I do have."
Yu Wenqiu's gaze fell instinctively upon that stack of books.
The book covers were brand-new, with no title inscribed, but the familiar binding technique, along with the faint scent of ink wafting from it, made her heart jump.
She lifted her head, and her gaze happened to collide with Gu Chengming's smiling eyes.
"Is this...?"
"Back in the little courtyard in the Capital, didn't I promise the Elder?"
Gu Chengming sat down in the chair beside her: "I rested a few days and spent a few days conceiving it. Though the journey north was bumpy, fortunately the evenings were idle, so I gradually wrote it out, bit by bit."
"Though matters these days have been miscellaneous, I've still managed to grind out the opening volume."
"Although I couldn't manage to write it within the three days I promised the Elder, the efficiency isn't too bad, is it?"
Yu Wenqiu stared blankly at the stack of books, then looked at Gu Chengming.
The stifled feeling, the agonizing, and that indescribable bit of sourness in her heart vanished in this instant like mist.
So Little Gu hadn't forgotten after all...
These past days, watching him busy himself front and back, although Yu Wenqiu had clamored aloud to read the new book, in her heart she had long prepared herself for this matter to drag on for a year or so.
After all, serious business came first.
But she hadn't expected that he not only remembered, but had actually written it out amid such busy gaps.
Little Yu's heart was subtly moved and touched, feeling that her agonizing these past few days had made her look like a fool.
Yu Wenqiu sniffled, reached out and snatched the stack of books into her arms, trying to recover a bit of an Elder's dignity, but those slightly upturned corners of her mouth utterly betrayed her good mood:
"I'll grant that you have a conscience. This Elder thought you'd long since forgotten it to the back of beyond."
"How would I dare forget?" Gu Chengming smiled and shook his head: "The Elder's instructions, this disciple has always kept in mind."
Had someone else said these words, it might have seemed frivolous, but his tone was forthright and his expression sincere, which instead made it warm and comforting to hear.
Yu Wenqiu's cheeks flushed slightly, and she somewhat unnaturally shifted her gaze away, her fingers lightly stroking the book's cover.
Though most of that awkward feeling in her heart had dispersed, that earlier bit of "resentment" still needed an outlet to vent.
So, as she flipped open the pages, she began to complain in a seemingly offhand manner, though her words in fact carried pointed meaning:
"It's just that I see you busy all day with your feet never touching the ground... especially having to divert your attention to deal with that girl thief."
At the mention of Nuo Tao, Yu Wenqiu's tone grew noticeably heavier: "That girl has shifty, rat-like eyes—one look and you can tell she's no lamp that doesn't drink oil. Don't be fooled by how honest and obedient she acts now; that's all put on! The people of the Myriad-Theft Gate have more holes in their hearts than a lotus root."
She lifted her head, looked at Gu Chengming, and earnestly advised:
"You, you're just too young, too easy to trust people. That little bit of intelligence she gives you—who knows what pit's buried inside. You'd best wise up, lest you end up sold off and still counting the money for the one who sold you."
"I'm telling you, what this kind of woman is best at is sweet, honeyed words, exploiting the sympathy of you orthodox-path disciples and—"
Gu Chengming listened quietly to her endless chatter without interrupting.
In Yu Wenqiu's eyes, he was probably being toyed with in the palm of a wicked woman's hand, but in reality his relationship with Nuo Tao was completely the reverse.
However, Gu Chengming had no intention of explaining this to Yu Wenqiu: "The Elder's lesson is well-taken."
Seeing his attitude so proper, the last bit of pique in Yu Wenqiu's heart was completely smoothed over.
The side hall fell quiet once more.
Only this time, that taut, awkward atmosphere had vanished completely.
A faint fragrance of tea and ink flowed through the air, along with the occasional rustle of turning pages.
Yu Wenqiu nestled in the soft couch, her mind not at all on the storybook—even though this storybook was very well-written, she still secretly lifted her eyes from time to time, glancing toward that back absorbed in handling official affairs, the corners of her mouth unable to help but curl up again.
——Idiot Little Gu.
Thinking of this, Yu Wenqiu turned a page with an easy heart.
And Gu Chengming, after handling one piece of intelligence in hand, also instinctively looked up.
Seeing her reading with rapt absorption, her brow relaxed, with none of the earlier gloom.
Gu Chengming smiled faintly and lowered his head once more.
The long nights of the Northern Territory stretched on, but the people and affairs within this room could always make one feel a measure of the serene stability of peaceful years.
In the side hall.
"Achoo!" Nuo Tao sneezed heavily, rubbed her nose red from the cold, and looked blankly out the window.
"Why do I suddenly feel a chill down my spine... is someone cursing me?"
Looking at the account books before her that seemed she could never finish copying, sorrow welled up within her, and she sobbed:
"I really don't want to do this anymore, I want to go home——"
Unfortunately, this sobbing was drowned out by the wind and snow.
The wind and snow of the Northern Territory still had not ceased, scattering and drifting down upon the pitch-black battlements of Snowfall Pass.
Ever since obtaining the «Heart-Drawing Thought-Shifting Formula» that day, the Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method had completely entered an offline state.
One bout of comprehension stretched on for a full three days.
In these three days, Gu Chengming hadn't been idle either. Apart from his daily cultivation and the honing of his sword formation, he watched that ever-growing "Myriad Wonders Assembly" take root and sprout in the Northern Territory.
With official endorsement, the misgivings of those rogue cultivators had mostly dissolved. Information flowed like rivers converging into the sea, allowing him, without setting a foot outside his door, to be intimately aware of every stir of grass and gust of wind within a hundred li beyond the pass.
Until the deep night of the third day.
Gu Chengming was sitting cross-legged on the bed, toying with that warm, lustrous jade slip in his hand, when a faint, almost imperceptible hum suddenly came from deep within his sea of consciousness.
[The «Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method» let out a long breath.]
[It looked at Gu Chengming, and did not rush to claim credit as it usually did, but unhurriedly displayed the results of its deduction—the small, inadvertent gestures betraying the elation in its heart]
[It believed that mere intelligence-gathering was only the lowest tier; a true mastermind behind the scenes ought to be able to listen to the hearts of all things, to hear thunder amid the silence.]
Following its somewhat affected gestures, line after line of brand-new small text surfaced before Gu Chengming's eyes.
[Deduction complete.]
[CG status updated]
Gu Chengming's heart stirred, and he focused his gaze.
He saw that on that light screen, the original description of the Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method had not changed much, but in the special entry column at the very bottom, an extremely conspicuous new CG had appeared.
[Myriad Mysteries Convergence Method CG / Heart Is All Things: Where the heart turns, all things resonate at the same frequency.]
[Each day at the hour of zi, ignoring distance, ignoring restrictions, and ignoring cultivation gaps, you may randomly intercept one important inner voice from the heart of some living being within range.]
[Note: This inner voice is the most genuine thought in the other party's subconscious; it cannot be faked, and cannot be shielded.]
[Current unlock degree: 5%]
Gu Chengming looked at this line of words, his expectant expression gradually turning to confusion.
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