[Love Laboratory]
To be honest, the moment that name popped up, Gu Chengming felt that something big had gone very wrong.
But before he could even ask the patriarch—whose form had already turned completely transparent—for an explanation, the entire white space began to collapse violently.
A vast, chaotic torrent swept Gu Chengming up, leaving him utterly unable to speak as everything spun and whirled.
When solid ground returned beneath his feet, and a bone-piercing wind laced with snow particles slapped against his face, Gu Chengming found himself back on that expanse of ice plain north of Snowfall Pass.
Within his sea of consciousness, however, the various cultivation techniques each held very different attitudes.
[The "Yin-Yang Creation Strategy", though it did not grasp the meaning, found the whiff of mortal-world entanglement seeping out of the name "Creation" utterly to its taste. It flatly declared that this thing must involve profound creation touching upon the seven emotions and six desires, and that from now on, if Little Gu wanted to ■ someone, he could ■ them.]
[The "Red Dust Phantom Body Formula", on the other hand, was somewhat worried—a great power with whom he'd had no prior contact suddenly bestowing such an inheritance—wasn't there a risk of body-snatching?]
Gu Chengming was rather helpless about it all. This was exactly why dealing with these great powers was such a hassle—every single one of them was a riddle-speaker.
"Brother Gu?" A voice tinged with a hint of probing cut through Gu Chengming's thoughts.
Gu Chengming snapped back to himself, and turning his head, he saw Nuo Tao crouching not far away.
The girl had evidently been thrown out a step earlier than him. At this moment she was sitting on the snow, arms wrapped around her knees, that goose-yellow padded dress looking especially bedraggled in the wind and snow.
Seeing Gu Chengming emerge, she immediately stood up and patted the snow flecks off her skirt, her eyes brimming with curiosity.
"So—what did the patriarch keep you inside to talk about?"
Nuo Tao leaned in, her gaze sweeping up and down over Gu Chengming as though trying to spot some clue.
"The commotion when that secret realm collapsed was no small thing. The patriarch didn't go and hand you all his bottom-of-the-chest treasures, did he?"
—Said he wanted to make you my sidekick.
That was what he thought, but on the surface he truthfully relayed some of the basic information—though as for the creation itself, he didn't go into any depth.
After all, even Gu Chengming himself wasn't quite clear on how to use it. Could he see other people's favorability numbers? Or could he unlock some strange plot by giving gifts? Or was it like the MODs he knew, letting him directly enter a ■CG?
What's more, the name was way too horrifying—it had gone straight from a galgame into a "butter" eroge.
Oh, then again, there didn't really seem to be much difference between the two.
After hearing Gu Chengming out, Nuo Tao felt his account was rather vague, but she didn't press for details.
The Myriad-Theft Gate's inheritance had always emphasized affinity and fate; since the patriarch had given it, then it was Brother Gu's fortuitous opportunity.
Besides, she herself hadn't come away empty-handed on this trip, so as things stood it could well be called a win-win situation.
It was just that, whenever she thought of that final trial, the look in Nuo Tao's eyes as she gazed at Gu Chengming turned somewhat resentful.
Even though she was already out, just recalling it still made her scalp tingle.
That invisible brick placed right at the jump-off point on the only viable path, that question-mark box that looked utterly harmless but in fact concealed murderous intent, and that invincibility star that absolutely could not be touched...
Though saying this was a bit like bolstering the enemy's morale while deflating her own, Nuo Tao had to admit that when it came to "screwing people over"—that traditional signature art of theft-cultivators—the talent of this sword cultivator before her was perhaps a notch higher even than hers, the orthodox heir.
That was quite a blow to one's self-esteem.
Watching the girl's put-upon, aggrieved expression, Gu Chengming couldn't help but want to laugh.
But on the surface he remained quite serious, explaining the mindset he'd had while designing the trials with all sorts of justifications, hoodwinking the girl until she was left dazed and blinking.
Listening to his crooked logic, Nuo Tao kept feeling something was off, but Gu Chengming gave her no chance to keep dwelling on it. Once he'd gotten his bearings, he set off striding toward Snowfall Pass.
Nuo Tao hurriedly trotted to catch up.
Though she grumbled inwardly about how ruthless Gu Chengming's methods were, her body was quite honest, drawing a little closer to him.
It wasn't any tender, romantic notion—purely that being beside this person gave her an inexplicable sense of safety.
But a new problem soon arose. Having died so many times inside the secret realm, her nerves had been strung taut the whole while, and now that she'd relaxed, she felt as though every bone in her body was about to come apart.
Nuo Tao proposed resting for a bit before heading back to Snowfall Pass, but Gu Chengming paid her no mind.
Seeing that Gu Chengming showed no intention of stopping, Nuo Tao suddenly let out an "ouch," clutched her ankle, and crouched down, pitifully claiming she'd twisted her ankle and couldn't walk anymore.
Those big eyes brimmed with a misty haze—her acting could be called first-rate.
Gu Chengming stopped and turned back to look at the girl squatting in the snow throwing her little tantrum. He neither exposed her clumsy acting nor, as Nuo Tao had expected, simply hauled her up by the scruff.
He merely extended a hand toward her and said with a helpless smile:
"If we don't get moving, it's going to be dark soon."
Coming back to herself, Nuo Tao hurriedly reached out and grasped that palm, springing up from the snow with the aid of Gu Chengming's strength, all the weariness and grievance on her face vanishing in an instant.
Nuo Tao flattered him, saying, "I knew Brother Gu was the best."
Then, as if afraid Gu Chengming might change his mind, she clung to his sleeve and dogged his every step from behind.
She muttered on about how, once they got back, she wanted to eat roast chicken from that place in the East Market, and drink Li Ji's mutton-offal soup with extra chili—and Brother Gu had to go with her.
Gu Chengming pretended not to hear.
Every time Elder Little Yu muttered like this, it always ended with him footing the bill.
Heh. Women.
Snowfall Pass, night ink-black.
Outside the window the wind and snow still howled, pattering against the lattice with a rustling sound, while inside the room the earth-fire dragon burned vigorously, sealing out the bitter cold of the outside world.
Ever since the two of them had returned from the Myriad-Theft secret realm, Nuo Tao had seemed rather excited.
After all, she'd obtained a creation—and a creation of the Lián Tiān Zhī at that. The little girl was so thrilled by this great meat pie that had fallen from the sky that her cheeks flushed red; she couldn't even be bothered to attend the celebratory feast, hastily excusing herself and ducking into the adjacent quiet chamber, saying she wanted to go into seclusion at once to comprehend it and strive to master this creation as soon as possible.
Gu Chengming was naturally happy to see this come about.
After seeing Nuo Tao off, he sat alone before the desk and poured himself a cup of tea.
Amid the curling wisps of steam, his gaze refocused on that line of text at the bottom of his vision. [Special CG / Love Laboratory]
Well, in a certain sense, the creation transforming into a "Special CG" was actually a good thing for Gu Chengming.
If that Myriad-Theft Immortal Sovereign, who had lived who-knew-how-many years, had directly stamped this so-called comprehension of the "Dao" into his mind, or handed him an ancient tome filled with ghostly scrawls, Gu Chengming would most likely have inspected it from head to toe several hundred times—might even have shelved it away out of fear that it hid some body-snatching backhand or some kind of mental suggestion within.
After all, a meat pie falling from the sky—especially a meat pie from a sixth-realm great power who had proven his Dao through "theft"—if it didn't come packed with a little poison, it would hardly live up to that "Myriad-Theft" name.
But now it was different. This creation had been catalogued by the system, and after being analyzed and reconstructed, it had finally been presented in the form of a "Special CG."
No matter what intent that Myriad-Theft Immortal Sovereign had left behind in that single fragment of residue, or whether this "Dao" itself carried some uncontrollable side effect, the moment they were converted into a [CG], they were all smoothed over by the rules of the system.
Gu Chengming took a light sip of tea, feeling that warm current slide down his throat and into his stomach.
Since safety was now guaranteed, all that remained, naturally, was to explore just what sort of thing this so-called "Love Laboratory" really was.
"Open CG."
As Gu Chengming's thoughts stirred, that familiar sense of weightlessness came again.
When Gu Chengming's vision refocused, he found that he had once more arrived in a pure-white space.
This place was seventy percent similar to the earlier Myriad-Theft secret realm—the same boundlessness, the same white so pure it was almost oppressive.
Though solid ground pressed beneath his feet, he could see no texture to the floor, as though his entire self were suspended atop the concept of the void.
But this space was not entirely empty.
Directly in front of Gu Chengming stood a door—not an ordinary wooden or stone door, but an archway condensed entirely from grayish mist.
Gu Chengming's eyelid twitched violently, an extremely strong sense of déjà vu welling up in him.
This gray mist, this archway, and this malice that you could feel just standing before the door—as though some terrifying existence lurked behind it, watching you...
He just had a feeling that the instant he stepped through, the BGM would suddenly turn grand and tragic, and then a BOSS with a health bar so long you couldn't see the end of it would leap straight out and dice him into mincemeat with fast-and-slow blades.
Where was the promised Love Laboratory? Who swapped my ■CG for a battle CG?
Grumbling like this inwardly, Gu Chengming lifted his gaze toward the top of that misty door.
Above the churning gray mist floated several characters formed of light and shadow, marking the name of the "stage" behind this door.
[Love Huiyuan Sword Formula]
Gu Chengming:
Deep within the sea of consciousness, Little Huiyuan, who had been secretly observing all along, was also dumbstruck.
[Huiyuan Sword Formula: ???]
[It blinked, staring at the name upon that misty door, then lowered its head to look at itself, before letting out an extremely bewildered cry of astonishment.]
[After the brief bewilderment, it grew almost imperceptibly excited.]
[It thought to itself: could it be the bridal chamber of a wedding?]
Listening to Little Huiyuan's inner voice drifting increasingly off track, Gu Chengming, caught between laughter and tears, soothed it with a couple of words.
But the doubt in his heart did not lessen.
Very obviously, this was absolutely not what the Myriad-Theft Immortal Sovereign had originally intended to give him.
"A creation that differs from person to person, is it..."
Gu Chengming drew a deep breath and tightened his grip on that [Evil-Repeller] sword condensed from his consciousness.
Since the name of the "Huiyuan Sword Formula" was written upon it, then no matter what, he had to get to the bottom of this.
At that thought, he hesitated no longer, stepping forward and reaching out to touch that layer of grayish mist.
Cold, viscous—the sensation at his fingertips was like probing into the deep sea.
Gu Chengming took a single step forward, his entire self passing through that layer of gray mist. "Hummm—"
The sound of wind by his ears abruptly vanished.
The pure-white space was gone, replaced by an immense stone platform that seemed to hang suspended in the depths of darkness.
Overhead was a void black as ink, with no stars, only endless profundity.
All around the stone platform was an abyss ten thousand fathoms deep; drawing even slightly close to the edge, one could feel a dizzying pull.
And at the very center of that stone platform stood a person, silently—a figure condensed entirely from a pale white radiance.
It had no features, no expression, not even a discernible gender, like a blank-bodied puppet that had just been molded and not yet had time to be colored.
But in its hand it held a long sword identical to the [Evil-Repeller] in Gu Chengming's own hand.
The moment Gu Chengming stepped onto the platform, that figure slowly moved.
Its motion as it turned was stiff and slow, but as it turned, a wave of sword intent familiar to Gu Chengming came surging.
—The Clinging Formula.
At the same moment, Gu Chengming discovered, to his shock, that the power within his body was being forcibly stripped away by some kind of rule.
At this moment, apart from the sword in his hand and the "Huiyuan Sword Formula" that had accompanied him ever since he first transmigrated, he had nothing at all.
So that's how it is... Gu Chengming vaguely formed a guess. He drew a deep breath, cast all stray thoughts from his mind, and assumed that opening stance he had practiced tens of thousands of times.
At the same instant, the pale figure across from him had already vanished from where it stood.
Though the footwork it used was the most basic, beneath that figure's feet it was as if it could compress the ground into inches; in the blink of an eye it had crossed dozens of fathoms, a single point of cold light striking straight for the space between Gu Chengming's brows.
"Clang——!"
Gu Chengming instinctively swung his sword to parry.
The immense recoil transmitted down the blade to the tiger's mouth of his palm, numbing his entire right arm.
But this was only the beginning.
Its first strike having missed, the figure gave an utterly natural flick of the wrist; the sword's edge slid down along Gu Chengming's blade, transforming from a thrust into a shearing cut, driving straight for Gu Chengming's wrist.
This move was all too familiar to Gu Chengming.
It was the third form of the "Huiyuan Sword Formula", the one Gu Chengming often used to counterattack after an enemy parried.
But he had never imagined this move's linkage could be so fluid—so fluid that it was as though that thrust had merely been a setup for this shearing cut, without even the slightest sliver of stagnation in between.
Gu Chengming had no choice but to retreat in disarray, twirling his long sword into a sword-flower in an attempt to force the opponent back.
Yet the figure seemed to have anticipated it long ago, its form tilting slightly to one side like a willow catkin in the wind, dodging Gu Chengming's blade-edge with perfect precision, and at the same time borrowing the force of that tilt to deliver a plain, unadorned horizontal sweep at Gu Chengming's waist.
Still the "Huiyuan Sword Formula".
Every single move, every single form, was a basic sword technique Gu Chengming knew by heart.
But whether it was distance, angle, force, or timing... all of it was perfect to the point of being flawless.
It would never make a mistake, never hesitate; every sword swing landed on the most lethal juncture, every great stride fell squarely on the rhythm point that was hardest for Gu Chengming to bear.
Gu Chengming felt as though he were looking into a mirror—but the "self" within this mirror was far, far stronger than the real him.
Ten minutes.
Cold sweat had already seeped from Gu Chengming's forehead, and his breathing had begun to grow ragged.
He tried to deceive his opponent with feints, but the opponent was utterly unmoved; he tried to trade wound for wound, but the opponent could always dodge the vital spots by a hair's breadth. Had his understanding of the Huiyuan Sword Formula not reached a degree others simply could not imagine, he perhaps would not have lasted ten exchanges before this pale figure.
Thirty minutes.
Gu Chengming's robes were already soaked through with cold sweat, and the hand gripping his sword had begun to tremble faintly.
One hour.
"Clang!" Another violent collision.
The [Evil-Repeller] in Gu Chengming's hand was knocked high into the air—a tiny slip after his strength had been exhausted. Against an ordinary opponent, perhaps that split-second opening could not have been seized.
But that pale figure seized it.
Without the slightest mercy, without the slightest hesitation, that sword of light pierced clean through Gu Chengming's chest in an instant.
[Challenge failed.]
In the second before his vision sank into darkness, Gu Chengming saw a health bar slowly surface above that pale figure's head—with roughly one-third of it still remaining.
"Haah——!"
Gu Chengming's eyes snapped open, and he gasped for air in great heaving gulps.
He reflexively clutched at his chest; it was perfectly intact, his heart still beating powerfully—but the phantom pain of being run through by a sharp blade still lingered at his nerve endings, making him unable to help twitching slightly.
All around him was still that pure-white "laboratory"—no abyss, no stone platform, and no terrifying pale figure.
Only that grayish misty door still stood silently ahead, as if soundlessly mocking the challenger's overestimation of himself.
Gu Chengming braced himself against his knees and slowly rose to his feet.
He was not discouraged; on the contrary, he fixed his gaze intently on that door.
Because after that failed challenge, a line of annotation that had not been displayed before had finally surfaced beside the misty door.
[This is the perfect form presented by the "Huiyuan Sword Formula" itself, cast aside from all external interference (such as talent, cultivation realm, and the bonuses of other techniques), deduced to the "utmost of technique."]
So it was after all... his guess had not been wrong.
It was the "Huiyuan Sword Formula" itself—the height that this sword technique, universally acknowledged by the cultivation world as "entry-level" and "of extremely low ceiling," could truly reach once all prejudice and impurity had been stripped away.
[The Huiyuan Sword Formula curled up into a ball, and that great sword it always used to hold proudly upright now drooped limply as well.]
[It had always thought it was already trying very hard, had always thought that although it was of humble origins, so long as it followed Chengming it could still become the best sword technique.]
[If only it could be a little stronger, if only its ceiling weren't merely this, if only its moves could be a bit more exquisite—then Chengming wouldn't have lost...]
Listening to that self-reproaching inner voice, Gu Chengming instantly scattered that trace of frustration in his own heart.
He couldn't spare a moment to rest, hurriedly comforting the Huiyuan Sword Formula:
"The reason that shadow is so strong is precisely because it represents the true potential of the "Huiyuan Sword Formula"—it is the most perfect you in theory."
The Huiyuan Sword Formula lifted its head, eyes misted with tears, not quite understanding the meaning of these words.
"So it's not Little Huiyuan's fault... because we are both still improving, still walking forward together. A momentary defeat counts for nothing."
"And I will prove that your ceiling is far, far higher than this so-called theory."
[The Huiyuan Sword Formula stared blankly at you, and its heart seemed to give another gentle throb.]
[It gripped the great sword in its hand tightly, the dejection in its eyes gradually turning to resolve.]
[The Huiyuan Sword Formula nodded forcefully: Mm! Beat it! Together!]
____
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉