Huh? Oho, there are even options to choose from.

Gu Chengming looked at the semi-transparent box floating before his eyes, suddenly feeling like happiness had come too unexpectedly.

First, it was CG appreciation, then exquisite character portraits, and now even dialogue options had appeared.

Could this place really be a galgame?

Regardless, the appearance of these elements put Gu Chengming in a great mood.

As a Gal Master, nothing was more reassuring than seeing a familiar system interface.

He focused his mind and began to carefully study this new passive skill called 【Keen Eye】.

Logically speaking, these three options all seemed fine at first glance.

Based on Gu Chengming’
s years of experience in conquering 2D characters, these three should all be ”
positive options,”
and choosing any of them likely wouldn’
t decrease favorability.

But the effects… would probably be worlds apart.

These three options were clearly targeting the slightly sour words from Qingxin Art just now, providing three different directions for a response.

If it were Huiyuan Sword Manual, option one or two would definitely work best, but Qingxin Art was different.

Qingxin Art’
s personality itself probably wouldn’
t like words that were too mushy.

Gu Chengming rubbed his chin as he analyzed.

The so-called 【Keen Eye】 might not directly tell you which one is the correct answer, but rather helps you deconstruct the other party’
s personality through these concrete options, providing a strategy for conquest.

Some personality traits are difficult to observe with the naked eye, but with Keen Eye, it should provide significant help when he attempts to conquer cultivation methods with unfamiliar personalities.

Thinking of this, Gu Chengming felt he had truly hit the jackpot this time.

He thought to himself that he should have started grinding favorability with Qingxin Art earlier;
the initial conquest target even had hidden mechanisms.

Then, he chose option three.

”
Don’
t be in a hurry, I’
ll compensate you with two DLCs for the storybooks,”
he responded in his mind.

Without further ado, he ignored the soreness in his body and immediately began conceptualizing the DLC for the third part of the storybook.

Sure enough, the effect was outstanding.

【Qingxin Art was originally wallowing in self-pity, but as soon as it heard this, its face immediately changed.】

【It thought to itself that although you are quite dense sometimes, your comprehension in certain areas is truly admirable.】

【Since you are being so sincere, it will magnify its heart and forgive your neglect. Write quickly, it loves to read it.】

Heh, women.

Ah, no, cultivation methods.

Having handled Qingxin Art, Gu Chengming felt refreshed, and even the pain in his body seemed to lessen slightly.

He leaned against the headboard, conceptualizing the new plot in his mind while casually chatting with Huiyuan Sword Manual.

Although Huiyuan Sword Manual had changed back to its original name, it had clearly become more confident after the ”
Flowing Light Sword Shadow”
incident.

It was no longer always timid and could even crack a joke with Gu Chengming occasionally, a change that made Gu Chengming very gratified.

As the shadows lengthened toward the afternoon, a hurried sound of footsteps came from outside the small courtyard.

”
Senior Brother Gu! Senior Brother Gu, are you there?”

The voice was clear and upright;
one didn’
t even need to look to know it was Jiang Lu.

Gu Chengming had just barely responded when the door was pushed open forcefully.

Jiang Lu rushed in like a whirlwind and immediately saw Gu Chengming lying on the bed with a pale face, surrounded by several medicine bottles, and was instantly struck with alarm.

”
Senior Brother?! What happened to you?”

Jiang Lu’
s eyes widened, as if he had remembered something, and he cried out:

”
Did the Senior Sisters from Daoning Gate really put a sack over your head and beat you up?!”

”
…”

Gu Chengming was somewhat speechless.

What kind of image did Daoning Gate have in the Wenjian Sect?

”
Don’
t guess blindly.”

Gu Chengming waved his hand, which pulled at his wound, causing him to cough twice: ”
It’
s just that something went wrong during cultivation, and I suffered a backlash.”

”
Something went wrong during cultivation?”

Jiang Lu’
s gaze became a bit strange as he looked Gu Chengming up and down.

What kind of mishap could turn someone into this half-dead state?

Could it be that Senior Brother Gu is refusing to admit he was beaten by female cultivators for the sake of his pride?

Jiang Lu grumbled inwardly, but he didn’
t dare show it on his face to avoid hurting his senior brother’
s self-esteem.

He quickly changed the subject, no longer dwelling on the source of the injuries.

”
Um, Senior Brother, I came here mainly to tell you about the recent Disciple Assessment.”

Jiang Lu pulled over a stool and sat down, his expression becoming slightly more serious:

”
I just heard news from the Deacon Hall that the rules have changed for this assessment, which is quite rare. Compared to previous years’
simple comparison of realm levels, many new assessment items have been added this time, focusing more on the dao heart and the practical application of sword techniques.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Gu Chengming again and added:

”
This is definitely good news for you, Senior Brother! After all, although your realm is a bit low, your sword techniques are truly exquisite.”

Gu Chengming nodded slightly.

”
I think there’
s a high probability that Senior Brother will pass the assessment this time.”

Jiang Lu continued, his tone carrying a hint of excitement:

”
But if possible, Senior Brother should still try to perform as well as possible.”

”
After all, this assessment has rewards. Setting aside the fact that appearing before the elders is a good opportunity in itself, the top performers in the assessment can also receive resources prepared by the sect in advance. Even if you don’
t make the top ranks, performing well will still bring benefits.”

Gu Chengming nodded, understanding the situation.

He had already planned for this.

Regardless of those so-called resources, simply to repay Elder Ren’
s favor, he couldn’
t afford to lose face at the assessment.

Although Jiang Lu said it was in Senior Brother Gu’
s favor and was truly happy for him, his brow couldn’
t help but furrow when his gaze touched Gu Chengming’
s pale face and the smell of medicine all over him.

With Senior Brother Gu ending up like this right before the assessment, even though he said it was no big deal, looking at this state, even getting out of bed seemed difficult.

Wouldn’
t it affect his performance during the Disciple Assessment?

Those female cultivators from Daoning Gate are truly relentless;
the other senior brothers were right after all.

Gu Chengming didn’
t know that Jiang Lu was imagining so much.

He adjusted his sitting position slightly and asked in return:

”
By the way, Junior Brother Jiang. Do you know why the assessment was suddenly restructured only for this year?”

The rules of the Wenjian Sect had remained unchanged for thousands of years;
a sudden restructuring must mean something happened.

Hearing this, Jiang Lu looked around, leaned in mysteriously, and lowered his voice:

”
About this, I also heard it from the grapevine.”

”
Supposedly, a sword technique genius emerged in the neighboring Cloud Moon Sect, the kind of freak who remains silent until the moment they amaze everyone.”

”
That person bitterly cultivated sword intent in the first realm for several years, remaining obscure the whole time. Then, once they comprehended the sword, their realm advanced by leaps and bounds like a rocket, directly leaving their peers in the dust.”

”
When this news reached our sect, those elders were all incredibly salty, their eyes turning red with envy. They were saying things like ‘
This should have been the Wenjian Sect’
s script’
and ‘
We are the orthodox sword cultivators, how could they beat us to it?’
”

”
Then there were all sorts of reflection meetings and internal reviews. Finally, they concluded that our Disciple Assessment system was too rigid and prone to burying such talents who accumulate deeply and break through suddenly. It has to change! It must change!”

”
So it was changed to how it is now.”

Jiang Lu spoke with great animation, clearly enjoying the gossip between the great sects.

The more Gu Chengming listened, the stranger his expression became.

He could even imagine Elder Ren Wencai slamming the table at a sect meeting, shouting with spit flying everywhere, ”
We must have our own bitter sword cultivators too!”

And this plot… why did it sound so familiar?

Gu Chengming even suspected that the reason Ren Wencai was so attentive to him, besides valuing his talent, was perhaps to compete with the Cloud Moon Sect.

After all, the two great sects had been fighting openly and secretly for so many years;
neither wanted to fall behind in this regard.

If he truly made a name for himself at that assessment, Elder Ren would probably make everyone else die of envy.

The two chatted for a while longer, and the topic inevitably circled back to Gu Chengming’
s injuries.

Jiang Lu looked at Gu Chengming occasionally frowning in pain and finally couldn’
t hold it back.

”
Senior Brother, are your injuries… really okay?”

Seeing Gu Chengming about to speak, he quickly added another sentence, his tone incredibly sincere:

”
I still have some savings here, some merit points I earned from the sect by creating the sword move ‘
Fuhai.’
If Senior Brother Gu’
s injuries are not optimistic, although these merit points aren’
t much, they are enough to exchange for some high-quality healing medicine at the Pill Hall. Senior Brother, please take them;
the most important thing is to recover your body first. You can’
t let the assessment be delayed.”

Gu Chengming looked at the cloth bag on the table, thinking to himself that Little Jiang was a good guy. Someone worth knowing.

In this cultivation world where interests reigned supreme, it was truly not easy to meet a junior brother who sincerely cared for him.

He was just about to decline, saying he had high-grade goods sent by Elder Ren and it was no big deal.

Just then, his vision suddenly blurred.

That familiar semi-transparent box popped up again.

【Keen Eye activated.】

Three options clearly surfaced before Gu Chengming’
s eyes:

【Option 1: Junior Brother Jiang, you are very thoughtful. However, my injuries are no big deal, and I have sacred healing medicine sent by Elder Ren here. Keep your merit points for your own cultivation.】

【Option 2: Then I’
ll take them. Big Brother Jiang is the best!】

【Option 3: I don’
t want the pills, just transfer the merit points to me directly.】

”
?”

Gu Chengming subconsciously rubbed his eyes. After realizing he hadn’
t seen it wrong, a question mark slowly appeared above his head.

Wait? How can talking to you trigger options too?

It’
s not like this in a galgame!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep