Chapter 1: What is a Cultivation Method Guide? |
Wenjian Sect, Huiyuan Gate.
Deep within the disciples' quarters, in a quiet and elegant small courtyard, a different scene unfolded.
Several stalks of green bamboo were planted in the courtyard; as the wind passed, the bamboo leaves rustled, like broken jade gently touching.
A man sat before a bronze mirror. His sword-like eyebrows slanted towards his temples, his eyes shone like bright stars, his nose bridge was high, and his lip line was distinct, making him extremely handsome. His dark hair was tied with a wooden hairpin into a standard Daoist bun.
This type of bun was a style only allowed for men after they had passed their coming-of-age ceremony at twenty, signifying their adulthood.
However, at this moment, the face of this adult man showed no youthful vigor, only a cloud of sorrow and despair.
He raised a hand to his forehead, letting out a sigh.
With his sigh, a panel appeared before the man.
【Name: Gu Chengming】
【Realm: First Realm, Third Level】
【Cultivation Methods: Huiyuan Sword Art (Beginner), Qingxin Art (Beginner)】
【Attributes: Strength 8, Agility 7, Constitution 2, Spirit 12, Charm 25】
【Status: Damaged Root Bone (Continually stacking negative BUFFs)
Essence Blood Depletion (Current HP cap permanently reduced by 30%, and continuously decaying daily, estimated remaining lifespan: 87 days)】
The man stared at the crimson text in the 【Status】 column, especially the alarming countdown at the end, feeling a wave of dizziness.
After the initial bewilderment, Gu Chengming finally accepted this fact.
—He had transmigrated into a game.
The game 《Xianmen》 was a miracle of the virtual world. It possessed almost infinite freedom; every NPC, even a street sweeper, had a background story hundreds of thousands of words long and independent behavioral logic.
Players could explore this vast and boundless cultivation world as they pleased, join a sect to cultivate and become an immortal, or roam the world seeking justice and revenge. They could even form deep bonds with any character in the game, becoming sworn brothers or Daoist companions.
There were also elemental reactions and a highly in-depth combat system.
But Gu Chengming played this game not for any of the above reasons...
Instead, he was a galgame enthusiast.
As a galgame lover, after hearing that all characters were capturable and each NPC had hundreds of thousands of words of background text, could he resist not playing?
On the day the game was released, Gu Chengming immediately bought it.
Not only that, but he also utilized his programming expertise to create a series of auxiliary MODs overnight: ' Affection Visibility,' ' Key Dialogue Option Prompts,' and ' Unlock Special CG Appreciation Mode.'
Fully equipped, he then contentedly entered the game.
Then came the classic character creation, sect selection, and after completing the novice storyline, he immediately set his sights on a character whose artwork deeply appealed to him and began his capture strategy.
And then... there was no ' then' after that.
During his all-night capture attempt, he suddenly felt his vision go black, and when he reopened his eyes, he was already lying on this ancient wooden bed, having become Gu Chengming himself.
“Sigh...”
Sighing, Gu Chengming looked at the line 【Status: Essence Blood Depletion】 on the panel, feeling a pang of toothache.
How did this fatal status come about?
The reason was simple: when he created his character and allocated attribute points, in pursuit of ultimate capture efficiency, he moved almost all the points from the ' Constitution' attribute to ' Charm' .
After all, high charm meant faster affection gain when capturing characters; this was an iron rule of galgames.
In the game, doing so was perfectly fine.
If attribute points were extremely low, at most, some advanced cultivation methods couldn' t be practiced.
Gu Chengming had even planned his route at the time, intending to switch to the cultivation methods of the Hehuan Sect after capturing a certain character later on.
Once Hehuan cultivation began, the Constitution attribute would be almost useless, so having it low in the early stages was completely fine.
The logic in the game was simple and crude.
But when the game became reality, and the world began to follow its own underlying rules, everything became ' rationalized' .
The flaw of ' low Constitution' in his attributes was corrected by the world' s rules, manifesting as the fatal negative status of ' Essence Blood Depletion' .
Losing HP cap daily, plus a death countdown—who could endure this?
What was worse, because he hadn' t intended to level up seriously from the start, he barely put any points into ' Cultivation Talent' related options during character creation, which also led to the ' Damaged Root Bone' status.
Want to rely on self-cultivation to improve his realm and break through the shackles of this status?
Gu Chengming estimated that he might not even complete ' Qi Induction' a few times before he' d simply kick the bucket and be completely dead.
Truly, the road ahead was bleak, utterly dark.
Just as Gu Chengming was sinking into despair, his gaze inadvertently swept across the system panel, and a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.
Wait a minute!
Since the game system transmigrated with me, does that mean the MODs I installed also came along?
His heart gave a sudden leap.
To maximize the galgame experience, he had specifically written a core MOD back then, with a simple and crude function: whenever a character was successfully captured and their affection reached a new stage, the system would reward a large number of free attribute points and special items.
After all, many aloof characters in the game wouldn' t even grant an audience if one' s realm wasn' t high enough.
Gu Chengming was also too lazy to spend time leveling up, so he simply used this clever method, intending to accumulate capital by capturing low-level characters before challenging high-level targets.
Isn' t this a turning point!
As if to confirm his thoughts, the blue panel before him suddenly flickered, and a new, distinctly different-looking panel popped up. This panel was pink, with lace edges, and a line of large characters was written in an extremely ornate artistic font in the center.
【Cultivation LOVELOVE System】
“Oh, damn it!”
Gu Chengming almost jumped out of his chair:
“It really did transmigrate with me?!”
Regardless of Gu Chengming' s taste in naming MODs.
The sudden turn of events before him filled him with immense joy.
His attention immediately focused intensely on the panel. The text on the panel began to scroll and change rapidly, like a marquee.
Here it comes! According to the game' s process, the ' List of Capturable Targets in Current Area' should be displayed next.
Gu Chengming' s spirits lifted, and he straightened his back.
Dozens of female disciples' appearances and information flashed through his mind: from lively and cute junior sisters, to aloof and proud senior sisters, and even charming deaconesses...
With my rich experience spanning over ten years in the galgame world, and this whopping 25 points in Charm, wouldn' t capturing them be a piece of cake?
As long as I successfully capture one or two, get attribute points, and raise my Constitution, wouldn' t this dead end be revitalized?
He even began to calculate which target would be easiest to start with.
Just as he was envisioning his beautiful future, the scrolling text on the panel finally slowed to a stop, settling and becoming clear.
【Current Capturable Target: Huiyuan Sword Art】
【Current Capturable Target: Qingxin Art】
Gu Chengming' s smile froze on his face.
He blinked, thinking he had misread it.
He reached out and poked the pink panel. The panel showed no reaction, but the text on it remained perfectly clear.
“?”
A huge question mark rose from the depths of Gu Chengming' s heart, almost materializing into a physical entity, filling the entire room.
Immediately after, another line of small text appeared below the panel.
【Please select your capture target.】
【Hint: When affection reaches a new stage, the system will reward free attribute points and may unlock special effects.】
“??”
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