Ano Invincible Art

That's not how it works in a galgame!

According to the rules of a galgame, you're supposed to meet first, then spar. During the sparring, your feelings gradually heat up, and then you experience one or two secret realm trials together. Finally, on a night with a bright moon overhead, you confess your love to me. Two options, "Accept" or "Refuse," float before my eyes, and only after I click "Accept" do we truly become Daoist companions in the real sense!

How can you just go for a forced kiss right from the start? There's no such thing in a galgame!

This string of complaints flashed rapidly through Gu Chengming's mind, and in the next instant, he froze as a realization struck him.

Oh, wait. I seem to have experienced all those previous segments already. The only thing missing for now was that final "Accept or Refuse" option.

As Gu Chengming thought this, a dialogue box naturally popped up before his eyes.

【Wisdom Eye effect activated】

【Option 1: Push Zhou Qingmu away and shout angrily, "Bold thief! You dare to launch a sneak attack? Do you wish to be my enemy?"】

【Option 2: Push Zhou Qingmu down and shout, "Bold evil cultivator! You dare to possess my Director? Watch me deal with you with my Big Treasure Sword!"】

【Option 3: Accept Zhou Qingmu's confession of love.】

Well, there didn't seem to be much to hesitate about in the current situation. Although his Wisdom Eye ability seemed to enjoy joining in on the fun, since the options had already appeared, this relationship was naturally coming to fruition... right?

—Option 3.

Once his mind was set, the previous moment of shock receded like a falling tide.

Gu Chengming simply closed his eyes. Their lips met, and their breaths intertwined.

Zhou Qingmu had originally acted with a sense of desperation, but now that she realized the other party wasn't struggling at all, this kiss became much longer than her previous reckless sneak attack.

After a long time, their lips parted.

A thin thread of saliva stretched between them, landing on the collar of Zhou Qingmu's official robes.

Zhou Qingmu stared at Gu Chengming with burning eyes. Although her heart was uneasy, she still feigned a casual air. "Even though taking without asking is quite despicable, Little Gu, you'll forgive me, right?"

Gu Chengming said helplessly, "Forgiveness is a bit too strong a word, but isn't this something only Daoist companions should do? Director, you really don't like taking things one step at a time, do you?"

"Daoist companion is just a title," Zhou Qingmu argued. "If you ask me whether I was your Daoist companion before this, the answer is naturally no. But if you ask me whether I am willing to walk this path with you, even if the Dao path collapses and my body and soul are extinguished, I would agree without hesitation." At this point, she blinked again. "In that case, why worry about the title of Daoist companion?"

This was clearly a sophistry, but in the current situation, it was obvious that she couldn't settle the matter without it.

Fortunately, Gu Chengming didn't dwell on it too much. Seeing that he showed no sign of rejection, Zhou Qingmu finally breathed a sigh of relief in secret.

On second thought, she felt her move was a bit too aggressive. After all, her previous words were ultimately just a sophistry. If she didn't add a more dignified way out now, the scene would inevitably make her look like she was pushing her luck too far.

Thinking of this, she quickly added a dignified closing: "What happened just now was merely a 'payment.' Little Gu, you don't need to feel any psychological pressure."

She had originally intended to use this sentence to de-escalate the situation.

To her surprise, as soon as the words left her mouth, Gu Chengming took the initiative to lean in.

What a joke. He had already chosen the Wisdom Eye option once; how could there be any room for backing out now?

The second kiss began just as naturally.

...

And so, an office romance occurred as a matter of course.

Ordinarily, an office romance in a regular government office would have to be kept under wraps. But when it came to the "current Director" and the "former Director" of the Night Guard Division, it really wasn't much of an issue.

Everyone in the Night Guard Division had long since grown accustomed to the sight of these two often discussing matters together. In the past, it was already hard to tell whether they were superior and subordinate or something more subtle.

Now that the secret was finally out, it saved others a lot of guesswork.

As for the two involved, they truly seemed to keep their public and private lives separate.

At least during office hours, Zhou Qingmu sat behind her desk reviewing files, while Gu Chengming stood by the desk proofreading documents. Both of their expressions were as professional as two colleagues seriously at work.

But matters naturally couldn't stop there.

After all, the foundation of the Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne was still far from being understood.

One afternoon, the two sat across from each other in the side hall, with a Dao Throne deduction file from the Imperial Observatory spread out on the table.

Gu Chengming pinched a corner of the file, his brow furrowing slightly. "Since Unfettered Heaven is True Monarch Jiahao's Dao Throne, it means the other Dao Thrones on its main branch will also gradually begin to break away."

Zhou Qingmu nodded. "Yes, the deductions from the Imperial Observatory say the same thing."

"True Monarch Jiahao once attained Unfettered Heaven and left this arrangement in the capital. If there are signs of this Dao Throne appearing now, it might not just be the natural flow of the Heavenly Dao."

Gu Chengming looked at her, and she continued after a moment of thought. "To understand Unfettered Heaven, one cannot avoid the events of True Monarch Jiahao's era. But after the Great Calamity, many records were lost. Most of the contents in the Night Guard Division's files regarding the period around the last Great Calamity are vague. It's already lucky that names were even preserved."

As she spoke, her brow furrowed slightly. "Perhaps we can ask the Master."

According to Zhou Qingmu's usual descriptions of the Master, he was a classic riddle-man. He clearly held countless incredible secrets in his heart, yet he was unwilling to reveal anything. Even though Zhou Qingmu had worked with the Master in the imperial court for so many years, in most cases, he wouldn't reveal a single word unless absolutely necessary.

However, there truly was no more reliable path to take at the moment. Rather than searching for a needle in a haystack within the old records of the Imperial Academy, it was better to go directly to the Master and try their luck.

With that in mind, the two chose a time later that day to visit the Master together.

...

In a side courtyard within the Imperial Academy, the shadows of bamboo were mottled.

The afternoon sun filtered through the lush bamboo leaves, leaving only fragmented spots of light on the bluestone floor tiles.

The side courtyard was so quiet that only the rustling of the wind through the bamboo leaves could be heard, echoing the faint, distant sound of chanting from the main courtyard of the Imperial Academy.

The Master sat behind a low table. After listening to Gu Chengming and Zhou Qingmu explain their purpose, he fell into thought.

After a long time, the Master finally spoke slowly.

"If the two of you wish to know what happened in the era before the Great Calamity, the ancient texts in the Imperial Academy—and even all the ancient texts that can be gathered in the entire capital—are almost unable to satisfy that need."

He picked up his teacup and took a sip, his gaze falling back onto Gu Chengming's face.

"Because of the Great Calamity, history was blurred piece by piece, and most things recorded in writing were destroyed by karma."

The Master paused, his thoughtful expression turning into one of frankness. "If you truly wish to know what happened in that era, the most reliable way is to ask someone who lived through it."

Gu Chengming's expression became subtle upon hearing this.

Someone who lived through that era?

He silently counted the few seniors he knew in his heart.

Strictly speaking, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu could be considered someone from an even earlier era. However, her seniority was a bit too old. She had already been trapped in a crack in time before the last Great Calamity and didn't know much about the events surrounding it.

Aside from True Monarch Liuyun Suyu...

The figure of True Monarch Jiahao suddenly surfaced in Gu Chengming's mind.

Reasonably speaking, True Monarch Jiahao was exactly from that era. If he were willing to step forward, most of the current doubts could be resolved.

The problem was that True Monarch Jiahao's movements were far too unpredictable.

According to the various clues Gu Chengming had pieced together recently, True Monarch Jiahao did indeed still exist in this world in some form. However, this form of existence was too bizarre, and even he couldn't be sure where the other was currently hiding.

The prerequisite for finding clues from True Monarch Jiahao was to find the True Monarch first.

This led into a rather awkward cycle—to understand the foundation of Unfettered Heaven, one had to find True Monarch Jiahao, but to find True Monarch Jiahao, one had to first understand the foundation of Unfettered Heaven.

The Master held his teacup, waiting until Gu Chengming's expression finally shifted from thoughtful to clear. Only then did the Master leisurely add another sentence.

"However, there is one item hidden within the Imperial Academy that might be able to help the young friend resolve this doubt."

Gu Chengming was slightly stunned.

...

When the Master led Gu Chengming toward the depths of the Imperial Academy, Zhou Qingmu did not follow.

She didn't ask much about this matter involving the secrets of the previous dynasty. She simply told Gu Chengming to "be careful" and watched the two leave while holding her teacup.

Gu Chengming followed the Master through several corridors with mottled bamboo shadows and turned into several secluded paths.

A considerable amount of time had passed since the last time he stepped into the Imperial Academy. The layout here hadn't changed much, and the only thing that felt slightly novel to him was the path the Master was leading him on, which he had never walked before.

He silently calculated the position in his heart and felt more and more that this "item hidden in the Imperial Academy" was unusual.

Sure enough, after about the time it took to burn an incense stick, the Master stopped in front of an extremely unremarkable stone wall.

He raised his hand and pressed lightly on a hidden pattern on the stone wall. The wall silently cracked open, revealing a gap only wide enough for one person to pass through.

The Master took the first step inside, and Gu Chengming followed behind him.

Inside the stone wall was a long, narrow corridor, at the end of which was a secret room about ten feet square.

There were none of the usual array artifacts found in common secret rooms. Instead, in the very center of the room stood a stone platform about waist-high, covered in a thick layer of sealing array patterns.

And in the very center of those layers of sealing array patterns...

...was a book being imprisoned.

Gu Chengming: ?

He straightened his expression and examined the layers of sealing array patterns, then turned his gaze toward the seemingly ordinary, old booklet sealed beneath them.

A very distinct question mark couldn't help but float over his head.

Normally, an object in the Imperial Academy that required this level of sealing array patterns should be some kind of extremely dangerous and rare treasure.

Yet, placed in the center of these sealing array patterns was an old booklet whose spine was already fraying at the edges.

The Master noticed his confusion and explained.

"What is sealed here is actually the remnant soul of a senior, or rather, a place for her will to rest."

He tapped his finger lightly on the edge of the stone platform while holding his teacup. "This senior was a Seventh Realm True Monarch at the time, a figure from the same era as True Monarch Jiahao."

Gu Chengming's brow twitched slightly at this.

A Seventh Realm True Monarch? From the same era?

That meant this person was at least from before the last Great Calamity.

The Master continued, "However, due to being incomplete, this senior's state is quite different from that of an ordinary cultivator. She manifests as being quite..."

The Master weighed his words and chose an extremely subtle description: "...deeply obsessed."

Gu Chengming thought to himself, What does 'deeply obsessed' mean? It's not the kind of obsession where she wants to possess someone and be reborn, right?

The Master seemed to see his subtle unease and added, "This senior resides within a cultivation technique. She was the number one body cultivator in the cultivation world at that time."

Eh? A body cultivator?

【Hundred Bones Resonating is very excited to hear this title】

【Does that mean if we beat her, we'll be the number one body cultivator, Emperor Gu!】

Just as the thought surfaced in Gu Chengming's mind, he saw the layers of sealing array patterns on the old booklet at the center of the stone platform suddenly tremble slightly.

Immediately after, the air within the entire secret room vibrated with a "hum."

The seemingly ordinary old booklet suddenly soared into the air from the center of the sealing patterns, broke free from the restraints on the stone platform, and transformed into a streak of light that shot straight toward Gu Chengming's forehead.

Gu Chengming's pupils shrank suddenly.

—Why did this thing charge over on its own?!

In the next instant, the streak of light crashed precisely into his forehead.

Following that, two lines of text appeared before Gu Chengming's eyes.

【Technique recorded】

【Ano Invincible Art】

A question mark floated over Gu Chengming's head.

Ano Invincible Art?

—What on earth is this?