Senior, You Better Truly Be Able to Swing

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu felt that she had won this round.

The results of a person's competitive life are divided into three tiers: small win, medium win, and big win. After a stage-wise victory is secured, there is often a summarizing review.

Reflecting on the arrangement of revealing her true name under the osmanthus tree, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu pondered for a long time and felt that the result was probably a small win.

However, if she factored in the final act of successfully intercepting Yu Wenqiu, the result of this round was suddenly elevated from a small win to the level of a medium win.

Poor Elder Yu, despite her Heavenly Eye ability, had barely managed to deduce that someone was setting a trap in the shadows tonight. Yet, no matter how she traced the origin with her divine power, she could not find the source of that trap.

In the end, she had to return home dejectedly. On her way back, she discovered that as soon as the thought "I'll come find Gu Chengming next time" arose, the ghost wall would automatically end.

After several rounds of this, Elder Yu's suspicion that someone was setting a trap grew even firmer, which in turn led to an even more unpleasant thought.

Had she inadvertently offended some True Monarch?

Was it Gu's boss, Director Zhou, or the reclusive True Monarch Liuyun Suyu?

Well, regardless of which one it was, the gap in their realms forced her to swallow her anger in silence.

Yu finally realized the benefits of a higher realm once again. Facing an opponent whose strength reached the True Monarch level, Elder Yu—who was usually lazy and believed that "the tall ones should hold up the sky if it falls"—suddenly fell into an unprecedented crisis of humiliation.

...

On the other side, Gu Chengming was naturally unaware of the many twists and turns that had occurred tonight.

He was currently still in the state of studying the two new things he had acquired.

The Knight Sword and Senior Ano.

Oh, that wasn't right.

Senior Ano didn't quite seem to count as a "thing." Of course, that wasn't an insult, but a literal observation.

Gu Chengming suspected he might have been influenced by the word "Swinging" in the system.

However, putting aside the awkwardness of the wording, Senior Ano's storage method was indeed quite convenient.

Although Gu Chengming always viewed her as a living senior, her current state was indeed more like an artifact spirit than a living person.

Taking advantage of the free time in the evening, Gu Chengming asked Ano for more details about the Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne and the events of that era.

The first thing to clarify was why Senior Ano, as the number one body cultivator of that time, had fallen into such a seemingly pathetic situation.

One must understand that the current Ano was not even a complete remnant soul, yet in life, she was a genuine Seventh Realm True Monarch and the top body cultivator of her era.

This disparity implicitly proved one thing: the intensity of that Great Calamity was far more dangerous than Gu Chengming had previously speculated.

If even a Seventh Realm True Monarch—an existence that had almost reached the peak of the cultivation world—could not withstand it, what exactly happened at the end of that Great Calamity?

Hearing Gu Chengming's doubt, Ano also held her head and fell into deep thought.

She quite honestly confessed to Gu Chengming that due to her missing memories, she truly did not remember what happened at the very end of that Great Calamity. However, she still remembered that the calamity was not a universal disaster, but rather one that quite specifically "slaughtered" True Monarchs, guiding those Dao Thrones back to heaven.

Because of this, the higher a cultivator's realm, the more dangerous it was during that Great Calamity.

"This might be why you haven't seen a single 'existing' Seventh Realm True Monarch until now," Ano added quite seriously. "Almost as soon as the calamity passed, all the Dao Throne main branches that had been occupied were returned to heaven through the death of their hosts."

Hearing this, Gu Chengming's expression gradually became thoughtful.

This explanation truly gave him a bit more understanding of that Great Calamity.

From this perspective, the Great Calamity seemed more like a "version update."

It forced all the T0 experts of the previous version to go offline, and then screened a new batch of existences with T0 potential from heaven and earth.

Ano did not notice his internal commentary and continued on her own: "Generally speaking, the more important a Dao Throne is, the more powerful its main branch authority, or the higher the specification of the Dao Throne attained, the lower the probability that True Monarch could survive the Great Calamity."

She paused here, tapped her head again, and added: "Jiahao seemed to have died because of this Unfettered Heaven back then."

Gu Chengming thought to himself, There's such a logic to it?

In that case, this Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne seemed to be a truly high-ranking existence.

"Of course, no matter how great Unfettered Heaven is, it can't compare to my Breaking Myriad Laws!" Ano suddenly puffed out her chest and spoke with a quite proud expression.

Gu Chengming: "?"

He couldn't immediately react to where this "can't compare" came from.

Ano had already started her own deduction, and the logic of that deduction left Gu Chengming between laughter and tears.

"Jiahao's current situation is definitely much better than mine, which proves that the Great Calamity he experienced was certainly not as dangerous as the one I went through."

"The Heavenly Dao troubled me much harder, which doesn't that prove my Breaking Myriad Laws is a notch stronger than his Unfettered Heaven?"

Hearing this self-consistent argument, Gu Chengming's expression gradually became subtle.

Saying it that way was actually... at least the True Monarch Jiahao he had seen before, whether it was the various methods he displayed or the information revealed in his speech, was enough to show that True Monarch Jiahao's current state was much better than Senior Ano, who wasn't even a remnant soul.

Gu Chengming thought to himself that if True Monarch Ano truly hadn't been this blunt and simple-minded in life, then she really had been tormented quite severely by that Great Calamity.

...

Putting aside these somewhat heavy speculations, the information gleaned from Senior Ano finally gave Gu Chengming a bit more confidence.

However, the struggle for the Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne was clearly not going to be as simple as Gu Chengming had previously imagined.

After all, according to Senior Ano's words just now, this Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne was one of the most primal Dao Thrones on the main branch of the All Beings Branch—it was a genuine High-Rank Dao Throne.

In the cultivation world, the number of Sixth Realm True Monarchs who coveted this Dao Throne was by no means small.

Even with True Monarch Liuyun Suyu and Director Zhou present to help, Gu Chengming did not have absolute certainty that he could steadily take the top prize in this competition for the Dao Throne.

The trouble of the competition was only one part of it.

What was more important was the landing point of this Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne.

According to the previous deductions by the Imperial Observatory, this Dao Throne, which had fallen from the main branch of Wangyue's remnant body, had a landing point that was originally unstable. If it landed within the capital, that would naturally be for the best. Gu Chengming could use the arrangements True Monarch Jiahao had left in the capital to expand his advantage and steadily take this Dao Throne into his possession.

The worst-case scenario was if this Dao Throne landed in the wilderness.

At that time, Gu Chengming would have to face the unknown True Monarchs from all sides in a direct struggle in an uninhabited place without much assistance, making the danger unpredictable.

Gu Chengming had originally prepared to handle the worst-case scenario.

But to his surprise, after slowly shifting for several days, the final landing point of this Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne actually fell on a plain not far from the capital.

This was a quite subtle landing point.

It wasn't very close to the capital, making it difficult for the various forces of Daqian to completely cover it under their protection at once. But it wasn't too far either; if any changes occurred, the capital could draw and deploy manpower to support at any time.

Such a compromise landing point, in Gu Chengming's eyes, counted as having a slight advantage, though it wasn't very large.

Gu Chengming held the scroll of the Dao Throne deduction delivered by the Imperial Observatory and silently calculated the various upcoming arrangements in his mind.

Whether it was ambushes or the struggle itself, he had mostly made all the preparations he could over these days. The only thing remaining unresolved was exactly how many True Monarchs would come drawn by the aura of this High-Rank Dao Throne.

However, what happened next was completely beyond Gu Chengming's expectations.

On the day the Dao Throne descended, when Gu Chengming arrived at that plain as agreed, what he saw was not the scene he had previously imagined of True Monarch Liuyun Suyu and Zhou Qingmu guarding him.

The ones who came to assist him were far more than just those two.

...

On the plain, True Monarch Liuyun Suyu stood on the east side in her moon-white robes, while Zhou Qingmu stood on the south side in her purple-gold official robes, wearing the horizontal blade "Night Severance."

And in the other two directions, two figures quite familiar to Gu Chengming were standing.

The Master and the Director.

The Master stood with his hands behind his back on a slope on the west side. Seeing Gu Chengming arrive, his expression was as kind as ever: "Young friend, we have also come to assist you."

One must know that the weight of these two in the capital was of the utmost importance. The Master sat in the Imperial Academy, and the Director was in charge of the Imperial Observatory. Both were genuine pillars of stability for Daqian. Normally, if even one of them moved slightly, it was enough to stir a significant wave over the capital.

What was more important was that when Zhou Qingmu had previously attained her Dao Throne in the capital, she hadn't even received their help. Now, they were willing to collectively guard a junior like him, who was nominally only in the Fourth Realm.

This truly made Gu Chengming unsure of how to accept it. Before he could react, these four True Monarchs each occupied a direction on this plain and slowly released their auras.

The Master's aura was as warm as jade, spreading out from the western slope. Wherever it passed, the chaotic spiritual veins on the plain actually developed a sense of "order between superior and inferior," automatically flowing along some ancient ritual patterns.

The Director stood on the north side, his blue-gray Daoist robes fluttering in the wind. Starlight overflowed from his fingertips, slowly spreading into a dense star chart above his head.

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu lightly flicked her sleeve, and the flowing time on the plain suddenly slowed by half a beat. The surrounding scenery faintly rose with a sense of sluggishness after time was folded.

The horizontal blade "Night Severance" at Zhou Qingmu's waist had not yet left its sheath, but that heavy aura of slaughter had already spread out like a physical substance.

The auras of the four True Monarchs crisscrossed on this plain. Any True Monarch who wanted to take advantage of the Dao Throne's descent to snatch it would first have to weigh whether they could handle these four guardians at the same time.

The attitude currently revealed by the Master and the Director was actually quite ambiguous.

After all, these two were equivalent to the two trump cards of the entire Daqian that were not easily revealed.

Gu Chengming considered his relationship with these two not to be very deep, certainly not to the point where they would be willing to guard him and help him attain a Dao Throne.

One must know that a cultivator attaining a Dao Throne was a life-and-death matter. Being willing to guard someone meant risking a direct battle with other True Monarchs. At the True Monarch level, every battle could potentially land oneself in danger. Unless necessary, ordinary True Monarchs were absolutely unwilling to easily fight with others.

Furthermore, it was currently during the Great Calamity. The more a True Monarch used their Dao Throne power, the easier it was to be noticed by the Heavenly Dao.

That these two were willing to come at such a critical moment was clearly not simply because of Gu Chengming's slight connection with them, but for another reason.

Or rather—

Did this represent the will of Daqian?

Gu Chengming suddenly gained a bit more awareness of the faction he belonged to.

Sometimes, having a sufficiently iconic identity and faction standing behind you did indeed bring many inexplicable conveniences.

He had vaguely felt this way back at the Wenjian Sect, but he hadn't seen it this clearly then.

Now that the treatment of four True Monarchs guarding him together was before his eyes, he felt more and more that the faction benefits he had received along the way seemed truly a notch higher than those of ordinary cultivators.

Could it be because his charm value was too high?

Thoughts whirled in his mind, but on the surface, he quickly cupped his hands in thanks.

One must know that in the current situation where Seventh Realm True Monarchs were almost extinct, four Sixth Realm True Monarchs gathered in one place was already a crushing level of power.

Even if some True Monarch hidden in the shadows truly had designs on the Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne, after weighing the weight of these four guardians, they would likely have to suppress their delusions for the time being.

Just as those True Monarchs hidden in the shadows were each weighing their options, their hearts still holding a bit of unwillingness to give up—

At the moment the Dao Throne descended, a sudden change occurred.

The phantom of the Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne, which was slowly solidifying in the center of the plain, at the instant of its complete formation, actually did not rise toward the sky according to the usual logic of returning to heaven. Instead, it flew directly toward the direction where Gu Chengming was located.

Immediately after, a vast light suddenly exploded from that Dao Throne, sweeping everyone standing on the plain into it.

Even Gu Chengming himself was a bit stunned at this moment.

And those True Monarchs hidden in the shadows who were originally making their own plans, including the group like True Monarch Liuyun Suyu on the east side, were currently even more stunned than Gu Chengming.

They thought the struggle for this Dao Throne would be extremely difficult, but what do you mean the Dao Throne flew directly toward you?

...

As the light slowly faded, Gu Chengming found that his position had changed.

The surroundings were a vast and strange space, with no ground below and no sky above.

【Red Dust Phantom Step sensed the surroundings, its brow slightly furrowed.】

【Chengming, you must be careful here.】

Gu Chengming also reacted after a brief daze.

The situation of the Dao Throne flying directly toward him was clearly abnormal, but recalling what True Monarch Jiahao had said to him back then—"If necessary, please attain the Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne"—Gu Chengming had a vague suspicion.

So this was also a backup plan left by that True Monarch Jiahao?

Just as the thought settled, a human figure slowly materialized from Gu Chengming's forehead and appeared before him. It was none other than Senior Ano.

As soon as she appeared, she looked around this pale gold space with great curiosity. After observing for a moment, her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Is this the inside of the Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne?"

Gu Chengming was slightly stunned and quickly asked: "Senior, you recognize this place?"

Ano nodded quite honestly: "Previously, when I was fighting Jiahao, in order to prevent him from escaping, I once tried to swing my fist and smash this Dao Throne."

At this point, a rare hint of annoyance surfaced in her expression: "Unfortunately, I didn't manage to smash it."

"But I did smash it that once, so I'm actually quite familiar with this place."

Gu Chengming: "..."

That was truly... the strong have surprises everywhere.

Putting aside Ano's words, what currently troubled Gu Chengming more was actually another matter.

That was, how exactly did one operate to attain a Dao Throne?

Regarding the matter of attaining a Dao Throne, Gu Chengming did have some understanding. First, it was acquired while helping Zhou Qingmu attain her Dao Throne. Second, after that, he had also entertained the thought of attaining a Dao Throne himself and had inquired about the relevant methods along the way.

Different from the progressive realm settings from the First Realm to the Fifth Realm, the True Monarch realm was actually a quite "eerie" existence.

Because no matter what realm you were currently in, as long as you truly had the ability to attain a Dao Throne, you could directly leap to become a Sixth Realm True Monarch.

That Life-Defying Calamity-Slaying True Monarch had forcibly attained a Dao Throne while in the Third Realm, leaping straight to the Sixth Realm in one go.

In that case, as long as Gu Chengming could attain this Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne here, he could cross that long-standing realm chasm from the late stage of the Fourth Realm in one step and leap directly to become a True Monarch.

But this returned to the original question: Gu Chengming didn't actually know exactly how to attain a Dao Throne.

Just as he was thinking this, a figure suddenly appeared in this space.

That figure stepped out from the threads of light. He was tall, his face hidden behind a layer of golden glow and difficult to see clearly. But the aura naturally radiating from him allowed Gu Chengming to recognize him at first glance.

It was none other than True Monarch Jiahao.

"Young friend, I hope you have been well."

The figure walked closer, his tone as composed as it was in Gu Chengming's memory.

Gu Chengming straightened his expression and cupped his hands toward him: "Senior."

Although his heart was full of questions, he did not rush to ask them on the surface, only quietly waiting for the other party to speak first.

True Monarch Jiahao saw through his caution but did not point it out. He only stood before him with his hands behind his back and said slowly: "The me you see before you is not my main body, but just a strand of obsession I deliberately left inside when I attained this Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne back then."

Gu Chengming's heart stirred slightly: "Senior, you anticipated today long ago?"

"It can't be called anticipation." True Monarch Jiahao shook his head, his tone carrying a bit of profound meaning: "I only found a suitable 'Inheritor' for this Dao Throne before it returned to heaven, and set a threshold."

"As for who this Inheritor would be—"

He paused, his gaze falling on Gu Chengming from behind that layer of golden glow: "That will depend on heaven's will, and also on skill."

Gu Chengming's suspicion was completely confirmed at this moment.

As expected, this bizarre development of the "Dao Throne flying directly over" was a backup plan that True Monarch Jiahao had buried long ago from beginning to end.

He pondered for a moment and finally asked the several questions that had been circling in his heart for a long time: "Senior, what is so special about this Unfettered Heaven Dao Throne? Why did Senior Ano once say that you were because of this Dao Throne..."

He paused here, ultimately not saying the word "dead" directly.

True Monarch Jiahao, however, seemed to have expected him to ask this. His expression remained unchanged: "Because Unfettered Heaven was attained too early and its foundation was rooted too deeply, when the Great Calamity came, the Heavenly Dao was the first to target it."

"One of the most primal Dao Thrones on the All Beings Branch main branch—this was originally the most conspicuous target in the eyes of the Great Calamity," he continued in a calm tone.

"The Great Calamity is no ordinary disaster. It has always targeted those standing at the highest point. The higher the Dao Throne is attained and the deeper the foundation is rooted, the more dangerous the backlash one must endure during that screening."

"Because of this," True Monarch Jiahao changed the subject, "after I attained Unfettered Heaven back then, I never dared to completely lock my foundation into this Dao Throne. Only then was I able to barely keep a thread of life for myself during that round of screening by the Great Calamity."

Gu Chengming was thoughtful: "So Senior currently... still exists in this world in some form?"

True Monarch Jiahao's lips curled slightly behind that layer of golden glow, but he did not answer the question directly: "You will know in the future."

"For now, you need to pass my test first."

Gu Chengming's heart tightened. Just as he was about to speak, Senior Ano, who had been quietly listening beside him, suddenly moved.

She stepped forward toward True Monarch Jiahao with a quite indignant expression: "Jiahao, if you have the skill, fight me! What kind of skill is it to bully a junior!"

True Monarch Jiahao glanced at her and raised his hand to flick it toward Ano's direction.

In the next instant, a layer of golden light screen slowly rose from beneath Ano's feet, isolating her entire person outside of this space.

"This trial is a test I left for this Inheritor. Do not interfere here."

"Don't worry, I won't take his life."

Ano was isolated outside by that layer of golden light screen. She was so anxious she stomped her feet, her rounded face full of worry.

She clenched her fists and smashed them against the light screen a few times, but the light screen remained motionless, standing firm no matter how she hammered it.

She could only press herself against the light screen, looking longingly at Gu Chengming inside through that layer of golden glow, her expression full of the anxious meaning of "Young friend, you must be strong."

Inside the light screen, only Gu Chengming and True Monarch Jiahao remained.

True Monarch Jiahao's gaze fell back onto Gu Chengming.

"Since the young friend is a sword cultivator, then let this test be a competition using the sword."

As his voice fell, he raised his hand and beckoned. A Dharma sword with pale gold light flowing throughout its body condensed from the threads of light and landed steadily into his palm.

Gu Chengming's expression turned serious. He almost instinctively reached for the Knight Sword at his waist.

But in the next moment, he suddenly realized a new problem.

His state here seemed to be purely a mental body. Not only the Knight Sword, but all the Dharma swords, techniques, and even the pile of items at the bottom of his storage pouch he had previously relied on had completely disappeared in this space condensed purely from rules.

Gu Chengming's heart sank.

This was troublesome. How could a sword cultivator fight a competition without a sword?

True Monarch Jiahao did not give him much time to think.

The golden figure stepped forward, and the Dharma sword in his hand suddenly turned into a golden rainbow. Carrying a strand of vast sword intent, it pressed directly toward Gu Chengming's head.

Gu Chengming's heart tightened. His figure suddenly leaped backward, barely avoiding the sword strike.

The golden sword light brushed past the place where he had just stood, carving a crack in that pale gold space. Inside the crack, countless threads of light from the past and future faintly collapsed and scattered.

What a fierce sword.

Gu Chengming's heart was shaken.

He was currently unarmed, and the rules here only allowed the use of sword moves. Facing True Monarch Jiahao's wave after wave of intense attacks, he was temporarily left with nothing but clumsy dodging.

True Monarch Jiahao's offensive grew more and more urgent. The golden Dharma sword flipped and moved in his palm, each strike carrying an irresistible sword intent, forcing Gu Chengming to retreat step by step.

Gu Chengming retreated wildly, his mind rapidly calculating a way to break the situation.

He had tried to condense sword intent with his own soul to meet the attacks, but meeting the materialized sword light with his bare hands was no different from throwing an egg against a rock. He had also tried to use the power of the several techniques in the Laboratory of Love, but this space condensed purely from rules seemed to have weakened his connection with those techniques by more than half.

Just as he was forced to the point of almost having no room left to retreat, an incredibly bold idea suddenly popped into Gu Chengming's mind as if by divine inspiration.

As soon as the thought settled, Gu Chengming raised his hand almost without thinking and beckoned toward the light screen that isolated Ano.

In the next instant, Senior Ano, who was isolated outside the domain, suddenly turned into a stream of light, broke free from the restraint of that golden light screen, and sank back into Gu Chengming's forehead.

And almost at the same instant, Gu Chengming raised his hand again and called her out from his forehead once more.

Senior Ano's figure reappeared inside this light screen.

A bit of daze from being isolated just now still lingered on her rounded face; she seemed not to have figured out exactly how she had returned from outside the light screen.

Gu Chengming did not give her much time to be dazed. He took Senior Ano's small hand.

Ano: "?"

True Monarch Jiahao: "?"