Chapter 40: A Fool, and Also a Pitiful Person

By comparison, what Gu Jiangming obtained could only be described as a bountiful harvest.

【Heaven and Earth are born with me, and all things are one with me.】

This simple sentence, without too many words, used concise and clear language to state the Great Dao that the owner of this chessboard pursued throughout their life.

【Due to your foresight that transcends the era, you have a rather profound understanding of the Great Dao. On this Lanke Chessboard, you can use one hundred years of time to deduce a divine ability or a skill.】

【Life is like a game of chess; looking back on a hundred years.】

【You think it over and decide that you have already made your choice regarding the cultivation technique, but you are in greater need of a lethal art for self-defense. Believing that among all phenomena in the world, the sword alone reigns supreme, you decide to deduce a sword art as your unique technique.】

【And you happen to see the sword case at the edge of the stone table; if you are to deduce a sword art, the items left behind by the owner of this chessboard must certainly not be ordinary.】

【In this way, the two can complement each other, saving you the time of searching for a suitable weapon.】

【You use the chessboard to deduce, attempting to choose a sword art that suits you.】

【Your requirements for this sword art are not high. You do not hope for it to have overly sophisticated sword moves that strike in endless succession, nor do you want it to consume a massive amount of Mana to execute. You want the purest of sword moves—moves that can still be used even when there is no Mana support.】

【You constantly experiment on the chessboard. Little figures like chess pieces leap onto the board, and through your will, they attempt to deduce, study, and practice move by move. Before long, the black and white pieces begin to clash, executing the sword moves you have deduced.】

【They constantly search for the flaws within the sword moves, each strike and stance seeking the essence you desire: speed, precision, and ruthlessness.】

【A new sword art is born under the hundred-year deduction on the chessboard.】

【This sword art possesses a new characteristic.】

【Once this sword art is unleashed, it mostly consists of only one strike and only one stance. To an outsider, it appears to be an incredibly ordinary sword strike, but when the sword light is about to fall, it is like a startling flash of lightning, like a rainbow shocking the heavens.】

【And its most stunning aspect lies in the very instant the sword falls; no one can describe just how brilliant and dazzling this strike is when it descends.】

【Characteristic: One Strike (This sword art mostly consists of only one move; for opponents with a realm lower than yours, it has a 50% chance to trigger a crushing effect or even a kill.)】

【As for this sword art, you have not thought of a name for it, so you temporarily call it Nameless.】

【You pick up the sword case, which contains a sword that emits no light through its body. From its appearance, its sharpness is mostly restrained within, but you are absolutely certain that this precious sword must have some history.】

Gu Jiangming's sense of tension suddenly eased; the things he could keep for himself were right before his eyes.

In his previous train of thought, he had been thinking that he must leave something useful for himself. Clearly, based on his own mindset, his character also proceeded to deduce along lines favorable to Gu Jiangming during the simulation.

This sword move does not require much Mana support, which means that if there is Mana support, it can cause even higher damage, and even without Mana support, it can still function.

If this sword case and this sword manual could be passed down to his current self, then in the real world, Gu Jiangming would have the capital to go and explore.

Gu Jiangming thought to himself that since this sword case had remained in the Taicang Ruins for so long without being destroyed, it shouldn't be much of a problem for it to last until ten thousand years later.

【After tidying up your things, you discover that there is not much left behind here.】

【Wang Qinghe is already searching everywhere for a way out, but upon closer inspection, it seems you can only return to the location of the original exit.】

【And that beam of light is shining over from there.】

【In other words, if you want to get out, you can only follow the original path and break through the sealed rock wall to leave.】

【You exchange your respective views, and your expressions simultaneously turn ugly. You did not expect that while you obtained the fortuitous encounter in the Taicang Ruins, you would also be trapped here.】

【Fortunately, Heaven does not cut off all paths. Within this Grotto-Heaven, there is fertile land, and there are still some seeds in the tree house—likely left behind by the chess-playing senior who lived in seclusion here to pass the time.】

【As long as there is a sufficient water source and edible food, you can cultivate here. Once you reach a certain realm, you will naturally be able to break out of this place.】

【Thinking of this, you reassure Wang Qinghe, survey the terrain once more, and confirm there are no extra exits. You then cut down some bamboo, build a bamboo house yourself, and enter seclusion to cultivate within it.】

It could be seen that only two options remained on the screen.

【1: Cultivate.】

【2: Find Wang Qinghe to talk.】

Gu Jiangming's vision went dark. The treasure was obtained, the fortuitous encounter was secured, but the person was trapped, and the items might not even be kept.

Who knows which wilderness the Taicang Ruins will be in ten thousand years from now? Isn't this just getting it for nothing?

He hit the jackpot, but he can't get it—it's purely infuriating!

Previously, he had wanted to become a prominent figure here; he had never imagined that the situation of "dying before achieving success" would happen to him.

Looking at what he can do on the screen now, is the only path left to cultivate?

Yes!

Cultivate!

This might not be a bad choice!

With such a hidden and safe place to rest, when he eventually manages to pull through and walk out of these Taicang Ruins, his strength will definitely be far superior to the past.

The advantage is safety!

And I don't necessarily have to stare at myself cultivating.

I just click this little 【Custody】 button, and relying on the powerful perseverance bolstered by 【Born with Proud Bones】 and 【Heart of an Innocent Child】, when I wake up from a sleep, won't this combat power and realm rise fiercely?

A golden scale is no creature of the pond; upon meeting the wind and clouds, it turns into a dragon.

Harden his heart and will, labor his sinews and bones.

Polish well and settle down.

Thinking of this, the gloom in Gu Jiangming's heart eased quite a bit.

Seeing that it was getting late, he closed his eyes and rested.

Wake up tomorrow morning to check the gains; it's impossible that by staying in the ruins, one could lose their life while in a safe house.

In the Wang family courtyard in Beiping Prefecture.

Wang Qinghe also wailed. She had just stuffed a piece of pastry into her mouth, preparing to continue exploring the vastness of this world after going out, yet she was directly sealed inside the Taicang Ruins and couldn't even get out.

But thinking of the countless previous Reincarnations that ended in death the moment they began, she suddenly smiled with relief.

"Forget it, let me go ask about Gu Jiangming first and fulfill the wish of my foolish past life." Wang Qinghe placed the pastry on the table and pushed open the door.

At this moment, Wang Yuan was still in the study looking at scrolls of official documents, with several letters laid out on the table. Hearing someone knock on the door knocker, he spoke in response, "Come in."

"Father, the person Qing'er asked you to find, have you found them?" Wang Qinghe closed the Mie Changsheng in her mind and asked.

She did not know why many people did not recognize Gu Jiangming from Mount Shu, but her father actually had an impression of him the moment he heard the name Gu Jiangming.

Hearing this, Wang Yuan also felt deeply strange, "I found it, but don't you usually dislike calligraphy?"

"Ah?" Wang Qinghe paused, and she also felt strange in her heart.

She was looking for Gu Jiangming of Mount Shu; what did that have to do with calligraphy?

"Could it be that you don't know of Layman Nan Gu?" Wang Yuan paused, not thinking much of it, "That is true, he was famous while he was alive but not to that extent, yet after his death, he became renowned throughout the imperial court; he is quite a strange person."

Speaking to this point, Wang Yuan stopped playing this guessing game and said slowly, "My daughter, this person you are looking for, he lived seventy years ago."

"He was a fool, and also a pitiful person."

(End of this chapter)