The Holy Son of Tianlan

Early morning, Tianlan Sacred Ground.

The sudden rain had just stopped.

Mist filled the mountains, and under the sunlight it shimmered with a faint golden glow.

A bird carried a branch with raindrops into the sky, but as it flew toward the mountaintop, the drops fell, landing squarely on a youth sitting cross-legged on a giant rock at the peak.

The youth wore a white robe.

His face was fair and delicate, his figure slender.

Between his closed brows and eyes there was a hint of softness.

A passerby might mistake him for a young woman.

This was Gu Qiu, the Holy Son of Tianlan Sacred Ground.

Six years ago, as a genius of Tianlan, twelve-year-old Gu Qiu took first place in the Nine Sect Tournament with a mysterious cultivation technique and astonishing cold-attributed profound energy.

He became known to the world.

Three years later, at the next Nine Sect Tournament, he displayed a Golden Core realm and crushed all opponents to win first place again.

That confirmed his status as the number one genius of the nine sects.

He was crowned the First Holy Son.

For a time, his fame swept the world.

At this moment, Gu Qiu wiped the rain from his forehead, opened his eyes, and let out a helpless sigh.

His eyes were full of frustration and anxiety.

The woman in green standing silently behind him saw this, a trace of helplessness and pity flashing through her eyes.

She stepped forward and said:

“Holy Son, time for breakfast.”

Gu Qiu said nothing.

He nodded silently and walked toward the palace on the mountainside.

That was the residence of his master, the Lord of Tianlan Sacred Ground, Ancestor Wuya.

Gu Qiu was an orphan.

In his early years, Ancestor Wuya devoted himself solely to the Dao.

In old age, he had no children.

Some years ago, while traveling, he saw Gu Qiu on the street.

Gu Qiu was five then, surviving on charity from village households, having long lived on the streets.

Ancestor Wuya saw that the boy had excellent bone structure.

He also saw Gu Qiu sharing his own food with other wandering children.

Moved by his kind heart, the ancestor developed a fondness for him.

Having no children of his own, the ancestor simply treated Gu Qiu as his grandson.

He brought him up to Tianlan Peak and raised him with great care.

He also had the head of the Tianlan Shadow Guards at the time, the green-clad woman now following Gu Qiu, Qingluan, take charge of Gu Qiu’s food and clothing.

Gu Qiu was not good with words, but he was deeply grateful to Ancestor Wuya.

Every morning, he went to pay his respects.

When they arrived outside the Tianlan Palace, Qingluan stopped of her own accord.

Only Gu Qiu entered the great hall.

Inside, a white-haired old man sat upright in the center.

Seeing Gu Qiu come in, a smile flashed through his eyes.

He chuckled:

“Ah Qiu is here.”

“Come, sit!”

Gu Qiu did not sit.

After bowing respectfully to the old man, he spoke.

“Master, this morning I tried again to find an opportunity to break through.”

“But it was still the same as before.”

“Just as I was about to break through, my profound energy suddenly went out of control.”

“Master, this bottleneck has lasted two years already.”

“Is there really no solution?”

Gu Qiu’s eyes were full of unwillingness.

Ancestor Wuya sighed upon hearing this.

He looked at his disciple’s face, too soft and delicate for a man, and at those long, slender, fair fingers.

Guilt and helplessness flashed through his eyes.

“This is my fault.”

“Back then, I should never have let you cultivate that technique of unknown origin.”

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come to this state, with your cultivation stagnating.”

Ancestor Wuya spoke slowly.

“These past two years, I’ve gone through all the ancient texts collected in Tianlan Sacred Ground.”

“I haven’t found anything about your condition.”

“I can’t detect anything either.”

“But don’t worry.”

“I will find a way to solve it.”

Gu Qiu had asked Ancestor Wuya this question countless times over the past two years.

He already knew the answer in his heart, yet he fell silent for a long while.

After a long moment, he slowly spoke.

“Master, I have never regretted cultivating this technique.”

“Without it, I know I wouldn’t have been able to break through so quickly.”

Indeed.

Back then, when nine-year-old Gu Qiu reached the age to cultivate, Ancestor Wuya had chosen the ancestral technique of Tianlan Sacred Ground for him.

But one day, while Gu Qiu was playing outside alone, a green bird came carrying an ancient jade.

The bird was extremely intelligent.

It placed the jade in Gu Qiu’s hand.

As soon as the jade touched his palm, a cultivation technique appeared in his mind.

On closer look, Gu Qiu found that the technique held a strange attraction for him.

He immediately decided to cultivate it.

Ancestor Wuya could not talk him out of it.

He figured that even if there was a problem with the technique, Gu Qiu could abandon it and cultivate anew before the Golden Core realm.

Tianlan Sacred Ground was a large sect and had no shortage of spiritual medicines to cleanse Gu Qiu’s meridians and marrow.

So he let the boy have his way.

Gu Qiu did not disappoint.

Ever since he began cultivating, his realm advanced by leaps and bounds.

Before he turned fifteen, he reached the Golden Core realm.

He also developed a strange icy profound energy.

No martial artist of the same realm could withstand it.

Even Ancestor Wuya was startled.

After a thorough examination, he found that Gu Qiu’s foundation was extremely solid.

The ancestor set his worries aside and let Gu Qiu do as he pleased.

This also solidified Gu Qiu’s reputation as the Holy Son of Tianlan.

The martial artists in the sect who had previously been displeased with him changed their views.

Later, he won first place in the Nine Sect Tournament twice, and his name spread across the world.

But things always have two sides.

As Gu Qiu grew older, he didn’t grow a beard like other people.

Instead, his skin became even fairer, and the lines of his face even softer.

Even his body below never showed any reaction.

Gu Qiu was strongly repulsed by this.

He never allowed anyone to mention it.

It had become a deep worry in his heart.

If anyone brought it up, he would lose his temper.

From two years ago onward, his realm had risen all the way to the peak of the Golden Core.

When he was about to break through to the Divine Transformation realm and form his Primordial Spirit, a problem arose.

Every time he tried to break through, at the most critical moment, his profound energy would suddenly become uncontrollable.

The result was failure.

Over these two years, Gu Qiu had tried countless times to find a chance for that breakthrough, but he always fell short.

He had felt lost and disappointed, until now he had even grown somewhat dejected.

Gu Qiu had also gone through all the ancient texts of Tianlan Sacred Ground.

Just like Ancestor Wuya, he found nothing.

After all, Gu Qiu was just a teenager who had never encountered a bottleneck before.

Now this bottleneck had stuck him for two years.

The blow to Gu Qiu was immense.

It had almost become an obsession.

After that heart-to-heart talk, Gu Qiu walked out of the great hall with a blank expression.

Qingluan, waiting outside, silently followed behind him as they went to breakfast.

Gu Qiu had not reached the level of fasting.

Even if he had, given how much he loved to eat, three meals a day were essential.

Yes, as the Holy Son, Gu Qiu’s only hobby was eating.

Whenever he was upset, he would go somewhere and eat a big meal.

Once the food went down, the unhappiness in his heart basically dissipated.

In his early years Gu Qiu had grown up eating meals from different households, so he had a special fondness for food.

During breakfast, Gu Qiu buried his head in food, as if he was chewing and swallowing his morning unhappiness along with the meal.

After breakfast, a satisfied Gu Qiu lay back in his chair, slowly savoring the contentment of a full stomach.

After a long while, once his stomach was no longer stuffed, he suddenly raised his fair, slender hand and looked at it again and again.

Then, out of nowhere, he asked Qingluan standing nearby:

“Sister Qingluan, do you think I’m really a man now?”

“Don’t overthink, Holy Son.”

“You are a real man, and a rare handsome youth to boot,” Qingluan said, lowering her eyes to hide the ache in her heart.

Then she smiled.

“In the future, many young ladies from the sects will surely fall for you.”

“As long as you stop wearing that black robe that hides your face when you go out, you’ll charm thousands of girls.”

Gu Qiu gave a bitter smile and mocked himself.

“Ha, charm thousands of girls?”

“It’d be lucky if I wasn’t mistaken for a girl myself.”

He turned over and sat up in one motion, looking at Qingluan behind him.

“Sister Qingluan, do you think I really have a chance to break through this bottleneck and successfully form my Primordial Spirit?”

Without waiting for her reply, he lowered his head again and said dejectedly:

“There are plenty of people in this world who get stuck at one realm for life.”

“Maybe I’m one of them.”

“It’s not that the technique is flawed.”

“I just don’t have enough talent.”

“I’ll probably only ever reach the Golden Core realm.”

Qingluan knew Gu Qiu felt bitter inside.

What he needed most now was encouragement.

She bent down and pulled him into her arms, slowly stroking the younger brother she had watched grow up.

Endless tenderness welled up in her heart.

“Holy Son, you’re overthinking again.”

“Most of those people who never break through in their whole lives are old, their talent used up, their bodies weak and their qi and blood failing.”

“Naturally their chances of breaking through shrink.”

“But how old are you?”

“How could your talent be used up?”

“Besides, you grew up under my watch.”

“You don’t skip a single meal, you little glutton.”

“Do you really believe your qi and blood are failing?”

Gu Qiu felt embarrassed at her words.

He forgot his worry about his cultivation realm for the moment and hurriedly defended himself.

“That’s not it!”

“I just make sure I won’t be hungry while training.”

“If I’m hungry, my mind wanders.”

“I eat so much only so I can focus when I cultivate.”

The two went back and forth for quite a while.

Gu Qiu stopped feeling upset.

He calmed down, looked up at Qingluan, and said:

“Sister Qingluan, I’m fine.”

“I should go back to training.”

Qingluan studied Gu Qiu carefully.

Only after confirming he was all right did she relax.

She patted his head.

“Then I’ll take my leave, Holy Son.”

“Sister Qingluan, there’s no one else here.”

“Why do you have to be so formal with me?” Gu Qiu chided.

For the past two years, whenever he felt upset about his cultivation, it was Sister Qingluan who guided him and stayed by his side without fail.

He already regarded her as his own older sister.

He had told her many times not to worry about those useless formalities.

Qingluan always agreed with a smile, but the next time, those formalities would still show.

It seemed they were engraved into her bones.

All his efforts to persuade her were in vain.

Watching Qingluan slowly withdraw from the bedchamber, Gu Qiu adjusted himself briefly and then strolled out as well.

He walked along the path toward the peak of Tianlan.

The sun was already high in the sky.

The morning raindrops had vanished.

All he could hear were the calls of a few spirit birds.

A gentle breeze brushed his face, filling Gu Qiu with delight.

He walked leisurely into a great hall at the top of Tianlan Peak.

This hall had been established by Ancestor Wuya specifically for Holy Son Gu Qiu.

The blessed grottoes in the sacred ground were places Gu Qiu could not bear at his current stage, so this separate place was made for his cultivation.

The hall was set with various seals to prevent outsiders from prying or disturbing.

It also had a profound energy gathering formation that could gather profound energy on its own.

Training here doubled the results with half the effort.

From this, one could see how much Ancestor Wuya valued Gu Qiu.

No one else enjoyed such treatment.

As the hall door closed itself, Gu Qiu let out a light breath and steadied his gaze.

‘Master, Sister Qingluan.’

‘They are so good to me and have such high hopes for me.’

‘I definitely have to break through this bottleneck.’

‘I refuse to believe I’ve truly reached the end of my talent.’

‘I am the First Holy Son.’

Outside the hall, the spirit birds kept singing.

Inside, the handsome youth had already begun yet another round of charging and trying.