Chapter 17: Father and Mother Stunned, Shiyang Stirred!
Tongxing Escort Agency.
Gu Changchuan was busy tallying grain stock.
In a few days he’d need to run a grain-escort job—a major client. If it went smoothly, the pay would run to a tael or more.
“Changchuan!”
“Changchuan!!”
The chief escort leapt off his horse and came tearing into the courtyard.
“Escort Lin!” Gu Changchuan greeted him respectfully.
Escort Chief Lin gripped his subordinate’s arm and blurted everything out in a single breath, urgently:
“You’re still moving grain? Come, come with me to the academy right now—your son’s become famous!”
Gu Changchuan’s expression froze in shock, a sense of foreboding rising in his chest.
Seeing his worried look, Escort Chief Lin rattled it off without pause:
“It’s not misfortune.”
“It’s the greatest news imaginable!”
“Your son Gu Lin—silent until now, but when he finally spoke, he shook the heavens. At only Energy Condensation Third Tier, he outshone a whole host of the academy’s finest, placing third in the preliminary trial.”
Gu Changchuan stood frozen, as if bound in place, his eyes locked fixedly on Escort Chief Lin.
He assumed Lin was joining the others in mocking him, the same as always.
His son, shaking the heavens?
Suddenly at Energy Condensation Third Tier?
How could Energy Condensation Third Tier possibly place third at Shiyang Academy? Even in the preliminary trial, Third Tier shouldn’t have cracked the top twenty!
Whatever lie this was, it was riddled with holes—it made no logical sense at all!
Escort Chief Lin stamped his foot hard, his face flushed with urgency:
“Changchuan, why would I lie to you about this? Go see for yourself! Your son’s been a hidden dragon in a shallow pond—one stir, and the whole sky’s shaken!”
With that, he forcibly dragged his subordinate along, quickly and concisely recounting everything that had happened that morning.
Suddenly—he felt Changchuan’s arm trembling violently.
He turned to see a whole storm of emotions crashing across Gu Changchuan’s face, his eyes filled with shock.
Could this really not be a cruel joke?
In that instant, Gu Changchuan stared at Escort Chief Lin with an expression nearly pleading, his voice cracking with barely-held tears:
“Lin’er… Lin’er, is it really Lin’er?”
In nearly a decade of working together, this was the first time Escort Chief Lin had ever seen this tough, fearless man’s eyes redden, tears falling openly in public.
However brutal the escort work, however dangerous the bounty missions that risked his very life, Gu Changchuan had never once flinched, let alone complained.
But now, he wept.
Escort Chief Lin nodded firmly, his voice ringing with conviction:
“Changchuan, before half the day’s out, all of Shiyang County will know you raised yourself a truly remarkable son!”
The moment the words landed, blood surged straight to Gu Changchuan’s head, and he staggered, nearly toppling over.
Overwhelming joy—somehow it unsteadied him even more than despair or fear ever had!!
Gu Changchuan’s whole face went rigid as if frozen solid, utterly without expression, only murmuring over and over:
“I have to find my wife.”
“I have to find my wife.”
He tore out of the agency like a man possessed.
Escort Chief Lin let out a helpless chuckle. From now on, he too would have reason to envy Gu Changchuan for raising such a son who’d truly made something of himself.
He’d always felt close to Gu Changchuan, admiring the man’s willingness to endure hardship without complaint—but from here on, the whole agency would hold him in a certain measure of awe. After all, Gu Lin’s future prospects were boundless now! Even if he failed to enter a Blade-Bearer Bureau, his martial willpower alone—strong enough to crush Young Master Qilin himself—would surely draw offers from more than a few sects across Chu Province. Becoming a true disciple under one of them would secure him no small standing in Chuwei Prefecture’s wider world. Who wouldn’t extend him some measure of respect?
Down the bustling main street, Gu Changchuan rode his horse hard, his mind entirely blank to everything around him, consumed only by a bewildered daze pushed to its absolute limit.
The chief escort had no reason to lie—true or false, he’d know the moment he reached the academy.
His thoughts drifted back to what Lin’er had said over dinner the night before—
‘Father, tomorrow’s the academy selection trials. Won’t you come watch the excitement?’
Why had he said that?
And thinking further back, to Lin’er’s strange behavior these past days—stealing away with a human-skin mask, leaving Shiyang County with that bounty notice in hand.
‘Lin’er, when exactly did you start cultivating?’
‘Was there some kind of opportunity?’
‘You little rascal, keeping even your own father in the dark…’
Gu Changchuan’s mind was a complete fog.
This time he made it home in half the usual time. Zhou Man was inside weaving cloth.
“Wife, come with me to the academy!”
Gu Changchuan pulled her along, bursting out the door.
Zhou Man’s face went pale, panic rising within her.
“Lin’er hasn’t caused any trouble.”
“From this day forward, the neighbors will never dare laugh at us again!”
Gu Changchuan gripped the reins tight and rode off at a gallop.
***
Shiyang Academy—every notable figure had gathered, the air alive with countless voices.
The vast academy grounds, inside and out, held nearly ten thousand onlookers.
His heart pounding with a mix of excitement and anxiety, Gu Changchuan pulled his wife along, pushing through the crowd toward the square.
Suddenly—he stopped in his tracks, the storm of emotion inside him impossible to hold back any longer, churning wildly until he trembled with sheer excitement.
He’d spotted, in the corner of the high platform, that lone figure who stood so utterly out of place.
Twenty people in total—and one of them was Lin’er!
Zhou Man saw it too in that same instant, and a storm crashed through her heart as well, tears spilling freely down her face—years of accumulated grievance finally breaking loose all at once. Heedless of the strange looks around her, she sank to her knees, sobbing quietly.
Lin’er was no mediocre washout. Lin’er was no spineless coward who groveled before others.
Lin’er was Shiyang County’s own towering prodigy!!
“Why are you crying?”
Several onlookers, puzzled, offered handkerchiefs, some of the women reaching out to comfort her.
Zhou Man wiped at her tear-streaked face, laughter breaking through her tears, pointing toward the platform as she choked out:
“Gu Lin is my son.”
“I’m just… I’m just so happy…”
In that instant, the surrounding crowd’s expressions shifted to genuine respect.
‘This was the mother of the prodigy Gu, of all people?’
Lying dormant for years within a cohort crawling with parasites, only to shake the very heavens in a single stroke—even if Energy Condensation Third Tier wasn’t the most elite cultivation, his martial willpower alone, surpassing even Young Master Qilin’s, was enough to be celebrated for a lifetime, enough to earn the admiration of every martial cultivator around.
“Yes, I’m Lin’er’s mother,” Zhou Man said, her face breaking into a wide smile, pride nearly spilling out of every word.
“Compose yourself!”
Gu Changchuan scolded sharply, his face stern—yet a moment later he straightened his own back, quietly, and sighed with his head held high:
“My unworthy son—forgive the embarrassment!”
With that he continued forward, his stride powerful and confident as a dragon on the move, his voice, carried on internal energy, traveling far, far into the distance.
At that moment, he felt a pride unlike anything he’d ever known before!
His own son, capable of such a brilliant, dazzling moment!!
And up on the high platform, the one shichen of rest had come to an end. The orange-robed figure stepped forward, his voice rolling like thunder:
“Rules for the final combat trial.”
“Double-elimination. Win two matches, claim a seeded spot. Lose two matches, and you’re out!”
“Any special secret arts may be used without restriction. Consuming realm-breaking pills during combat is forbidden. No lethal blows once an opponent is severely wounded. When we call a halt, you stop immediately, or you forfeit your qualification!”
The moment he finished, the entire square fell silent.
Double-elimination meant the twenty contestants would draw lots, splitting into a Winners’ Bracket of ten and a Losers’ Bracket of ten.
The ten in the Winners’ Bracket would draw lots again, and the first five winners would immediately claim their seeded spots.
The ten in the Losers’ Bracket would draw lots as well, and the five who lost there would be eliminated entirely.
The five who fell from the Winners’ Bracket and the five who rose from the Losers’ Bracket would then draw lots against each other, and the winners would claim the final five seeded spots.
Perfectly fair!!
It minimized the role of luck while still allowing room for error.
Even if you drew Young Master Qilin in the very first round and lost, it wouldn’t matter, as long as you won every match after that.
Looking at the whole structure of this qualification trial, it truly achieved fairness—genuinely selecting out the ten strongest contestants among them.
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