A Legend of a Heavenly Cultivator

2 Thrown into the Ravine

Something inside Chu Jianqiu's chest cracked.

Not from physical pain, though that too had become nearly unbearable.

But from a realization that slowly crept into his mind, cold and cruel.

'None of this was real.'

Three years.

Three years he had left cultivation behind. Three years he had drained his savings, his energy, and his time. Three years he had turned down countless golden opportunities to accompany and care for a girl who, it turned out, had never truly seen him as anything more than a tool.

A low growl rose from the depths of his chest.

His legs, which had almost no strength left, began pressing against the ground. His bones creaked as he forced himself to stand. The remaining qi in his body, barely anything at all, began gathering in both his fists.

It did not matter what condition he was in now.

It did not matter that his body was nearly destroyed.

That girl had to answer for this.

But before Chu Jianqiu could take a single step, a figure landed between the two of them with graceful, confident strides. A white robe embroidered with gold. A handsome face with a cold, commanding expression. At his waist hung a high quality sword that even a single glance could tell was no ordinary item.

The young man stood with his back to Chu Jianqiu, directly in front of Liu Tianyao, who immediately leaned against his arm affectionately.

He turned to look at Chu Jianqiu with a gaze that conveyed one thing alone.

You are nothing.

"Ouyang Yuan," Chu Jianqiu murmured unconsciously.

Everyone in Yanfeng City knew that name.

The only son of the Ouyang Family. The first family. The strongest family. A crownless dynasty that controlled nearly all the cultivation resources and trade routes in this city.

And that man now stood before him, embracing the girl for whom he had just sacrificed everything, with a smile that hid nothing at all.

Chu Jianqiu felt his knees nearly give way.

Not from fear.

But because the entire truth finally crashed into him all at once, like a boulder the size of a mountain dropped directly onto his chest.

'I already lost before this battle even began.'

Somewhere between the pain and the devastation, something else began to stir within him. Something that had slept soundly behind three years of sacrifice and wasted love.

Something far older. Far deeper.

And far more dangerous.

The sky above Red Flower Hill felt farther away than usual.

Or perhaps that was simply how it felt when someone was dying.

Chu Jianqiu could no longer stand properly. Both his legs swayed like bamboo stalks about to snap. The qi in his body was nothing more than a spark above a puddle, nearly extinguished completely. But the couple before him gave him no time to breathe.

Ouyang Yuan advanced with casual steps, his sword still sheathed, as if dealing with Chu Jianqiu required no serious effort. Behind him, Liu Tianyao stood with her arms folded across her chest, watching the scene like someone viewing a performance whose ending she already knew.

Every blow that came, Chu Jianqiu received with a body that had almost no defense left.

One strike slammed into the side of his body.

Two steps backward.

The next blow crashed into his chest with a thrust of qi far beyond his current ability.

Three steps backward.

His feet could already feel the ground changing. From thick grass to loose small stones. From loose stones to... nothing.

'The cliff.'

But before that awareness could fully sink in, the final blow came not only from Ouyang Yuan. Liu Tianyao moved her hand as well, channeling the cold qi remaining in her meridians, and two waves of force struck Chu Jianqiu's body from two directions at once.

It felt like being rammed by two large boulders.

But what hurt more than that was the vibration that exploded right at the center of his body.

His dantian.

The foundation of a practitioner's entire cultivation. The place where qi was gathered, refined, and stored. And now, Chu Jianqiu's dantian cracked, then shattered, like a clay pot hurled onto a stone floor.

That sound was not heard by anyone except himself.

But for a cultivator, there was no sound more terrifying than that.

His body slid backward.

Past the edge of the cliff.

And fell.

Liu Tianyao's laughter was the last thing he heard before the wind of the ravine swallowed everything. Light. Delightful. The laughter of someone who had just successfully thrown away trash.

"Farewell, Chu Jianqiu!"

That voice echoed among the stone walls, growing smaller as his body fell faster and faster.

'So this is how it ends.'

His vision began to blur. The wind roared in his ears. The ravine walls slid upward on his left and right like two flowing gray lines. His hands tried to grab something, anything, but his fingers caught only air.

Then something stopped him.

A branch.

Not a complete stop, but enough to change the direction of his fall. His body spun, struck the stone wall briefly, then slid again, this time slower because the next branch was already waiting below. And the next. And the next.

Like invisible hands scrambling to slow his descent.

Until at last, with a thud muffled by a thick carpet of moss, Chu Jianqiu landed at the bottom of the ravine.

And moved no more.

Darkness.

No pain. No sound. Nothing at all except a darkness thick and calm like the bottom of a lake.

Chu Jianqiu did not know how long he had been there.

All he knew was that his body could still feel something, which meant he was still alive, though the line between living and not was razor thin. His dantian was destroyed. His meridians were in chaos. His strength was zero. The wounds inside his body gaped as if they had no intention of closing on their own.

'This is the end.'

It was not fear that he felt. More like exhaustion. An exhaustion so deep it came not only from his body but also from something deeper inside, from the part of him that for three years had kept giving without ever stopping to ask whether that giving was valued.

But then something strange happened.

In the midst of that darkness, a light appeared.

Small. Like a candle at the end of a very long corridor. But the light moved toward him, or perhaps he moved toward it, he could not tell the difference. And when the distance between them was close enough, Chu Jianqiu saw that the light was not a candle.

It was a tower.

Towering within his mind realm with a magnificence that ordinary words could not explain. Seven visible levels, perhaps more above hidden by clouds. Its walls were made of a material that was neither stone nor metal, shimmering with colors that alternated between gold and white. From every window on every level, light poured out like breath.

And then a voice spoke.

Not a human voice. Not the voice of a creature. More accurately described as a feeling that transformed into words.

"A new master."

Chu Jianqiu did not know how to respond. Within his mind realm, he stood with a body whole, far different from his physical condition dying at the bottom of the ravine.

"What is this?" he asked.

"A tower." The answer was simple. "Which has now chosen its new master."

"Chose me?" Chu Jianqiu furrowed his brow. "I am dying. My dantian is destroyed. What use is choosing someone who is nearly dead?"

There was no answer to that. But instead, the door of the tower on the first level opened slowly, and from within flowed spiritual energy so dense it felt like real mist touching the skin.

"Inside lies spiritual energy you cannot find anywhere else. Cultivation techniques that surpass what exists in your world. Treasures waiting to be claimed." The voice flowed calmly. "But you cannot take everything at once. For everything you wish to obtain, you must prove yourself worthy of receiving it. Develop your value. Prove that you are worthy of being this tower's master. Then this tower will continue to open its doors wider for you."

Chu Jianqiu remained silent for a long time.