## Chapter 25: Cracks in the Ordinary World
Morning arrived without ceremony.
No thunder split the sky. No strange lights descended from the heavens. The sun rose as it always had, casting pale gold across the Li family estate, illuminating trimmed hedges, quiet stone paths, and the faint steam rising from the kitchen.
Yet everything felt different.
Li Tianchen stood by the window of his room, watching the servants move through their routines. Their steps were the same, their conversations mundane—complaints about groceries, idle talk about weather—but beneath it all was a tension they did not yet understand.
Change had entered the world.
And once change arrived, it never left quietly.
A knock came at the door.
"Come in," Li Tianchen said.
Li Tianhao entered, still rubbing sleep from his eyes, hair slightly messy. He paused after two steps, then frowned.
"You're already awake," he said. "Do cultivators even need sleep, or are you just showing off?"
Li Tianchen turned. "You slept poorly."
"That obvious?"
"You kept circulating qi unconsciously. Your breathing pattern was uneven."
Tianhao stared. "That sounds unhealthy."
"It's normal at the beginning," Li Tianchen replied. "Your body is adjusting."
Tianhao flopped onto the chair by the table. "Adjusting is one way to put it. My muscles feel like I ran a marathon, fought a bear, then argued with the bear's entire family."
Li Tianchen poured tea and handed him a cup. "Drink slowly."
Tianhao obeyed, then sighed. "So… today feels important."
"It is."
"Great. That's reassuring."
Li Tianchen studied him for a moment. "You're afraid."
Tianhao didn't deny it. "I'd be worried if I wasn't. Yesterday you basically told us the world is about to turn into something out of a movie, and now my body is doing things it absolutely did not ask permission to do."
Li Tianchen sat across from him. "Fear isn't weakness. Acting without thinking is."
Tianhao squinted. "Is this the part where you give me a lecture?"
"No," Li Tianchen said. "This is the part where I tell you the truth."
Tianhao straightened slightly.
"People will discover power without understanding it," Li Tianchen continued. "Some will think it's a blessing. Some will think it's a curse. Most will try to use it to get ahead."
"And us?"
"We don't rush," Li Tianchen said. "We build."
Tianhao stared into his tea. "You make it sound simple."
"It isn't," Li Tianchen replied. "That's why discipline matters."
—
Breakfast was quieter than usual.
Ji Ruyan moved between the table and the kitchen, placing dishes down carefully, as if worried that any sudden noise might fracture the fragile calm. Li Zhenyu read the news on his tablet instead of a newspaper, his brows drawn together. Zhao Meilin sat beside him, occasionally glancing up to watch Tianchen and Tianhao with an expression that mixed concern and curiosity.
Li Zhenfeng arrived late, jacket still half-buttoned.
"Traffic's getting strange," he said, sitting down. "People are distracted. Almost crashed into a delivery truck because the driver was watching his phone."
Ji Ruyan frowned. "Watching what?"
Li Zhenfeng hesitated. "Videos. More of them."
Li Zhenyu set his tablet down. "They're everywhere now. Strength displays, strange phenomena. Some are fake, but not all."
Zhao Meilin looked at Tianchen. "This is what you meant."
"Yes," Li Tianchen said simply.
Li Zhenyu sighed. "The board called an emergency meeting. Investors are nervous. Markets don't like uncertainty."
"They never have," Li Tianchen replied.
Ji Ruyan sat down at last. "And what about you?" she asked her eldest son. "What are you planning to do today?"
Li Tianchen met her gaze. "Observe."
"That's it?"
"For now."
Zhao Meilin tilted her head. "That doesn't sound like you."
Li Tianchen smiled faintly. "I've learned patience."
Li Tianhao nearly choked on his food. "I can confirm this is terrifying."
—
After breakfast, Li Tianchen walked out of the estate alone.
He did not take a car.
He wanted to feel the city.
The streets were busier than usual despite it being a weekday morning. People clustered in small groups, talking animatedly. Phones were everywhere. Some faces held excitement, others fear, others a sharp, hungry curiosity that Li Tianchen recognized all too well.
He passed by a convenience store where two men argued loudly.
"I'm telling you, it's real," one insisted. "My cousin lifted a refrigerator."
"That's adrenaline and angles," the other scoffed. "You people believe anything."
Li Tianchen kept walking.
A little farther on, a woman stood frozen on the sidewalk, staring at her hands as if they no longer belonged to her. A man nearby tried to calm her, his voice shaking almost as much as hers.
"It's okay, maybe you just imagined it."
"But I felt it," she whispered. "Something moved inside me."
Li Tianchen slowed, then continued on.
This was the early stage.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
Wonder.
It would not last.
—
By midday, Li Tianchen found himself in a quiet park. He sat on a bench beneath a tree whose leaves rustled softly despite the absence of wind.
He closed his eyes—not to cultivate, but to listen.
Qi was still thin, but its movement was becoming less uniform. Small disturbances rippled through the environment, like cracks forming in ice. Places where people gathered emotionally—fear, excitement, desperation—showed the strongest fluctuations.
Human emotion was acting as a catalyst.
"A messy way to awaken a world," Li Tianchen murmured.
"Talking to yourself?"
He opened his eyes.
An elderly man stood nearby, holding a paper bag filled with roasted chestnuts. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes were sharp—too sharp for an ordinary passerby.
Li Tianchen inclined his head slightly. "Thinking aloud."
The man chuckled. "Dangerous habit these days."
Li Tianchen studied him. "You're not afraid."
The man shrugged. "At my age? I've seen rise and fall. A little strangeness won't kill me."
"That confidence isn't common."
The man smiled. "Experience rarely is."
They stood in silence for a moment.
Then the man spoke again. "You feel it too, don't you?"
Li Tianchen did not answer immediately. "Feel what?"
"The world stretching," the man said. "Like it's waking up after a long sleep."
Li Tianchen's eyes sharpened. "You're perceptive."
The man laughed softly. "Perceptive enough to know when I'm out of my depth. Don't worry—I'm not asking for secrets."
He extended the bag. "Chestnuts?"
Li Tianchen hesitated, then accepted one. "Thank you."
"Be careful," the man said as he turned to leave. "Young people tend to mistake power for permission."
Li Tianchen watched him go.
"Wise words," he said quietly.
—
That evening, the family gathered again.
This time, the atmosphere was heavier.
Li Zhenyu had just returned from his meetings, exhaustion etched into his face.
"It's worse than I thought," he said, loosening his tie. "Government agencies are scrambling. They don't know whether to suppress information or ride the wave."
"And businesses?" Zhao Meilin asked.
"Those with connections are positioning themselves. Others are panicking."
Ji Ruyan looked at Tianchen. "People are going to get hurt."
"Yes," Li Tianchen said. "And not just physically."
Li Tianhao leaned forward. "So what do we do? Sit here and pretend we're normal?"
"No," Li Tianchen replied. "We prepare quietly."
Li Zhenfeng crossed his arms. "Prepare how?"
"First, we protect the family," Li Tianchen said. "No unnecessary exposure. No showing abilities. No drawing attention."
"And second?" Zhao Meilin asked.
"We identify talent," Li Tianchen said. "Not recruit. Identify."
Ji Ruyan frowned. "You're talking about children."
"I'm talking about people," Li Tianchen replied gently. "Age doesn't matter."
Li Zhenyu was silent for a long moment. "This will put us in danger."
"Yes."
"And you're still suggesting it."
"Yes."
Li Zhenyu closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. "Then we do it carefully. Quietly. And we stop if it risks the family."
Li Tianchen nodded. "Agreed."
Li Tianhao exhaled loudly. "I feel like I just joined a very exclusive, very confusing club."
Zhao Meilin smiled despite herself. "At least you're not bored."
"That's one way to put it."
—
Later that night, Li Tianchen stood on the balcony again.
The city lights flickered below, some neighborhoods brighter than others. Sirens echoed faintly in the distance—not unusual, but more frequent than before.
Behind him, footsteps approached.
Ji Ruyan joined him, wrapping a shawl around her shoulders.
"You've grown," she said quietly.
Li Tianchen did not pretend not to understand. "I had to."
She studied his profile. "You always were protective. Even when you were reckless."
He smiled faintly. "Especially then."
She hesitated, then asked, "Are you afraid?"
Li Tianchen considered the question carefully.
"Yes," he said at last. "But not of the future."
She nodded slowly. "Then what?"
"Of failing the people who trust me."
Ji Ruyan reached out and took his hand. "Then don't walk alone."
He squeezed her fingers gently. "I won't."
They stood together in silence, watching the city breathe.
Somewhere out there, people were discovering strength, losing control, making choices they could never take back.
The ordinary world was cracking.
And from those cracks, something vast and unforgiving was beginning to emerge.
Li Tianchen's gaze hardened—not with ambition, but resolve.
The storm was coming.
This time, he would not merely survive it.
He would guide those who stood beside him through it.