CHAPTER 29 — Heart Severing Scripture
The pavilion was silent.
Only Zheng Wen Te's breathing remained.
Slow.
Uneven.
Determined.
Lian stood before him, her sleeves unmoving, her gaze colder than moonlight.
"You said you would cultivate."
Zheng nodded.
"I will."
Lian's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Then understand this."
"This pavilion does not use orthodox Qi."
Zheng's throat tightened.
"I felt that."
"The energy here… comes from sorrow."
Lian's voice was calm.
"It comes from the heart."
She raised her hand.
A thin crimson-gold script appeared in the air, floating like burning silk.
Ancient characters.
Not sect writing.
Not mortal language.
Something older.
Zheng stared.
"What is that?"
Lian spoke like reciting a sentence carved into eternity.
"The Heart Severing Scripture."
Zheng's breath caught.
"A cultivation method?"
Lian's gaze sharpened.
"A punishment method."
She stepped closer.
"This scripture was created for those with unresolved karma."
"Those whose Dao was broken by love."
Zheng swallowed hard.
"So… for me."
Lian did not deny it.
"The first stage is simple."
Zheng waited.
Her voice lowered.
"Cut open your heart."
Zheng froze.
"…What?"
Lian's expression did not change.
"To cultivate with this scripture…"
"You do not absorb spiritual Qi."
"You absorb emotion."
Regret.
Grief.
Longing.
Guilt.
Every memory you buried…
becomes fuel.
Zheng's hands trembled.
"That's madness."
Lian's whisper was sharp.
"Orthodox cultivation seeks peace."
"This seeks truth."
Zheng clenched his fists.
"And what happens if I can't endure it?"
Lian's eyes turned glacial.
"Then your heart collapses."
"Your soul fractures."
"You become empty."
Zheng's chest tightened.
"…Like I already was."
Silence.
Then Lian spoke softer.
"That emptiness is why Shangdi chose you."
Zheng looked up sharply.
"Shangdi—"
Lian cut him off.
"He gave you the orb because you cannot cultivate normally."
"You are too broken."
Zheng's jaw clenched.
"Then this scripture is my only path."
Lian nodded once.
"Yes."
She lifted two fingers.
The floating crimson-gold script descended—
and pressed into Zheng's chest.
The lotus seal flared.
Zheng gasped as something inside him opened.
Not flesh.
Not bone.
Something deeper.
A door of memory.
Pain surged.
Not physical.
Emotional.
A thousand lifetimes of unfinished love screaming at once.
Zheng's vision blurred.
He whispered:
"…Lian…"
Her voice came like winter.
"Begin."
The pavilion mist rose.
And within it…
A figure appeared.
Not Lian.
Not Earth.
Someone else.
A woman smiling warmly…
holding a child's hand.
Zheng's breath shattered.
"…My daughter?"
The vision spoke softly:
"Papa…"
Zheng's soul went cold.
Because the Heart Severing Scripture was not showing him the past…
It was showing him what he still had left to lose.