CHAPTER 30 — Qi Condensation Through Tears
The vision did not fade.
Zheng Wen Te stood frozen, staring into the mist.
His daughter.
Small.
Bright-eyed.
Alive.
Impossible.
She held his wife's hand, smiling as if nothing had ever broken.
"Papa," the child whispered again.
Zheng's lips trembled.
"No…"
"This isn't real."
The mist-woman tilted her head gently.
"Why did you stop coming home?"
The words pierced deeper than any blade.
Zheng's chest tightened.
His throat burned.
"I tried…"
"I tried so hard…"
The Heart Severing Scripture pulsed.
The lotus seal flared.
Emotion surged like a flood.
Grief.
Guilt.
Regret.
The pain he had drowned in smoke and alcohol…
was now dragged into the light.
Zheng collapsed to his knees.
Tears spilled freely.
Not weak tears.
Truth tears.
He choked out:
"I'm sorry…"
"I'm sorry…"
The vision of his wife looked at him with quiet sorrow.
"We waited."
The child's smile faded.
"Why didn't you come with us?"
Zheng's soul cracked.
He screamed—
Not outward.
Inward.
A scream that had been trapped for five years.
"I WAS ASHAMED!"
The pavilion trembled.
The crimson-gold scripture ignited.
The emotion did not destroy him…
It became fuel.
The broken ember in his chest roared into flame.
Qi surged.
Not borrowed from heaven.
Born from heartbreak.
A spiral of energy formed around him.
Thick.
Condensed.
Real.
Lian's eyes sharpened.
"…Qi Condensation."
Zheng's body shook violently as the first true cultivation realm locked into place.
The air snapped.
The pavilion walls hummed.
Outside—
The entire mountain felt it.
In the Inner Court, elders jolted upright.
"What is that?!"
In the Ancestor Hall, incense flames bent sideways.
A voice whispered:
"Golden Thread…"
"Breakthrough…"
The sect's sky darkened.
Back in the pavilion, the vision trembled.
His daughter reached toward him.
"Papa…"
Zheng sobbed.
"I miss you."
The mist shattered like glass.
Silence returned.
Zheng sat trembling, breath ragged.
His cultivation… had advanced.
But his heart felt raw.
Lian stood over him.
Her voice was quiet.
"You have stepped onto the path."
Zheng whispered, broken:
"This scripture…"
"…is cruel."
Lian's gaze flickered.
"So is karma."
Zheng clenched his fists.
"Then I'll endure."
Lian turned slightly toward the doors.
Her aura sharpened.
"Good."
"Because now…"
"…they cannot ignore you anymore."
Outside the pavilion—
The mist parted.
And footsteps approached.
Not a disciple.
Not an elder.
Something heavier.
Something ancient.
Lian whispered:
"The Ancestor is coming."