Part Four
At the Tower summit, the elder and Zheng Wen Te stood in silence.
The sky above was clear.
Too clear.
A ripple moved across it.
Subtle.
Almost imperceptible.
Zheng Wen Te felt it in his bones before he saw it.
The air tightened.
Spiritual energy across the sect synchronized involuntarily.
Disciples paused mid-breath.
Formations flickered.
The elder's expression darkened.
"It has begun," he murmured.
Above them, the sky did not split violently.
It thinned.
As though a membrane were stretching.
From beyond that thinning—
Pressure descended.
Not crushing.
Evaluating.
The same quality as the Hall of Still Water.
But infinitely vaster.
Zheng Wen Te did not kneel.
He did not circulate aggressively.
He simply stood.
Integrated.
The elder beside him dropped to one knee instinctively.
"Heaven observes," the elder whispered.
Zheng Wen Te felt it clearly now.
Not judgment.
Curiosity.
As though something beyond doctrine had taken interest.
His heart beat steadily.
No suppression.
No panic.
Within him, memory and spirit aligned.
If this was elimination—
He would meet it consciously.
If this was evolution—
He would not flee it.
The pressure intensified—
Then stopped.
Abruptly.
The sky membrane restored.
The ripple vanished.
The sect remained frozen for several seconds before breath returned collectively.
The elder rose slowly.
"You were the focal point," he said quietly.
"Yes."
"You did not bow."
"No."
"Why?"
Zheng Wen Te's voice remained steady.
"Because if Heaven seeks truth, it does not require kneeling."
Far beyond mortal sight—
Something vast adjusted its perception.
For the first time since his arrival in this world—
Heaven had not simply observed.
It had measured.
And it had not found defiance.
It had found—
Depth.
The fracture beneath the sect had widened.
But above it—
Heaven had blinked.
And that blink changed everything.