39: Chapter 39 Breaking Through the Realm

Behind Senior Bai Jie's courtyard was an empty room. Built of stone with a thatched roof, the door didn't close tightly—wind poured through the cracks, bringing with it the rustling of locust tree leaves.

Lu Chen sat on the ground. No lamp was lit.

The Spiritual Qi in his Dantian was full. Ninety-nine percent—he had been pondering this term for three days. It wasn't a problem with the Spiritual Qi. Senior Bai Jie was right—he hadn't thought it through yet. If he really gathered all ten, would he reverse it?

Reversal. The Love-Refining Furnace turning backward. Returning all the emotions that had been refined away—the price being the shattering of his Grey Spirit Root. Becoming a cripple. His Lifespan reverting to that of a Mortal. Or even less.

He opened his eyes.

His fingers touched the three finger bones in his robe. The fourth. The fifth. The sixth. The deep golden light within the marrow of the bones echoed each other, felt even through his clothes—like three heartbeats.

"Collect them all first."

The voice dispersed in the empty room. No one responded. The locust tree leaves continued to rustle through the window cracks.

He closed his eyes. The Spiritual Qi in his Dantian churned—he was only a sheet of paper away from Level 6. But this paper was transparent. He saw himself standing on the other side of the paper. No Spiritual Root. Hair completely white. Nothing left in his hands.

Then he died.

He opened his eyes. It wasn't fear—he had no fear left to lose.

He just couldn't make the math work.

Immortality was his obsession. Reversal meant giving up immortality. Not reversing meant being forever incomplete. The two things bit into each other like two snakes swallowing each other's tails. He couldn't think it through.

He stood up. Pushed the door open.

In the courtyard, Qin Wu was practicing fist techniques. Bare-chested, his back was a full circle wider than it had been three months ago. He was practicing a set of basic fist techniques from the Loose Cultivators Alliance—Senior Bai Jie had taught him. Every punch carried the sound of wind. Sweat flowed in lines down his back.

Lu Chen watched for a few breaths.

"Too slow."

Qin Wu pulled back his fist. He turned his head. "You try."

Lu Chen walked over. They stood face to face. Qin Wu was half a head taller than him, his frame much thicker—three months of blacksmithing hadn't been for nothing.

"No Spiritual Qi."

"No Spiritual Qi."

Qin Wu moved first. A right hook straight to the chest—fast. A body tempered by Qi Refining Level 3 was right there. Lu Chen sidestepped, the wind from the punch brushing his lapel. His left hand pressed down on Qin Wu's wrist while his right elbow struck toward Qin Wu's chin.

Qin Wu leaned back to dodge. His left foot swept at Lu Chen's lower body.

Lu Chen jumped. When he landed, he was already at Qin Wu's side—his knee driving toward the kidney area.

Qin Wu let out a muffled groan. His body swayed. He didn't fall. Reaching back, he grabbed Lu Chen's ankle and exerted force—

Lu Chen was pulled down entirely. His back hit the ground, and dust splashed up.

The white line on his wrist lit up.

It wasn't a faint glow. It was burning. Like a red-hot iron wire wrapped around his wrist. Qin Wu's hand was still gripping his ankle—the white line on Qin Wu's wrist was also glowing. Two lines, the same light, the same temperature.

Both of them let go at the same time.

The white lines were still glowing. Six loops and seven knots, even clearer in the light.

"It—" Qin Wu looked at his wrist.

"Resonance." Lu Chen sat up. The heat on his wrist hadn't subsided. "That's how I found you at the inn last time. The line told me you were nearby."

"And now?"

Lu Chen looked at the line. The light grew brighter. It wasn't pointing in any direction—it was between the two of them.

"It's not looking for someone." He pulled down his sleeve to cover the line. "It's connecting."

Qin Wu also sat up. He stared at his wrist for a long time. "You haven't had your Breakthrough yet."

"Just a little bit off."

"Off what?"

Lu Chen didn't answer. He stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes. The shadow of the old locust tree stretched to the corner of the wall. The sun was about to sink.

"Off a decision."

Senior Bai Jie's voice came from the courtyard entrance.

The old man was still in that white robe washed to a shade of grey. The finger bone was gone from his neck—it was empty, leaving only the faint mark of the leather cord. He made almost no sound when he walked in. It wasn't because of high cultivation. It was because his body was too light. Like a dry leaf being pushed in by the wind.

"You're still calculating." Senior Bai Jie sat down under the locust tree. "Calculating the cost of reversal and the gains of immortality. You can't figure out either side."

Lu Chen didn't speak.

"My Master calculated for a lifetime." Senior Bai Jie looked up at the locust tree. "Calculating from the first level to the fifth. He figured out that immortality is an endless prison sentence. Then he stopped calculating. He dispersed. He distributed his bones among the seven of us, leaving three for himself in the pagoda."

"He left behind the method for reversal."

"But he didn't use it himself." Senior Bai Jie looked at Lu Chen. "You know what that means."

"He didn't believe reversal could succeed."

"No." Senior Bai Jie's dry voice dropped even lower. "He didn't dare try. Someone who reached the final step—didn't dare take the final step."

The wind blew. The shadow of the locust tree swayed wildly.

"The last words Master left for me—"

Lu Chen waited for him to continue.

"'If anyone reaches this step, tell him—I regret it.'"

The courtyard was very quiet. Qin Wu stood to the side, silent. Water was still dripping from his fist—it wasn't sweat. His palms had sweated when the white line grew hot.

Lu Chen looked down at his wrist. The white line dimmed. The light receded. The heat remained. Six loops and seven knots.

"He didn't regret taking this path." Senior Bai Jie stood up. "He regretted not finishing it."

He turned to walk out. He paused at the door.

"People from the Xuantian Sect have arrived at the Danding Sect."

Lu Chen looked up.

"Three of them. The leader is surnamed Fang, at Qi Refining Level 7. They didn't find you at the Danding Sect—the Sect Head said you came to the Loose Cultivators Alliance." Senior Bai Jie didn't look back. "They arrive tomorrow."

"How do you know?"

Senior Bai Jie raised his left hand. That grey line on his wrist was almost invisible in the moonlight—but it was moving. Not glowing. Moving. Like a lute string being plucked.

"The lines don't just connect people. They also connect information. Seven Disciples were scattered, and everyone's line is still there—greyed out, nearly broken, but still there. Someone sent me a message."

"Who?"

"You don't need to know." Senior Bai Jie walked out of the courtyard gate. "When they arrive tomorrow—think about how to talk."

The footsteps were as light as the wind. They vanished.

Qin Wu walked over to Lu Chen. "Xuantian Sect. Three people. Qi Refining Level 7."

"Mhm."

"You're only at Level 5. I'm at Level 3."

"Mhm."

"How do we talk?"

Lu Chen looked at the courtyard gate. Where Senior Bai Jie had just stood, only the shadow of the locust tree remained.

"It's not a fight. It's a talk." He turned to walk into the room. "Negotiation doesn't rely on cultivation."

"What does it rely on?"

"It relies on what they want."

The room went dark again. Wind poured in from the door crack. The locust tree leaves were still rustling. Lu Chen sat back in his original spot—moonlight leaked through the window, falling on his knees.

He pulled out the three finger bones. He laid them out side by side.

The fourth bone—the self-oblivion Pass. The price was "Who am I". He almost forgot himself.

The fifth bone—Li Xuanyi. The price was the complete truth. Immortality is a prison sentence.

The sixth bone—Senior Bai Jie. The price was a choice. To reverse or not to reverse.

The three bones were in the moonlight. The light in the marrow was flowing. Deep gold—the same color as the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian.

His Dantian stirred. Ninety-nine percent—still missing the final bit. It wasn't Spiritual Qi. It was that the question was still hanging there.

To reverse. Or not to reverse.

He thought of Li Xuanyi. "He who attains immortality attains an endless prison sentence"—words left by someone who had finished the path of immortality.

But Li Xuanyi had also left behind the method for reversal.

And he had also left that sentence—"I regret it."

Regretted not finishing it.

Lu Chen put the three finger bones back into his robe.

"Collect them all first," he said. The same words as three days ago.

But this time was different.

After saying those words, the Spiritual Qi in his Dantian churned. It didn't increase. It moved—as if something had been pushed by those three words. The ninety-nine percent Spiritual Qi turned half a circle in the same direction.

No Breakthrough.

But the paper had thinned by a layer.

He closed his eyes.

tianxuan calendar · 19th year of taiping, Spring.

Loose Cultivators Alliance. Senior Bai Jie's stone courtyard.

The people from the Xuantian Sect were on their way. Arriving tomorrow.

Lu Chen had not yet achieved a Breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 6. It wasn't that he lacked Spiritual Qi—it was that the question had not yet been truly answered.

To reverse—or not to reverse?