26: Chapter 26 Crack

Lu Chen didn't wait until the next day. During the night, his Dantian cracked.

It wasn't that he had actively pushed for it; his Dantian simply couldn't hold on anymore. Ninety-nine percent of the Spiritual Qi was like a pot of boiling water, churning within his Dantian, stretching the Dantian walls thinner and thinner until he could feel the Spiritual Qi flowing on the other side of the wall. He tried to guide the Spiritual Qi into his Meridians to ease the pressure, but there was too much Spiritual Qi; the Meridians couldn't contain it at all. The Spiritual Qi clogged the Meridians, piling up more and more like a river blocked by stones, the water rising higher and higher, nearly overflowing the dam.

Then, the dam collapsed.

It wasn't pain; it was a sense of loosening. It felt as if someone had pulled a string inside his body for a very long time and then suddenly let go. The string snapped back, vibrating so hard his entire being shook. The Spiritual Qi in his Dantian didn't 'surge into' a new space—a new space didn't exist. It was the Dantian itself that had grown larger, so large that the original amount of Spiritual Qi filled less than half of it.

Lu Chen opened his eyes. It wasn't dawn yet. Moonlight leaked through the gaps in the window paper, drawing a thin white line on the floor. He looked down at his hands. The deep golden light was brighter than before, so bright that he could see the lines on his palms in the darkness.

Level 4 Qi Refining.

He stood up, walked to the table, and poured a cup of water. The water was cold, with a hint of sweetness upon entering his mouth, like spring water channeled down from a mountain. He finished the water, set the cup down, and then looked at his left wrist. The black thread was still there. But he stared at the black thread for a long time, unable to remember who had given it to him.

He knew it must have been given by someone. He hadn't tied it himself, Old Zhou hadn't given it to him, and Su Qing hadn't given it to him. It was another person. That person wore black clothes, was thin, had a very pale face, and eyes as black as stones soaked in water. What was that person's name? The name was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't say it. It was like a character he clearly knew how to write, but as soon as he picked up the brush, he forgot the strokes.

Lu Chen untied the black thread from his wrist and placed it on the table. The thread was very thin, wrapped six times, with six knots tied in it. He stared at it for a long time, then tied the thread back onto his wrist. Regardless of who had given it, the thread was there. As long as the thread remained, that person remained—even if he had already forgotten them.

He sat down and began Qi Channeling. A Level 4 Qi Refining Dantian was more than twice as large as a Level 3 one. As the Spiritual Qi surged in, it was like pouring water into an empty room; a single cup only dampened one corner of the floor. It would take a vast amount of Spiritual Qi to fill it. But he wasn't in a hurry. The road was still long.

The next morning, when Old Zhou saw him, the medicine pestle in his hand dropped to the floor. "Level 4 Qi Refining?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Last night."

Old Zhou bent down to pick up the pestle, placed it on the table, walked over, and stared at him for a long time. "There's something on your face."

"What?"

"A smile," Old Zhou said. "You're smiling."

Lu Chen reached out and touched his own face. The corners of his mouth were indeed turned upward. He tried to press the corners of his mouth down, but he couldn't. It wasn't that he was smiling intentionally; his body was smiling on its own. "Level 4 Qi Refining, so I smile. It's normal."

Old Zhou looked at him with an indescribable look in his eyes—a mix of happiness and fear. Happiness because he had achieved a Breakthrough, and fear because he knew the price of that Breakthrough. "Do you still remember Qin Wu?"

Lu Chen thought for a moment. Qin Wu. He remembered the name. But the person corresponding to that name—the face, the voice, the things they had said—he couldn't recall any of it. "I remember the name. I don't remember the person."

"Then it's gone." Old Zhou turned around, walked to the window, and pushed it open. The wind blew in from outside, carrying the chill of autumn. "Friendship... is gone."

Lu Chen stood in the middle of the Pharmacy as sunlight shone through the window onto him. It was warm. But he felt nothing in his heart. It wasn't something he was suppressing; there was truly nothing. That person—Qin Wu—was now just a name to him. A name without a face, without a voice, without warmth. It had nothing to do with him.

"That's fine too," Lu Chen said. Old Zhou didn't look back, but his shoulders gave a slight shudder.

In the afternoon, Lu Chen encountered Zhou Ran in the Inner Sect. It wasn't a chance meeting. Zhou Ran was standing under the memorial archway as if waiting for him. Seeing Lu Chen approach, the corner of his mouth twitched, as if he wanted to smile but held it back.

"Level 4 Qi Refining already?" Zhou Ran asked.

"Yes."

"Congratulations." There was no hint of congratulation in Zhou Ran's tone. "But do you know that after Level 4 Qi Refining, what you lose isn't just friendship?"

"What else?"

"Compassion." Zhou Ran took a step forward, standing very close to him. "You will soon find that you stop caring about anything. Whether others live or die has nothing to do with you. You won't care about anyone or anything. That isn't strength; it's a sickness."

Lu Chen looked at him. "Are you finished?"

"I'm finished."

"Then move aside. I need to go to the Inner Treasury."

Zhou Ran didn't move. He stood his ground, staring into Lu Chen's eyes. "My aunt chose you as her successor because she thought you could reach the fifth floor of the Inverted Tower. But in your current state—forgetting even your friends—do you still think you're human? What can a non-human thing bring back after entering the fifth floor of the Inverted Tower?"

Lu Chen said nothing. He walked past Zhou Ran and into the Inner Treasury. Zhou Ran's voice drifted from behind him— "You will regret this. When you reach the fifth floor, you'll find that you've lost far more than you've gained."

Lu Chen didn't look back. Regret? He was already incapable of regret. Regret required emotion, and he had none.

In a corner of the second floor of the Inner Treasury, Lu Chen found an old bamboo slip titled "Grey Spirit Root Cultivation Insights." The author's signature read "Founder Zhou Ding"—the founding patriarch of the Danding Sect. The bamboo slip was very old, its edges frayed and rotten, with some characters blurred, but most were still legible. He sat down and began to read.

"I, of the Grey Spirit Root, progressed from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, and from Golden Core to Nascent Soul. With every step forward, I lost an emotion. Qi Refining loses familial love, Foundation Establishment loses friendship, Golden Core loses compassion, and Nascent Soul loses the self. By the time I reached Nascent Soul, I was no longer human. Devoid of affection and loyalty, devoid of sorrow and compassion. There is only the goal, no emotion."

"The world asks me: Is it worth it? I do not know. I no longer know what 'worth' means. I only know that once you reach that stage, you can only keep moving. To stop is to die. Not the death of the body, but the death of the Dao."

Lu Chen read the bamboo slip three times from beginning to end. Founder Zhou Ding had gone much further. Qi Refining loses familial love, Foundation Establishment loses friendship, Golden Core loses compassion, and Nascent Soul loses the self. He was now at Level 4 Qi Refining, and his friendship had just been lost. He was still five levels away from Foundation Establishment. Twelve levels away from Golden Core. Twenty levels away from Nascent Soul. The road was still very long.

He tucked the bamboo slip under his arm, went downstairs, and wrote his name and the title of the borrowed Cultivation Technique in the ledger. The Disciple guarding the door glanced at it but said nothing. Returning to his small hut, he began to transcribe the bamboo slip. He didn't copy everything, only the parts useful to him—the experience of Breakthroughs, the patterns of the costs, and the structure of the Inverted Tower. Halfway through, his brush stopped. Not because he was tired, but because he was thinking about a question—what happened to Founder Zhou Ding after he reached the Nascent Soul stage? It wasn't written on the bamboo slip. The later part was missing, as if it had been torn away.

"Who tore it? And why?"

Lu Chen placed the bamboo slip on the table and stared at it for a long time. Then he continued transcribing. Regardless of what was written later, he had to understand the earlier parts first.

At night, Su Qing came. She stood at the door, not entering. The moonlight shone on her, casting a very long shadow.

"I heard you've reached Level 4 Qi Refining."

"Yes."

"Do you still remember Qin Wu?"

"I remember the name."

"And the face?"

"Forgotten."

Su Qing was silent for a few seconds. "Me too. It's best to forget. Remembering is useless anyway."

Lu Chen looked at her. "You knew Qin Wu too?"

"I didn't. But the people I do know... I'm about to forget them too. Soon." She turned to leave.

"Su Qing," Lu Chen called out to her.

She stopped.

"What's wrong with you today?"

Su Qing didn't answer. She stood for a moment and then left. Her footsteps were very light and soon became inaudible. Lu Chen closed the door, returned to the table, and continued transcribing the bamboo slip. Whatever was wrong with Su Qing had nothing to do with him. He didn't care.

On the fourth day, while Lu Chen was performing Alchemy, he discovered something strange. His hands were shaking. It wasn't the kind of shaking from fear, but a subtle, continuous vibration, as if something were vibrating inside his body. He pressed his hands onto the table, waited a few seconds, and the shaking stopped. But as soon as he picked up the medicinal ingredients, they began to shake again.

"Old Zhou."

Old Zhou walked over, looked at his hands, and then at his eyes. "Your pupils are constricting."

"What does that mean?"

"The Grey Spirit Root is growing. It's growing too fast, and your body can't keep up. Your Meridians, Dantian, and Spiritual Root—they are all expanding, but your body is still your old body. You aren't resting; you're constantly cultivating, performing Alchemy, and channeling Qi. Your body can't take it anymore." Old Zhou took away his medicine pestle. "Don't do any Alchemy today. Rest for a day."

"I'm fine."

"You are not fine. You just can't feel it." Old Zhou looked at him. "After friendship is gone, your perception of your own body is also weakening. Pain, fatigue, sleepiness—these sensations will become fainter and fainter. It's not because your body isn't tired, but because your brain can no longer feel it. You will keep charging forward until your body collapses, and you won't even know it."

Lu Chen looked down at his hands. They were still shaking. "Then I'll just charge forward until it collapses."

Old Zhou opened his mouth as if to say something but didn't. He placed the pestle back on the table, turned around, and walked away. His steps were slow, as if sandbags were tied to his legs.

Lu Chen sat down, pressed his hands on the table until the shaking stopped, then picked up the pestle and continued grinding. Regardless of his body's condition, the path had to be walked.

On the fifth day, Lu Chen encountered Su Qing again at the entrance of the Inner Treasury. Today she wore a dark robe, her hair held up with a wooden hairpin, her face devoid of makeup, looking very haggard. She held a letter in her hand; the envelope was white, with "To Lu Chen" written on it.

"Who gave this?"

"I don't know. It was left at my doorstep. No signature, no markings." She handed him the letter.

Lu Chen opened it. Inside was only a single line— "You are investigating Wang Fu and Vice Hall Master Liu. Keep investigating. But do not act. Wait for my word." The handwriting was the same as that of the veiled person from before.

"Him again." Lu Chen folded the letter and tucked it into his robe.

"Who is he?"

"I don't know. Wears a veil, suppresses their voice; I can't tell if they're male or female."

Su Qing frowned. "There aren't many people in the Inner Sect who can evade the Law Enforcement Hall's eyes and ears. I'll help you investigate."

"No need. He said to wait for his word. So we wait."

Su Qing looked at him. "You trust him?"

"I don't. But he's right—we can't move against Elder Sun right now. We wait."

Su Qing said nothing more. She turned and left.

Lu Chen entered the Inner Treasury and continued transcribing the bamboo slip. There was still much of Founder Zhou Ding's cultivation insights left to copy. When he reached a certain page, he stopped. This page described the "fifth floor of the Inverted Tower." There was only one sentence— "There is no longevity in the fifth floor. Only the price of longevity. The price is—you."

Lu Chen stared at this sentence for a long time. "The price is you." What did that mean? It wasn't the loss of emotion. It wasn't the loss of memory. It wasn't the loss of self. It was—you. You yourself. Your existence. Your everything. The price of longevity was yourself.

He copied this sentence onto a piece of paper, folded it, and placed it together with that finger bone.

At night, Lu Chen sat on his bed and untied the black thread from his wrist. The thread had turned white—not grayish-white, but pure white, as if it had been washed many times and all the color had faded. He placed the thread in his palm and stared at it for a long time. He couldn't remember who had given it to him. He couldn't remember what that person looked like. He couldn't remember what that person had said. He only knew that this thread was important. Important enough that he had wrapped it six times around his wrist and tied six knots.

"If it's forgotten, it's forgotten." He tied the thread back on. Regardless of who that person was, the thread was there. That was enough.

Lu Chen closed his eyes and began Qi Channeling. Spiritual Qi surged into his Dantian. The Level 4 Qi Refining Dantian was massive; the surging Spiritual Qi only filled the very bottom. It would take a vast amount of Spiritual Qi to fill it. But he wasn't in a hurry. The road was still long.

tianxuan calendar, 18th Year of taiping, late autumn. Lu Chen, Level 4 Qi Refining. Grey Spirit Root. Successor of the Alchemy Hall. Friendship—gone. Compassion—still there. But not for long. He didn't care. He didn't care about anything.