Part Two
The news spread through the sect within hours.
Heaven had conversed.
Not declared.
Conversed.
Some called it heresy.
Some called it omen.
Some called it catastrophe waiting to unfold.
The visiting faction did not stay.
They left before sunset.
Not in anger.
In caution.
Because if Heaven was willing to ask—
Then the balance of authority was unstable.
Inside his quarters, Zheng Wen Te finally allowed himself to sit.
His hands were steady.
But his mind was not.
He replayed the final moment.
Then what do you seek from Heaven?
Nothing.
He had meant it.
He still did.
But now—
He understood something he had not before.
Heaven had not been testing obedience.
It had been testing orientation.
He had declared independence.
Which meant something else now watched differently.
Not as ruler.
But as counterpart.
A soft sensation moved through his spiritual sea.
Not energy.
Not power.
Awareness.
His cultivation had not advanced.
But his position in the world had shifted.
He was no longer someone beneath Heaven.
He was someone Heaven had engaged.
That was far more dangerous.