Jade Clarity Peak rose into the clouds like a hand reaching into the Heavens.

  Liu Xuehan cut through the mist as she approached, the Chudeng Sect’s central mountain range sprawling beneath her. Groups of impeccably dressed disciples sat in meditation, practiced their swords and discussing the Dao.

  It was truly an immortal scenery.

  She landed on an arrival platform where white cranes lay in golden cages and beautiful maids in green robes waited with tea.

  Liu Zhenwei truly enjoyed his comforts.

  She found her senior brother in his immortal cave. The entrance was set into the mountain face, carved with flowing script and guarded by complex formations. Inside, the cave opened into a palace of sorts adorned with luminescent moss and streams of spiritual water.

  Zhenwei sat with his legs crossed, hanging in midair above a still pond. His eyes were closed, but he spoke as Xuehan entered.

  “Junior Sister, I assume you’re here about the matter at the Wen compound?”

  Xuehan remained silent.

  Zhenwei rose and continued.

  “You know how I’ve always felt about the matter. Zhenyi claims it’s mutually beneficial—how could that be!”

  He reached out his hand and a cup of tea flew into his palm.

  “If things go according to plan, then when the Tribunal—”

  He paused and glanced upward, towards the highest peaks of the Chudeng Sect.

  “When it happens, Zhan will remain unscathed while we’ll be damaged for a generation. Our consolation will be a cripple who once had Earth-grade talent.”

  He took a sip of his tea.

  “Zhenyi let himself get trampled over. And you’re barely better. It’s a pity I’ve been at the Sect.”

  Seeing Xuehan’s unchanging expression, Zhenwei sighed. “The boy clearly understood that a sabotage was happening pre-emptively. Who’s behind it?”

  Xuehan finally spoke. “We both know that there are many forces who’d like to see us in conflict with Jingquan.”

  “But Liu Yuming likely isn’t involved with any of them. I told him that his identity has a fault line and he’s very perceptive. He probably sensed that something wrong was occurring and acted to mitigate damage.”

  Zhenwei nodded.

  "I don't know what he's doing. But whatever it is, it's causing problems for Zhan’s plans."

  Zhenwei set down his tea. A slow smile spread across his face.

  "If the boy disrupts their timeline, we benefit. If Jingquan takes custody, Zhan loses their vessel. If things collapse entirely…" Zhenwei shrugged. "We lose a cripple."

  A small smile curled onto Xuehan’s face. “Then we’re in agreement. There’s no reason to lend Zhan a helping hand.”

  Zhenwei shook his head. “I saw Yan Hongjun depart from the Sect before you arrived. Towards Zhenyuan.”

  His words wiped the smile off of Xuehan’s face.

  The Zhan Branch wants to do the karma transfer now? Force it from far away! He’ll be completely crippled, never even reaching Qi Condensation—completely useless!

  Why would they speed up the process? Do they really think someone is meddling with Yuming?

  Her fists clenched.

  Seeing her reaction, Zhenwei asked carefully, “Do they not need the boy present for the transfer? At least at Zhenyuan?”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  She shook her head slowly. “The Ancestral Tree network.”

  Zhenwei’s face turned gloomy. “Tell Wanxiu not to help them.”

  Xuehan nodded, then turned to leave.

  As she departed, she looked back one more time. “Senior Brother, I’m surprised you’re so worked up. You’ll be fine regardless.”

  ….

  Yuming sat cross-legged in his room cycling qi through his meridians.

  It had been four days since the conversation with Liu Zhong, four days since the token incident.

  Four days of Qin Yueshan's examinations, of Tianjue's surveillance, of Liu Zhong's clumsy probing.

  Things had not gone exactly as he had hoped.

  Liu Tianjue, instead of growing more frantic, appeared to become more placated. Qin Yueshan examined him, yes, but no more forces from Jingquan arrived.

  He’d had a few plans in mind regarding Dantian Awakening and escaping the Zhan Branch, but each plan required turmoil. Qin Yueshan and Liu Tianjue continuing normally was not what he had hoped for.

  Maybe the higher-ups have agreed not to intervene.

  He sighed. At least it bought him more time.

  He turned his attention to the fragment lodged in his fault line. The Tree's recognition buzzed faintly. Every session of meditation while holding that awareness added another grain of weight to the axis Zhan didn't control.

  Slow. Too slow.

  He felt the fragment pulse. Then something shifted.

  It was a pull. Faint at first, then stronger. It was a familiar feeling—almost no different from the fragment’s familiar presence. He initially dismissed it as his imagination.

  But then the pull grew stronger.

  It felt as if the air between him and the Tree was turning still, like the space between him and the Ancestral Hall became lighter, like a membrane was becoming permeable.

  He paused his cultivation, focusing entirely on the sensation.

  The pull was gentle, like a hand in the darkness. He could grab onto it and ascend into the light. For months he’d been reaching towards the Tree.

  But now the Tree was finally reaching back.

  Why now?

  He tried to calm himself and think clearly, but a feeling of hope was seeping through his veins.

  The Tree sensed my cultivation—it’s responding to my recognition!

  He had felt the Tree’s suffering, its melancholic exhaustion. He waved at its descendant, Wen Changyi. He had let himself care for it as Chenming.

  Naturally, it finally grew to care for him.

  The air towards the Ancestral Hall settled completely; it was an invitation.

  If the Tree really wants to connect—

  He thought of his proto-dantian, waiting for ignition. He thought of himself running in circles but remaining in the palm of Zhan. He thought of himself caring and hurting but never being real at all.

  This is my opportunity.

  He rose and walked calmly towards the door, stepping outside. The night air was cool against his skin, his nose catching the sweet scent of budding taros. He walked past a pond, where the full moon was reflected in all of its brilliance.

  The Ancestral Hall waited ahead, its spiritual lights pulsing in uneven intervals. As Yuming walked, each step was easier than the last.

  I’ve been so alone. Calculating and trusting no one.

  Yiling doesn’t approach me, Chenrui is afraid of me, even I’m disgusted by myself.

  But the Tree still accepts me. It doesn’t think I’m a monster.

  He strolled past the servants’ quarters.

  He was crossing the main hall when a thought crossed his mind.

  The still air, the opportunity—I feel like I’ve felt this way before.

  Something stirred in the back of his mind.

  Where have I felt this before?

  A memory emerged: at the cave nearly two years ago, when he was “rescued” by Yujin. He’d sensed opportunity and stopped his flying boat to approach it.

  Then there was the ever-warming jade-token at Qinglu Market. It seemed to have done something similar to Chen Fang.

  His steps slowed.

  No, this is different. The Tree is real, the connection is real. I’ve cultivated it for months.

  He continued walking, but the cold, calculating part of his mind refused to let go.

  When has something ever been handed to you? When have things ever fallen into your lap for free?

  He stopped walking as he entered the Ancestral Hall, the luminescence illuminating his uncluttered crimson robes.

  The Tree cares for me, it’s reaching out. This is real.

  Is it?

  He circled qi through his Du Meridian, accessing the feeling he held onto deepest: fear.

  Emotions swelled from his selves.

  A roar emerged from the dominant side of his fault line, quieting everything but existential dread.

  I’m afraid I’ve never been real and I’ll never be real!

  He glanced back at the courtyard pond, where a koi leapt, its ripples scattering the moon’s reflection.

  But from deeper inside of him, a softer voice emerged not with dread, but with a forlorn longing.

  I’m afraid that no one sees me, that no one will ever see me.

  That the Tree reaching back is a lie, and I'm as alone as I've always been.

  He stood in the darkness, letting himself feel the hollow space where he remembered being flicked in the ear by his older sister.

  The Tree accepts me, it doesn’t think I’ve ever changed.

  That’s what he wanted to believe.

  But as his fear and paranoia circled he asked himself: What if that’s exactly why the bait is making me feel this way?

  He examined the pull again: the still air, the promise of opportunity, the solution to all of his problems.

  It was too perfect, too precise.

  The hope in his chest didn’t die, it curdled and contorted into something bitter.

  No one is coming to save me. No one is reaching out.

  I pushed away Yiling. I pushed away Tianrui. I pushed away my family.

  I am alone. And if I want to survive, I have to use that.

  Just as he’d entered the Ancestral Hall, he turned to run.

  But the karma slammed into him before he had taken two steps.

  The Trinity Divide - A LITRPG Mystery Thriller

  ??THE TRINITY DIVIDE

  ? WHAT TO EXPECT: ?

  ? LitRPG with stat progression and ability unlocks

  ? Weak to Strong (starts Level 1, learns through survival)

  ? Fast-paced noir mystery with frequent combat

  ? MC + bound companions (angel and demon literally on his shoulders)

  ? Hard magic - wards cost blood, abilities drain health

  ? 1920s Prohibition setting meets theological horror

  ? Both Heaven and Hell are antagonists

  ? No harem, slow-burn romance