Chapter 17: Liana’s Genesis

Chapter 17: Liana's Genesis

In the weeks that followed the twins' successful trial, a new and perplexing puzzle emerged within the Blackwood family: the matter of Liana's cultivation.

Her siblings, now firmly established in the Core Forging realm, were experiencing leaps in their power daily. The solid, spinning cores in their dantians provided them with a source of potent, refined energy that was worlds beyond what they had possessed before. Yet Liana, who had long been at the absolute peak of Spirit Vein Opening, remained there. She showed no signs of an impending breakthrough, no volatility in her Qi, no pressure building towards the next stage.

"Her foundation is flawless, stronger than any I have ever seen," Isadora confessed one evening, her brow furrowed with a gentle worry as she watched Liana play with Veri near the cave entrance. "But it is also perfectly stable. Forcing a standard breakthrough, the violent compression her siblings endured, could shatter that perfect harmony."

Liam, observing his youngest daughter, felt no such worry. Through his own awakened physique, he could sense the truth of Liana's condition. Her power was not stagnant; it was… waiting. It was a vast, placid lake, waiting not for a storm to stir its depths, but for a hidden spring to feed it from below.

"Her path is not the same as ours," he said, his voice calm and certain. "The Genesis Physique walks a road of its own making. Her breakthrough will not come from force. It will come when she finds the right catalyst."

From Liana's perspective, there was no frustration. She could feel the new, powerful cores of her siblings. She could feel Ada's, a fiery, competitive star. She felt Orion's, a cool, dark pearl of immense, focused potential. She felt Eli's, a serene vortex of spiritual calm. When she turned her senses inward to her own dantian, she felt a boundless sea of perfectly balanced, gaseous Qi. It didn't feel incomplete. It just felt… hungry. It was waiting for a very specific kind of nourishment.

And she could feel that nourishment calling to her. It was a faint, melodic pull from the north, from the heart of the Verdant Archives. The whispers from the great dome, which had been a source of mystery and caution for her family, were a song of welcome to her ears.

"I need to go back," she announced to her parents one afternoon, her violet-gray eyes clear and determined. "The whispers aren't scary. They're… inviting me."

Trusting his daughter's profound intuition, Liam agreed. The entire family, now a formidable unit, journeyed back to the forgotten city, bypassing the golem's plaza and making their way directly to the massive, silent dome at its heart.

As they drew near, the ethereal whispers intensified. Her siblings felt it as a strange pressure, a confusing sound at the edge of hearing. But Liana heard it as a clear, harmonious melody. Guided by the song, she walked to a seemingly seamless section of the dome's wall, covered in intricate carvings of intertwined celestial vines. She reached out and traced one of the patterns with her finger.

With a low hum that resonated with the very air of the sanctuary, the stone before her dissolved into a shimmering curtain of light. It was a doorway, waiting only for the right key.

Liana stepped through, her family following cautiously behind, and they entered a world within a world.

They stood in a vast, circular biosphere. The domed ceiling above was a perfect, living star chart, shimmering with constellations they had never seen. The air was pure and sweet, and at the center of the chamber was a small, thriving garden. It was a place of impossible harmony. At its heart grew a single, unique plant. It was no taller than Liana herself, with leaves that shimmered through every shade of green imaginable. Nestled among its leaves was a single, pulsating seed, the size of a child's heart. It glowed with a soft, white light that contained all the colors of the rainbow, radiating a perfectly balanced, synthesized life force.

Liam's System confirmed what his senses already screamed at him.

[Rare Catalyst Discovered: Genesis Heartseed]

[Description: A bio-spiritual catalyst created by the First Gardeners. It is designed to resonate with and empower cultivators who walk the path of Synthesis.]

[Physique Resonance Detected! This catalyst is a perfect match for Liana Blackwood.]

Liana felt no desire to claim or conquer the plant. She felt a kinship. She walked to the edge of the garden, sat down, and simply… listened. She didn't try to break through. She didn't try to compress her Qi. She extended her senses, her spirit, and began to hum the same harmonious melody the dome had sung to her.

The Genesis Heartseed responded.

A single, beautiful tendril of pure, white light detached from the seed and drifted through the air, touching Liana's forehead. It was not an invasion, but an offering. A stream of perfectly balanced, synthesized energy flowed into her. Simultaneously, the vast sea of Qi in her own dantian flowed out, a symbiotic exchange between cultivator and catalyst.

Inside her dantian, a miracle occurred. The gaseous Qi did not collapse or compress. Instead, infused with the harmonious energy of the Heartseed, it began to crystallize. From a central point, intricate, diamond-like structures began to grow, weaving and interlocking with impossible speed and perfection. It was not the forging of a star or a pearl, but the growth of a flawless, living crystal.

When the flow of energy ceased, the Heartseed's light was slightly dimmer, and Liana's dantian was transformed. At its center was no longer a sea of Qi, but a single, brilliant, multi-faceted `Genesis Seed`. It shimmered with a light all its own, refracting the essence of her family—the black of her father's flame, the crimson of Lysandra's, the violet of Isadora's, the azure of Eli's—into a single, harmonious whole.

Her breakthrough was silent, beautiful, and profoundly powerful. When Liana opened her eyes, they seemed to hold the wisdom of the ages.

[Core Formation Complete: Genesis Seed (Primordial-Grade Potential).]

Her family stared, speechless. They had all struggled, fought, and bled for their power. Liana had simply harmonized with the world and been given its heart. They knew, in that moment, that the true potential of the Blackwood legacy was a force they were only just beginning to comprehend.