Silent Dao Sovereign

Chapter 9: Dao Enlightenment

[A/N:

If the story has gotten slow paced let me know, Because I will only stock pile chapter for one week ahead. In this way I can make changes more easily and also incorporate ideas of My Reader 👌. I think personally in the initial stages of story of xianxia and wuxia should be slow-paced as it makes the power up of MC feel earned rather than forced.

]

[First Person POV]

"I wanted to ask, did I pass the test?"

I asked after I had eaten enough to say that I was almost full.

"Yes." The Sect Master made a strange expression when he heard my question.

"When can I start cultivating, then?"

"Anytime."

The atmosphere became awkward, as I did not know what to say.

"Why do you wish to become a cultivator? You can answer if you want to and remain silent if you don't. Both are fine."

The Sect Master sipped his tea. If someone asked me right now what the Sect Master of the Hidden Dragon Sect was like, I could only say he was like a close neighbor. The Sect Master did not carry the bearing that I thought someone of his status should have.

"What? Did I disappoint you?"

The Sect Master suddenly asked. I was too shocked to control my facial expressions, and he got the answer he wanted—seeing my reaction, like a homeowner catching a thief sneaking inside his house late at night.

"N-no... I just thought you would be more..." I tried to find words that could express my impression of the Sect Master.

"Arrogant, overbearing, haughty, domineering, imperious, condescending."

"Yes, condescending!" I excitedly answered, but only after the words left my mouth did I realize that it was the Sect Master himself who had listed them out one by one.

The Sect Master's eyes narrowed slightly, and his lips curled up—sharpening like unsheathed swords, a silent warning.

I could only keep my head lowered, not daring to even lift it or breathe any longer.

"I have good news for you." The Sect Master paused, then continued.

"You have been chosen as the true successor of the Hidden Dragon Sect."

"True successor?!"

Looking at my lost expression, the Sect Master decided to explain it to me in simpler words.

"As the true successor, all the cultivation resources that other disciples have to fight for will be at your disposal. It also means that your cultivation talent is the highest in the entire sect."

"Even above yours?"

"...Yes, even above me."

Before the Sect Master could continue—

Boom!!

Rumble!!

Loud sounds echoed from above. Since the Sect Master and I were at the highest point of the mountain peak, we were the first to witness it.

[Third Person POV]

Murmur, murmur.

On the other side, a huge crowd of new and old outer disciples had gathered around the residence of one of the elders—an elder all the new disciples were familiar with.

"Just yesterday, I met him."

"Yeah, and he showed no signs of being ill or injured."

"Shhh~ I have connections with some of the elders, and they told me the elder died due to Qi deviation."

"Qi deviation?!"

Long Chen said out loud in an inquiring tone—not for the others but for his master, who resided in the ring on one of his fingers.

["It's all bullshit. From my years of experience, this is clearly a murder."]

Murder?!

Long Chen thought of something when an image of someone flashed through his mind. See, Master? Just after meeting with the Sect Master, he took his revenge.

["Oh god, here we go again. Long Chen, I've told you many times not to jump to conclusions so quickly."]

But, Master, Xu Mo is the only person who was slapped by the elder and had a grudge against the testing platform elder!

["It could also be that elder named Long Bai, who was just cleaning out the trash from the Hidden Dragon Sect."]

Master, you're still defending that Xu Mo?!

Long Chen gritted his teeth, frustrated that the soul he had awakened—after continuously feeding it his Qi—was siding with his old friend.

Just as Long Chen was feeling depressed—

Rumble!

The sky roared, and the clouds churned.

Long Chen and everyone else looked up.

The dead body of the testing platform elder, being carried out by outer sect attendants, was momentarily forgotten as all eyes turned to the heavens.

["Listen closely. This is the rumbling of your talent—through which all beings will benefit, but you will benefit the most."]

Hear what?

["The Dao—the most mysterious and invisible power in the world."]

Dao?! Like what is said in legends? Immortals forging their own Dao?

["Shhh~ This is your real talent. The announcement of your awakening to the whole world—that a monster has appeared."]

Long Chen was unable to hear the last words of his master because, along with the rest of the world, he had fallen into a reverie.

Meanwhile, at the mountain peak, the Sect Master had already deployed the sect formation to guard against any external threats. He had sensed that something was not right.

Now, the Sect Master and Xu Mo stood at the peak, closest to the rumbling clouds.

If one looked closely, everyone's eyes held a dazed expression.

[First Person POV]

"The world has suddenly become silent," I murmured, looking around. Everything had paused.

The world stood still.

Last night, the heavens remained eerily quiet when Long Chen awakened his talent. Yet today, the entire world trembled—clouds churned, mountains groaned, and the fabric of the heavens itself seemed to stir in celebration of his existence.

A gift from the Dao itself. A decree of wisdom imparted to all living beings.

Words formed in the skies—unfathomable yet absolute. A voice—neither loud nor quiet—resounded in my mind.

"He who walks the path of the strong shall break the heavens. He who walks the path of wisdom shall glimpse the truths beyond. He who walks the path of silence…"

The voice faltered. It should have continued, but for me, it simply stopped.

A gift from the Dao… but incomplete? No. This was my gift.

The world hummed with enlightenment as countless cultivators grasped their own paths. Their minds flooded with insights, their souls ignited by celestial wisdom.

But me? Silence.

The world had turned deaf to me, or perhaps, I had turned deaf to it.

The rumbling heavens faded into a dull murmur. The voices of disciples screaming their realizations became distant. The very heartbeat of the world slowed… until nothing remained.

In that void, I saw it. Silence.

Not mere absence of sound, but something deeper. The hush before a storm. The stillness before a blade is drawn. The quiet resignation before death. The silence that exists between life and eternity.

It was not something spoken. It was something understood.

Long Chen's awakening had given the world its answers. Mine had taken them away.

And in that void, in that absolute stillness, I reached out—

And Silence embraced me.