Chapter 4 – The Dao Listens to Silence
Three hundred years of stillness.
Three hundred years of quiet breath, of moonlight and solitude.
Most mortals would've gone mad.
But I had long stopped being mortal.
My qi flowed like the tide, calm and infinite.
Each inhale gathered the essence of heaven and earth.
Each exhale scattered illusions and fate itself.
Then, the system spoke again after centuries of silence.
> [Eternal Dao Scripture (Immortal Grade)]
Description: A scripture that refines existence through timeless patience. The body becomes eternal; the mind transcends mortality.
Condition: Must comprehend the Dao of Stillness, Concealment, and Eternity.
Warning: Each layer cultivated hides you further from Heaven's recognition.
I smiled. "Perfect."
When I began the first layer, the world seemed to… pause.
The wind stilled. The sound of rivers ceased.
Even the falling snow stopped midair.
My consciousness expanded I could hear the flow of life in distant mountains, the flicker of spirit flames in unseen realms.
But something else stirred.
A soft, cold whisper entered my mind.
> "Who… hides from Heaven?"
The voice wasn't human.
It was vast, ancient, and utterly emotionless like the sky itself had spoken.
My heart trembled for the first time in centuries.
Heaven had noticed me.
The system chimed sharply:
> [Heavenly Awareness Detected!]
[Initiating concealment protocols.]
[Your presence has been erased from the Heavenly Dao Registry.]
[New Title Earned: "The Nameless One."]
[Warning: You no longer exist within Heaven's records. Your life and death are self-determined.]
For a moment, I couldn't feel the sun or the stars.
It was as if I'd stepped outside reality.
Even Heaven couldn't sense me anymore.
I opened my eyes and the world shimmered like a dream.
Mountains seemed painted on silk, rivers like flowing light.
The air itself obeyed my will.
I understood then: I was no longer bound by the Dao.
I had become something else an anomaly, an observer.
> [Eternal Dao Scripture – First Layer Complete.]
[Reward: "Temporal Sight" – perceive events across time.]
My vision flickered and suddenly, I saw it.
The future.
A world of chaos.
Heavens collapsing.
Immortal sects waging war.
A divine calamity spreading across universes.
And in the center of it all… a man in white robes, radiating boundless light the protagonist of Secretly Cultivate for a Thousand Years, Han Jue himself.
But behind him, in the shadows, I saw another figure sitting cross-legged unseen by all, watching quietly.
Me.
The system's voice trembled, as if even it was in awe.
> [Your path diverges completely from destiny.]
[New Hidden Quest: "Transcend Heaven Itself."]
Reward: ???
Duration: Infinite.
I laughed softly.
"Transcend Heaven, huh? I've already started."
Outside, the stars shifted as if the universe itself made room for one more anomaly.