"BOOOM!!!"
The force of his strike reverberated through the cave, shaking the ground. The Dao of Crumbling and Rot worked in tandem, breaking down the golem's body while the Dao of Cleaving sliced down at its chest.
For a split second, nothing happened.
Then, with a groan, the golem shifted.
One step back.
Silas stood there, breathing heavily, his scythe still glowing. The golem, towering as it was, had been forced back by a single step.
"You… pass," the golem rumbled, its voice slow and deep, echoing through the cave.
Silas exhaled, a mixture of exhaustion and satisfaction washing over him. He had done it. With his newly empowered Dao of Cleaving, he had achieved the impossible.
"Phew!" Silas let out a deep breath. He had been worried for a little bit that he would actually fail this challenge.
'How the hell have two others passed this?' Silas thought. With all his advantages, he had barely managed to pass. How did the two inheritors before him manage to force that golem to take a step back?
'But then again, they likely came from the outside world and were raised by monstrous clans and sects,' Silas began to think. While he had his advantages, it didn't mean that others didn't have theirs.
Silas was then teleported once again, this time into a large hall.
As Silas blinked away the disorienting sensation of the teleportation, his surroundings came into sharp focus.
He stood at the entrance of a vast, awe-inspiring hall, its grandeur stretching far beyond what seemed possible. The ceiling soared high above, fading into a swirl of clouds and shimmering bands of light that shifted from gold to violet to deep blue.
It felt more like gazing into the sky than the roof of any building.
Massive white marble pillars flanked the hall, perfectly aligned, each one etched with intricate carvings of ancient battles and cryptic runes. The stories told in stone seemed to hum with a forgotten power, as if the figures could step from the marble at any moment.
Beneath his feet, the floor gleamed like polished glass, made from dark obsidian that reflected the room as though he were walking on the surface of a still lake. Gold inlays traced elaborate designs, forming constellations and unfamiliar maps, as though charting the paths of realms beyond his imagining.
Between the pillars, towering statues loomed—depictions of warriors, sages, and creatures of myth, all captured in mid-motion, frozen in time but radiating an undeniable sense of presence and authority.
Above, silken banners in rich crimson and royal purple drifted slightly, as if moved by an unseen breeze. They were embroidered with silver threads and starlight, illustrating the rise and fall of empires long lost to history.
The air itself was fragrant with lotus blossoms, carrying a soft, melodic hum that seemed to resonate deep within him, stirring something ancient in his soul.
At the far end of the hall, raised on a platform of gleaming stone, stood a throne unlike any Silas had ever seen. It was a masterpiece of celestial metals, shining with an inner light, and adorned with glowing gemstones.
Behind it, a waterfall of light flowed upward, defying gravity as it streamed into the swirling sky above, casting a warm, ethereal glow across the hall.
Standing in the midst of this breathtaking hall, Silas felt both insignificant and strangely connected.
The old hunchbacked man once again teleported in front of him.
"Congratulations on passing the trials and becoming an inheritor of this immortal estate, as well as the newest disciple of Daoist Silent Sage."
"To claim your right as an inheritor, as well as the disciple of Daoist Silent Sage, go kowtow three times in front of the throne." After that, the old man disappeared again.
Now that Silas was done taking in the breathtaking scene of the large hall, he had time to notice that all around him there were spatial magic treasures.
'These must be collected from all those who died inside the trial,' Silas thought as he began to pick them up with his divine will and bind them with his qi.
'Wow,' Silas thought as he began to go through each of the magic treasures. There were so many different types of magic treasures. There were offensive, defensive, and movement-type magic treasures. While they were all rank 1 and rank 2, the sheer quantity was surprising. There were also Dao seals and talismans, hundreds if not thousands of them.
'And these are all mine?' Silas thought as he looked around. It didn't seem like the spirit of this immortal estate cared for these treasures in the slightest, so he picked the biggest spatial magic treasure he could find and began to put everything inside it after transforming it into a ring.
He continued to look through the various items, and soon he came across a letter. It was written on ancient paper, which is why it caught his eye. Every other item of this type had long since disintegrated.
"Joshua, our clan has just learned that Daoist Silent Sage is going to be accepting disciples. Although Daoist Silent Sage is only a loose immortal of our clan, he has survived for millions of years, and anyone that can survive the countless calamities and tribulations for that long must surely have the strength of a True Immortal. The patriarch believes his power is not any inferior to his own."
"You might not know who Daoist Silent Sage is, but he was once a shining star of our Obsidian Clan as he rushed through the ranks, but sadly, he was overconfident and failed his heavenly tribulation. After that, he fell from grace in our clan and was even ostracized by those who used to praise him. After this, he left our clan and has never come back, but now after millions of years, he has sent word across the dynasty that he feels he will not survive his next tribulation."
"Daoist Silent Sage has never taken a disciple before, not even when asked to take on a prince from the Supreme Peng Dynasty. Since he has never taken a disciple before, surely what he teaches and gives his disciple will be great."
"I'm not sure how many disciples he plans to take, but he has publicly set his immortal estate down on the Isle of Silent Echoes, deep within the Sea of Shadows. It is even rumored that once his disciple is found, he will vanish from the world, taking his secrets and power with him. Our journey to the Sea of Shadows will take many months, and already countless warriors and cultivators have begun their trek."
"The choice is yours, but you must act quickly. Hesitation could cost you everything. I have given you the news; the decision is now in your hands."
"Signed, Silvan Obsidian."
'So this Daoist Silent Sage failed his heavenly tribulation,' Silas thought, at first a little disappointed. But then he remembered what the letter said. '…have the strength of a true immortal. The patriarch believes his power is not any inferior to his own.'
'With the strength of a true immortal, what he left behind should be pretty good.'
Silas didn't delay any further. He walked forward and stopped before the throne, and then he got down on his knees and kowtowed three times.
"Bang." "Bang." "Bang." His forehead hit the ground three times. He did not want to disrespect his new master in any way. He still didn't know the temper of his late master, and if he wasn't careful, the immortal estate's spirit treasure might have orders to kill anyone disrespectful.
"Good! Very good!" the old hunchbacked man said behind Silas this time, with a little joy in his voice.
Silas turned around and saw that the old man now had a smile on his face.
"Silas Armstrong, I have been waiting for you," the old man said.
"You know me?" Silas asked, a little confused.
"I am the spirit of this immortal estate. I see all and am aware of all that goes on inside this estate. I've long since seen your potential ever since that day you became a Transcendent lifeform. I even know you are not truly human… but that is not my business, so I will not ask," the old man said.