"Impossible," the old man muttered, though his tone betrayed intrigue. "He doesn't even know what's happening..."
The pressure in the air around Silas grew.
The strands of energy tightened, and suddenly, he wasn't just observing them. He was them. His mind, his soul, expanded into the very essence of Crumbling.
It wasn't just the wall that was falling apart—everything was. The hall, the jade bed, the very air itself—it all seed to vibrate with the weight of inevitable decay.
Silas's breathing slowed, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. His eyes remained closed, but he was no longer sitting on the jade bed in his mind. He was everywhere at once, imrsed in the unseen force of entropy. He didn't command it, he simply was it. The energy strands around him swirled faster, crackling with an unseen force.
The old man's eyes widened. "This... this can't be," he muttered. "He's... he's reaching the Dao Domain?"
The small child hopped up off the ground, staring at Silas in astonishnt. "He doesn't even know what that is!" the child exclaid, his voice filled with disbelief. "How can he...?"
Silas, unaware of their conversation, was now fully imrsed in the sensation. The energy strands felt like extensions of his own body, pulling at everything around him with an irresistible force. He felt the stone beneath his feet begin to crack and decay, the sound almost imperceptible but undeniable. His heart pulsed in ti with the energy—slow, deliberate, like the ticking of a clock counting down the monts until everything returned to dust.
And then, suddenly, it all made sense.
Silas opened his eyes.
The world around him seed to shimr as if reality itself was bending under the weight of the energy he now controlled.
The floor of the hall beneath him was riddled with cracks, and small sections of stone had already crumbled into dust.
The trees, once imposing and solid, seed to tremble, tiny fractures spreading like spiderwebs.
The air was thick with the weight of Crumbling, but it wasn't chaotic. It was calm. Inevitable.
"The... the Dao of Crumbling," Silas whispered to himself, his voice barely audible.
The old man stepped forward, his expression unreadable. "You have reached the Dao Domain," he said quietly, still processing what he was witnessing. "This... this is extraordinary."
Silas blinked, confused. "Dao Domain? What does that an?"
He knew that he had finally crossed a small threshold in his minor completion, but he had never heard of a Dao Domain, and he didn't seem to have any inherited mories about it either.
The small child, still staring in disbelief, shook his head. "You've done sothing most people struggle with for decades, even centuries. The Dao Domain... it's when the Dao itself becos a part of you, and you can summon its power effortlessly, without thought."
Silas felt the weight of the words but didn't fully grasp their significance. He looked down at his hands, still feeling the faint hum of the Crumbling energy around him.
The old man let out a low chuckle, though there was admiration in his eyes. "You've reached a stage of insight far beyond what we expected. The Dao Domain is sothing usually attained by those who've fully imrsed themselves in the Dao... and you've done it without even knowing."
Silas looked around, seeing the cracks in the walls and the dust at his feet. The energy was still swirling around him, gentle now, but undeniable.
"This power," he murmured.
"It's... not just a technique anymore. It's a part of ." He said as if asking for confirmation.
The small child crossed his arms, nodding slowly. "Yeah... you've beco one with the Dao itself. You can call upon it whenever you wish. But I've never personally seen soone reach this level so quickly... especially not without even knowing what they were doing! Ha, you are much better than your two senior apprentice brothers that ca before you..."
The old man stepped forward, his tone now more serious. "Silas, the Dao Domain is a rare achievent, but it's only a step on a much longer path. You have touched the essence of the Dao of Crumbling, but mastery of the entire Dao Path still lies far ahead of you. What you've gained today is powerful... but it is only the beginning."
Silas nodded, still coming to terms with the realization. He could feel the energy humming inside him, like a river of power flowing just beneath the surface, waiting to be tapped into. The Dao of Crumbling was now a part of him—a force that he could summon with a thought.
The old man, clearly impressed, gave him a slight nod of approval. "You've done well, Silas. In reaching the Dao Domain, you've crossed into a realm that few ever reach. But be warned... true mastery of a Dao takes ti, patience, and endless dedication. The path ahead is still long. Don't forget."
The small child, still slightly stunned, finally grinned. "Heh, I always knew you were sothing special, but this? This is beyond what I expected!"
Silas took a deep breath, feeling the energy settle within him.
***
"Seniors, how does my Dao compare to others?" Silas asked, his voice steady but laced with curiosity. He could still feel the power thrumming beneath his skin, the weight of the Dao of Crumbling now effortlessly woven into his very being. But the full scope of what he had achieved, where it placed him among other cultivators, was still a mystery to him.
The small child crossed his arms, still visibly shocked, while the old man's face remained unreadable. The silence between them stretched for a mont, thick with unspoken thoughts.
Finally, the old man spoke, his tone heavy with asured words. "Silas... your Dao is no longer sothing that can be compared easily to others. You've reached a level that few even dare to dream of. And yet, you don't fully realize the magnitude of what you've just done."
The small child let out a short laugh, more out of disbelief than amusent. "Compare? Ha! At this point, most cultivators would fall to their knees if they knew what you've accomplished. A Dao Domain at your age, and without even understanding what it was? You will have sects lining up to take you in..." He shook his head in amazent. "You're beyond the realm of simple comparisons."
Silas frowned slightly. He had expected praise, perhaps acknowledgnt of his rapid growth, but their reactions made it clear he had achieved sothing far beyond his understanding. "So... where do I stand?" he pressed, needing a clearer answer.
The old man sighed, stepping forward. His voice took on the tone of a ntor imparting a grave lesson. "Let explain this in terms you'll understand, Silas. Among cultivators, there are stages, as you know. The first level is Foundation—where one learns the basic techniques and establishes a connection with their chosen Dao. It is the beginning of the journey, where the Dao is still distant, a force outside of oneself."
Silas nodded, recalling his own humble beginnings.
"Next is Mastery," the old man continued. "Here, a cultivator's technique becos fluid, instinctual. They no longer need to think about every action—the Dao begins to flow through them, though it is still separate. Most cultivators aspire to reach this stage, but only a fraction ever do."
His body and weapon had long since moved in harmony with the Dao.
The small child cut in with a grin, "What cos next is where things get interesting."
The old man nodded, his eyes never leaving Silas's. "The third level, Cosmic Resonance, is where you begin to truly rge with the Dao. Your actions are no longer just your own—the universe itself begins to respond to your will. At this stage, the Dao bends the world around you. You experienced this during your earlier ditations, when the power of Crumbling began to manifest without your conscious effort."
Silas rembered those monts vividly.
"And then," the old man said, his tone deepening, "cos the True aning of the Dao. At this stage, you're no longer simply practicing techniques or channeling energy. You begin to understand the fundantal truths that govern your Dao. For you, Silas, that truth is the inevitability of decay—the way all things, no matter how strong, return to dust."
Silas felt the weight of those words. The True aning of Crumbling had been a revelation to him, a realization that destruction was not always imdiate, but inevitable, a slow return to nothingness.
"But now," the old man continued, his voice filled with awe, "you have taken the next step, a step that separates true masters from all others. You've reached the Dao Domain."
Silas t the old man's gaze, the term still resonating in his mind. "The Dao Domain... I understand that I've reached it, but what does it an for ?"
The small child's grin returned, this ti filled with genuine excitent. "It ans, Silas, that you don't just understand the Dao of Crumbling. You are the Dao of Crumbling. You've transcended the need to wield it like a tool—now, with a thought, with a breath, you can summon its power. The world around you bends to your will."
The old man nodded in agreent. "Indeed. The Dao Domain is the fifth stage of comprehension. At this level, your connection to the Dao is so profound that you can manifest its power in the world without conscious effort. It becos a domain that surrounds you, affecting everything in your vicinity. The very air around you decays with the weight of Crumbling, as you've already seen."
Silas glanced down at the cracks in the stone floor, at the dust swirling gently in the air around him. The power he now commanded wasn't sothing he summoned; it was simply there, waiting for him to direct it.
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