The Past Events of the Dao Ancestor of the Way of Killing

In the western wing of the Sword God Palace, red candles flickered, casting shadows that stretched across the walls like lurking beasts.

Bai Qiangu sat on the edge of the cold bed, her eyes filled with dejection.

Space twisted once more, and the phantom of the Killing Dao Ancestor slowly emerged behind her.

This time, the phantom was far more solid. The killing aura swirling around her instantly reduced the furnishings in the room to dust.

“Fang Yuan… just what kind of person is he?”

Bai Qiangu suddenly spoke, her voice especially jarring in the deathly silent room.

Although she had inherited the legacy, she knew very little about the man who had once caused even Dao Ancestors to suffer defeat.

At the mention of that name, the Killing Dao Ancestor’s murderous aura actually faltered for a rare moment.

A moment later, she let out a scornful laugh. “Him? He’s nothing but a coward who hides behind women and climbs to power through despicable means. People call him the Emotion-Refining Demon Venerable, but in my eyes, he’s nothing more than a complete fraud who toys with people’s feelings.”

“Emotion-Refining Demon Venerable…” Bai Qiangu murmured, carefully turning the title over in her mind.

“What a load of nonsense!”

The Killing Dao Ancestor’s gaze instantly darkened, and the space around her rippled with waves of bone-chilling killing intent.

Gritting her teeth, she said, “He’s a fraud! A shameless bastard who relies on ‘One Conquest, Eternal Conquest’ and Emotion Path techniques to make a fool of himself!”

Her voice was filled with fury and contempt suppressed for countless eras. Every word seemed to be forced out from between her clenched teeth.

Bai Qiangu was slightly stunned.

She had never seen this lofty Dao Ancestor lose her composure so completely.

Even when imparting the true meaning of the Killing Dao to her, the Killing Dao Ancestor had always maintained an aloof, detached indifference, looking down upon all living beings.

Yet now, merely hearing the name “Fang Yuan” seemed to transform her into an entirely different person.

“One Conquest, Eternal Conquest?” Bai Qiangu frowned. “What is that?”

“An extremely domineering secret technique of the Emotion Path,” the Killing Dao Ancestor said coldly. “Once unleashed, it allows the caster to permanently occupy another person’s mind after conquering them. The conquered person develops an inerasable love and dependence toward the caster. No matter how the caster treats her, she can never free herself.”

She paused, and deep disgust flashed through her eyes. “A true powerhouse conquers others through their own strength and charisma. Only a despicable scoundrel like him would use such filthy methods.”

“Then you and he…” Bai Qiangu ventured cautiously.

“I fought him once.”

The Killing Dao Ancestor’s voice suddenly grew low, and a trace of reminiscence flickered in her eyes.

It was a memory from an extremely distant past, so distant that even time itself had become blurred. Yet when she recalled it now, it remained as vivid as yesterday.

“It was during a great battle at the dawn of chaos. I had just attained the position of Killing Dao Ancestor and was at the height of my ambition, looking down upon the world. That reckless bastard Fang Yuan actually tried to use his Emotion Path techniques to control me and turn me into his plaything.”

“At the time, he was the Dao Ancestor of the Emotion Path. He claimed that the Emotion Path could suppress all other paths and that he was invincible beneath the heavens.”

The corner of her mouth curled into a mocking smile. “And what happened in the end? I defeated him in just three moves and beat him to his knees, begging for mercy.”

Bai Qiangu drew in a sharp breath.

Three moves to defeat a Dao Ancestor?

The Killing Dao Ancestor saw through her thoughts and said calmly, “Anyone who can become a Dao Ancestor is a peerless genius, one of the strongest beings in the immortal world. Every Dao Ancestor possesses an invincible Dao and domain of their own. But Fang Yuan, the Dao Ancestor of the Emotion Path, was utterly devoid of dignity.”

Her voice was filled with contempt and fury. “What do you think a Dao Ancestor should be like? Unyielding even in death? Proud and unbending? But Fang Yuan was nothing like that. After losing to me, he actually burst into tears. He hugged my leg and begged me not to kill him. In that pathetic, servile state of his, where was there even the slightest trace of a Dao Ancestor’s majesty?”

Bai Qiangu’s brows drew together slightly.

She could not imagine what it would look like for a Dao Ancestor to weep and beg for mercy.

“For some reason, I actually softened and let him go.”

The Killing Dao Ancestor gnashed her teeth. “Perhaps his Emotion Path technique had planted a ripple in my heart. Or perhaps I simply found it boring to kill a cripple who no longer had the will to resist. In any case, I spared his life.”

“However, from beginning to end, I regarded him as nothing more than my slave.”

She added coldly, “Whenever I returned from battle, he would kneel before the palace like a dog and welcome me home. When I was in a good mood, I would have him massage my legs and shoulders. When I was in a bad mood, I would torture a few foolish Immortal Venerables in front of him, so he would understand the fate of betraying me.”

“I thought that was enough. I thought he was merely a dog I kept—one I could kill whenever I wanted and abandon whenever I pleased.”

At this point, the Killing Dao Ancestor’s voice suddenly lowered. A trace of confusion appeared on her illusory face, a confusion even she herself had failed to notice.

“Only, I never expected that in just one hundred years… I would fall in love with him.”

Bai Qiangu’s pupils widened slightly.

The Killing Dao Ancestor closed her eyes, her voice filled with bone-deep weariness and sorrow.

“I don’t even know when it began. Perhaps it was when he knelt before the palace every day, waiting for me to return.”

“Perhaps it was when he clumsily learned how to brew spiritual tea. Perhaps it was when he was beaten until he was covered in wounds, yet still smiled and said, ‘Please calm your anger, Master’…”

“I tried to give him up. I locked him in the Nine Hells Prison for a full thousand years. I thought time would dilute everything. But it was useless.”

“I have slaughtered countless living beings. I could crush even a newborn baby without the slightest hesitation. But when it came to him, I simply could not bring myself to do it.”

Her voice was filled with a gritted, bitter hatred, though it was impossible to tell whether she hated him or herself.

“I wanted to kill him, but I couldn’t bear to.”

“I am the Killing Dao Ancestor! The living beings I have killed number far more than a trillion. Mountains of corpses and seas of blood, fields of bleached bones—those are nothing more than ordinary scenery to me. Yet I simply couldn’t bear to kill him.”

Her voice carried a deep despair. “That was when I knew I was finished. From then on, I became the sharpest sword in his hand. Whoever he told me to kill, I killed. If he told me to go east, I would never go west.”

“For his sake, I annihilated three orthodox lineages, slew two Dao Ancestors, and even dared to set myself against the entire immortal world.”

The Killing Dao Ancestor suddenly looked toward Bai Qiangu, her eyes flashing with a chilling light.

“The people I killed for him in those years could have used their bones to pave the entirety of the Sword God Palace. The blood I shed for him could have dyed the entire Eastern Sea red.”

“And what did he do? He would occasionally smile at me, occasionally praise me with a single ‘Well done,’ and I would become deliriously happy, convinced that everything had been worth it.”

“I don’t know what connection Ye Xuan has to Fang Yuan.”

Her voice abruptly turned as cold as ice, and killing intent surged around her.

“But regardless, you must kill Ye Xuan! Otherwise, you will inevitably end up like me, completely controlled by him. By then, you will become the sharpest sword in his hand, slaughtering all living beings for him and rushing into fire and water at his command—while he won’t even spare you a second glance!”