Tang Xianxiao was struck dumb, tears streaming down his face and disappearing into his temples.

Her face was deathly pale, and she stared blankly at the face so close to hers, momentarily dazed.

However, the next moment, Xu Yi could no longer control herself and instinctively bit Tang Xianxiao's pale lips. It was not a kiss, but a punitive gnaw.

In a fleeting moment, Xu Yi suddenly saw an image of Tang Xianxiao leaning against someone else, being intimate with that person. A fierce fire instantly rose in his chest, burning his eyes until they turned red and he lost all reason.

He bit down hard on Tang Xianxiao's lip, the taste of blood instantly filling his mouth, while Tang Xianxiao, like a soulless puppet, stood motionless, enduring his rage.

"Get out...get out..."

Xu Yi gritted her teeth, staring fiercely at Tang Xianxiao's ashen face, and slapped her off the table.

He suppressed the desire surging within him, veins bulging on his forehead, and placed his arm to his lips, biting down hard, trying to numb himself with pain.

Tang Xianxiao glanced back at him in a disheveled manner. His eyes were filled with endless hatred, as if he were a wild beast ready to devour her. She dared not linger any longer. Her limbs went weak as she stood up from the ground and rushed out the door.

Behind her came Xu Yi's suppressed roar.

"Tang Xianxiao...Tang Xianxiao..."

He murmured her name to himself, as if he could devour her whole in this way.

That night, no one except Xu Yi himself knew how he got through it.

Xie Shuci and his companions soon shifted their perspective to the next day.

Xu Yi was preparing to leave the Tang family.

During these two months, Tang's disciples learned a great deal from him. When they learned that he was leaving, they all went to the foot of the mountain to see him off.

When Xu Yi appeared, he was still wearing the same Taoist robe, holding a whisk with meticulous care, but his face looked a little haggard.

Countless disciples came to see him off, but Tang Xianxiao was not among them.

Upon seeing this, Tang Gu sent someone to summon Tang Xianxiao.

Xu Yi remained silent, which was tantamount to tacitly approving their actions.

Before long, Tang Xianxiao, pale-faced, appeared accompanied by his two senior brothers.

Her face looked even more haggard than Xu Yi's. When she saw Xu Yi, she lowered her head and dared not look at her anymore.

Xu Yi, however, remained calm and composed as if nothing had happened, and said to the crowd, "Xianxiao and I have something to say to each other."

The disciples understood and moved away, leaving only Xu Yi and Tang Xianxiao behind.

Tang Xian lowered his head in shame, looking somewhat flustered, "I'm sorry..."

"There's no need to bring up yesterday's events again."

However, she was interrupted by Xu Yi as soon as she opened her mouth.

Tang Xianxiao's expression darkened, and he lowered his head even further.

"I'll only ask you one question, answer me honestly." Xu Yi's tone was calm, no different from usual.

"……good."

"You like me. Yes, or no."

Upon hearing this, Tang Xianxiao shuddered, her face paling even more. But she was destined not to hide anything, so she resignedly closed her eyes and nodded gently: "Yes."

Upon hearing her answer, Xu Yi showed no emotion, neither sad nor happy, and was not affected by her words. She simply nodded slightly to indicate that she understood.

Then, he turned around and smiled with his back to Tang Xian.

He gripped the whisk tightly with his five fingers, holding it firmly on the handle until his fingertips turned white, but he did not loosen his grip.

"Tang Xianxiao, you are not suited to cultivate the Dao of Freedom." Xu Yi's voice was as calm as a still pond.

Tang Xianxiao was taken aback and looked up at Xu Yi in confusion.

His back was unusually cold, endlessly widening the distance between the two.

"Your mind is filled with too many distracting thoughts; you may not be able to achieve the Great Dao. Compared to the Dao of Freedom..."

Xu Yi paused for a moment at this point.

After a brief silence, he said, "The path of slaughter suits you better."

Throughout history, cultivators who practice the Path of Slaughter have been extremely rare, and Tang Xianxiao didn't know what price one had to pay to cultivate it. But Xu Yi knew all about those prices.

This was a punishment he unilaterally inflicted on himself and Tang Xianxiao, a punishment that they both endured.

If Tang Xianxiao likes him, and if she can achieve great success, then the more she likes him, the less she can get close to him, until the day she goes mad with evil. Either he will die at her hands, or she will die at his hands.

Mutual torment?

This clearly appears to be a one-sided torment and deception of Tang Xianxiao, so how can it be described as mutual torment?

Yes, how can you say it's mutual torment?

After that day, Tang Xianxiao stubbornly changed his path and cultivated the Way of Slaughter.

This also brought a bad reputation to the Tang family. However, all the disciples, big and small, in the mountains loved this arrogant junior sister very much, and even so, they doted on her.

As it turns out, Tang Xianxiao was indeed quite talented, and in just seven years, he was about to master the Great Dao.

During those seven years, she and Xu Yi met only a few times. They both seemed to have forgotten what happened that night, and neither of them mentioned it again.

When she had reached the pinnacle of her killing prowess, Xu Yi took the initiative to approach her for the first time.

If one fails to attain enlightenment through the path of slaughter, one can continue to enter the cycle of laws after death. However, if one does attain enlightenment, one's spirit and form will be destroyed after death, becoming a wisp of wind in the world that can only be looked at but never reached.

As an observer, Xie Shuci even thought that Xu Yi's willingness to let him and Tang Xianxiao go was to prevent Tang Xianxiao from achieving enlightenment.

Unfortunately, Tang Xianxiao knew better than anyone whether he would eventually achieve enlightenment.

During the seven years that Tang Xianxiao cultivated, her behavior remained the same as always. Unlike ordinary women, she would flirt with any handsome men she saw, even if she had no intention of doing anything. As a result, she became known as a womanizer and her reputation spread like wildfire throughout Huaizhou.

Her most famous relationship was with Xuezhu Gongzi, a courtesan, which seemed to have lasted for ten years.

When Xu Yi came to find her, she got off Xue Zhu Gongzi's couch in disheveled clothes, her eyes alluring and languid as she looked at the man standing by the door holding a whisk.

"Why are you here?" Tang Xianxiao yawned, grabbed his clothes from the ground as if no one was around, and put them back on under Xu Yi's cold gaze.

Xu Yi stood by the door, staring at her for a long time, his feet seemingly rooted to the spot, not moving for a long time.

After a long while, he lowered his eyes, calmed his emotions, and said, "I heard you are about to achieve great success, so I have come to congratulate you."

Tang Xianxiao poured himself a cup of tea. "Thank you."

Xu Yi looked at her quietly and asked, "May I move to another room?"

Tang Xian smiled and nodded, then said to Xue Zhu Gongzi on the couch, "I will come to see you again tomorrow."

"Hmm." A hoarse male voice came from inside the curtain.

Tang Xianxiao followed Xu Yi out of the room and into another empty room.

Once inside, Tang Xianxiao sat gracefully at the table and asked, "What brings you here, Daoist Master?"

Xu Yi said directly, "I have been managing the Xu family for more than ten years, and I am still all alone. The elders plan to find me a wife to lead the family."

Upon hearing this, Tang Xianxiao's pupils dilated. "What do you mean?"

Xu Yi looked at her indifferently, "I wonder, would you be willing?"

Tang Xianxiao sat up straight, caught off guard by the sudden news, and was almost incoherent, "W-what did you say?"

Xu Yi lowered her head and said, "It's exactly what you think."

Tang Xianxiao suddenly stood up from the stool. "You're willing to marry me?"

"Um."

"But……"

Tang Xianxiao wanted to ask something, but he never had the courage to say it.

Don't you hate me? Don't you find me disgusting? Why did you still marry me?

But she dared not ask any of these questions, for fear of losing this dreamlike opportunity, this chance to be with Xu Yi forever.

"In another half month, the Dragon Fang Secret Realm will open in Huaizhou. By then, you should have already achieved mastery. You will come with me into the secret realm, and after we return, we will get married."

Xu Yi's tone was cold and indifferent, as if he were telling a story. But for Tang Xianxiao, this was a rare opportunity. She never dared to imagine that one day she could marry Xu Yi.

In order to achieve mastery before the Dragon Fang Secret Realm opened, Tang Xianxiao went into seclusion for ten days. After she emerged from seclusion, the first thing she did was to find Xu Yi and tell him the good news.

That day, Xu Yi had already sensed something was amiss. He dismissed all his disciples and sat alone in his room, quietly waiting for Tang Xianxiao's arrival.

It was as if he had been waiting for this day for a full seven years.

"Taoist priest! I have achieved great success!"

Tang Xianxiao burst into the Xu family home in high spirits and came to stand before him.

Xu Yi sat at the table, opened his eyes, and got up to welcome her in. As if to confirm something, before Tang Xianxiao could speak again, he grabbed the back of Tang Xianxiao's neck and silenced her with a kiss.

This kiss was gentler and longer than the one seven years ago.

Tang Xianxiao went from initial surprise to eventually willingly succumbing to the kiss.

As her heartbeat amplified, it felt as if an ice pick pierced her heart, a dull pain spreading from her heart to her limbs, and a trickle of blood slid down the corner of her mouth.

Tang Xianxiao was unaware that on the very first day of her mastery of the Dao of Slaughter, her Dao Heart had already been damaged. She even ignored the slight pain and was filled with joy as she looked forward to her wedding ceremony with Xu Yi a few days later.

During the few days that the Dragon Tooth Secret Realm was open, Tang Xianxiao stayed at the Xu family's residence and had a few rare days of peaceful coexistence with Xu Yi.

During those days, Xu Yi was incredibly gentle. Tang Xianxiao had never felt such tenderness from this man before, and he fell deeper and deeper in love.

Until this day, the Dragon Fang Secret Realm opened, and Tang Xianxiao bid farewell to Xu Yi and returned to the Tang family.

After learning that Tang Xianxiao had achieved great success, the head of the Tang family decided to enter the Dragon Fang Secret Realm to obtain the legendary Qiankun Mirror, which could reverse time and space.

Xie Shuci and the others were once again drawn into the secret realm.

The scene shifts, and they appear in the Immortal's Tomb.

The Tang family and the Xu family met unexpectedly in the passageway.

At that time, a strange woman was standing next to Xu Yi.

She seemed terrified of her surroundings, clinging tightly to Xu Yi, looking at Tang Xianxiao with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

The woman and Xu Yi appeared to be in a rather intimate pose. Upon seeing this, Tang Xianxiao's gaze immediately turned cold. She had not yet fully mastered the Great Perfection of the Killing Dao, and her killing intent lingered in the air, spreading throughout the narrow passageway.

"Who is she?" Tang Xian asked with a smile.

Xu Yi stared at her intently for a long time before snapping out of his daze. He used his whisk to shield the woman behind him and said to Tang Xian in a cold and distant tone, "She is the future matriarch of the Xu family."

Upon hearing this, the passageway fell into a deathly silence, with only the growing killing intent swirling in the air.

After a long pause, Tang Xianxiao chuckled softly, "She's the sect leader's wife, so what am I?"

When she asked that question, her voice was light and airy, as if she was afraid of disturbing something.

Xu Yi stared at her with deep eyes. Perhaps it was the pleasure of successful revenge that made him laugh, but he also started to laugh. His laughter was extremely sinister, and it gradually grew louder and louder, becoming so grating that people even thought he had gone mad.

He had waited far too long for this day.

Today, only one of him and Tang Xianxiao can survive.

"Who are you, Tang Xianxiao? Do you think I would marry a woman with blood on her hands and become the sect leader's wife?"

At this point, he didn't care what would become of him; after all, only one of them, Tang Xianxiao, could leave this place alive. He wanted to exact his revenge and torment Tang Xianxiao to his heart's content, and torment himself as well.

"I lied to you. I felt sorry for you and wanted to marry me, right? Too bad, I won't marry you."

As Tang Xianxiao listened to his words, his eyes gradually reddened, and he stared intently at her.

Xu Yi's eyes reddened as she smiled.

"You really like me, don't you? I casually said something and you started cultivating the Path of Slaughter. But no one told you that the Path of Slaughter cannot be changed. Once you achieve mastery, you will be struck dead by lightning as you approach your ascension, never to be reincarnated again."

Tang Xian smiled, opened his lips, and after a moment of silence, said, "I know."

"You...know?"

"I've lived one lifetime enough. Whether there's an afterlife or not makes no difference to me."

However, this did not achieve Xu Yi's goal. He wanted to provoke Tang Xianxiao, and he would stop at nothing to provoke Tang Xianxiao.

"Do you know that your Dao heart has been damaged and you will soon suffer a qi deviation? As long as I kill you, I will be acting on behalf of Heaven and gain merit. At that time, ascending to heaven will be as easy as turning my hand."

Tang Xianxiao stared at him blankly, "Everything you've done is for ascension?"

"Yes, otherwise how could I patiently deal with such a disgusting woman?"

"You don't have to face me! You can stay far away from me! You can never see me again, why... why..."

Seeing Tang Xianxiao's incredulous expression, he felt extremely pleased.

"Because I disgust you, to the point that only one of us can live! Tang Xianxiao, once you achieve great success, as long as you still like me, your Dao heart will be destroyed because of me, and only one of us can live."

Tang Xianxiao froze completely. She had always felt that Xu Yi was too good a few days ago, as good as a dream. Even though she knew that he could not suddenly change his mind and fall in love with her, Tang Xianxiao could not help but have a tiny bit of fantasy.

She thought the worst possible outcome would be for her and Xu Yi to return to their previous indifferent relationship, but she never imagined that Xu Yi would despise her to this extent.

Everything around me gradually became blurry.

Xie Shuci's vision also became blurred, perhaps because Xu Yi had subconsciously blurred this memory, a memory he himself did not want to recall.

Moments later, Tang Xianxiao went mad.

The first person she killed was her senior brother, Tang Gu, who was standing behind her.

Blood filled the narrow passageway, and Tang Xianxiao's eyes were bloodshot; he had completely lost his mind.

When Xie Shuci saw Tang Xianxiao kill the Tang family disciple in an instant, Xu Yi also froze.

At this moment, Xie Shuci understood.

Xu Yi didn't really understand the Dao of Slaughter. He probably thought that after Tang Xianxiao went mad, his only target was him, and he didn't expect that everyone present would be involved.

It's a pity he found out too late.

Tang Xianxiao, driven mad by her cultivation, killed all the Tang family disciples who had doted on her.

Warm blood stained every inch of her skin, and her once vibrant life was extinguished in the merciless carnage.

The scene was too bloody for Xie Shuci to see clearly.

He only knew that in the end, not only the disciples of the Tang and Xu families, but also the disciples of other immortal sects in the Immortal Tomb could not escape Tang Xianxiao's grasp.

A cultivator who loses their mind and goes into a state of demonic possession will not only experience a surge in cultivation, but will also transform into a completely painless and endless killing machine.

"Ah...ah..."

After an unknown amount of time, the woman's heart-wrenching cries echoed from the quiet tomb.

Xie Shuci witnessed all of this from a third-person perspective.

Tang Xianxiao briefly regained consciousness. Looking at the familiar faces on the ground and their deep, bone-revealing wounds, she cried as if the world had collapsed.

Xie Shuci's eyes gradually welled up with tears as he looked at her like this.

"Patriarch...Senior Brother..."

"I was wrong...I was wrong..."

The woman's desperate cries sounded like a hand choking Xie Shuci's breath, forcing him to close his eyes in agony.

This is too cruel! It's so cruel to Tang Xianxiao and other innocent people!

He knew perfectly well that those who died in the Immortal's Tomb could never escape; they would be excluded from the cycle of reincarnation. Even if the Immortal's Tomb collapsed hundreds of years later, they would only become wandering ghosts on the earth. Tang Xianxiao had now personally killed them, personally buried his most precious clansmen—it was all far too cruel.

What's even more ridiculous is that, despite most of the dead and injured in the Immortal's Tomb, one person slowly walked over the pile of corpses.

His grey robe was soaked in blood, and the whisk in his hand was stained red.

Hearing Tang Xianxiao's gradually lowering and hoarse sobs, she paused several times, but still continued to move forward.

He walked to Tang Xianxiao's side, his eyes reddening, and looked at the corpses and rivers of blood all around him, his breath catching in his throat.

"I'm sorry..."

"Kill me." Tang Xianxiao didn't want to turn around and look at him anymore, didn't want to see this man who made her wish she were dead.

Xu Yi lowered his head, his hands trembling slightly at his sides. Looking at Tang Xianxiao in such pain, he felt no pleasure anymore, but rather waves of pain that overwhelmed and suffocated him.

"Don't you hate me? Don't you want to ascend to immortality? Don't you use any means necessary to make me cultivate the path of slaughter and go mad? Come on, kill me!"

Xu Yi stood a few steps away from her, not daring to move even an inch further.

He was confused; he didn't know how to explain his feelings.

He tricked Tang Xianxiao into cultivating the path of slaughter, wasn't it all so that today it would be either you die or I live? Didn't he just think that an unrepentant and lowly woman was a suitable stepping stone on his path to ascension?

Since Heaven only recognizes results and not cause and effect, and he can ascend to immortality by killing Tang Xianxiao, what is he hesitating for?

Seeing that he hadn't moved for a long time, Tang Xianxiao, his whole body as if bathed in blood, turned his head slightly but didn't look at Xu Yi.

Tears mixed with blood dripped down his chin to the ground.

"What? Can't you bring yourself to do it?" Tang Xianxiao's voice was utterly desolate. "I've killed so many people, but you don't dare to kill me?"

"Xu Yi, you like me, don't you?" Tang Xian smiled with his eyes closed, his tone not without mockery.

"I……"

"You like me, but you're too cowardly to admit it. You're a coward! How dare you ask me to like you?"

"I'm not!" Xu Yi roared, a surge of emotion welling up inside him. He shook his head desperately, "I'm not... I'm not..."

"Then kill me! Kill me! Go on your path to ascension! Kill me—"

Tang Xianxiao's voice stopped abruptly as a whisk pierced her heart, and the scene froze at that moment.

Both Tang Xianxiao and Xu Yi stopped what they were doing.

Xu Yi stared blankly at Tang Xianxiao not far away, her own breath seemingly disappearing along with Tang Xianxiao's gradually decreasing breathing.

The world was completely silent, like a cold, bloody, and shocking painting.

Xie Shuci saw confusion and helplessness on Xu Yi's face.

As Tang Xianxiao's body crashed to the ground, he pulled back his whisk, shed his first tear, and staggered out of the underground prison as if trying to escape something.

Just as Xu Yi turned around, a faint sigh rang out in the air, and a wisp of azure spiritual energy swept across the sky, swirling around Tang Xianxiao's chest wound and protecting her heart.

During their journey to the Dragon Fang Secret Realm, countless people died at the hands of Tang Xianxiao. Some severely injured cultivators escaped and returned to the cultivation world, revealing the incident to the public. This sparked a massive wave of retribution in Huaizhou, leveling the Tang family's immortal mountain overnight. Tang family disciples were seen as harboring a menace and were exterminated. Only a handful of people were protected by the Tang family's divine tree and escaped the calamity.

In just one night, a once-powerful immortal sect became a pariah, hated by everyone. In the end, all documents related to the Tang family were burned, and some immortal sects even issued orders that from now on, any cultivator with the surname Tang should be killed without exception!

The disciples who were saved by the divine tree changed their names and disappeared from the world, determined to no longer cultivate Taoism.

It is said that more than 300 monks died because of Tang Xianxiao.

However, Xu Yi was unaware of all this.

Upon returning to the Xu family, he resigned from his position as sect leader and entered a small peak to cultivate in seclusion, awaiting the day of his ascension.

Among the army that attacked the Tang family, the Xu family suffered the most losses of disciples, and thus Xu became one of the generals.

Xu Yi's challenge has lasted for hundreds of years.

The story has come to an end here.

Xie Shuci was stunned. He felt as if he had experienced half of Sun Xianxiao's life in a short period of time, transforming from a carefree, naive, and mischievous young girl into someone whose hands were stained with countless lives and who was hated by everyone.

She-devil.

It's so sad; the rules of this world are too cruel.

As everything before them returned to calm, their consciousness was suddenly pulled back to the original tree, back to the city gate of Huaizhou.

At this moment, everyone fell silent.

It was as if they were witnessing a replay of someone's memories before death, experiencing their entire life in an immersive way—a result that was truly hard to accept.

After a long silence, Sect Leader Xu sighed heavily and said, "Rather than saying that Senior Tang killed those cultivators, it would be more accurate to say that the Great Ancestor used her to kill them."

Liu Dazhuang sniffed, tears welling in his eyes, and cursed, "That Xu Yi is a bastard! It's one thing if you don't like her, but why did you have to ruin her life and drag so many innocent people into it?"

Xie Shuci sighed, "Xu Yi liked Senior Tang, but he was too afraid to admit it or believe it, and in the end, he harmed Senior Tang and others. Moreover, those who died in the Immortal's Tomb have missed the time for reincarnation and can no longer be reborn."

Sikong Xin said with a complicated expression, "This must be his inner conflict."

"Our ancestor was truly wrong, so terribly wrong." Master Xu's eyes reddened.

"If he weren't out of control, I would have chopped him to death with an axe! What a piece of trash."

At this moment, Xie Shuci discovered that the little blind man he had imagined had not disappeared!

Perhaps sensing Xie Shuci's gaze, "Xie An" raised his head.

For some reason, Xie Shuci, even though he knew it was something he had imagined, still asked, "And you? Do you have anything to say?"

The little blind man raised his eyes, his empty gaze fixed on the distance, his tone indescribable:

"What he was most afraid to admit was actually jealousy."