Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

”Xue Yi, is that you?”

This time, Yang Xiao didn’t go straight over to purge her Demon Thought as he had before.

Instead, he spoke to her normally.

But when his voice reached her, the frail-looking body didn’t respond. It only trembled slightly.

”I know you’ve been through a huge shock, but hiding like this won’t solve anything. Stand up. Look at what this world of yours has become.”

”Do you want to become like your father—a Demon who brought slaughter wherever he went—only to be sealed, or even erased, by me in the end?”

Yang Xiao continued.

But at these words, Xue Yi’s trembling grew more severe.

It seemed he had struck a nerve.

She spoke.

”Do you have any idea? I killed my only living relative...”

Her voice was faint, barely a whisper.

Yet it carried a sorrow as bleak as dead ashes.

”Your only living relative? Could it be...?”

A terrible thought flashed through Yang Xiao’s mind.

”That’s right. It was him. The one I’d always wished dead. I thought that by killing him, I would have avenged my father. I thought my mother could finally rest in peace. Then, I could become your servant without any lingering attachments. But I never expected...”

”He was your father’s master?”

Yang Xiao asked.

”Master? I suppose so. But he had another identity. Do you know? He was my father’s uncle!”

”Back then, when he heard I was Lü TianGao’s daughter, do you know how shocked he looked? And when he realized I wanted to kill him, his expression was so pained. His face seemed to age in an instant.”

”And then... he killed himself. He said it was to atone for his sins, but he told me to take care of myself, to live on. Because I... I am the last of the Lü Family’s bloodline.”

”Everyone else... was already killed by my father’s sword...”

Xue Yi recounted the story, her words a jumbled mess.

Yang Xiao finally understood.

So, Xue Yi’s father—the Demon, Evil Sword, from three hundred years ago—was not only the Pure Yang Ancestor’s disciple, but also his nephew. His most beloved nephew.

He was raised to be his successor.

But in the end...

...he strayed onto the wrong path.

He even annihilated the Lü Clan with his own hands.

And that was what made the Pure Yang Ancestor resolve to personally strike down his favorite disciple, his dearest nephew.

He had blamed himself for it for three hundred years.

When Xue Yi appeared, seeking revenge...

...he didn’t resist in the slightest.

He simply took his own life right in front of her.

Upon learning the truth, Xue Yi couldn’t bear the reality of it.

That was why she had sealed herself away.

She was controlled by her own Demon Thought.

She had fallen to the demonic.

”But do you think acting like this will make the Pure Yang Ancestor happy? Will it make your father happy? Will your mother be able to rest in peace?”

Yang Xiao knew that gentle persuasion would be useless.

He began to rebuke her.

With each word, the small figure before him trembled.

She seemed even more helpless.

Seeing this, Yang Xiao strode forward.

He pulled her to her feet, turned her small body to face him, and stared into her eyes.

”Don’t forget, you are my follower now. You made me a promise, remember?”

”I...”

Xue Yi opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say.

”Do you think this is all your fault? Have you ever considered that you’re not to blame at all? Everything was your father’s fault! He was overambitious, forged the Evil Sword, and walked the Demon Dao. You, your mother, even Senior Pure Yang Ancestor—you’re all innocent.”

”You were all just dragged down by him.”

”Do you understand?”

Yang Xiao roared.

But Xue Yi only seemed to feel more wronged.

Her mouth trembled, and tears welled up in her big eyes.

”And another thing! You said you have no family. From now on, I am your only family. I am the one you pledge allegiance to. From this moment on, you will live for me. Understand?”

As soon as he said it...

...his words seemed to strike a vital point in Xue Yi.

She couldn’t help but lift her head and look at Yang Xiao. ”You’ll be my family?”

”It’s not that I’m going to be. I already am. From the moment you surrendered to me, you became one of my people. Don’t you feel you have a responsibility to me now?”

His voice was domineering and rude, yet spoken with righteous confidence.

No one but Yang Xiao could pull that off.

And yet...

Xue Yi accepted it.

Perhaps.

Her life had been too bitter. Her father died before she was born, and her mother passed away in her early childhood. In the end, the person she’d wanted to kill...

The target of her revenge...

...turned out to be her only living relative, her own grand-uncle.

And her grand-uncle had done nothing wrong.

Her father was the one at fault.

But she had driven him to his death.

Thus, her last relative...

...was also dead.

And he had died because of her.

Deep in her heart, Xue Yi yearned so desperately for family.

For love.

But in the end...

...she had destroyed it all with her own hands.

She couldn’t bear it.

She couldn’t endure it.

Her only option was to escape.

But now, Yang Xiao stood before her, demanding she take responsibility for her own words, telling her he was her family.

Xue Yi’s heart...

...was suddenly unlocked.

’Perhaps I should live on properly... for my grand-uncle, and for... Yang Xiao.’

She didn’t say these words out loud.

Otherwise, Yang Xiao would have surely told her that a person should live for themselves.

Not for anyone else.

Still, seeing Xue Yi’s expression, Yang Xiao knew she was probably willing to step forward now.

And as long as she was willing to do that...

...everything would be easy to handle.

Sure enough.

As Xue Yi opened her sealed-off heart, the fragments of her consciousness that Yang Xiao had cleansed of Demon Thought immediately turned into streams of light and flew toward her main consciousness.

They merged into her body.

At the same time, some other fragments of Demon Thought that Yang Xiao hadn’t found were also drawn over.

In response to this, Yang Xiao could only resort to his old trick.

He began to merge their Divine Intent.

As those fragments of consciousness merged with Xue Yi’s main consciousness, she also learned of Yang Xiao’s previous actions.

For no particular reason,

a faint blush crept onto Xue Yi’s face.

But it was quickly replaced by a trace of warmth.

Compared to Yun’Er, she yearned more for familial affection, for someone with whom she could share her innermost feelings.

And the merging of Divine Intent...

...gave her just such a person.

That person was Yang Xiao.

In that moment,

Xue Yi, who had initially stepped forward only out of a sense of responsibility...

...was completely freed of her inner turmoil.

Because...

...she had found a new emotion.

An emotion that came from Yang Xiao.

From then on,

she was no longer alone.