Emperor’s Domination

A gentle breeze swept over the hills and brought a sense of tranquility. A wooden cabin nestled amidst the towering mountains with cascading waterfalls.

Mist shrouded the region, drafting far and wide. It brought a refreshing coolness and utter contentment.

The blue expanse was graced with wafting white clouds; everything was at peace and freed from the hustle and bustle of the world.

Sword Emperor sat beneath the eaves before his cabin, just enough to block the sunlight. He basked in the gentle moist breeze. The scent of grass filled the air, soothing his heart and mind.

He had changed his outfit, choosing a simple hemp robe instead of an imperial outfit. He concealed his aura, resembling a commoner enjoying the picturesque landscape.

Li Qiye appeared before him out of nowhere.

“Sacred Teacher.” Sword attempted to get up but Li Qiye gently pushed his shoulder down.

Li Qiye sat on the chair nearby and stretched, looking ready to relax.

“I heard you’ve been here for a while.” Li Qiye told him.

“I haven’t gone outside for a long time.” Sword nodded.

As one of the strongest emperors, he could succeed World Emperor. After all, he once held the position. Alas, he lived in seclusion after the previous battle with no love for authority and prestige.

The price he paid to become the lord of Celestial Court still tormented him today.

“Your heart is still wounded?” Li Qiye said softly.

He stared at the waterfall over yonder and touched his chin in rumination before responding: “Sacred Teacher, I do not know what to do now that it is over.”

“I still remember when you made the choice back then, fully aware of the consequences and trauma yet you did it anyway. Such admirable determination.” Li Qiye praised.

“So far in the past already, but at least I completed the mission.” Sword said.

Their pain was rewarded with the death of the overlords and brought light back to the epoch.

“Yes, the road seemed endless but here we are.” Li Qiye said sentimentally.

“So I don’t know what to do now, I’ve done what I should.” Sword sighed.

“Do you remember how obsessed you were with the sword once?” Li Qiye remarked.

“The sword.” His eyes lit up for a moment upon hearing this.

Alas, it only lasted for a second before extinguishing.

“Honing swordsmanship, but for what purpose?” He smiled wryly and shook his head.

“You tell me.” Li Qiye said.

“I do not know, Sacred Teacher.” He responded: “I have done a decent job at cultivating the sword dao but I had a large gap with Imperial Progenitor, let alone you.”

“So you’re not comfortable with your potential.” Li Qiye nodded.

“Yes, Imperial Progenitor, for all his achievements, still couldn’t resist greed. A lifetime of domination only to live out his life in an ugly way.” Sword said.

“You’ve lost your confidence in the dao.” Li Qiye said.

“I don’t know, either confidence or interest. I once imagined how great the end of the sword dao would be.” Sword chuckled.

“You’re not wrong. Everything is beautiful while immersing in the sword dao, capable of becoming an Ancestor or overlord. When it comes to cultivation alone, the process is wonderful.” Li Qiye said.

“The pursuit can become ugly.” Sword said.

“And that has nothing to do with cultivation itself. The educational process is full of purity and joy, true ugliness does not come from the pursuit of the dao or how strong and weak one is but rather, human nature.” Li Qiye said.

“Human nature.” Sword murmured.

“The ugliness you saw came from the heart, not cultivation or the dao.” Li Qiye said: “Look, those overlords devoured flesh and refined people just to live longer. They accepted the darkness and anything else just to not die, they threw away the nobility of their success.”

Li Qiye paused for a bit before continuing: “I understand, mortals and cultivators all yearn to become emperors or the end of the dao, to become ultimate beings standing at the peak. They obtain independence, transcendence, nobility, ultimate auras, and so on.”

“Yes, such nobility is the pride and prize of cultivation. Training for a lifetime only to live under the darkness? It is meaningless.” Sword said.

“Yes, these apex beings threw everything away but we could still find them among regular cultivators and emperors. Why is that?” Li Qiye asked.

“Greed?” Sword responded.

“That’s just one aspect. It is because they have jumped out of this world.” Li Qiye said.

“Jumped out?” Sword repeated.

“Yes.” Li Qiye said: “The common people and the world are closely connected. For example, nobility, elegance, and honor, the things you mentioned, all of these things are given meaning and value by living beings. Once someone jumps out, these values become meaningless and the world is full of ants.”

“I see.” Sword responded.

“Right, utterly meaningless.” Li Qiye went on: “That is why after becoming overlords or even higher, their perspective changes entirely. What used to be meaningful became insignificant to them.”

“Then all overlords will reach this point completely, what’s the point of cultivation then?” Sword couldn’t help but ask.

“The meaning behind cultivation has been inverted at the root for a long time. The true root is the dao heart.” Li Qiye said.

“Yes.” Sword recalled what Li Qiye had said during the battle at Celestial Court.

“The problem is that cultivating the dao heart might be the hardest path since it is ethereal and unreachable. Everything else has substance, whether it be laws or techniques, just not the dao heart since it can’t be manifested at will. Nevertheless, once your dao heart reaches a certain level, the dao will follow.” Li Qiye preached: “Others believe that cultivation is required first, using the dao to hone the heart. This is not the case.”

“Fortify the dao heart first.” Sword became enlightened.

Li Qiye nodded: “At the overlord realm, one might jump out of this world and find the values that you have pursued to be nothing but illusions. However, a new path opens, one where the cultivator maintains their dao heart to stop themselves from becoming the thing they loath the most.”