Eternal Evil Emperor

"I have a son who will be born three thousand years later; he will traverse the Zhou States, unmatched by anyone in the world!"

"Xie Tian, you have only two months to live!"

"Leave the Xie family, the world is far bigger than you can imagine!"

...

The old madman had spoken many words, but Xie Tian could not forget these three.

One sentence seemingly clarified his origin. An origin that sounded immensely mystical—born three thousand years later? That's unrealistic. Traverse the Zhou States? Where even is that? And who was the person who said this?

But at least he knew his origin. Besides being shocked, Xie Tian also felt a thrill of excitement. However, upon hearing the second sentence, his nerves tensed.

He could never have imagined that he had such a short life ahead. What could one achieve in two months? Even if he cultivated relentlessly, at most he would reach the ninth level of brute force. Just with that, how could he possibly fight against Xie Yun and Xie Shuai, who had the support of two top sects from the Song Kingdom?

For a moment, Xie Tian was filled with the fear of death and the despair of having no means of revenge. Perhaps the greatest sorrow in the world was to live for revenge as Xie Tian did, yet knowing that he could never achieve it in his lifetime.

"Go! Move on!"

Even though the old madman didn't provide a way to extend his life, Xie Tian understood that since the madman could utter the third sentence, it implied there must be a way to survive outside the Xie family, beyond Yangshuo City; otherwise, the third sentence would have been utterly meaningless!

In an instant, Xie Tian made up his mind. He knelt to the ground and respectfully kowtowed three times to the old madman. When he looked up, the madman had vanished, and only his last words lingered by his ear.

"Once you break through to the ninth level of brute force, there's no need to eat more dragon leopard wood. Switch to something else—I'm sick of watching you munch on it, haha!"

Xie Tian's mouth twitched as he followed the familiar foul smell into the inner room. Packed dragon leopard wood was lying on the crumbling bed of the old man. He put the wood into his backpack, organized it, then stepped out into the broken courtyard, looking around.

He had lived here for six years. After those six years, he had become akin to a young master. Another six years, and he had returned here, a cripple. The rise and fall of his circumstances propelled him onto the path of becoming a strong man.

This broken courtyard was the starting point of his journey to power.

Before setting out, however, he decided to elevate his position because a memorable young mistress once said, "The higher your starting point, the greater your achievements will be."

There could be nothing more fitting than using others as a stepping stool to raise oneself.

Opening his backpack, the contents that lay before him pleased Xie Tian. He took out the crossbow that had shot Chen Feng, along with several tiger tendons, and entered the main room. After a short while, he exited with empty hands and closed the door behind him.

Then, he arranged the items from his backpack around the broken courtyard. After a final look around, he felt quite satisfied. Xie Tian then sat on the threshold of the main room, waiting.

He knew that some were already aware of his return, and he knew even better that some would soon arrive.

These were the people he had been anticipating.

Bang!

A month had passed since the broken door of the courtyard had been kicked open, completely losing its life, breaking apart and scattering across the courtyard floor, lying there as Xie Tian looked up at the person who had kicked it.

Xie Tian looked up and saw that the people he had been waiting for had finally arrived, only this time, there were twice as many as half a month ago.

Apart from descendants of the Xie family, there was also a group of servants gathered to watch the show, two guards who belonged to Xie Shuai, and one person Xie Tian did not want to fight.

This person was Chen Qiang, who followed Xie Jin into the broken courtyard. Xie Tian's gaze lingered mostly on Chen Qiang, allowing them to briefly lock eyes through which Xie Tian sensed Chen Qiang's complexity and resolve.

"Little bastard, you dare to come back!" For Xie Bao, Xie Tian's indifferent gaze was the perfect provocation. Filled with thoughts of how to torment Xie Tian, his rage washed those thoughts away as he yelled, "Being a servant, don't you know how to greet your master? Kneel before your young master!"

It was as though Xie Tian hadn't heard Xie Bao's words. He continued to look over the group of servants. Like them, he was a servant, but unlike them, he was a servant unlike any other.

Looking at these familiar faces marked by schadenfreude, a bit of sorrow arose within Xie Tian—not high-minded sorrow for the numbness and cowardice of these people, but sorrow for himself. Hadn't he in the past six years seen the Xie family as his everything, just like these people?

But now, everything was different. Xie Tian was relieved. Only by experiencing it and then reflecting could one truly grasp the foolishness, coldness, and ruthlessness of the world and hence, step onto his own path of breaking the heavens.

"Yo, even daring to disregard the words of the Second Young Master, Xie Tian, you've really grown!"

"Being a servant, you should act like one; hurry up and crawl over here!"

"Being a young master for six years, have you forgotten who you really are, a third-class servant!"

"You're really shaming us..."

...

Xie Tian stood up, still silent, his gaze falling on the two guards standing behind Xie Bao, assessing them thoroughly.

He recognized these two men, Xie Da and Xie Li, hailed as the "Twin Heroes of Sword and Saber." Previously attendants and guards to the handsome Xie, they had reached the seventh level of the Brute Strength Realm. Xie Da was adept with the sword, masterfully wielding the Rainfall Sword, while Xie Li excelled with the saber. Though his saber was not long, he capitalized on its short length to deliver rapid strikes. Once he closed in on his opponent, defense was barely possible.

Recalling how the two had fought in the past, Xie Tian felt his palms sweat. Xie Sha had told him that one-on-one, he might stand a ten percent chance of winning, but against both, he was certain to die.

He knew their greatest strength was not the sword or saber individually, but their combined attacks. Xie Shuai had once said that together, they could even contend with someone at the ninth level of the Brute Strength Realm.

The higher one's cultivation level, the greater the gap between realms, and it was rare for people like them to bridge this gap simply through numbers. This was exactly why, with just their cultivation at the seventh level of the Brute Strength Realm, they could serve as guards for Xie Shuai—who was considered a leading genius of Yangshuo City. At just twenty years old, his cultivation had already reached the second level of the Inner Qi Realm.

The two stood with arms folded, immovable in Xie Tian's eyes, as heavy as mountains. How could he remove the two massive mountains before him? Xie Tian wiped sweat from his palms.

Xie Bao laughed, clearly pleased with himself. Although still irked by being ignored, it did not stop him from appreciating his own cleverness. He realized he had done something very wise by bringing Xie Da and Xie Li today; otherwise, he might never have seen the tension and fear on Xie Tian's face before his death.

Now he got to enjoy it, his satisfaction echoing through the broken courtyard as laughter. Seeing the second young master laugh, the slaves thought he was mocking Xie Tian, and the noise of their lambasting intensified in the courtyard along with Xie Bao's laughter.

Chen Qiang quietly watched Xie Tian, feeling both sympathy for his misfortune and anger at his inaction. Had he been the one mocked and ridiculed by the slaves, there would only be one outcome—to fight with his life, even if it led to death. He wouldn't just endure the unbearable humiliation silently like Xie Tian. That was not the behavior of a true man.

"Breaking the master's fingers, going out for half a month without reason, hahaha, okay, these are nothing," Xie Bao, still wearing a smug smile, waved his hand to silence Xie Jin's complaints and continued, "Now, there's something I really want to know—how did you obtain your cultivation level?"

At those words, the expressions of the slaves dramatically changed, and even Chen Qiang frowned slightly, incredulously staring at Xie Tian. Everyone was utterly shocked that Xie Tian, who was supposed to have completely depleted his primordial yang, still had cultivation.

Finally, Xie Tian shifted his gaze to Xie Bao and softly answered, "Cultivated it."

"Bullshit!" The smile disappeared from Xie Bao's face as he darkly retorted, "These past six years you haven't cultivated any Brute Strength Realm techniques at all, and now with your primordial yang completely depleted, to say you have any cultivation, or even that you could cultivate, is pure delusion!"

Xie Tian smiled, a smile so sinister and cold it was chilling. "So you knew, too, that I hadn't cultivated any Brute Strength Realm techniques in the last six years."

Hearing this, Chen Qiang's pupils dilated!

"Ha, who am I?" Xie Bao was confused for a moment before he finally grasped the meaning behind Xie Tian's words. Bursting into laughter, he pointed at Xie Tian and laughed hysterically, "I am the second young master of the Xie main family! Did you think my brother's spending seventy percent of the Xie resources on a worthless person these past six years was without reason? Did you think I wouldn't know? Haha, I'm dying of laughter!"

Xie Tian took a deep breath, his smile vanishing, and asked with an unprecedented seriousness, "Besides you, who else knows?"

"Poor little wretch," Xie Bao shook his head, looking at Xie Tian with immense scorn as he revealed the truth.

"During the family meeting six years ago, to save my older sister's life from danger, we chose you from among the young slave children. My older brother took charge, pouring various heavenly treasures into you while also using cultivation techniques to nurture your primordial yang." Pausing for effect, Xie Bao continued with a smirk, "All the senior members of the Xie family knew about this. My brother told me two years ago. Otherwise, you would have been dead by my hand!"

The courtyard fell deathly silent.

Because the truth was horrifying, the slaves instinctively moved away from Xie Bao. Even the young disciples of the Xie family, hearing this for the first time, stood agape, unable to fathom that such a huge secret was behind this.

"For six whole years, my family has invested so much in you, but finally, it has paid off immensely!" Xie Bao laughed wildly, triumphantly proclaiming, "My older sister, Xie Yun, absorbed all of your primordial yang and has been specially recruited as a True Disciple by the Biying Pavilion. My older brother Xie Shuai has even risen to be part of the number one sect, Chi Xiao Peak! Xie Tian, you have rendered such great service to the Xie family—should you be happy or should you weep? Haha..."

This was the Xie family. Xie Tian looked up at the sky, recalling the myriad scenes from the past six years, and a ridiculous feeling naturally emerged.

He was laughing at himself, a fool who wholeheartedly loved and respected the Xie family, treating it as his own home, yet unaware of how the family heads viewed him with a mocking gaze behind his back.

He had thought he was merely a plaything to Xie Shuai and Xie Yun, but the truth was crueler—they had all been fooling him for a full six years.

Xie Tian clenched his fists tightly, then relaxed them, remembering that his highly prized primordial yang had been sucked dry by the Xie family, and it should be used on someone of the Xie family, not wasted frivolously.

"Damn, this poor bastard really had it tough?"

"Tough my ass, he was nothing more than a dog-like slave. Serving as a young master for six years, what's it to the Xie family to take a little interest?"

"That's right, he's not dead, is he?"

"Heh, that's because my Xie family is compassionate. If it were the Chen or Jin families, he might already have grass growing over his grave!"

...

The usually reserved young disciples of the Xie family now freely expressed their feelings, a big change from half a month ago when their hearts were filled with envy and resentment. Now, they just mocked and ridiculed Xie Tian.

Chen Qiang's gaze roamed among the slaves. He was looking for slaves about the same age as Xie Tian, who were now joining their masters in ridiculing Xie Tian, obliviously unaware that six years ago, one of them could have been chosen instead.

Sad.

Enraging!

Anger surged within him, and Chen Qiang stepped forward from behind Xie Jin!

He wanted to put an end to this endless mockery of slaves by their masters!

Because he too was nothing more than a dog-like slave.

ps: Sorry, forgot to upload.