Emperor’s Domination

Peng Yingxue naturally didn't appreciate Li Qiye's low evaluation but still swallowed her words.

"Do you want to assassinate me too for revenge?" He smiled and asked.

She hasn't thought of this issue. She hoped to kill the king of Vajra one day since this dynasty destroyed her sect.

However, Li Qiye was a member of Vajra too. With that golden saber, he represented the will of Vajra Ancestral Temple. In fact, his status was actually greater than the king, so killing him would be better.

She smiled wryly, having never thought of doing so.

"No, you saved me." She answered.

"That's why you're not a proper assassin despite wanting to be. A true assassin has a mission. What is yours?" He asked.

"Kill Archaic Sun King to avenge the pavilion." She blurted.

"Is that your goal or your seniors' goal?" He smiled: "Your seniors lost utterly to Vajra and ran away like dogs with their tails tucked between the legs. They knew that they have zero chance of doing anything to Vajra so they decided to train you, hoping that you could assassinate the king and wash away the disgrace back then."

"..." She opened her mouth but couldn't come up with a response.

She shouldered this heavy burden since youth. She was taught that the pavilion's outcome was due to the greedy dynasty so vengeance must be carried out.

"Your goal is the result of useless and angry men." He went on: "Will Vajra fall after the death of one king? Such nonsense. How naive."

Of course she knew this. Vajra could always have a second king. As long as its foundation was there, the king actually didn't matter.

Nonetheless, assassinating Archaic Sun King has always been her goal.

"If killing Archaic Sun King is your goal for cultivation, then your life achievement will be limited. It doesn't matter which merit laws you had access to, that'll be your limit. A true assassin doesn't train for one particular target. They simply want to become the best assassin possible. As for you, you're only a pitiful girl wallowing in hatred, a tool used by your seniors to compensate for their uselessness and weak mentality. They trained you to show that they're still doing something about it." He stared at her and elaborated.

"Absolutely not!" Her expression changed as she denied his sharp analysis.

"Then what is your reason for cultivation, do tell." He smiled.

She stood there silent, unable to answer. She never asked herself this question before until now.

The answer was to kill the king and avenge the pavilion. That's the only thing she could come up with.

Her determination shook after being exposed by Li Qiye. In reality, the pavilion was long gone before her birth. What she knew about it was strictly limited to what the seniors told her.

Her education focused on that one goal, to win back some honor for the pavilion.

"There are no lack of stupid and useless people in this world. They're a true source of tragedy." He went on: "If your seniors wanted to avenge the pavilion, they would be the ones taking action and fighting to the bitter end instead of relying on you. Why did the pavilion fall? This was precisely why - they were so useless and unable to do anything about its decline. Now, it's all up to some little juniors. Truly wretched and pathetic."

His words pricked her heart and rendered her speechless.

"You're saying that our pavilion deserved to fall?" She asked.

"That's just a simplistic way to look at it. The pavilion once reigned this region so you tell me how many countries and clans it had destroyed? Do you think it's unfair that the pavilion went down? No, there's no true reason to feel indignation or grievance. It's just a matter of who is the victor and the loser." He smiled.

She was taken aback at first but then again, the pavilion certainly didn't use words to convince others to submit. Words alone wouldn't let them reign for millions of years. They must have destroyed countless powers. The same logic applied to its eventual downfall.

"So we shouldn't seek revenge?" She asked.

"Be clear in this case. Do you want revenge or your seniors? If they want revenge, then let them do it themselves and take some responsibility for the pavilion's downfall." He answered: "But if you yourself seek vengeance, how far do you think you'll be able to go on this path? I'm afraid your achievements will be mediocre. You will be nothing more than another pebble on the road."

She started having doubts about her life goal after listening to him. She never thought about other matters outside of killing Archaic Sun King. This was her sole reason for existence.

This new source of doubts left her in confusion. What was the point of training so hard then?

"What else can I do?" She regained her wits a while later and asked.

"You need to ask yourself what you desire. The path towards the grand dao is long. If vengeance is insufficient as the fuel, you need to keep going and find the true motivation and goal in your heart." He said.

"I…" She couldn't come up with an answer due to her education. She was ready to throw away her life for this goal.

"Revenge is only the tip of the branch. Understanding yourself will let you go farther and stronger. Once you reach the peak and look down, the vengeance and feud between clans and countries, so meaningless. Just one wave of the hand can eradicate everything. The hatred in your heart right now is trivial and will be your downfall. Even if you can obtain this goal, what's next? Your body might be alive but your dao pursuit will be dead."

"Dao pursuit…" She murmured. The seniors never told her any of this.

Li Qiye was right. If she somehow managed to reach the peak, destroying Vajra would only require one hand wave. At that point, this issue of revenge would feel so trivial.