Zi Susu's face had turned pale, kneeling on the ground, her body trembling like a sieve, showing immense fear towards this ancestor.
"Ancestor... Ye Suyi knows my secret..."
She dared not hide anything, hurriedly and honestly confessing all the worries she had harbored over the past few days.
Zi Susu had never imagined that out of spite, she had sold Ye Suyi to the Riverside Pavilion. Yet, through a series of unforeseen events, Ye Suyi had ended up following that mysterious young master in white robes. How could she possibly dare to demand Ye Suyi back now?
For a long time, Ye Suyi had been the subject of her experiments with the Bridal Robe Demon Technique. To make Ye Suyi more fearful and afraid of her, Zi Susu had even told her various details about the Bridal Robe Demon Technique. This resulted in Ye Suyi learning her greatest secret.
Originally within this generation of Purple Mist Mountain, Zi Susu's talent was not considered the most outstanding. Her current achievements were entirely due to a chance encounter many years ago when the ancestor unexpectedly saw her. Afterwards, for some unknown reason, the ancestor imparted and taught her the Bridal Robe Demon Technique, a forbidden cultivation method within Purple Mist Mountain, and instructed her to practice it.
Naturally, Zi Susu was initially ecstatic, obsessed with that terrifyingly fast cultivation speed. But soon, she began to fear, sensing something was amiss. If this technique could truly transform one's foundation and elevate one to greatness, its profoundness described as heaven-defying would still feel insufficient. How then could it be a forbidden technique?
Thus, Zi Susu began to experiment on others, testing the side effects and dangers of the Bridal Robe Demon Technique. Just as she suspected, while the technique was heaven-defying, its practitioners did not live long. They were likely to meet a sudden, violent death on some future day. The manner of death varied bizarrely: some tormented by inner demons committed suicide; some exhausted their life force, turning into dried bones and dust; others died caught in the crossfire of battles between powerful beings... Through this, Zi Susu gained a preliminary understanding of the technique's eeriness and horror. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to abandon cultivating it. Having grown accustomed to that intoxicating, terrifying cultivation speed, readjusting to the previous arduous cultivation life was nearly impossible.
Therefore, Zi Susu could only hypnotize herself, insisting she was uniquely suited for the Bridal Robe Demon Technique, and continued her cultivation. Of course, during this process, she brought in people for continuous experiments, attempting to find a method of mitigation.
"How foolish! If I bestowed this technique upon you, it naturally means you are suited to cultivate it. Would I, your ancestor, possibly harm you?"
The master of Purple Mist Mountain clearly hadn't expected Zi Susu to do these things without his knowledge. His face immediately showed anger, as if frustrated by her lack of faith.
Hearing this, Zi Susu grew even more terrified, not daring to raise her head, trembling incessantly.
The master of Purple Mist Mountain snorted coldly, "Back then, I bestowed this forbidden technique upon you precisely because you were suited to cultivate it. In you, I saw a shadow of my younger self, which is why I appeared and personally instructed you. Who would have thought you'd be so foolish, even suspecting your own ancestor of harming a mere junior like you?"
"It is this junior who is incompetent, failing your ancestor's good intentions," Zi Susu said, her face pale, full of fear and trepidation, hurriedly apologizing.
The master of Purple Mist Mountain waved his hand, "This matter isn't extremely serious, but it's not insignificant either. If Ye Suyi leaks information about the forbidden demonic technique, you know what you should do."
"Susu understands," Zi Susu quickly nodded. She naturally dared not reveal that it was the ancestor who had her cultivate it. If this were exposed, she would have to find an excuse, shoulder all the blame herself, and then apologize with her death.
The master of Purple Mist Mountain nodded upon hearing this. He said nothing more to Zi Susu, waved his hand, and expelled her from the palace.
"A clever one indeed, even knowing to find people for experiments. However, retreading the dead-end path I once walked, how could you possibly succeed? If the threat of the Bridal Robe Demon Technique could be easily dispelled, why would I, your ancestor, have exhausted countless methods trying to solve it?"
He gazed beyond the palace, his eyes gradually turning cold and profound.
Many in Purple Mist Mountain did not know that the current master's achievements were also bestowed by the Bridal Robe Demon Technique. The reason he wanted to seize Chu Gucheng's past opportunities and Dao Fruit was precisely his fear that one day his own Dao Fruit and cultivation might be consumed by the Bridal Robe Demon Technique...
Because the Bridal Robe Demon Technique inherently consumes one's own future fortunes and opportunities. Only by constantly replenishing this deficit of future fortune can one hope to fill the enormous pit left from the past. Otherwise, sooner or later, he would end up like those practitioners Zi Susu used for experiments, meeting with unforeseen calamity and perishing, body and Dao vanishing. This was something the master of Purple Mist Mountain could not tolerate.
His intention in nurturing Zi Susu was also to have her replicate the path he walked, hoping to find a solution to break the cycle on her. Of course, there was also the aspect that once her Dao Fruit matured in the future, it could be harvested by him when needed.
The existence of the Bridal Robe Demon Technique was like an inescapable curse or nightmare, passed down from generation to generation of the Zi family, reaching him in the present day.
Purple Mist Mountain was initially founded by the head of the Zi family. Only in later eras did other branches and forces emerge, but overall, the Zi family remained supreme. The Bridal Robe Demon Technique was actually the Zi family's hereditary clan technique, not some method obtained from a secret realm or ancient site. It had been passed down since ancient times. It wasn't until the generation of the current master's father that it was listed as a forbidden technique, prohibiting all Zi family members from cultivating it. Previous Zi clansmen who practiced the Bridal Robe Demon Technique rarely met good ends, seldom living out their natural lifespans. Even the current master of Purple Mist Mountain had practiced it secretly, behind his father's back, to achieve his current status.
In his view, the Zi family prospered because of the Bridal Robe Demon Technique, yet was also trapped by it. It is said that the creator of this technique originally devised it as a method to enslave others, aiming to dominate the world. The Zi family, when spoken of, was merely one of the servant lineages under its command.
As for how the Bridal Robe Demon Technique was transmitted to the Zi family, the master of Purple Mist Mountain was not entirely clear, only hearing it might be related to the Innate Five Fate Rivers.
The River of Fortune is ethereal and elusive, traversing all beginnings and ends, boundless, its source and destination unknown.
The River of Fate converges like a vast ocean, all streams returning to the sea, mysterious and ancient, difficult even for those at the End of the Path level to control.
The transmission of the Bridal Robe Demon Technique to the Zi family, however, seems to be greatly connected to one of the remaining three rivers among the Innate Five Fate Rivers: the River of Annihilation.