The Emotion Severing Cliff was exactly as he remembered it.
A jagged scar upon the heavens, its abyss darker than night, its air thick with thunder and despair. Lightning writhed ceaselessly in the sky, each bolt splitting the world apart with heaven's fury.
Taiyi stood before it in silence, his robes snapping in the storm winds, his horns gleaming faintly against the shifting light.
It had been tens of thousands of years since he last came here. Back then, he was only a broken prince, a puppet emperor choking under chains he could not sever. His brother, the true emperor, had died defending the throne. Taiyi was forced to inherit the crown, but not the power—controlled by old monsters in the court, powerless to act, humiliated day after day.
He had stood here once before, at the edge of this abyss, ready to give up everything.
And he had.
That day, he had carved his emotions away. Love. Sorrow. Joy. Fear. All cast into the abyss. What remained was a blade sharper than any mortal could imagine. With that blade, he conquered realms, subjugated seas, crushed deserts, and even bore the mandate of the Heavenly Dao.
But even a blade forged too sharp will eventually cut its own hand.
---
Taiyi's gaze darkened. His chest tightened with the weight of memory.
Tie Hongchen's eyes. Fierce, unyielding, filled with fire that not even death could extinguish.
Feng Jiu's silent devotion. That stubborn loyalty that followed him, even when he never turned to look.
His disciples. Their laughter once filled Purple Palace's gardens, their faces bright with dreams before they were lost to war.
His brother. The only guiding light in his life, gone too soon, leaving behind a throne that felt more like a prison than a legacy.
Severing his emotions had given him power. But it had also left him hollow.
Now, as he stood once more on this cliff, he asked himself:
Was that truly strength? Or only another form of slavery?
He tilted his head toward the abyss, voice calm, yet carrying across the storm.
"The Heavenly Dao… are you my ally? Or my jailer?"
The thunder answered with a deafening roar, lightning spearing down as though Heaven itself sought to silence him.
Taiyi's lips curved faintly. "So. Neither ally nor jailer. Just a will too vast to care."
The lightning surged again, striking dangerously close. The ground trembled. The abyss groaned. Yet Taiyi stood unmoved. His white hair streamed behind him, his dragon horns flickered with arcs of light, and the blood of an ancient divine beast surged within him like fire.
He had hidden it for too long. Today, he embraced it.
---
"You have arrived."
The voice rolled across the cliff like the toll of a bell.
A phantom emerged from the storm, robes gray, eyes ancient—the shade of Taiyi's master.
Taiyi turned to him, and for the first time in countless ages, a faint warmth flickered in his voice.
"Old man, I am back."
The phantom's eyes narrowed. "You are different. No longer the frozen blade I left behind."
Taiyi inclined his head slightly. "Perhaps. Or perhaps… I am finally myself again."
The phantom studied him, then asked, "Why return to the place that killed the man you once were?"
Taiyi's gaze swept over the abyss. "Because that man still lingers here. I severed too much. I must reclaim what was mine."
The phantom's eyes deepened. "Do you seek to rebel against Heaven itself?"
Taiyi's horns sparked as lightning struck around him, his dragon blood thrumming with power. His voice was steady, yet every word carried the weight of his will.
"Heaven shackles me. I will break it."
The abyss trembled as though enraged by his defiance. Thunder rolled endlessly, the will of the Heavenly Dao pressing down like a mountain, trying to grind him into dust.
But Taiyi stood tall. For the first time in eons, his eyes burned—not with emptiness, but with resolve.
---
The phantom raised his hand, and the storm around them twisted violently.
"Then prove it. Show me you can walk a path beyond Heaven."
The abyss howled open. Shadows surged from its depths—visions, memories, fragments of his own soul.
The first to emerge was his brother, seated upon a throne, blood pouring from his chest. "Why did you live, while I died?"
Then Tie Hongchen, her eyes filled with sorrow and anger. "Why did you force me to hate you?"
Then Feng Jiu, her gaze unwavering, her lips trembling with words never spoken. "Why did you never look at me?"
One after another, they appeared—disciples, comrades, enemies, every soul he had abandoned when he severed his heart.
And finally, standing before him, was himself.
The Taiyi of old—cold, lifeless, sharp as a blade. The embodiment of the man who had severed all emotions to gain strength. His eyes were void, his aura cutting, his voice a whisper of steel.
"You abandoned me once. You cannot defeat me now. For I am you—the part of you that never falters, never breaks."
The two Taiyis stood at the cliff's edge, storm raging around them. The abyss waited below, hungry and endless.
The phantom of his master's voice echoed faintly.
"Your tribulation has begun. Win, and you forge a new Dao. Lose, and you are devoured by yourself."
Taiyi clenched his fists, lightning crackling across his form. His horns glowed brighter, his dragon form threatening to burst free.
For the first time, he felt his emotions raging within him—grief, love, anger, longing. They warred against the cold emptiness of his severed self.
But Taiyi only smiled faintly.
"Good. Then let's see… whether the blade I once forged can withstand the hand that wields it."
He stepped forward.
The storm shattered.
The battle with himself began.