The Daoist Partner Who Proved the Dao by Dying at My Brother's Hands Has Been Resurrected

[This one has a few new ideas. The blurb is due for revision. The only thing that won't change is how much the top is adored. Everything else might change.]

My older brother is the greatest sword cultivator in the Hanging Heavens. He cultivates the Ruthless Dao, yet he has a cultivation partner.

The Ruthless Dao, you know how it goes.

But his partner is no saint. He destroyed sects, broke immortal swords, and brought down entire lineages. The world calls him the Sword Fiend.

The immortal sects joined forces to kill him and finally subdued him. The final sword, the one that would vanquish evil and defend the righteous, was placed in my brother's hands.

My brother, clad in white as pristine as snow, struck him down with one sword, destroying his spiritual root and cutting off his path to survival.

He proved his Dao by killing his husband and ascended to immortality.

Who says no one ever graduates from the Ruthless Dao? My brother is the exception!

Of course, all of that is what I heard from a storyteller at a teahouse. My brother ascended when I was only three, so I never got to witness firsthand the awesome scene of him proving his Dao by killing his husband.

As an immortal's younger brother, I live a life of luxury. Cultivation resources pour in without end, and the immortal sects all praise me as a swordsmanship prodigy seen once in four thousand years, the most gifted after my brother and that Sword Fiend whose name must not be spoken.

Lately, though, I've had a bit of a problem. The cultivation partner my brother supposedly killed, that Sword Fiend whose name must not be spoken, has come back to life.

The immortal sects are on high alert. They have petitioned as one for my brother to condescend to descend to the mortal realm and kill his husband a second time.

My brother didn't come.

So they came to me instead.

They say a brother must pay for his brother's debts, and that the partner my brother failed to finish off should be inherited by his younger brother.

That actually sounds kind of reasonable.

I've spent years cultivating in my brother's shadow. It's about time I got to show off!

I excitedly charged into the Sword Fiend's home, but he stopped the sword strike I'd poured my life's cultivation into with one finger.

My life-bound sword broke. I'm done for! I looked at the Sword Fiend's pale, handsome face and cursed inwardly:

To hell with being a swordsmanship prodigy seen once in four thousand years! I knew those damn immortal sects were just buttering me up and lying to my face!

I dropped to my knees in front of the Sword Fiend and hugged his leg. "Sister-in-law, my brother really is a piece of garbage! Why don't you be with me in this life?"

*

A hundred years ago, Liang Jingshan died by his cultivation partner's sword. He never thought he'd have the chance to come back to life.

Reborn, he has no interest in swordsmanship, cultivation partners, or ascending to immortality. He only wants to visit the graves of old friends, add a handful of earth, pour out a libation, and see for them the parts of the human world they never got to explore.

But he let go of the past, and the past wouldn't let go of him.

The immortal sects see him as a grave threat and have thrown everything they have at killing him a second time.

This time, though, the former partner who once killed him no longer points a sword at him.

The high and mighty Immortal Venerable, his white robes stained with blood, kneels on both knees like a crimson demon crawling into the human world.

"Senior Brother, what would it take for you to forgive me? Would it be enough if I died?"

There's one more thing that's different.

The little dumpling he remembers has grown into a graceful young man. The way he holds a sword has the same elegant, upright bearing as the Wenren family, but the sword's point is aimed at his own brother.

The young man stands in front of him like a little beast protecting its master, his body covered in wounds from a bloody fight to the death, baring his fangs in a furious snarl.

"Anyone who hurts him deserves to die! Especially you, my brother."

Reader's Guide:

1. Sword Fiend top x younger brother bottom

2. A story where the top is doted on. I want to try what it feels like to go all in on adoring the top. The bottom calls him "Sister-in-law" as a joke early on. The top isn't feminized.

3. A beautiful, strong, tragic Sword Fiend top. He's always wounded, but even wounded, he can slaughter everyone. The top dies, the bottom goes mad.

4. The blurb and title may change, but the premise won't.

P.S. Why is "proving your Dao by killing your husband" a banned phrase in the title?

Theme: An old friend left with sword in hand. He cut down the spring breeze, yet still would not return.