I Lost Four Ex-Husbands on the Path to Immortality

Content warnings: A dark romance, not a power fantasy about a strong female lead, told in third person, with no split versions of the male lead and romances that come and go in phases. The heroine really is a bad person, but this is definitely not a power fantasy. For five hundred years, I was called the successor to the Sword Venerable. For five hundred years, I was stuck at a bottleneck. Then I heard that a genius had broken through by killing a relative, proving the Dao and severing her worldly ties. I immediately ran my sword straight through my master, the Sword Venerable. Master: “What is wrong with you? If you need to sever your worldly ties, go stab someone you’re tied to. Why stab me?” I said, “You’re the only worldly tie I have.” My master blushed. “Couldn’t you just descend to the mortal realm?” He didn’t die. He ascended instead. But I was still the Sword Venerable’s successor, and I still hadn’t become the Sword Venerable. I couldn’t stand another minute in this garbage cultivation world. So I descended to the mortal realm. * After killing my husband to prove the Dao four times, I was finally about to ascend. “Quiet down! Our sect has gathered here because our cultivation prodigy, Su Zhiyou, has finally reached the point of ascension. Let’s celebrate her becoming a god and wish her everlasting brilliance!” The sect elder had just finished his speech when heavenly lightning struck me. My ascension failed. A voice spoke from somewhere beyond: “After careful deliberation, the organization has decided not to approve your ascension.” I said, “Just tell me who I’ve offended.” Heaven said, “Your ex-husbands.” I asked, “Which one?” Heaven said, “All of them.” So it turned out I wasn’t the only one using secret identities. My ex-husbands were, too. In the end, all my cultivation was destroyed. I was reborn and became a mortal. * After I was reborn, I concealed my identity, but one of my ex-husbands still found me. He said, “I can’t let you go.” I said, “Three others have said the same thing.” He said, “You killed me because you loved me too much. I’m still in your heart.” I cut his head off with one stroke of my sword. What an overconfident creep. Disgusting. The head on the ground nudged against me and whispered: “I understand your silence. Your sword still loves me.” I said, “Can you stop going crazy?” He said, “There are three others as crazy as me.” I said, “...” Things having come to this, I decided to keep my secret identity hidden so they couldn’t come after me for revenge. Theme: Give up personal love in pursuit of the Great Dao.