To ordinary people, from emperors and generals above to common folk below, love was an utterly normal thing. It could also be called an inevitable passage in life, something everyone yearned for and cherished.
Yet to certain people, love was a burden, a drag, baggage that had to be cast aside. Such people were martial artists—or rather, a portion of those martial artists who had devoted themselves to the martial path, driven mad and wild for martial arts.
In their hearts, there was room for nothing but the martial path: not family, not lovers, not friends, not worldly rites and laws, not doctrinal restraints—none of it could be tolerated. For those things would taint their hearts and intentions, and their martial path would naturally be unable to remain pure. Reaching a realm of invincibility under heaven, standing at the very summit, would be even more impossible.
Thus, for the sake of the martial path, many people abandoned their wives and children, even took pleasure in killing their own kin, committing acts that disregarded all human ethics. In the eyes of certain righteous people, such behavior was nothing short of demonic madness. That was why the Path of Ruthlessness was often classified as a heretical or demonic path, unrecognized by orthodox traditions.
For instance, Invincible from Hero of China killed his wife and son in pursuit of the pinnacle of martial cultivation, then gouged out his own eyes to proclaim his resolve. In the end, he pushed his cultivation into a transcendent, saintly realm. He was indeed a peak representative of the ruthless path.
A gentler example was Ximen Chuixue. Though he married, in order to attain greater cultivation and ascend into a true Sword God, he did not kill his wife—but he distanced himself from her until they became strangers.