Imagine a world where cultivators strive for god-like power, and sages, masters of mortal laws, stand above even heavenly emperors. In purple_mage's *Past life sage: This life a dual cultivator*, we meet a prince of the Zhan dynasty, a prodigious talent who ascended to heavenly emperor realm at thirty and sagehood before fifty. Celebrated and seemingly untouchable, his world shatters on his wedding day. Betrayal strikes as his fiancée's blade finds its mark, and unseen enemies descend, tearing his dynasty asunder. He watches helplessly as his father falls and his family perishes, his own lifeblood ebbing away. But death is not the end. He awakens as a seventeen-year-old with the same name, carrying the immense knowledge of his past life as a sage. Guided by the inheritance of the Evil Emperor, he embarks on a new path, fueled by the ashes of his former glory and a burning desire to reclaim his place at the pinnacle of power. Prepare for a thrilling journey filled with forbidden arts and a relentless climb back to the top. As the most cursed art of wife stealing resurfaces, can he overcome the shadows of his past and forge a new destiny? Or will the echoes of betrayal and loss forever haunt his quest for ultimate power?