Rank
Alternative
Author(s)
Tag(s)
In the dead of winter, amidst the rustling of heavy snow, a frail and bony girl named Ling Shu arrived at the Shangqing Sect to claim her kin.
The person she sought never appeared.
Instead, a woman of cold, ethereal beauty stood before her. With a faint expression and a calm voice, the stranger said: “Go back.”
“Who are you? Why should I listen to you!”
“A half-demon should not be here.”
“So even you call me a mongrel bastard?”
“…” The woman fell silent, cold as the snow itself.
After a long silence, the transcendent Immortal Lord spoke: “Become my disciple.”
Only later did Ling Shu realize that this woman was the last disciple of her heartless mother—the unattainable guardian of the Shangqing Realm, Zhuang Jinfu.
However, Ling Shu never truly treated her as a Master. She feigned innocence to break into Zhuang Jinfu’s bath, causing the Immortal to flush with embarrassment. She teased and tempted her constantly; in her playfulness, she wanted nothing more than to see this “Flower on a High Mountain” fall into the dust of the mortal world.
Everything changed when the earth quaked and the barriers of the Shangqing Realm shattered. Seventy thousand lives were extinguished, and the Nine Heavens held Zhuang Jinfu accountable.
The Heavenly Court interrogated her: “Your fate is tied to the Shangqing Realm. Only by remaining heartless and ‘Ruthless’ can you protect all living beings.”
“Why have you been moved by mortal desire?”
Zhuang Jinfu remained silent for a long time. She simply knelt, allowing ninety-nine strikes of Heavenly Thunder to lash her body.
Ling Shu was stunned. It turned out that even the “Flower on a High Mountain” had someone she loved. Bitterness filled Ling Shu’s heart. Driven by a maddening, growing possessiveness, she demanded an answer.
“Who is it that you love?”
Zhuang Jinfu lowered her head, remaining silent.
Ling Shu, unable to force an answer, descended into a demonic frenzy. Her chaotic half-demon nature turned the Shangqing Realm upside down. To quell the madness, the Heavenly Court launched a massive sword formation to exterminate her.
Ling Shu used her Demon Core to create a decoy, faking her death to escape the chaos.
Three years later, once the world had stabilized, Ling Shu snuck back to retrieve her Demon Core. There, she found the cold and arrogant Immortal Lord bitterly guarding her “corpse.”
She heard words she never thought possible in this lifetime.
Zhuang Jinfu whispered: “I will not practice the Path of Ruthlessness anymore. Never again…”
“Please, come back…”
“I love you.”
Startled, Ling Shu dropped her sword. The sound alerted the person inside. Zhuang Jinfu suddenly turned around.
