She was of the Phoenix clan. While still inside her egg, she admired her master's bearing, and so she hatched as a phoenix.
They said she was destined to become a demon god and achieve great things. Her master taught her to stand up for the weak and uphold justice, and she believed every word.
"Feng Qingqing will become someone like Master. She'll help Master keep the Three Realms peaceful and make everyone around her happy."
Later, the Phoenix clan was destroyed because of her, and her friends framed her as a demon. Still, she never despaired.
But when the Demon God appeared, she faced him with a body that was half god and half demon. Her primordial spirit was reduced to a mere sliver, yet her master still chose to sacrifice her for the Three Realms, sealing her in the Demon Tower before all the immortals.
She understood that this was her punishment. There was no escaping it, so she could only accept it. Yet she also felt resentment and a deep sorrow...
"So this is the righteous path of the mortal world: utterly heartless. Master, from now on, I will never look up to you again."
Just then, a divine tribulation descended. Unable to withstand it, she failed to achieve nirvana. By sheer luck, she survived, but was reduced to her original form and became a lucky charm kept by a mortal cultivation clan to guard their home.
After years of recovery, she became Hua Zhu, the deceased fourth daughter of the Hua family, and solemnly swore:
"In this life, I will never be a phoenix again, nor will I enter the immortal realm. I will let go of everything from my past: love and hate, resentment and affection."
Even if I have only a hundred years left to live.
Li Xiaoyuan was a close relative of the leader of a cultivation sword sect. He loyally protected his master and willingly served his clan, with countless lives' blood on his hands. A gifted youth, he was feared, loathed, and envied by all.
Others looked down on him as cold-blooded and lacking ambition, but he never cared. Then one day, he was betrayed, stripped of all his cultivation, and left with his limbs and meridians crippled before being abandoned in the mountains.
Hua Zhu saved him.
The female lead's story takes center stage, with romance as a side plot. [A funny, shameless little demon and an upright, righteous sword cultivator]
