The Aloof Master, but a Wicked Demon Cultivator

Chen Yan has the face of an immortal, yet he is a coldhearted, unfeeling demonic cultivator.

Demonic cultivators refine demonic energy from the evil thoughts of cultivators.

To cultivate, Chen Yan created three secret identities as venerable immortals of the orthodox path and took on three disciples.

He used the same strategy each time: first, he stayed by his disciple’s side day and night, giving them everything they could want. Then, at the moment they were closest, he betrayed them.

In the end, he left not a single word behind and died for the world.

When love cannot be gained and hate cannot be acted upon... demonic thoughts take deepest root.

[One] Reclusive blind zither master x bright and sunny prince of the demon realm

Zither Master Chen Yan lost both eyes and suffered a severe loss of cultivation in a battle with the demons.

He was naturally solitary and indifferent. After he was gravely wounded, his peak was deserted, and only his disciple, Zhu Ling, insisted on staying to serve him day and night.

Someone entered the zither master’s empty world and became its most vivid stroke of color.

“Your eyes are beautiful.”

Whenever Zhu Ling heard the zither master say this, he would smile, lift his chin, and let the other man touch his brows and eyes.

He saw Chen Yan as a venerable immortal afflicted by illness.

...A lonely blind man.

Though Zhu Ling was a secret agent in the demon realm, using Chen Yan to gather intelligence, he was still willing to spare him a little affection when he saw him like this.

He had no idea that years later, he would kneel before the blind man as the other gouged out his eyes and set them in his own sockets. And yet, all he could think was:

“Now your eyes will be filled with me.”

The zither master ignored Zhu Ling, entered the demon court to fight the demon emperor, and perished with him, leaving not even a corpse behind.

From then on, the world had a mad demon with no parents, no family, and no master.

[Two] False holy monk x gentlemanly swordsman

Chen Pingsheng was a swordsmanship prodigy who lost his parents as a child. Fortunately, the holy monk Chen Yan took him in, taught him spiritual arts, and instructed him in benevolence and righteousness.

He revered the holy monk as his master, his confidant, and the love of his life.

And yet.

“I killed your father and raised you, all for this day.”

That day, the holy monk cut out Chen Pingsheng’s spiritual root. Blood splattered onto the Buddhist beads around his wrist, and its crimson light pierced Chen Pingsheng’s eyes.

His heart demon arose, and the gentlemanly swordsman went berserk.

The holy monk turned and left for a city on the verge of falling, where he fed the demons with his own flesh.

All he left behind for Chen Pingsheng was a devastated landscape, scorched earth and ruined walls, and a string of Buddhist beads formed from the blood of his heart meridian.

As his sole keepsake, he left them to whoever came to collect his remains.

And he thought that would settle the score?

Chen Pingsheng’s gentle expression shattered as he gave a soft, crazed laugh.

Dream on.

[Three] Down-and-out Daoist cultivator x arrogant genius

Daoist cultivator Chen Yan achieved nothing and made a living telling fortunes for ordinary people.

His disciple Wu Ming, however, was a human-demon hybrid with exceptional talent. While serving him, he would mock him, saying that one day he would become a venerable master, and how could anyone around him be allowed to hold him back?

Later, the Daoist cultivator destroyed Wu Ming’s soul and cut off his path to immortality.

Wu Ming choked on blood and instinctively cried out “Master” again and again. The Daoist pulled him into his arms and pinned talismans through his spine.

“I cast a fortune. You will bring great calamity upon the human world.”

Only then did Wu Ming learn the Daoist’s identity: one of the twelve commissioners of the Demon Suppression Bureau, skilled in divination.

Ten years later, Wu Ming had become a ghost. But when he returned to the cultivation world, he learned that the Daoist had peered too deeply into the Mandate of Heaven and had already reached the end of his lifespan.

*

By then, Chen Yan had changed bodies and found another disciple to cultivate with.

In a demon’s eyes, everything in the mortal world was fleeting, a brief glimpse of beauty. Like a dragonfly skimming the water, he never lingered.

Born a demonic seed, his desires gathered within him. How could human morality and etiquette ever bind him?

And yet, that day, for the first time, he found his wicked desires almost unbearable...

The demon venerable, the demon saint, and the ghost immortal.

Three gazes and countless wicked thoughts all fell upon him.

Chen Yan looked indifferent on the outside but bewildered within. “Are you trying to make me die all over again?”

His disciples all smiled ominously at once.

*

1. Plenty of melodrama, but no angst. The scum protagonist turns into a devoted puppy, and there will be a groveling arc.

2. The recipient of the affection has no groveling arc. His wickedness is mostly directed at the love interests, and it is all part of the fun.

3. More to come if I think of anything.

Theme: Good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil.