An attack who cultivates the Ruthless Dao, which is really the Shameless Dao, x a delicate, sickly, sweet-and-sour black-hearted emperor who looks innocent on the outside.
The Great Yan dynasty has stood for more than six hundred years. By the Chongxi era, strange events have begun to occur one after another. The crown prince and the second prince both die unnatural deaths. In the twenty-third year of Chongxi, Emperor Chongxi suddenly dies in Zichen Palace, his eyes still open. His eighteen-year-old third son, Rong Lian, is hurriedly enthroned and declares the new era Hengchu.
The new emperor has been frail since childhood and struggles to manage state affairs. The following year, citing the need to recuperate, he moves to the hot springs west of the capital. All matters of state and court ceremonies are entrusted to his uncle, Prince Jing.
The court and the people are uneasy, and rumors abound: The emperor is gravely ill. Could Prince Jing be destined to enter Zichen Palace and take the throne?
Rong Lian: Thanks for asking. I'm at Mount Qingwu, just finished climbing three thousand cloud steps, and I'm about to drop dead.
No one knows that the emperor, who should be resting at the hot-spring palace, has long since taken the name Lin Yan and sneaked into Yunjia Academy on Mount Qingwu as a lowly outer-courtyard student.
Yunjia Academy is the spiritual-mainspring core of the Great Yan dynasty's protective formation. Rong Lian's original plan was to cling to life by relying on the spiritual energy, but His Majesty has been raised in the deep palace and knows neither crops nor coins. Before he even enrolled, his entire travel allowance was swindled away, leaving him the academy's poorest, most spoiled, and most helpless good-for-nothing pretty boy.
Worse still, his classmates discuss politics every day:
"Emperor Hengchu is too weak to carry on, and Great Yan is on the brink of collapse!"
"We should ask His Highness Prince Jing to ascend the throne and take charge!"
"Lin Yan, stop hiding in the corner. Want to join us in signing a petition? Even if we have to rebel, we can't just watch Great Yan fall!"
Rong Lian chokes on a mouthful of bitter medicine and coughs violently.
"...Am I supposed to rebel too?"
Pei Zhao, the top student in Yunjia Academy's sword division, was born with a sword bone and cultivates the Ruthless Dao. When silent, he's as aloof as a flower atop a lofty peak. When he speaks, he can make people furious to death.
During the entrance exam, Pei Zhao gives the new students a cold glance and silently judges: "Unsteady steps, no strength. Just a pretty face."
Rong Lian looks back at him and thinks to himself: "If this were before, he'd have had to bow deeply when he saw me."
After countless painful lessons, Rong Lian finally realizes the truth: This man isn't cultivating the Ruthless Dao at all. He's cultivating the Shameless Dao!
Pei, the top student, humbly responds: What is the Ruthless Dao? Can it help me win someone over?
1. A xianxia academy setting, 1v1, happy ending. They are senior and junior schoolmates. Overall, it's a sweet slice-of-life story about academy life, with an online forum setting.
2. The attacker isn't a typical cultivator of the Ruthless Dao. He seems aloof, but is shameless and unreasonable. The recipient isn't exactly a good person either. Cut him open and he's a sesame-filled rice ball.
3. The villains are seriously disturbing. Their story will gradually unfold.
Theme: The emperor must shoulder the burden of the people
