After the Universally Hated One Was Sacrificed to the Demon Lord

For seven years, You Xinghe was an utterly forgettable presence in the Qingyun Sect.

The spiritual herbs he risked his life to gather earned him nothing but the senior disciple's scorn. The protective talismans he painstakingly carved were tossed into the furnace by his junior brother. The mentor-disciple bond he had longed for was, in his master's eyes, nothing more than a self-serving entanglement.

Then one day, the Qingyun Sect provoked the Netherworld Demon Venerable, someone they could never afford to offend. Without hesitation, the entire sect pushed You Xinghe forward as a blood sacrifice to appease his fury.

"I have only one request: from this day on, I want nothing more to do with the Qingyun Sect."

Clutching his broken sword, You Xinghe walked without looking back into the Demon Venerable's hall, a place rumored to belong to a savage, bloodthirsty monster.

Later, when the Qingyun Sect's spiritual ley lines were severed, its members knelt outside the demon lair with red-rimmed eyes, begging him to turn around and look at them just once.

But behind the tightly shut doors, the fearsome, sinister Demon Venerable of legend was kneeling on one knee, carefully lifting the young man's fingertips and blowing away the bitter scent of medicine. His voice was humble and coaxing.

"Be good. The medicine is too bitter. Have a candy before we go watch them cry, all right?"

Theme: Save your sincerity for someone who deserves it.