Peach Blossom in My Master's Heart

Taken home by her master and raised until she was six hundred years old, Tao Yaoyao learned to use a peach branch to control the spiritual energy of the five elements and write with it.

The first time, he wrote only eight characters:

[Look up to the lofty mountains; follow the great path.]

The second time, as he watched his master coax him to sleep, he began keeping a diary.

[My master is Xingzhi, and my senior brother is Xingzhi. My senior brother is the embodiment of my master's inner demon. Just as the whole world wants me dead, he wants to kill me too. I realized they were different.]

[My master taught me how to use fire spiritual energy to make a cute little umbrella and fend off the ubiquitous tribulations of heavenly lightning. I don't have a peach pit, so cultivation is harder for me than for anyone else. But my master said it was all right, because the huge umbrella he makes can always shelter me and will never fall over.

But he still hopes I can learn to do it myself. That way, when I grow up and want to leave him, I won't be bullied by heavenly lightning.]

[My master says my senior brother can't hurt me, because an inner demon can never defeat the self. But so that I could cultivate with peace of mind, my master gave up his own inner demon. He let go of every attachment he had as a human and truly became a god without emotion or desire.]

[I'm not afraid of bad people anymore. If I can't become an immortal, being a second-generation true god is pretty good too. Nobody can beat me, and even fewer can beat my master.]

[My master hopes I'll always keep the heart I had at the beginning, and hopes I'll become a god. Before I knew anything about fate, he was already standing behind me, giving me the confidence to charge forward without fear. I'll always trust my master. I'll become a god just like him.]

Later on, Tao Yaoyao secretly filled in the diary entries he'd missed after leaving the flowerpot and running away...

[The first thing I did after becoming a god was leave the flowerpot and run away. The first thing I did after leaving the flowerpot and running away was turn around and go home... I wanted to squeeze myself into a flowerpot like I used to as a child, so my master could take me home and water me. But I'd already taken human form, and I couldn't turn back into a peach tree.

My master, though, began learning human habits. He tried to hug me and coax me to sleep. When I got angry and didn't want to walk, he'd carry me on his back. It felt safer that way, and I started to like how I looked in human form.]

*

[For gods, having feelings is what makes them lonely. So my master learned how to love me because he was afraid I'd be lonely.]

[Maybe my master will never learn mortal love, but that's all right. I'm the only one in his eyes, and I'm the only one he favors.]

Reader's Guide

1. An older master-and-disciple relationship with a nurturing dynamic. This isn't a conventional romance; the bond between master and disciple is the main focus.

2. The master is a true god, lacking the seven emotions and six desires, but he's gentle and forgiving most of the time. He's like a protective old scholar, and he's also very career-focused.

He always puts responsibility and reliability first. He's more proactive than his disciple, never lets him suffer setbacks, and prevents every crisis that might derail his path to godhood. He has thoroughly studied Becoming a God, Responsibility, How to Raise an Heir, and Favoritism.

Theme: Companionship and protection are the most enduring declarations of love.