After the Dark Moonlight's Sacrifice Failed

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[Sickly, sweet-on-the-outside black-hearted heroine x noble, upright gentleman]

Xiao Enlin was the daughter of an evil cultivator, notorious for her wickedness.

Looking back on her life, she regretted nothing, whether betraying her sect and first love or using her junior brother.

Her only regret was that, in the prison of the Dark Abyss, she hadn't dragged the immortal lord Sheng Yun, who taught her that "the sword is meant to protect the Dao," into her vile world sooner.

Until the day she offered herself as a sacrifice and awakened the Evil God.

It gave her a chance to start over. Everyone thought she would ascend or take revenge.

Instead, she went back to the past and found him before her enemies could.

"This time..." The girl's bloodstained fingertips brushed the cold, moonlike face of the upright immortal lord. Her gaze locked onto his eyes, bright as icy stars. "You don't get to be the righteous path's bright moon anymore."

She cut down every enemy for him and made herself an enemy of the Heavenly Dao.

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Sheng Yun was blessed by fate so much that even the Heavenly Dao favored him. Deer in the mountains would rub against his palm of their own accord; wind and snow would skirt the hem of his robes, as if unwilling to let him feel cold.

Even the fiercest monsters would sheathe their fangs when they saw him, give a low growl, and leave. That was until, before he had even come of age, his entire family was slaughtered. He fell into the abyss, his Dao heart stained, the bright moon cast into the mud.

The abyss teemed with demons and evil spirits, and the stench of blood filled the air.

Then a gentle, calm voice reached him, offering a bowl of water, wholly out of place in the filthy, dark abyss.

Later, the owner of that voice wept as she told him, "I'm sorry. I only did it to survive."

He watched her betray and use others, her hands stained with blood.

He also saw her lose herself while wiping her sword late at night, staring at the sword tassel he had given her.

She wasn't the notorious girl who practiced evil cultivation. She was the gentle, quiet shadow in the Dark Abyss, with no choice but to do whatever it took to survive.

Even then, she had already become his Dao.

.

She thought she was committing a vile act of possession.

She never imagined that the immortal lord she risked her life to protect had been waiting for her to turn back all along.

When the Heavenly Dao crumbled and the Evil God descended, he turned his back on the righteous sects for her, shattered his Dao, and became a demon.

He took hold of her sword-wielding hand and pointed it at the whole world. "You have always been my only Dao."

Reading Guide:

1. Sickly, sweet-on-the-outside black-hearted moonlight x noble, upright Daoist bright moon.

2. A cultivation novel with cosmic-horror elements, not cosmic horror cultivation. Not a power-progression story, and not a traditional xianxia setting. A mountain of original worldbuilding.

3. The plot and romance each get equal focus. It's neither purely plot-driven nor purely romance-driven.

4. A little ensemble cast, with the plot and romance split fifty-fifty.

In bold: Multiple points of view in an ensemble cast, and everyone has a different position. Please don't attack anyone!

For my upcoming novel, Junior Sister Who Wronged the World-Destroying Villain, interested readers can add it to their favorites.

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Jing Ci had a senior sister.

His senior sister was the daughter of the Hengyuan Sect's leader, lively and willful, spoiled and radiant.

Jing Ci, on the other hand, came from a lowly background and carried a filthy bloodline. He was wary of everything, cold and suspicious, and had a physical deformity.

Only she never despised him. Her smile shone like the stars as she told him:

"I'll protect you and take care of you! Unless you don't want me anymore!"

So after his identity was exposed and his clan took him away, all he could see was his senior sister's bright, radiant smile.

Until he saw her again.

She was just as proud and dazzling as before, wielding her sword with effortless grace, but her gaze was full of disgust and revulsion.

"Get lost! You and your blood are disgusting!"

He silently walked away from the sect gate, leaving blood all around him.

Only when news arrived that she had died young did he learn that she had already married someone else. On his way to the place where she was buried, he fell into the hands of his enemies and descended into the endless hell.

When he emerged from hell, destroyed the world to avenge his clan, and died on the ancient battlefield of gods and demons, he returned to the year he had been a "blood slave." His senior sister opened her bright, lively eyes and said to him:

"You're so pretty! Will you be my junior brother?"

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Miaowu had a junior brother.

Her junior brother was cold and suspicious, hostile toward everyone, and never called her Senior Sister. And yet he was an unbelievably pretty child.

He was always looking at her with those sinister, distrustful eyes, as if she had done something bad.

But she was so good to him!

She taught him spells and gave him the snacks she'd secretly saved, all just to hear him sweetly call her Senior Sister.

But he was still so cold, and he was always making her angry.

Until Miaowu caused a huge disaster and the sect was on the brink of ruin. Under the High Priest's pressure, she was forced to sacrifice half her lifespan to make amends.

She saw Jing Ci approach over a sea of blood and bones. The boy was exquisitely handsome, but his face was like a demon's as he severed the High Priest's tendons with his sword.

"Who gave you permission to take her lifespan?"

Theme: Every gain comes with a loss.