[The Unrivaled Tang Sect] Apparently, I'm a Villain Everyone Loves

See the column introduction for the locations of the character design art, full-body illustrations, CP art, and more. I drew the cover and character cards myself.

Originally titled "The Unrivaled Tang Sect: Whitefall in the Mortal World." I'm currently doing a major revision of the whole novel, up through Chapter 20. Changes include removing some character pairings and making them platonic instead, adding more emotional plotlines, introducing lots of new developments to the main plot, and changing some of the worldbuilding. I recommend rereading the revised story from the beginning (heart).

"At first, all I wanted was to find my mother, protect Mom through her tribulation, and reunite our family."

But fate is unpredictable.

[This is the story of a Soul Beast who only wanted her family to be happy, but accidentally embarked on a journey to conquer the planes.]

The year he first enrolled at Shrek, eleven-year-old Huo Yuhao met a boy named Luobai.

Snow-white hair, blue eyes, and peerless beauty. Cool as ice, he kept everyone at a distance. He carried with him the bone-deep cold of the distant Far North, as if nothing in this world could ever move him.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm asked with a peculiar expression, "What are you to Ice Empress and Snow Empress?"

"Snow Empress is my mother, and Ice Empress is my mom," replied the ruler of the Far North's Soul Beasts, whose veins ran with the blood of the ancient Ice God, as calmly as could be.

And so Sky Dream... Sky Dream shut himself away.

[The ancient era when Soul Beasts became gods? It has long since faded into legend. The god sighed softly: You must leave the Eden that gave you life and raised you for a hundred thousand years, and wander alone through an unfamiliar world brimming with danger and opportunity. Your bones, blood, flesh, and spirit will no longer be your own.]

The day Luobai left the Far North, he never looked back.

To Soul Beasts, he was a traitor who had cultivated into human form. To Soul Masters, he was a rare treasure whose possession would bring disaster. From then on, he became an outcast neither side could accept.

But so what? No one could question his choices. No one had the right to condemn the path he chose.

Luobai was born cold-hearted and unemotional. From Shrek Outer Court to Mingdu, the capital of the Sun Moon Empire, he did hesitate at times. But those faint stirrings were insignificant beside the unimaginably long life of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. They could never outweigh the obsession in his heart.

[A pristine snowflake, cold and piercing, falls into the clamor of the mortal world. The god murmured in awe and sorrow: You must experience the full range of human emotions and desires, watch countless threads of fate dye you with greed, anger, suffering, love, and hate, and finally know what it is to long for what you cannot have and be unable to let go. Only then can you understand the ultimate path of love.]

Luobai found an "ally" for himself and Ice Empress: a boy named Huo Yuhao. He helped him with all his might, saved him without regard for his own safety, and did everything he could to pave the way for him. Luobai thought their relationship as excellent partners was unbreakable. Then one day, he realized Huo Yuhao was secretly in love with him.

Luobai: !

At Shrek, he also met a roommate named Wang Dong. After they'd spent years together, Wang Dong suddenly confessed that he liked him. Luobai felt the faintest flutter in return, and just as the two were about to grow closer, he learned Wang Dong's true identity: Tang Wutong, the son of his enemy, Tang San.

Luobai: ...

After parting ways with Wang Dong, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion barged into the human world. Luobai had no choice but to keep the youth who used the alias Di Jin by his side, spending every day with him in the inner court. Before long, the haughty and arrogant Emperor Auspicious Beast confessed his love for Luobai, looking ready to cling to him relentlessly until he said yes.

Luobai: ?

He schemed against Shrek and the Sun Moon Empire, incited conflict in the Holy Spirit Cult, and made use of the Body Sect, playing his cards with ruthless cunning. Halfway through it all, he saw in the true-heart illusion of Qiankun Asking Love Valley that Xiao Hongchen was deeply in love with him. Yes, that Xiao Hongchen, whom he thought of as a mere "tool."

Luobai: .

What a ridiculous mess... The humans he rejected, even loathed, showed him kindness that could move the heart. Meanwhile, the Star Dou faction, which he had barely known, treated him in the strangest way. He'd thought he could stay out of it, but who could be embraced with genuine affection and feel absolutely nothing?

For a moment, their warmth softened Luobai's coldness.

He was confused, but happy, too. A tide surged toward him, but in the end, it could not make him drown in it.

His lover's blue eyes were an eighth ocean, yet they glinted with cold light: a sharp, merciless gaze that could tear through anything, a sign of Luobai's resolve to never stop for anyone or anything.

Those who loved him and those who hated him alike meant nothing to him.

[Born pure, he would return, clad in boundless white. The god shed tears for him: You must wash blood with blood, cleanse away the sins you were forced to commit, and, when the clouds clear and the rain stops and snow falls upon the long night, remake your divine body between the highest nobility and the lowest depravity.]

The conflict between Soul Beasts and humans could no longer be resolved. A figure in blue, wearing an icy crown and clad in armor, stood at the front of the battlefield. How many mighty Soul Masters on the human side looked upon him with grief and despair?

"I remember a human novel saying that a proper 'villain' should abide by six rules: never admit fault, never surrender, never repent, never seek redemption, never ask to be understood, and never ask for sympathy." The ruler of the Soul Beasts, who had overwhelmed the greatest prodigies of Douluo Dalu in his generation, asked mockingly, "You people call me a 'villain,' too, don't you?"

Breaking with Shrek and the Tang Sect in a single day? I'll repay you tenfold for everything I got from you, and then we'll be even. The next time we meet, I won't hold back a single killing move. What? Huo Yuhao? Mom lives in his Sea of Consciousness, so of course he'll come with me. He doesn't want to? That doesn't matter. I can personally "help" him change his mind.

Secretly allied with the Sun Moon Empire? Humans can fight among themselves and send their civilization into decline, giving Soul Beasts a chance to rest and recover. You want to use me? Then you'd better be glad I still find you useful. I can help the Emperor's consort and the God of War unify the continent, and I'm never afraid to turn the table over and break with you. I'm both your most reliable ally and your most terrifying enemy. It all depends on what I decide.

Putting on an act with Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao? I'll play along with your assumptions, pretend to be your great-grandson, and wring out every last bit of value you have. Once you're entirely useless, I'll stab you in the back without a second thought. Your love for me is real? How laughable. I already have the love of the best parents in the world. Why would false affection built on lies move me?

Things are awkward with the Star Dou Great Forest? I'm the ruler of the Soul Beasts in the Far North, not yours. I look after you now and then for the sake of our kinship, but you, Di Tian, want to let the matter of the Emperor Auspicious Beast being manipulated go because of the Soul Spirit Method? Sorry, but what do I care if the Star Dou Soul Beasts live or die? My lover is the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, not every Soul Beast in Star Dou. The Star Dou side can forget about it. I'll take my spear and kill them myself.

He showed no mercy and never wavered for the sake of old affections. He was rational and cold to the point of cruelty, wielding the power of a god and the means to crush anyone. Would such an enemy leader care about being branded a "villain"?

Indeed, he would never admit he was "wrong." He could not be defeated, had no intention of repenting or seeking redemption, and had no need for anyone to understand or sympathize with him, whether human or Soul Beast.

"I'll walk the path I chose myself."

[All things are mine to decide. I refuse to accept fate, and I will not be bound by chains. The god applauded in praise: Spirit of heaven and earth, beloved of ice. Like the waxing moon, like the rising sun. All that came before is merely a prelude. The road ahead has no limits.]

At first, Luobai had no intention of growing close to humans. Later, he decided it might be worth a try for the sake of true affection. Later still came the greed from above the clouds, coveting the Dragon God Bloodline; the contemptuous disdain that treated the lower world as a game board to be manipulated at will; and the sinister schemes aimed at him and those he treasured...

You showed no mercy first, so don't blame me for returning the favor.

Flattening the continent was just the beginning. Where his spear pointed lay the Divine Realm, which countless Soul Beasts had long yearned for but never reached.

You won't allow a god to pass down a Godhood Inheritance to me? Then I'll condense my own divinity and forge my own godhood. You want to steal the bloodline and divine artifact left behind by the Dragon God? Then I'll bring the Golden Dragon King's shadow back into the world. You want to sever the Soul Beast Clan's destiny and feed on Soul Beasts' flesh and blood to sustain your own family? Then I'll create a Divine Realm belonging to Soul Beasts alone. Soul Beasts won't have to painstakingly cultivate for a million years to become gods, either. They'll ascend directly into divine beast forms.

And so, once the battles in the lower world were over, Luobai turned around and attacked the Divine Realm. Leading the divine beasts, he dragged out Asura God, who had been recklessly manipulating events in the lower world, and beat him senseless. "You think you can control me?"

The son of Asura God, who had a "history" with him, stood to one side, hesitating to speak, before finally letting out a faint sigh. Without a care for the old lover who had been entangled with him for so long, Luobai went on a killing spree in the Divine Realm. Once he'd killed enough, he exposed a conspiracy that had spanned the billions of years of Douluo Dalu's history with a single sentence. He didn't spare even the plane's consciousness or the laws of the world.

The Divine Realm trembled, prostrate beneath his feet. Luobai smiled coldly. "You tell me it's fate, but I only believe that what I do is up to me."

Meeting the terrified gazes of the gods and trampling upon the divine punishment that declared "Soul Beasts cannot become gods," he held his proud head high and never took a single step back. "A new plane is born today."

From then on, Soul Beasts were no longer cursed to never become gods. A new Divine Realm was established, with new laws. Luobai, now wielding the highest power, looked down. To the left of his throne stood the countless Soul Beast subjects who had followed him; to the right sat the former lovers with whom he remained entangled. Behind him stood his family, reunited after enduring countless hardships.

At last, he smiled with satisfaction. All glory gathered, and the crown rested on one head.

[After sailing through countless seas, none were you. Then came a glimpse of a breathtaking reflection.]

A few things to know before reading:

The protagonist is a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and the son of Ice Empress and Snow Empress (breaking up the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Ice Empress pairing).

The protagonist is top-tier in both looks and strength, and extremely ambitious (the career and romance plotlines are roughly 6:4).

The protagonist is by no means ruled by love. He values his family most and is always in the dominant position in relationships. He sees the world from a Soul Beast's perspective and has a rather confused, naive understanding of "love." For much of the early story, the romantic plotlines are a case of people talking past each other.

The protagonist puts reason above all else. He can be moved by emotion but will never compromise because of it, and he is even harsher on himself than on others. Read with caution if this isn't your thing.

The protagonist is the leader of the Soul Beast faction and is strongly inhuman. Do not judge his actions using human morality, ethics, or ideas about gender! This is important.

When it comes to romance, if the protagonist doesn't love someone, he truly doesn't love them. He uses, ignores, and betrays people without the slightest burden of conscience.

The "Journey to the Sun Moon Empire" arc and the few arcs before it follow the original story, with the general plot mostly unchanged. The "Qiankun Asking Love Valley" arc and everything after it are original, radically reworked storylines, and include character interactions and plot connections with the first and third Douluo novels.

About the romance:

Some original characters are gender-swapped, including but not limited to Tang Wutong, Wang Qiu'er, Gu Yuena, and Dong Qianqiu. Canon pairings are broken up.

Everyone has a one-sided crush on the protagonist. The characters confirmed to develop mutual feelings with him later are Huo Yuhao, Tang Wutong (male), Di Jin (Three-Eyed Golden Lion), Xiao Hongchen, and Gu Yue (male).

The main story is BL, with no fixed top or bottom. Feel free to imagine the protagonist in either role. Due to the protagonist's required character identity, he must be the top, though some scenes will feature mutual topping.

Other warnings:

The story will include criticism of the character Tang San and the original work. Some of the original novel's morally questionable actions and characterizations will be changed.

Wang Dong = Tang Wutong, the eldest son of the Divine King. His Martial Souls are the Light Goddess Butterfly (Light attribute in the early story, evolving into Ultimate Light later) and the Clear Sky Hammer. The Emperor Auspicious Beast = Di Jin. His Martial Souls are the Golden Dragon (evolving into the Golden Dragon King later) and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. They have always been two separate people, with no inappropriate connection between them. Any inconsistencies in the original plot or worldbuilding are Tang San's fault.

This story has some plot points that complement and foreshadow those in the Dragon King IF story about Luobai, "Rumor Has It I'm the Dragon God's Beloved." The Dragon King IF story is currently still at the East Sea arc, and some parts of both stories may be revised later.

The first sixteen chapters were written in 2020 and are rather immature. Chapter Seventeen onward was written after the story resumed in 2024, so there may be some changes in writing style and prose.

Theme: Respect those who love you, and protect those you love