I Cultivate the Heartless Way, or So I Pretend

Shi Que cultivated the Heartless Dao just to have an excuse to live a lazy life. The Heartless Dao is a brick: he carries it wherever it's needed. The sect leader told him to take on a disciple. Shi Que: No. I cultivate the Heartless Dao. I can't let the bond between master and disciple hold me back. The sect leader told him to compete in the Immortal Alliance tournament. Shi Que: No. I cultivate the Heartless Dao. I can't be tempted by fame and fortune. Everyone said Shi Que had an otherworldly air, like an immortal banished from the heavens. No one knew that the cool and detached Dao Lord kept his drawers full of dried fruit and snacks, hid a stash of wind-up toys in his study, and snuck down the mountain in disguise every few days to have fun. Then, during a lecture on the Immortal Dao, the ancestor of the Heartless Dao, who had ascended a thousand years ago, suddenly descended to discuss the Dao with him. Shi Que panicked. He'd forgotten all the teachings. Even worse, the ancestor, now a demigod with snow-white hair and the clear, cool beauty of a frosty moon, had the exact same face as the little playmate he'd once toyed with and abandoned. Everyone envied Shi Que for receiving personal guidance from the Dao Ancestor, calling him blessed beyond measure. In a secluded corner, Shi Que's eyes grew moist as he trembled and recited the cultivation formula. The Dao Ancestor hooked a finger beneath his chin, his thumb brushing his reddened lips. "You got it wrong again. Another punishment. You used to be so quick with your words. How come a few days of playing with someone else left you unable to recite even the whole formula?" Top's perspective: Xie Mingci ascended through the Heartless Dao and became the greatest cultivator in the world. A thousand years later, he sealed away his spiritual power and memories and descended to undergo a trial, where he met a weak, lazy fish who liked to flirt with everyone and wouldn't leave him alone. The lazy fish accidentally fell under a blood curse. Xie Mingci helped him break it, but when he woke up, the man was gone. The Dao Ancestor, heartbroken and abandoned, sat alone all night in the empty room, his Daoist heart unsteady and a faint blood-red glimmer in his dark eyes. Theme: The Dao is heartless, but the human world is full of love