Defiant Disciple

Lu Rang had a difficult beginning in life. Born with a ruined spiritual root and cursed by Heaven, she endured every kind of suffering. Only after calculating the secrets of Heaven was she able to claw her way out of the mud. She thought that once she attained the Dao, she would live out her days in peace, renew all things, bring order to the eight provinces, and make her name known throughout the world. But who could have guessed that she would make two mistakes? The first was... falling in love with her own master. She gave her whole heart, only to be rejected. Her devotion froze over, and in the end, her Dao fruit was destroyed and her soul damaged. The second was... failing to learn from her mistake. She crawled out of the River of the Underworld and started over, only to fall in love with her new master... Lu Rang: I think I just like masters. Whoever my master is, that's who I like. (Reflecting on herself) Lu Rang: Anyone who's ever been in a relationship with their master knows I only made the same mistake every disciple makes. (Getting increasingly self-righteous) * Qin Qing was aloof and cold by nature, with a heart that had always been utterly unfeeling. She cared only for her own path to the Netherworld and had no regard for anyone else. Then one day, she did something foolish: she picked someone up, and couldn't get rid of her. That day, a thin rain fell over the River of the Underworld, chilling to the bone. Passing by the river, Qin Qing happened to glance over and saw a hand, so thin it seemed carved to the bone, slowly gripping the bank and hauling its owner up. Qin Qing's eyes met that person's by chance. In a daze, she reached out her hand. The icy hand fell into her palm, and the person immediately called her... "Master." Qin Qing: "?" Was this how people pulled a scam now? That one foolish tug left her with an amnesiac little disciple. The little disciple was frail and remembered nothing. The only thing she could do was stubbornly cling to Qin Qing, following behind her and calling her "Master" in a desperate, plaintive voice. Qin Qing raised her for eight years, until one day her little disciple ran away without a word. When Qin Qing caught up with her, she learned that the little disciple already had a master, and it was one of her old acquaintances: Wen Sheng Xuanxin, the second of the ten Dao Seats above the heavens. Qin Qing: Hmph. * Lu Rang had understood since childhood that there was no one behind her. She could rely only on herself. She set her sights on the ten Dao Seats at the end of the heavens. But when the day finally came, Lu Rang ran into an unexpected complication. The first was that her former master, a shameless flirt, still hadn't changed her wicked ways and dared to keep pestering her. Lu Rang raised her eyes with a sneer and pointed the tip of her sword at the white-robed woman's heart. "I have a sword made just for killing masters." The second complication was... just as she finished speaking, someone on a Dao Seat gave a derisive laugh. The voice was all too familiar. She looked up, and her heart stopped for a few beats. Her darling new master sat aloofly atop the ninth heaven. Her long, narrow eyes were lowered, dark as ink, her feelings hidden yet intense, her gaze cutting to the bone. Lu Rang: "..." * Wen Sheng Xuanxin was hailed as the sun of her generation. She founded the Xuanming Dao Palace, comprehended the Dao in her youth, and wherever she went, she was revered as a saint, honored above all beneath the heavens. Humble and brilliant, she surpassed her peers. With the beauty of a celestial, the bones of a moon goddess, and a white robe that graced the world, she had seventy-two disciples beneath her, each one a dragon among men. Her one flaw was a rebellious disciple who couldn't shake her wicked ways. In the end, Wen Sheng Xuanxin personally crushed her ambition, believing she would finally sleep peacefully every night. Yet whenever she closed her eyes, she would inexplicably remember that night of pitiful drizzle, the mocking, reddened eyes of the woman in blue, and the way she had resolutely leapt into the River of the Underworld, severing their ties for good. That woman was Lu Rang, the eldest disciple she had raised from childhood. She had thought she didn't care all that much, until she saw Lu Rang again at the pinnacle of the heavens, smiling softly as she called her "Master" with obvious affection. Just as Wen Sheng Xuanxin was about to answer, someone pushed her aside. Someone else answered first, mockingly: "Do you even still consider me your master?" For the first time, the white-robed woman, usually so detached and carefree, felt anger. A violent desire quietly began to grow in her heart. New blurb, 2024.12.15 Revised blurb, 2025.1.24 * Rebellious disciple x aloof master Top, no switching, no role reversal, happy ending Theme: Love and hope