My Master Gave Me a Heart of Stone

Zhuran was the sect leader's only disciple. His master, known by the Daoist title Qingxuan, was the greatest cultivator in the realm.

Zhuran loved his master.

His master had brought him into the immortal sect, taught him the ways of cultivation, and given him a tenderness no one else could offer.

For his master, he sought demonic lotuses, cut down inner demons, wore red, practiced the whip, and offered up all his ardor and a heart true and sincere.

Zhuran really, really loved his master.

His master had often gazed at him absentmindedly, murmuring, “Soon,” as he counted down to the day of Zhuran's coming-of-age ceremony.

Zhuran had thought that once the ceremony was over, he could confess his feelings.

Until he saw another young man.

The young man wore red like a flame, wielded his whip with uncanny skill, and had a bold, imperious look in his eyes.

“Where did this fake come from?”

The lash marks burned.

Only then did Zhuran learn that he was nothing but a plaything to ease his master's lovesickness, a medicinal catalyst for the young man's heart ailment, and a vessel for an innocent heart.

On the day of his coming-of-age ceremony, his master cut out his heart and placed it in the young man's chest, replacing it with a heart of stone.

A stone heart could not feel love.

In the end, he abandoned love and hate alike. On the day demons attacked, he used talismans and formations to protect the sect, and from then on, he and his master were even.

That young man, dressed in blue, walked into the snowstorm.

And then, later on...

His master searched every mountain and sea, until at last he found Zhu Yongxue playing chess alone atop a peak blanketed in snow all year round.

He knelt all the way up the long steps, begging him to feel love and hate again.

Holding a black stone, Zhu Yongxue wore a smile as stiff and rigid as a carving.

“Master, have you forgotten? I only have a heart of stone.”

CP: Stone Heart x Zhu Yongxue

Premise: Live for yourself.