Do You Have a White Peacock?

[A lone hero walks the hidden path; a childlike heart stays true, even as the temples turn gray]

Before she turned nineteen, Lin Feiran was known throughout the Daohe Palace as a good-for-nothing. She had the bones of a swordswoman, but her spiritual meridians were sluggish, making cultivation difficult and the Great Dao impossible to attain.

Yet the elders doted on her, her senior brothers looked out for her, and she even formed an enviable marriage pact with a peerless young prodigy.

The storms of life seemed to have been swept away for her, leaving her nothing to worry about.

Until the year she turned nineteen, when the kindness of her mentors crumbled and they finally showed their fangs. Another person appeared at the young man's side, and everything she had known fell apart. Only then did she suddenly remember: she had transmigrated into a sweet romance novel.

The young man and woman were destined to fall in love and spend their lives together. She was merely a fated obstacle, and when the time came, she was supposed to leave the stage.

The moon shattered, the mirror broke. It turned out all that beauty had been an illusion.

"Let's dissolve the marriage pact."

The usually cold and restrained young man paused at her words. His dark eyes gazed at her, still as glass and shimmering with color. After looking at her for a long time, he said, "All right."

That day, wind and snow raged as Lin Feiran was driven to the edge of a cliff.

In the distance, the young man stood tall and elegant, gazing at her with his sword in hand, his expression indistinct.

Nearby, the mentor who had once cherished her raised a sword against her, their cries echoing through the mountains.

"Lin Feiran, leave your sword bones behind and we'll spare your life!"

But louder than the howling wind was her hoarse voice: "I'm leaving the mountain today. No one can stop me!"

That night, the young man returned to his room and gazed at her soul lamp with cold, clear eyes. Then he raised his hand and snuffed it out.

*

On a snowy night, Lin Feiran risked her life fleeing to the demon realm.

To uncover the truth behind her parents' deaths, to take revenge, and to survive, she resolutely made a pact with the ruler of the demon realm.

The person across from her propped up his chin and studied her. Snow-white hair fell loosely about him, and his vermilion lips parted.

"Make a pact with me, and from now on you'll be my sword. What is your name?"

Her fists clenched slightly. Dressed in black, her figure was like the sharp shadow of a sword.

"My name is Lin Feiran."

*

Ru San was the only white peacock in his clan for thousands of years. His beauty was lush and dazzling, his grace peerless, and his temperament uniquely strange.

Among millions, he loved only himself. Whatever caught his eye had to be the finest in the world.

He had always been waiting for a sword unlike any other.

When the young woman stood before him, battered and bruised yet defiant, light finally gathered in his usually languid eyes.

He had found the one-of-a-kind sword he had been seeking.

But where was its scabbard?

He was troubled for only a moment before breaking into a relieved laugh.

If nothing could match her, then he would make himself her scabbard. He would be the perfect fit for her.

- If it doesn't suit my heart, why do it?

- Strike with a blade, cut a path with a sword, stake your life on it, and fight until you see the dawn!

Reader's guide:

1. Slow-burn character growth and cultivation progression, with a light ensemble cast.

2. There is a plot and a romance, with passionate battles and love as well.

3. The male lead is head over heels for her; the second male lead will suffer a brutal rejection; the third male lead has a bittersweet secret crush. But the heroine is focused on her growth and cultivation.

4. The male lead is a dangerously beautiful madman, and the second male lead is a brooding, sinister ghost of a man. Both are utterly devoted to the heroine and will cling to her without ever letting go. Expect them to tear each other to shreds over her. Consider yourself warned.

5. My own take on cultivation, with plenty of original worldbuilding. The cultivation stages in this novel are: Heartfasting, Sitting in Oblivion, Sea of Illumination, Questioning the Heart, Freedom, Ascending Heights, Transcendence, Spiritual Journey, Selflessness, and Return to Truth.

P.S. This novel is an exercise in writing plot. I wrote it with my face on the keyboard. If you find something you dislike, please stop reading. Comments that senselessly insult the heroine will be deleted.

Why this novel is entered in the Growth category: Lin Feiran was born with the bones of a swordswoman and a clear, steadfast heart, yet she was misled by others. With three thousand paths to the Great Dao, she cannot tell whether the road beneath her feet is right or wrong, so she has no choice but to measure it for herself. She grows and presses forward through trials, and step by step, eventually finds a path of her own.

Blurb revised on April 25, 2024

Theme: Loving yourself is a beautiful quality