This story begins a very, very long time ago. The Nine Provinces were in turmoil, each territory ruled by humans, demons, monsters, or immortals. The monster clan, however, had fallen into decline and was at a disadvantage among the four races, hunted and attacked wherever they went. To put an end to this, the clan sent its young Demon Lord to the Immortal Trace Sect as a hostage in exchange for a thousand years of peace.
Yet during the century's grand sacrificial rite, Song Quanzhou, the Immortal Trace Sect's Fourth Elder, ground the young Demon Lord's bones to dust, sending the Nine Provinces into upheaval and leaving wails of grief in his wake.
Over the centuries, the Immortal Trace Sect cultivated countless experts, including Jiang Qianling, a once-in-a-century prodigy who reached the peak of his powers at a young age, making the sect dominant above all others.
Jiang Qianling became a renowned figure across the Nine Provinces, and demons and monsters alike trembled at his name. Though he stood apart from the world, he felt lost. Born into schemes, he had spent half his life rushing from one thing to another, never understanding why he did any of it. As Jiang Qianling watched him drag his sickly body along, heedless of everything, and demand an answer, he asked, "Senior Brother, do you truly hate monsters that much?"
Jiang Qianling looked into those clear eyes, and for once, he faltered.
He was about to retort when the other man spoke, his voice weak but firm. "The world isn't simply black and white. There are good monsters, Senior Brother..."
When he was Heaven's favored son, countless people admired and worshipped him.
When he was betrayed, exposed for who he was, and cast into the abyss, people remembered him only as a sinister, treacherous, bloodthirsty monster. He said that if he ever climbed out of that abyss, he would never save another person.
But when he had grown utterly disillusioned with the world, that man broke his own principles to lead him back into the light. His long-silent heart began to pound once more...
He said, "Come home with me, sir."
But the person before him was no longer who he used to be, and neither was he.
In a single day, he lost all his spiritual power. Bound hand and foot, he lay quietly on the bed, waiting for night to fall. With a creak, someone came to his side and whispered in his ear, "How are you feeling today, Senior Brother?"
Jiang Qianling turned his face away, a flicker of disgust crossing his cold, beautiful features. The other man gripped his cheeks with long fingers and forcefully turned his face back. "What? Just because I'm a monster, I deserve to put up with your attitude? Don't forget who's above whom here!"
Later, someone had his ear twisted until he yelped in pain. "Senior Brother, Senior Brother, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
Jiang Qianling gazed at the fluffy red fox ear between his fingers and smiled. "You've gone too far, Junior Brother. After all, I don't distinguish between those above and below me."
Someone's face and neck turned bright red, and both ears stood straight up. "..."
*
One day, beneath the mountain summit, Jiang Xi stood facing the wind, his mind in utter disarray. He pointed a trembling finger at one of them and stammered, "Ji Datou, y-you're a monster?"
Then he turned to the chubby-faced person beside him. "Junior Uncle, y-you couldn't even learn the Illusion Technique! How can you now hold your own against Master?"
At that, he widened his eyes and stared at the person behind him in disbelief. His mouth opened and closed. "Master? Then what are you?"
Jiang Qianling gave him a look of pity, then silently shifted his gaze without answering.
Jiang Xi understood. He turned to the two of them, his face full of betrayed indignation, and shouted, "So you've been treating me like a fool this whole time! Was it fun watching me show off those few pathetic spells in front of you, completely out of my depth?"
A stunning and supremely talented, cold-hearted Immortal Lord x a dim-witted, deranged, scheming villain who loves to put on an act (pretends to be righteous at first, turns into the big bad later)
1. One-on-one romance, both leads have only ever been with each other.
2. The story will be completed.
3. Many details in the story are the author's own inventions. Don't overanalyze them.
4. When trying to guess identities, don't trust your eyes. The identity you think you see may not be the one you think it is.
5. Everything serves the plot.
Theme: You come to save me, and I come to love you.
