[Cultivation + Substitute Romance]
Violent, irritable top who loves to fight x tough, strong bottom
Yue Hezhao x Ding Ashi
Elder Yan Xianyu of the Yuanshi Sect ran off with a fox spirit. The sect leader was heartbroken over the loss of his beloved, and the whole sect fell into chaos.
Ding Ashi was just a freelance cultivator. Because he happened to look a lot like Yan Xianyu, someone somehow dragged him up the mountain and made him take Yan's place as an elder of the Yuanshi Sect.
But he was a hard, ugly rock, and no matter how you looked at it, he wasn't much like Yan Xianyu.
Yan Xianyu was a renowned cultivator from a prestigious family, frail and sickly, as pure as ice and jade.
Ding Ashi, on the other hand, could take a beating and dish one out, with bones as hard as iron. All he knew was throwing punches and fighting.
This simple-minded rock didn't know what was good for him. Somehow, he ended up by the sect leader's side, and as time passed, he fell in love, plunging headfirst into the mortal world with no way out.
Ding Ashi knew that the man still put Yan Xianyu first in his heart, cherishing him like a precious jewel, like the moonlight in his heart.
But Ding Ashi just refused to accept it.
Ding Ashi was a hard rock. Once he made up his mind, he stubbornly refused to change it.
People say, "With pearls and jade in front, tiles and stones can hardly measure up." But what if he insisted that the tile and stone should come before the pearls and jade?
--
Yue Hezhao kept Ding Ashi by his side as Yan Xianyu's "substitute," all the while getting so furious with him he nearly ascended on the spot.
When they first met, Yue Hezhao gave a cold laugh. "What kind of complete fool would fall for a lousy rock like this?"
Later, Yue Hezhao realized he was that very fool.
People say, "With pearls and jade in front, tiles and stones can hardly measure up." Yet he was the one who'd fallen for this dull gray "tile and stone."
It was embarrassing to think about, and he just couldn't let go.
--
Substitute romance: yes
Chasing the love of your life after driving them away: yes
The top getting yelled at by the bottom until he's howling: yes
Core theme: Pursue your unique self-worth, respect and love yourself, and never become someone else's appendage
