After the Sword Cultivator's Reputation Was Ruined

[This novel has been licensed for print publication in simplified Chinese. Preorders open May 30, 2026, at 8:00 p.m.] Short blurb: After receiving a storybook that foretells the future, Yun Xian decides to leave the mountain and revive the Sword Pavilion. The sect leader strokes his beard, deeply gratified. My girl has finally grown up. One year later. “Yun Xian, could you tell us how you managed, in just one year, to turn everyone’s stereotype of sword cultivators from ‘aloof, good at fighting, and fearless of death’ into ‘chatterboxes, escape artists, and shameless troublemakers’?” Yun Xian declined the interview. Full blurb: By chance, Yun Xian finds a storybook that describes in detail the passionate romance between the Demon Cult’s Holy Maiden, Jimo Shu, and Zhong Changyao, a pillar of the righteous path. But halfway through, she realizes something is wrong. There are way too many female rivals. The male lead is a womanizer. She’s used to that. As the Demon Cult’s Holy Maiden, Jimo Shu’s greatest wish is to become at least Zhong Changyao’s principal wife. But worst of all, Yun Xian’s declining sect, the Sword Pavilion, is eventually wiped out. At first, she thinks the book is some bored person’s collection of street gossip. But then the events in it really start happening. Yun Xian: On the brink of death, I sit bolt upright! This lazy fish is flapping its tail! * To stop all this from happening, solve the mystery, revive the Sword Pavilion, and spread the sword cultivators’ way of life, Yun Xian resolutely emerges from seclusion and descends the mountain to join the battle. She thinks the team will be like this: Sword cultivators: If one sword can finish the job, never draw a second. Aloof as flowers atop a high peak. No one is icier than me! But in reality: “Do sword cultivators usually ride their swords to school? Otherwise, how are you so fast when you run away?” “Are all sword cultivators this loud?” “So that’s what it means to become one with your sword?” Healers: Gentle, kind support staff, saving lives and tending the wounded. Healing is a healer’s sacred duty. But in reality: “Quit whining and hand over the money. What do you mean, treating you after I break your legs doesn’t count as treatment? Who came up with that twisted logic?” Body cultivators: Steady, reliable shields for the team. When they go berserk, their ears and tails come out, which is pretty adorable. But in reality: “…Why does her whole head turn into a lion’s when she transforms? I feel like she could bite my head off.” “You’re right.” Buddhist cultivators: Compassionate monks, boundlessly loving and selfless in their devotion. But in reality: “See this forty-meter staff? A monk’s compassion knows no bounds. I’ll even let you run thirty-nine meters first.” And last but certainly not least, the Demon Cult’s Holy Maiden, devoted to her beloved without complaint, willing to take any beating or scolding without regret. But as it turns out, she’s been exactly the same from beginning to end: “Zhong Changyao, I’ll skin you alive!!!” Yun Xian: “…Why is this nothing like what I imagined?” ° Our goal is to climb the highest mountain and master the mightiest sword! ◎ A lighthearted, slow-burn story, with “heat” as in passionate fervor (what?). The heroine is neither an all-powerful female lead nor part of a true ensemble cast. She’s a big-dog-energy heroine, and everyone around her has to put up with her. If you dislike this kind of personality, please move along. (The author defines an ensemble story as one with multiple protagonists, each with a complete character arc and their own chapters, and with a similar share of the spotlight. So I don’t consider this an ensemble story. But it’s also not a power fantasy where the heroine solos the whole world, since the supporting characters do get plenty of page time. So it can’t be called a story with an all-powerful female lead, either. That’s all.) *Romance, with a love story, though it doesn’t get much focus and isn’t especially well handled. The male lead, Su Chi, appears in Chapter 12. Theme: Unity is strength