[Female protagonist's perspective]
Thirty years ago, cultivators from the Immortal Alliance joined forces to kill the Demon Clan's king as he was about to complete his cultivation and ascend through nirvana. Their attack ruined his ascension and shattered his body.
Thirty years later, Gu Xin'an, young heir to the Demon Clan, emerges from seclusion and points her sword at the Ascension Platform. The first thing she intends to do is avenge her father.
The Immortal Alliance is gripped by fear, so they offer up Qin Shang, one of the Sword Pavilion's Twin Prodigies, as a shield.
Qin Shang is as cold as frost, aloof and passionless, bright as snow on a mountain. He is the Sword Pavilion's pride and the young disciple of the righteous path most likely to ascend to immortality.
Thirty years ago, he struck the final blow that brought down the Demon King.
Gu Xin'an: "Excellent. I'll teach this immortal lord how to bow his head."
-
On the first day Qin Shang entered the Demon Clan, Gu Xin'an drove twenty-one bone-piercing nails into his body, each one sinking to the bone.
On the second day, three whips made from century-old dragon sinew snapped against him. Blood stained the long steps of the Demon King's Hall.
On the third day, Gu Xin'an took him back to her chambers and subjected him to every kind of humiliation and torment...
But no matter what she did to him, she couldn't get what she wanted.
Qin Shang would not beg for mercy, nor did he know how to hate.
Only then did Gu Xin'an learn that his heart had been sealed from anger and hatred since childhood. He could only love, never hate.
She also learned that, despite being one of the Sword Pavilion's Twin Prodigies, he was merely a substitute for the true heir to the Sword Pavilion. Once he reached the Divine Transformation Realm, he could hand his body over to his sickly cousin, then die without a trace.
Looking at the young man kneeling before her, his spiritual meridians torn out, his sword bones removed, and his eyes gouged out, sent to the Demon Clan as a scapegoat, Gu Xin'an suddenly found tormenting him utterly dull.
She lifted the handsome young man's chin with the tip of her sword and looked down at him.
"Now that you're in the Demon Clan, you must follow our rules. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth..."
"Immortal Lord, would you like me to teach you how?"
[Male protagonist's perspective]
Qin Shang was born with a peerless sword constitution, hailed as a genius by countless people from the moment he was born.
Yet he didn't know what he was alive for.
All he knew was that his uncle, the Sword Pavilion's leader, had taken him in, and that his only purpose and duty was to repay the Sword Pavilion.
That meant having his bones removed and eyes gouged out so his cousin, whose constitution was flawed, could cultivate and prolong his life;
That meant using his flesh and blood to raise Gu and help his seniors master their immortal arts;
That meant suffering punishment in someone else's place and bearing the Demon Clan's wrath on behalf of the Sword Pavilion...
He knew pain, but not anger. He could shed tears, but didn't know how to hate.
Until one day, the girl from the Demon Clan, bright as the sun, said to him, "Silly, why don't you know how to cry out in pain?"
That's when he learned that he was allowed to cry out in pain.
-
Gu Xin'an told Qin Shang, "You shouldn't just learn to cry out in pain, you should learn to get angry too. Let me teach you, Immortal Lord, how to be angry."
He didn't understand. "Is getting angry a good thing? The Pavilion Master said that if I ever feel hatred, I'll surely become a demon."
The girl stroked his face and sighed. "Hate isn't a good thing, of course. But how can someone only know how to love and not how to hate? That would make them incomplete."
"It's important to have one fewer demon in the world, but it's more important for A-Shang to find his whole self."
"All right. I'll get my hate back," he thought for a moment.
"From now on, I'll save my hate for everyone else, and give all my love to you."
#Someone will love the whole of you, even if you're not perfect#
[Extra scene]
When Qin Shang first arrived at the Demon King's Hall:
Gu Xin'an: I'm going to break his bones! Destroy his dignity! Make this aloof beauty kneel at my feet, crying out in pain and begging for mercy!
Qin Shang: (silent.jpg)
Three months after Qin Shang arrived at the Demon King's Hall:
Qin Shang (raising a finger pricked by a needle): It hurts.
Qin Shang (pretending to think seriously for a moment): Maybe a kiss would make it stop hurting.
Gu Xin'an: That's not what I meant by "crying out in pain and begging for mercy"! Have some backbone, will you?! (kisses him fiercely.jpg)
After Qin Shang got married and moved into the Demon King's Hall:
Gu Xin'an: Never mind, come beg for mercy in my bed then ///v///
"The bold, wild, and utterly unrestrained young demon lord" x "the beautiful, delicate, tragic immortal lord who's easy to push over"
A short redemption story.
Theme: Wherever the heart finds peace is home.
