The Young Hero with a White Horse and Golden Bridle

Coming soon: "Slay the Immortals." Please add it to your favorites! Click to read a dark cultivation novel!

When Qi Lezhi first saw Jiang Yuanfeng in the dungeon, he was on the verge of death after his fellow inmates beat him up for cheating at cards.

He lay in a corner like a dead dog, gnawing on a cold flatbread with a carefree, almost gleeful air.

She made him an offer:

Serve her in the Dark Operations Bureau for a year, and in exchange, he would be set free.

Jiang Yuanfeng, lying there like a dead dog, laughed recklessly and signed his name on the contract without hesitation.

He thought a year would pass quickly. Little did he know it would feel like it would never end.

He was carefree and cunning.

But in the end, he willingly became the blade in her hand, accompanying her through danger and hardship, all for a single glance from her, so she might see the heart he had laid bare for her.

The one thing Jiang Yuanfeng could never understand was Qi Lezhi's choice.

She was the only legitimate daughter of the Duke of Dingguo, born to a life of privilege.

If she wanted, she could take her pick of the talented young men in the capital and live a peaceful, comfortable life. Instead, she put herself in mortal danger, with her life constantly hanging by a thread.

Amid snow, wind, and firelight, Qi Lezhi answered with firm conviction.

She said she did not want to be like most women, serving her husband and raising children, confined to a single courtyard for her whole life.

The wind in her blood was destined to burn fiercely. It would blaze across this boundless wilderness, consuming the darkness for her homeland and its people!

A calm, rational, brilliant female lead x a slightly unhinged, love-struck male lead

P.S.

1. The female lead is career-minded and rational. The male lead is love-struck and a little unhinged. Their romance is a slow burn.

2. The plot and romance are roughly evenly balanced. The story isn't limited to the leads' relationship; the friendships within the main group are also a major focus.

3. The historical setting is inspired by the Song and Ming dynasties, in an alternate history.

4. A youthful, passionate ensemble story told in arcs. The members of the main group are not just there to serve as plot devices.

5. The tone is lively and lighthearted.

[Coming soon: "Slay the Immortals." Please add it to your favorites!]

Luo Zhitang is an orphan. Once, a great mystic passing through town read her fortune and said she was cursed with a lonely fate, estranged from her family, and would not live past seventeen.

The remote, desolate town revered immortal masters and mystics, and she was no exception. Once she turned fifteen, she began making her own coffin.

On the day it was to be finished, the old blind drunkard from the village gate climbed inside.

As he lay dying, he struck a bargain with her.

He wanted his soul to return home; she wanted to live to a hundred.

After handing her a piece of rotten beast hide, the old man breathed his last.

At the height of the spring rain, she slung a rusty sword over her back and left the town where she had lived for over a decade.

As the old blind man had instructed her:

When first entering the martial world, worship the immortals.

Decades later, now a Sword Immortal, Luo Zhitang returned to the martial world to slay the immortals.

At first, all she wanted was to survive.

Now she wants to slay the immortals and avenge herself, carve a path of blood, and become an immortal in her own right.

Reading guide:

1. A plot-focused story about the female lead's growth and revenge.

2. I want to write a somewhat dark cultivation world and a somewhat dark female lead.

3. My take on cultivation comes with lots of original worldbuilding.

4. There will be a romance, but not much.

Theme: Yearning for freedom, unbound by the present