Damn It! My Archrival, the Dragon-Proud Protagonist, Wants Me

[Blurb withdrawn. Please, please don't let it pile up in your reading list while I crawl around in the dark.jpg (T T]

[Pre-release: My Obsessive Sword Sovereign's Black Moonlight. Please add it to your collection!]

After repeatedly failing to beat a mysterious player to first place, Lin Yinshuang uninstalled the game.

He woke up inside the game world, faced with millions in debt, a sect reduced to rubble, and disciples crying out to be fed. Taking over this mess, Lin Yinshuang was completely overwhelmed.

What? I'm supposed to manage a sect? Is this for real?

Well, no problem. I'll lie flat.

Just kidding.

When his creditors came knocking, he disguised himself as a young master from a reclusive clan out on a trial and spun outrageous promises to buy time.

When he encountered a powerful sect, he borrowed the prestige of a kind passerby who had come to their aid and recruited a genius disciple.

When enemies came after him, he used a talisman to change his appearance and hide. Just as a killing blade came swinging toward him, someone suddenly appeared and scooped him up. He looked up: as frosty as snow, it was that kind soul.

The other man spoke in a cold voice.

This is my cat.

Sect Leader: .

Actually, he had transformed into a fox.

But close enough.

He leisurely transformed back into a human, only to turn around and find that the man had become his little shadow, impossible to get rid of.

:-D.

Perfect timing.

Three sentences were all it took to get a sword cultivator working for him for 180 years.

It's not unreasonable to bring a powerful bodyguard along on a trip, is it?

The sect had no money? He pulled out a modern high-tech spirit device and raked in cash from the cultivation world, offering every kind of paid service imaginable and making a fortune.

The sect was weak? He devised a devilish cultivation plan that drove everyone into fierce competition: a minor test every week and a major one every month. Other sects begged them to stop training.

The results were outstanding. First place in the tournament was theirs for the taking, and the Immortal Alliance got down on its knees and begged them to join.

None of this would have been possible without the kind soul's support.

The man was cool on the outside but warm-hearted, with maxed-out combat abilities. He devoted himself to the sect, donating spirit stones and teaching classes. He was practically one of the Ten Most Inspiring People in the Cultivation World... well, one of them.

What did he want in return?

Lin Yinshuang thought about it for a long time and came to a conclusion.

His eyes brimming with tears, he looked at the sword cultivator who was closer to him than anyone in the world and earnestly took his hand. "I believe our friendship can last until the day the national soccer team wins the championship!"

The sword cultivator didn't understand, but nodded in bewilderment.

The sect rose higher and higher, and their friendship lasted and lasted, until the sword cultivator was even given titles like "Famous Sect Leader's Dog," "Top Mysterious Man in the Cultivation World," and "Number One in Cultivation..."

Lin Yinshuang was left in a daze for a long time.

Bro, turns out you're the chosen one.

But at least the man was his. Heh. :-P

Their days passed in "perfect peace" until one day, Lin Yinshuang coaxed the other man into drinking a cup of wine.

The sword cultivator had a terrible tolerance for alcohol. His face instantly flushed, more beautiful than the red candles.

His misty blue eyes glimmered with tears. Looking dazed, he reached for Lin Yinshuang's sleeve and seemed to murmur something to himself.

Lin Yinshuang leaned in with a smile to hear him, then his eyes went wide with shock.

The other man was calling him by his in-game name and asking him not to hate him.

Wait, you said... you're... who?

That mysterious player from the game who stole spirit fruit from his back mountain, snatched his boss kills, never replied to his private messages, and did nothing but compete with him for first place on the server? The one he'd treated as his sworn rival?

This was too ridiculous.

Lin Yinshuang flushed red with anger and felt utterly defeated, but then all the fight went out of him. The world spun around him. The sword cultivator's hair brushed his cheek, and his voice held a cautious longing.

"I'll give back all your victories... Please let me hold you one more time."

Lin Yinshuang: What!!?? ///O_O///!!!

So what he wanted was me???

The daily life of the other sects in the cultivation world:

Can't even be bothered to complain. I don't mind you flirting, but you two living disasters, please stop shoving your PDA in our faces.

We look helpless, but honestly, we're all out of options.

*Reading guide:

1. Even if the national soccer team somehow wins the championship, this sweet couple will still be together forever. One-on-one, devoted in body and soul.

2. The game elements are minor, so just read it as a cultivation novel. The romance and plot get about equal attention. It's essentially a wish-fulfillment story, with a slow start focused on the daily ins and outs of running a sect. The couple manage the sect while crushing every opponent. The romance takes up more space later on, and everything unfolds gradually as the setting is revealed. Please don't let it pile up in your reading list, or my Dao heart will shatter.

2024.12.3, revised on 2025.12.15, screenshots saved.

--My Obsessive Sword Sovereign's Black Moonlight--

1.

Xie Jiuzheng's closest friend disappeared.

The two had met through a letter that was delivered to the wrong person. They discovered that they had similar likes and dislikes and often held the same opinions.

Later, sharing trivial things and encouraging each other became part of their daily lives. They stayed in touch for many years.

Who could have guessed that after he sent his friend a once-in-a-millennium treasure, the man would run away?

2.

Qiao Xinglian transmigrated into a withered blade of grass in the Demon Abyss.

He had landed in the world of a single-player game whose main selling point was "leveling up through dual cultivation with NPCs." Fortunately, back then he'd only written letters to build the affection of a powerful character and get resources. He'd played it as a proper cultivation game.

Three hundred years had passed. Unless something unexpected had happened, the promising prospect he'd chosen, a Sword Sect senior disciple with beautiful character art, maxed-out talent, and an affection level that was hard to lower thanks to his devoted personality trait, would have risen to a position of power by now.

He was thrilled at the thought of finally meeting his friend in person, but then he heard the terrible news.

3.

"Tomorrow Star" had become a Sword Sovereign, but he had one enemy, named [Nine-Heart Qiao]. This man had stolen his magical artifacts and deceived him romantically, and the Sword Sovereign hated him to the bone.

Qiao Xinglian saw black. There was no way to explain himself.

I'm done for.

He tentatively sent a letter to Xie Jiuzheng's sworn enemy, only to be hunted down. A kind stranger who looked familiar rescued him, took him back to the sect, and somehow ended up taking him as a disciple.

Black hair and white robes, bright and clear as the moon after rain. As the man looked down from his lofty seat above the clouds, the morning bell rang.

Qiao Xinglian stiffened his back, suddenly realizing who he was.

4.

On the first day after taking him as a disciple, Xie Jiuzheng gave him a protective jade pendant, like candy-coated artillery. Qiao Xinglian stayed on guard.

In his first week as a disciple, Xie Jiuzheng gave him a book of swordsmanship insights, like a hot potato. Qiao Xinglian was wary.

In his first month as a disciple, Xie Jiuzheng gave him a thread of his life-bound sword intent, like licking honey from a blade. Qiao Xinglian tread carefully.

But months passed, and everything remained peaceful. The earlier incidents seemed like coincidences. Perhaps Xie Jiuzheng hadn't recognized him.

He always maintained the perfect image of a master and never mentioned the past. Maybe he had already let it go.

Qiao Xinglian slowly lowered his guard and settled into his enviable life as the Sword Sovereign's senior disciple.

5.

Until one day, he accidentally wandered into a secret chamber and was horrified by what he saw. The room was full of portraits of him.

The door slammed shut. His flawless master shed his mask and advanced step by step, until Qiao Xinglian had nowhere left to retreat.

Qiao Xinglian trembled with fear. "Please don't kill me."

But the man only smiled faintly. "How could I ever bear to kill you?"

"You once said your name came from [chocolate with a liqueur center], a treat unique to your hometown. But over the past hundred years, I've traveled everywhere and couldn't find you. I haven't even tasted any chocolate with a liqueur center."

Xie Jiuzheng's cold fingers swept his bangs aside, tracing the shape of his brows and eyes like a snake. He leaned close and spoke with teasing intimacy.

"So now I'm going to 'eat' you."

"It will surely be even more delicious than chocolate with a liqueur center."

Huh??? (°ж°`)!!!

Qiao Xinglian was so scared his eyebrows practically fell off.

Begging did no good. That night, he was caught and dragged back again and again, his voice hoarse from crying, with no one coming to save him.

6.

When Xie Jiuzheng was young, he met someone and gave him his whole heart, only to be cruelly deceived.

He searched for years without finding him, tormented by his inner demons day and night.

But by some twist of fate, a fragment of his soul rescued a blade of grass, then received a letter in different handwriting that said almost exactly the same thing as the one from back then.

...Found you?

...Got... you... now.

--

"If I can't hold the moon in my heart, I'll catch a sparrow and keep it in a cage."

Theme: We all have a bright future ahead of us.