The Sword Venerable No Longer Dared to Love

The story begins with her getting a second chance at life. I've changed the blurb, and I hope this one is better.

Li Ruoxu considers herself a genius. In truth, she really is one.

She excels at all three hundred and sixty trades. Talismans, arrays, pills, artifacts: there's nothing she isn't proficient in. What others spend their whole lives trying and failing to obtain comes to her with the lift of a hand.

But her master laughed as he poured the wine and told her that she had everything going for her, but still wasn't ready to become an immortal.

What exactly was she lacking? After tossing and turning all night, she went down the mountain alone the next day, praying at every temple and seeking the Dao at every mountain.

Buddha said, "Your senses are too pure." The Dao said, "Your heart is unburdened."

A pure heart and an untroubled mind. Weren't those good things? Li Ruoxu didn't understand.

So she wandered the mortal world for decades. When someone professed their love, she thought little of it. When someone wanted to grow old with her, she found it far too troublesome.

At last, she made a divination and fixed her gaze on Xue Shiyu, the peerless genius of the future cultivation world, the Sword Venerable of the Heartless Dao.

Xue Shiyu: a genius of the sword and a rare talent among the immortal sects.

Of course, that all comes later.

For now, he is just a bastard who can't show his face in public. Short and frail, his body covered in scars, he can't even get enough to eat. At night, he can only sneak out to the mass grave and fight wild dogs for scraps.

One night, he found a woman sleeping on a grave. She spoke and acted like a madwoman. Grabbing him, she said,

"You have evil, hatred, resentment, and obsession in your heart. If someone like you can become an immortal, why can't I?"

Become an immortal? Him?

What a lunatic, he sneered inwardly.

She wouldn't leave when he told her to, and insults wouldn't drive her away. She loved trailing after him like an irritating wad of gum he couldn't shake off.

"I'm not leaving. I'm staying by your side to see how you manage to become an immortal."

Sometimes, in a dark moment of self-pity, he would think, Fine. If you want to stay with me, then stay for the rest of your life.

Later, by a twist of fate, they spent a night together.

He was both glad and afraid.

He was glad that at last they had done what only a married couple could do.

But he was afraid, too. Love was the greatest taboo for cultivators. From that moment on, perhaps he would never become an immortal.

Would she abandon him and leave?

Sure enough, when he saw her again, another person was standing at her side.

Just as destitute and miserable as he had once been.

So he wasn't any different from anyone else, after all.

In that moment, Xue Shiyu suddenly understood everything.

He thought that if he could start over, he would rather rot in the mud for the rest of his life and never look up again.

And then, fall in love with her.

Theme: I lied