The Bewitching Star

A reimagining of the original Rival. The broad framework is based on the original, but the setting and characters have all been revamped, and the plot is completely different. The story is free to read.

Synopsis:

The Demon Lord Yinghuo once held absolute power and had a terrible reputation. He died, and everyone should have rejoiced. But...

People are naturally drawn to the strong.

Before Yinghuo died, everyone put on a show of condemning him. After his death, their private conversations revealed the truth: well, every last one of them had secretly been in love with Yinghuo.

A hundred years after Yinghuo's death, a rumor spread throughout the Three Realms:

"Have you heard? Yinghuo has been resurrected!"

"Really...?"

"Who cares if it's true? I'm pledging myself first. The sooner I sign up, the sooner I can enjoy the benefits!"

The various aristocratic clans and sects, along with the immortal, demonic, and monstrous beings, scrambled to compete. They searched every inch of the land, determined to be the first loyal subject to support Yinghuo and help him rise again.

"I am willing to dedicate my entire clan to serving the Demon Lord."

"I am willing to sacrifice myself in the hope of winning his affection."

"I'll do anything! Pick me, pick me!"

Ji Ying, formerly known as Yinghuo, wearing the secret identity of a Heavenly Slave and giving psychological therapy to his ex, who'd developed a mental illness after their breakup: ?

His ex was addicted to self-harm. Tears ran down his handsome, bloodstained face as he asked deliriously, "If the Heavenly Emperor did it for you, would you marry me?"

Ji Ying: "...Has your condition gotten worse?"

Bie Chenxuan, the Emperor of the Immortal Capital of Parting Sorrow, once had someone he loved.

During the reincarnation in which he transformed into an evil dragon and became a demon, the two shared a love that left an indelible mark. Before they parted, his reincarnated self personally killed that person.

When the evil dragon failed to become a demon, Bie Chenxuan lost those memories.

Eventually, the two met again in a narrow pass.

That person's body was destroyed beneath Bie Chenxuan's sword.

The world sang Bie Chenxuan's praises. At his fingertips, a drop of dew formed: a tear that fell for reasons he could not understand. As the years passed, his reincarnation's memories gradually ate away at the Emperor seated above the nine heavens. The more he learned through those faint memories, the more his heart was wrung with pain.

For half his life, his beloved had wandered through hardship, betrayed by the world.

And he had been an accomplice...

After pouring out his heart and soul, with his heart broken and his hair turned white, Bie Chenxuan finally resurrected Yinghuo.

But who could have guessed that more and more people would come forward, offering their sincere hearts and begging for his affection, pushing Bie Chenxuan to the margins? And his beloved spent eighty percent of his time worrying about the mortal world, and only twenty percent cherishing all living beings.

The little private affection he'd had to begin with was whittled down until barely a trace remained.

So the Celestial Venerable Emperor knelt too. He said, "I am willing as well. I want Yinghuo to tear off my skin and devour my flesh, take everything I have, and strip me of my freedom, in exchange for his wholehearted love. I want him to marry no one else and serve no other husband."

A light pursuit of the bottom, with a chance to make amends for past wrongs and flashbacks to their tangled history.

Passersby fall mindlessly in love with the bottom, with a moderate rivalry between the tops.

Strong-minded, beautiful, tragic Ji Ying, the bottom x insecure, self-loathing, self-harming Bie Chenxuan, the top

It's a 1v1. The bottom loves the top. The author is getting back into writing.

Happy ending. A melodramatic, over-the-top, old-school dog-blood romance.

A beloved bottom, with unrequited admirers all pointing toward him.

Theme: Be reborn, make up for past regrets, and become a better version of yourself.