The Heroine's Boundless Journey

Qu Zouya is the lively, sunny descendant of the prestigious Lingling Sect, but her martial arts are mediocre, a disgrace to the family name.

Her abilities aren't enough to let her descend the mountain, but she sneaks out to attend the Grand Realm Banquet anyway. Sure enough, she is kidnapped by the Stranger's Grave Stockade. Fortunately, a highly skilled young man comes to her rescue. Despite her savior's refusal, Qu Zouya insists on clinging to him for protection.

But her savior is a little strange. He knows the Stranger's Grave Stockade well, is feared by the people, has a group of shady brothers who love making lewd jokes, and transports batches of young women...

Qu Zouya is so frightened she wants to leave, but the young man changes his tune. "Where are you going? I'll take you there, even to the ends of the earth."

Qu Zouya says nervously, "There's no need to trouble yourself, my savior."

"It's no trouble. It would be my honor."

It turns out that the man she thought was her savior is none other than Cheng Yi, the notorious bandit chief known as the "King of Avici Hell" and leader of the Golden Bridle Sect.

Once he learns she is a noblewoman from a prestigious family, he wants to marry her so he can rebrand the Golden Bridle Sect as a righteous martial arts sect.

Qu Xiaodao hates villains, and hates it when people throw their calculating marriage proposals in her face. Her first flutter of love belongs to Xu Yu, who appeared out of nowhere to help her escape a fire and get away from Cheng Yi.

As the fire raged, Xu Yu shielded her from a collapsing covered walkway, then looked down at her hiding beneath him with an amused smile. "You're still laughing?"

Xu Yu is the sort of person she could love: born into the leading sect of the martial world, charming, carefree, and witty.

But she discovers that every time Xu Yu loses his composure, it has something to do with her older sister, Rong Xiaofan.

Rong Xiaofan is a genius inventor, aloof and ethereal, like moonlight beyond anyone's reach. The little sun awkwardly tries to imitate the moon, but Xu Yu thinks the sun is dazzling and loves only the moon.

The villain Cheng Yi tells Qu Xiaodao, "You're one of a kind. You don't need to change."

Yet this headstrong bandit chief is changing. He cuts off all his crooked sources of income, leads his gang in honest work, stammers and bows respectfully before Qu Xiaodao's parents, and watches her pine for Xu Yu.

The martial world seems simple, but figuring out the one you love is hard.

But that's not really true.

It isn't until Qu Xiaodao stumbles upon the dirty dealings of the Grand Realm and sees the ugly hearts beneath the righteous sects, discovering the petty scheming of the martial world's so-called luminaries, that she understands:

The one she loves shines like the sun and moon, with a pure heart. The martial world is what's truly complicated.

The first book in this series is Drinking at Ox Ford: Tracking the Martial World. Some characters appeared in the prequel.

Theme: Justice never dies, and love remains pure