After My Master Died and His Cultivation Was Destroyed

[Half-Amnesiac, Cold on the Outside but Warm Within, White-Haired Beauty Master x Half-Slacker, Warm on the Outside but Cold Within, Sickly Disciple]

Includes all kinds of dark elements: love and hate, overwhelming passion and resentment, a hellish love-rival showdown, a long and arduous pursuit of a wife, and old flames reignited.

Serious Blurb:

At thirteen, Song Ziling was not yet called by that name. She had just become Yan Xuan's disciple, and spent her days living in a warm chamber carpeted with thick rugs. Those were the only four years of her life blessed with carefree innocence.

Then, on the Lantern Festival night after the New Year, she awoke from a dream. A raging storm broke out at the worst possible time, and someone ruthlessly shattered the ward protecting the warm chamber. The intruders stormed in and dragged her to the edge of Vermilion Bird Terrace without a word of explanation.

They forced her to her knees. On Vermilion Bird Terrace, her master was undergoing an extreme punishment. Her ears filled with curses like "demon," "traitor," and "evil spirit," aimed at Yan Xuan, and at her.

Only then did she learn the truth: the master who had always treated her with boundless tenderness and patience was the foremost of Qingming Mountain's five grand elders, second only to the sect leader. She was also the most renowned sword immortal of her time, a prodigy whose fame came early and whose peerless talent had inspired countless people to admire and envy her.

Now she had fallen into demonic ways and slaughtered her fellow sect members.

Song Ziling was still reeling from what was happening when the sect leader plunged a sword into Yan Xuan's heart. Someone forced her head up, and warm, scarlet blood splashed across her face. She watched helplessly as Yan Xuan's soul was utterly destroyed before her eyes.

Afterward, branded a "demon cultivator's wicked disciple," she was imprisoned at Hundred Ghost Cliff, where she endured twenty years of torment. The cliff saw neither sun nor moon, and held no living people, only the lonely ghosts of those who had died there. They spent every day terrifying her. Life was so hopeless, but her time was short and no one was waiting for her, so she could only curl up in a corner and think of Yan Xuan, who had long been dead. Day and night, her thoughts turned from longing to resentment, and finally to a twisted hatred. But at least she survived.

Later, she finally dragged her sickly body out of Hundred Ghost Cliff. Qingming Mountain claimed it was worried that some demonic cultivation techniques might remain in her, and "kindly" destroyed all her cultivation and meridians. Yet they did not expel her from the sect. Instead, they sent her to the outer sect to serve as the lowest-ranking menial disciple.

Cold stares, mockery, suspicion, and humiliation became part of daily life.

Whenever she dreamed, it was always a nightmare of Vermilion Bird Terrace. Fortunately, she forgot everything upon waking, and could spend her days chopping wood, hauling water, gathering herbs, washing clothes, practicing swordsmanship in her spare time, and taking assignments. She could live out the rest of her life in peace.

But just as she had come to accept all this, an elder of the Joyous Sect, the demonic sect that had been Qingming Mountain's sworn enemy for generations, suddenly appeared. His cultivation was profound, and with his white clothes and white hair, he looked like an immortal.

He called himself "Zhou Hanqiu."

Song Ziling's nightmares grew more frequent and vivid.

But can someone whose soul has been utterly destroyed really return from the dead?

[Reader's Guide]:

1. One-on-one romance, both leads have only been with each other, happy ending.

2. An unconventional master-disciple story. Both characters have flaws, and my personal tastes may give this story a slightly dark flavor.

3. Still a dual-strong-lead setup. The heroine has a golden finger and will eventually become the strongest fighter. Her health will gradually improve, too!

4. The cultivation system is the same as in my other story: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Transformation, Out-of-Body, Spirit Division, Body Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, and Ascension.

5. There will be several male supporting characters, but the heroine will only reciprocate the male lead's feelings. The supporting men are mainly there to make the male lead jealous and move the plot along. The two leads are both physically and emotionally pure, so please enjoy without worry!

Theme: Growth.