The Black Lotus's Guide to Cultivation

A long time ago, Luo Shui knew she was full of distracting thoughts and would never be able to cultivate into an immortal.

She went through every hardship to get into the Tianxuan Sect for one simple reason: to find her fiance and be with him. She didn't care whether they stayed in the immortal sect, escaped back to the mortal world, or she died in his arms. As long as he was there, that was enough, until she discovered that her so-called fiance had become someone else's fiance.

All right, then. If she couldn't have her dream, she'd just have to keep her secret identity safe and be a good spy.

But the men around her don't seem to see it that way. They just want to rip away her disguise by any means necessary and force her to reveal her true identity.

"Three years ago, after the meeting at Mountains and Seas, the fates of all things under heaven fell into disarray. A demoness appeared out of nowhere, killed her master, fell into demonic cultivation, and betrayed her sect, turning a perfectly good gathering of the righteous immortal sects upside down. Now the three-year period has come to an end..."

"I know, I know! Is she coming back as the Dragon King?!"

"...No."

"Then... Is she going to kill every unfaithful man in the world?"

"...No."

"Then what is she coming back for?" The girl rests her chin on her hand and shakes her head in annoyance.

"...Why don't you look in the mirror and ask yourself what you're doing right now? Miss, dear ancestor, great-aunt, could you please untie me? I haven't done anything to offend you, have I?"

"Of course you have!" She scowls. "Never mind that you chased me like a mad dog all this way. Don't think I don't know you're a hypocrite who covets the demoness. Tell me, how long have you been following me in secret? Have you been calling me an unfaithful woman behind my back too?"

The story of a lazy spy in an immortal sect whose secret identity is exposed by anonymous do-gooders from all walks of life, then becomes a demoness who wreaks havoc on the world.

The first half is about a naive, sweet, lazy girl (complete). The second half is about the black-lotus demoness (ongoing).

[Please Read Before Starting]

1. Beloved by all, with tons of melodrama, plenty of one-sided crushes, a moderate amount of love-triangle drama, a little bittersweet romance, and a happy ending.

2. All male love interests are devoted to one person emotionally and physically (only those who have feelings for her count as male love interests). They may talk to, shake hands with, cooperate with, and work alongside other female characters. If you can't accept that, run now. *1

3. This isn't a female-led power fantasy. The female lead is very romance-focused early on. If you can't accept that, run now. *2

4. The female friends in this story speak their minds. They'll stab each other in the back when needed and make up when the time is right. If you can't accept that, run now. *3

5. Free while updating, updates whenever inspiration strikes. I'll add suitable content warnings as the story goes. Please don't give writing advice or bring up topics that could start drama in the comments, including but not limited to character bashing, gender politics, sexuality, sexual purity, and other works or authors from fiction or real life.

I generally won't delete comments, but if things start to go badly, I'll explain why in a reply before deleting them. This will probably happen between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.; the following 12 hours are usually a low-activity period, so I'll try to minimize the impact of being unable to comment.

Theme: The power of the heart.