The Beautiful, Strong, and Tragic Male Lead Turns Gay at the Slightest Touch

[Standard Blurb]

Hua Cishu transmigrates into a book, in the most cliched way possible, complete with a golden finger.

The good news: even though he hasn't read the original, at least he knows who the male and female leads are, so he can get on their good side in advance.

The bad news: the male lead seems to have lost interest in the female lead, and the world has been turned into a sieve by "players." The plot is off the rails from the very beginning...

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Ye Dongfeng is the youngest grandmaster in the martial world today. His master is the greatest under heaven, and he himself is destined to become the youngest grand grandmaster, unprecedented and unmatched.

He's the male lead of the heroine-focused novel The Jade Case, an idealist and the future pinnacle of martial power.

But at some point, all sorts of strange people start appearing in his life.

Player A: I see dark clouds over your brow. One day, your senior brother will stab you in the back! (playing the mystic.jpg)

Player B: What?! You don't love Kan Qingyu?! But she's your destined wife! (horrified.jpg)

Player C: Why are you so strong already? That's not what happened in the original! (spits blood and dies.jpg)

Ye Dongfeng (pondering): Is something wrong with this world?

[The Spoiler Version]

Ye Dongfeng has a secret: this is his second life.

In his first life, he too rode out in fine clothes and high spirits, with a few close friends at his side and a sword in hand. He vowed to rid the world of injustice, purge the strange and the supernatural, and bring peace to all under heaven.

But halfway through building his dream, his master fell while pursuing the Way.

His senior brother and close friend, whom he had thought were fellow travelers, betrayed him one after another. The foundation of everything he'd dreamed of fell apart, his cultivation was ruined, and he was left with less than a tenth of his former strength...

He had been angry and despondent. He had lost heart, changed his name, and hidden himself away in a remote corner. In the end, even his marriage ended in failure.

Yet he was still Ye Dongfeng. His talent and insight were unmatched throughout history, and even after having his cultivation destroyed, he rebuilt it and still reached the summit, glimpsing the Sacred Realm.

He found someone willing to share his dream and carry it on beside him. Someone else stood up for the past he had let go of...

For the sake of all living beings, he was willing to die alongside the master of the strange realm.

He never expected that when he woke again, he would return to infancy and live his life over.

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Hua Cishu also has a secret.

This isn't his first time meeting Ye Dongfeng, nor is it his first time falling in love with him.

Of all the people in this world who can reach the Sacred Realm, Ye Dongfeng is one, and he is the other...

But he doesn't know it.

[Important Notes]

1. The pairing is an altruistic but secretly calculating top (Ye Dongfeng/Yuan Xi) x a sunny puppy-like but intermittently unhinged bottom (Hua Cishu). They are both powerful, both virgins, and in a one-on-one relationship. No switching or breakup.

2. Before he was reborn, the top loved Kan Qingyu, the original female lead. They married, had no children, and later divorced. By the time the bottom meets him, both he and the female lead have moved on. The bottom is not a homewrecker. In the current timeline, the original female lead has no memories of her past life, and she and the male lead are friends, not lovers.

3. There are "players," but this isn't a fourth disaster story. There aren't many of them, and they tend to be tools sent by an infinite-worlds mastermind invading this world. Their knowledge of the "original story" varies, and their loyalties are uncertain.

4. The setting blends high martial arts, fantasy, and the supernatural. The story itself is the authority on the worldbuilding, and there may be bugs. Feel free to point them out, though they might not be fixed.

5. The author isn't very smart, so if you think a character's actions don't match the description, it's all the author's fault.

Theme: Even if the world is fated to sink into darkness, someone will always choose to become the light of dawn.