Male Lead No. 1: Yuan Qingzi, Peak Master of Taiyue Peak (the female lead’s master).
Male Lead No. 2: Young Master of the Demon Sect.
Other harem members and romantic encounters: Various.
Character Personas:
Female Lead: On the surface, a simple, kind, and pitiful girl; in reality, a calculating and manipulative little green tea.
Male Lead No. 1: Before falling in love, a cold and aloof flower on a high peak; after falling in love, the reincarnation of a vinegar jar with intense possessiveness.
Male Lead No. 2: Ruthless and tyrannical, a cruel demon lord who takes what he wants by force.
Other Harem Members: The emotionally stable first senior brother, the free-spirited second senior brother, the wild and arrogant demon cultivator...
One-Sentence Summary: After my spirit root was swapped, my master dotes on me, the young master of the demon sect goes crazy for me, and the demon cultivator bashes his head against a wall for me.
Core Selling Points: Spirit root swap, master-disciple romance, righteous-demon romance, human-demon romance, harem building, melodramatic angst, and jealousy-fueled rivalries.
As Gu Ningyun wrote, she became increasingly excited, her pen moving more and more fluidly.
She decided to strike while the iron was hot and finished writing the entire first chapter.
After finishing, she read through it once and felt extremely satisfied with herself.
Giving it one final check, she clicked on Mr. Xueyue’s name and sent a private message.
Youngster Falls Asleep Immediately: Mr. Xueyue, are you still accepting dog-blood and bizarre ideas? I have one here.
Youngster Falls Asleep Immediately:
Title: 《After My Spirit Root Was Swapped, I Started a Harem in the Cultivation World》
Female Lead: Gu Lianxue (Progeny disciple of Taiyue Peak)
...
Gu Ningyun forwarded all the messages she had previously sent to herself to Mr. Xueyue.
She wasn't worried about Mr. Xueyue stealing her idea.
Mr. Xueyue was a resident author at the Five Continents Bookhouse with countless readers and fans; he wouldn't stoop to stealing her bit of inspiration.
After sending the messages, Mr. Xueyue didn't reply immediately.
Gu Ningyun didn't mind. She set aside her alt account and closed her eyes to meditate.
If Mr. Xueyue didn't reply, she would just finish writing it herself and submit it to earn some manuscript fees.
She believed that with her experience reading novels back on Blue Star, writing a storybook in the cultivation world wouldn't turn out too badly.
The next morning, as the first rays of dawn spilled into the cabin, Gu Ningyun received a reply from Mr. Xueyue.
Xueyue: Swapping spirit roots? How did you come up with that idea? It’s certainly bizarre enough.
Xueyue: I’ve carefully looked over your inspiration, settings, and core selling points. Fellow Daoist, your ideas are quite good, and the setup is very comprehensive.
Xueyue: However, this opening chapter...
Youngster Falls Asleep Immediately: What about the first chapter? Please, speak your mind, sir.
Xueyue: You spent a large portion of it describing the process of how the female lead, Gu Lianxue, had her spirit root swapped. But the core selling point of our book is melodramatic angst.
Xueyue: Such a dry and boring opening will find it hard to grab the readers' attention.
Xueyue: How about this? I’ll write an opening for you to look at.
Gu Ningyun watched the private message interface, which continuously displayed:
The other party is inputting via divine sense...
Before long, a message was sent over.
Xueyue: Chapter One—
“Disciple Chen Shuang reports Gu Lianxue of Taiyue Peak for using evil cultivation methods to steal my younger brother’s spirit root, causing his tragic death!”
Gu Lianxue sat up abruptly from her bed, gasping for breath.
She was drenched in sweat, her damp undergarments clinging to her body, outlining her thin and trembling frame.
The midnight wind blew in through the propped-open window, yet she didn't feel the slightest bit of cold.
Her mind was filled with the nightmare she just had.
Clutching her quilt, it took a long time for Gu Lianxue to calm down.
She walked to the window, her hands shaking as she closed it, then crawled back under the covers, not even letting a single strand of hair show.
Chen Shuang was already close to discovering the truth about the Gu family. Sooner or later, he would find her.
No, things couldn't continue like this.
She had to save herself.
Yes, she had to save herself. Right now!
Gu Lianxue didn't even put on shoes as she stumbled toward the cave dwelling at the mountain peak.
“Master, Master, save me! Someone wants to harm me!”
Yuan Qingzi, the Peak Master of Taiyue Peak, was originally meditating in his cave dwelling. Feeling his disciple trigger the restriction at the entrance, he flicked his sleeve to open it.
As soon as the restriction opened, he saw Gu Lianxue running in, wearing only disheveled undergarments and with bare feet.
He pulled a Daoist robe from his storage ring and draped it over her head, his face turning pale and then green.
“Improperly dressed—where is your sense of decorum?”
Yuan Qingzi’s expression was cold and his tone severe.
Normally, Gu Lianxue would have been frightened into bowing her head and admitting her mistake.
But she had come today specifically to plot for his person and steal his heart.
Only by doing so would he possibly protect her when the truth about the spirit root swap was revealed—or at least save her life.
With that thought, Gu Lianxue didn't stop. She threw herself directly at Yuan Qingzi’s feet.
Her slender arms firmly hugged Yuan Qingzi’s leg as she lifted a pale, tear-streaked face, looking at him with watery eyes.
The Daoist robe slid from her shoulder to her elbow, her undergarments were messy, and her delicate collarbones were faintly visible.
Her voice was weak and delicate. “Master... I... I had a nightmare... I dreamed that you didn't want me anymore.”
Having his leg hugged by his disciple made Yuan Qingzi feel extremely awkward and uncomfortable.
He endured it and tried to comfort her. “You are my disciple. As long as you do not betray the sect or stray from the righteous path, why would I not want you?”
Gu Lianxue tentatively tugged at Yuan Qingzi’s sleeve, her index finger brushing against his palm.
“I... I clearly have a high-grade water spirit root, yet it took me four years just to achieve qi induction and nine years to reach Qi Refining level three. The disciples in the sect all say... they say...”
As she spoke, she took Yuan Qingzi’s right hand in hers, buried her face in his palm, and wept silently, her lips trembling.
Scalding tears fell onto his palm, and Yuan Qingzi...
Xueyue: Time is limited, so I’ll only write this much for now. I might adjust some details later.
Xueyue: See? Isn't this kind of opening better?
Why did it have to stop there?
After reading it, Gu Ningyun felt an unbearable itch in her heart, wanting more.
It wasn't until Mr. Xueyue sent a new message asking for her opinion that Gu Ningyun snapped back to reality.
Previously, she had thought her level of storybook writing was decent.
Only after seeing the opening Mr. Xueyue wrote casually did she realize what a professional was.
Gu “Face-Slapped” Ningyun: One who learns the Dao earlier is a teacher, and every profession has its specialists. Handing the inspiration to Mr. Xueyue was indeed the right choice.
She had sought out Mr. Xueyue to write this story because she wanted to publicize the matter of Gu Lianxue swapping spirit roots.
After reading Mr. Xueyue’s first chapter, she had a faint premonition that this story’s eventual fame would not be inferior to the gentleman’s previous works.
Youngster Falls Asleep Immediately: A professional really is different. Your opening directly sets up the tension of a forbidden master-disciple romance; it’s indeed much better than what I wrote.
Mr. Xueyue had been accepting such inspired submissions for many years.
He had encountered all sorts of contributors, including those like “Falls Asleep Immediately” who came with a first chapter in hand.
Every time he met one, there would be some bickering for various reasons.
Those contributors always wanted the story to use the opening they had written.
Mr. Xueyue had thought this time would be no exception and expected another round of arguing.
He had even been a bit worried that if this “Falls Asleep Immediately” was too stubborn and refused to compromise, they might end up failing to reach an agreement.
Then this rare and novel inspiration would have to be missed, which would be a pity.
Who would have thought this contributor would be so easy to talk to!
Communicating with a reasonable cultivator was truly easy.
Xueyue: Good, we’ve reached an agreement on the first chapter. There are still a few points I need to discuss with you in advance.
Rate on N.U.
