Unparalleled Artist: Unlikely Hero
Following his father's murder, Wu Ling's mother returned to the life of a courtesan, disguising her young son as a girl to take refuge in the Bamboo Silk House, a women's only sect dedicated to the arts. Now, as his powers awaken, he'll find himself torn between protecting his family and the goals of powerful cultivators who see him as a means to an end. "Wu Ling, I've accepted a marriage proposal on your behalf," the bewitching Hall Master of the Bamboo Silk House declared. "When you enter the Inner Sect, you'll enter under the name 'Hua Qianhu', fiancee of a young lord of the Liang family." "Hall Master, that's impossible!" Wu Ling protested. "Even if you ignore my relationship with Meifeng, I might have dressed well enough to hide as a mortal woman but I could never..." "So you truly didn't realize what you were doing," the Hall Master said, a dark smile on her lips. "Little Ling, you're a natural-born Shapeshifter. I'll teach you what you need to know," she said, her features shifting until she looked like a mirror image of the stunned Wu Ling. "As long as you follow my arrangements and learn my techniques, it isn't impossible for you to reunite with Meifeng..." "But you should consider Young Lord Liang carefully," the Hall Master added. "His affection for you is genuine. Perhaps, one day, you'll even feel the same for him..."
Expensive Art Supplies
Over the next half month, Wu Ling settled into a routine that felt both strange and wonderful. Each morning, he dedicated himself to his painting, calligraphy, and other arts that fueled his cultivation. Slowly but surely he'd been expanding his collection of techniques which brought him to midday when Su Xiang arrived for a few hours of practice.
In the evening, he reserved his time for entertainment whether playing the zither for his mother, visiting a park with Yao Meifeng to work on their duet, or taking the evening to browse the night markets with Su Xiang as he tried to convince her to expand her wardrobe beyond the sect robes of the Shining Blade Hall.
Each day he moved a little bit closer to his goal of becoming the kind of cultivator who could fight his own battles and at the same time, each day included time to spend with the people who gave his life richness.