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..."
The Rules of Bufa City
"The first thing you should understand about Bufa City is that it will never be a place that is free of violence," Wu Ling said, as he began to explain the strange place he'd proposed to bring the group. "However, the days of random violence and bloodshed on the streets ended more than a thousand years ago."
"Even the most bloodthirsty of outcasts won't linger in a place where they have to constantly watch for a knife in the back," Wu Ling said. "Moreover, while many of the goods for sale in the various markets have dubious origins, excessive murder is bad for business, and the merchants who have made the city their home have long since cried out for enough stability to do their business."