JustJae

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..."

Unparalleled Artist: Unlikely Hero

Throughout the arena, the crowd was buzzing at the results of the battle that had ended before it truly began.

"It's true then," a woman whispered to her companion. "The Bamboo Silk House really trains women as assassins?"

"What was that if not a battle between assassins?" the woman's companion replied. "Understudy Hua rendered him helpless in a single move and she'd have slit his throat if not for giving the Viper's Nest face."

"Do you think the Viper's nest will show her any gratitude for her mercy?" a grizzled man elsewhere in the arena asked his companions.

"Not a chance," a one-handed friend replied, rubbing his stump and watching the staff of the arena help Nianzu to return to the gate he'd entered through. "The Viper's Nest are all professionals who won't disappoint their employer."

Countering an Artist