Synopsis

Wu Ling doesn't want much from life. Years of living in hiding with his courtesan mother and being forced to disguise himself as a girl to escape the pursuit of his father's killers had long removed any need he might once have felt to take up his father's family name and gain revenge against the powerful organization his fool of a father provoked.

Growing up in the shadow of his crippled mother's sect filled with assassins and thieves who masqueraded as courtesans and dancers killed any desire he might once have had to involve himself in the politics of a sect, especially after his mother was the victim of petty rivalries within her own sect!

No, all Wu Ling wanted from life was a chance to do what he was really, really good at - make beautiful art and music and hopefully, one day, make love to even more beautiful women! Unfortunately, in the sword-obsessed shadow of the strongest Sword Sect in the world, the only schools available to teach artist cultivators were... reserved for women.

Armed with a near-divine cultivation manual passed down from a legendary Immortal Empress, Wu Lin was ready to learn anything and do anything to stride boldly on the path of cultivation. Bringing paintings of powerful guardian beasts to life to fight his enemies? He was ready. Using calligraphy to summon elemental forces to do his bidding? Yes, that and more! Even if it required learning haunting melodies to summon ghastly specters from the nether realms to wreak untold havoc, he was willing!

But why, why did so many of the solutions to his problems have to start with putting on women's clothing?