Cang Qiong Mountain Sect 

PEAK LORDS EDITION

the ghost of liu qingge: i killed you, and you killed me!

the other peak lords: shen qingqiu, why’d you kill that guy?

shen jiu: motherfucker, he killed himself!

Introducing my new favorite fic

Peak Lords as Family. Shen Qingqui is an actual bastard but still their bastard. Airplane bro. Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqui the personification of cat and dog relationship - including this is my brute and this is my pissy shixiong only I'm allowed to tear him a new one. Yue Qingyuan as much of a simp as he usually is and the only realistic reaction he can have to an accidental kiss - a peck really- from Shen Qingqui.

Something, something, Mu Qingfang as a disciple sees constant bruises on SQH from MBJ. He thinks he knows what happening- an abusive relationship, which is technically true? But MQF thinks it’s more romantic than it is.

So he tries to talk to SQH about it. SQH deflects as he’s does, and the result of the conversation is that MQF stops seeing him around his peak! Unacceptable!

So MQF calls in the big guns- the other head disciples/future peak lords. He calls a meeting, makes a big impassioned speech about how they should stick together and help each other out, as martial siblings, and how they needed to be there for SQH!

None of them cares. This generation of peak lords are so disconnected it isn’t funny. MQF sighs, and then precedes to blackmail each and everyone of them with their medical history into helping.

(Except for LQG, who did not have a medical history to be scared of. He just went along with what was happening, part to not be left out, and part because SQQ is doing it and by damn is he being showed up by him)

Does anyone else just love chaotic svsss identity reveals? It’s like a dopamine wild party every time I get to watch Cang Qiong Peak realize Shen Yuan’s a baby.

I remember a while ago I got this epical idea for a fanfiction where Shen yuan would transmigrate before binghe.

And once he realized this, he would vent all the anger from each injustice binghe went through I’d take it out on the surrounding sects because at some point each and every single one of them wrong him.

 whether he would cause them, minor inconveniences to literal crimes, was up to how he felt on the day. And then he’d become famous for it and never getting caught because of all the ridiculous loopholes in airplanes writing.

Goodness, how would the worlds change after the Korean isekai webnovel protagonists get introduced? It's like releasing an invasive species into a new environment. They either dominate the landscape or get annihilated with little recourse.

Oh man! Korean isekai webnovel protagonist vs. Luo Binghe :o

How would that end? Fascinating to consider. Would they be enemies or is Luo Binghe still too young to become a proper enemy / threat in this AU?

The layers to this is hilarious. A korean guy transmigrates into the body of this... European looking dude that's traveling through fantasy Ancient China with an Irishman. He has no clue what's going on; he doesn't recognize this as any of the books or video games as he was playing before his death via car accident. He's supposed to be from some European country - a runaway prince according to his drunk companion's words?? - but he has no memories from the original soul in this body, so he's stuck making things up. The only European country he kind of sort of knows about is England because of the whole "Queen Elizabeth just died" situation and it conquering like half of the world. If this body is actually some Spanish prince or something, he's fucked.

Plus he has no clue what magical England would look like. Harry Potter-ish maybe???

Fuck it, he's taking it and rolling with this.

[More in #if Cang Qiong had an Irish peak lord AU]

It would be so funny if the other peak lords of Cang Qiong actually stopped suspecting SQQ being bodysnatched as much after he's exposed to a truth/inhibition lowering pollen because it quickly becomes clear that he didn't actually become that much less spiteful or sarcastic, he just became a lot better at repressing it.

I am realizing I’m still not 100% clear on how the cutoffs for generations within a martial arts or cultivation sect work.

Like, Scum Villain, right? My instinctive understanding is that if a Cang Qiong disciple was selected/taken on by a Peak Lord of one generation (let’s say, Wu) then they’d necessarily belong to the subsequent generation (Qing). But what if the disciple in question hasn’t reached majority by the time the current generation of Peak Lords retires and is replaced?

In case this is unclear, let’s get specific:

My impression is that the Qing-generation Peak Lords ascended to their positions only a few years before Luo Binghe joined the sect (though I could be wrong). Assuming that is, in fact, the case, what would be the situation in a PIDW Native!Shen Yuan AU that preserved canonical age differences (that is, SY is ~6-7 years older than LBH)?

He could have just barely slipped under the line, being one of the last (possibly THE last) disciple chosen by the previous Qing Jing Peak Lord rather than Shen Qingqiu (in contrast with Liu Mingyan, who just barely missed the cutoff and ended up in a different generation than her brother). So theoretically he would be a martial uncle, rather than brother, to any disciples selected by SQQ; but he would also still be very much a student, not yet a master. He would still be, like, a tween.

This would seem less like a logic issue if there was any reference to members of the Wu generation, or even others of the Qing generation aside from the Peak Lords, still being around during the canon time frame (because like. Where did the rest of them go?? They can’t all be in seclusion for the foreseeable future, can they?)

I suppose it’s a possibility that this scenario wouldn’t happen - that the Peak Lords simply wouldn’t take any new disciples within the last decade before their retirement - which would avoid the whole issue.

That being said, I am regardless greatly entertained by the mental image of 10-y/o LMY raising her eyebrow at 12-y/o SY and, in the driest voice possible, calling him “shishu.”

PIDW Peak Lords meet the SVSSS Peak Lords

OG!Peak Lords: Wow, SQQ is so… nice!

OG!SQH: FORGET ABOUT HIM! LOOK AT MY COUNTERPART!!!! WHAT’S WRONG WITH HIM!!!!!!!?????

Peak Lords (except for SY): *looks surprised at a very angry, ‘doesn’t give a shit’ SQH*

SQH: *wants to die on the spot*

OG!SQH: WELL!? WHAT’S WRONG WITH HIM!!!???

YQY: Nothing’s wrong with-

OG!SQH: Shut up! I don’t want an answer from a wimpy, hypocritical loser.

Peak Lords (including SY this time): *gapes at the audacity of OG!SQH*

OG!SQH: *curses everybody out once and then another time for good measure before dragging SQH off… for courage training…*

SQH: somebody save me!!!

Peak Lords: *look at OG!Peak Lords* aren’t you going to do something about that?

OG!LQG: *shrugs* Well, OG!SQH isn’t wrong. A weak, coward version of him is much more startling than a nice-ish version of SQQ.

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù Rating: Mature 

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū & Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū & Yuè Qīngyuán, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū & Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū & Yuè Qīngyuán, Cāng Qióng Mountain Sect Peak Lords & Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Mòběi-jūn/Shàng Qīnghuá, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū/Yuè Qīngyuán 

Characters: Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Yuè Qīngyuán, Liǔ Qīnggē, Qí Qīngqī, Mù Qīngfāng, Luò Bīnghé, Shàng Qīnghuá, Mòběi-jūn, Tiānláng-jūn, Previous Generation Cāng Qióng Mountain Sect Peak Lords

Additional Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Alpha Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Alpha Yuè Qīngyuán, Alpha Liǔ Qīnggē, Alpha Qí Qīngqī, Beta Mù Qīngfāng, Alpha Luò Bīnghé, Beta Shàng Qīnghuá, Alpha Mòběi-jūn, Alpha Tiānláng-jūn, Shàng Qīnghuá & Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū Friendship, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū and Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū are Not the Same Person, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū & Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū are Siblings, Protective Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Good Sibling Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū, Shěn Jiǔ | Original Shěn Qīngqiū Lives, Blind Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, But like not completely, Oblivious Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Bǎi Zhàn Peak Disciple Luò Bīnghé, Shen Yuan is still his shizun tho, Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū Needs a Break, Possessive Luò Bīnghé, Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū is Bad at Feelings, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Mù Qīngfāng Is Such An MVP, Cāng Qióng Mountain Sect Peak Lords as Family, Shen Yuan should be getting paid for all the bullshit he puts up with, Chronically Ill in the Past Life Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū 

Summary: Shen Yuan, the biggest anti-fan of this year's most popular stallion novel, Proud Immortal Demon Way!

The novel that Shen Yuan would happily curse until his last breath for being cliche, having an ungodly amount of horny fan service that didn't pertain to any plot, not that there truly was a plot, to begin with in this trash novel! If the ridiculous amount of fan service wasn't enough, it had the legitimacy of a grade school essay! It was longer than the Yangtze River, it had so many plot holes, far too many unfinished backstories and a ridiculous amount of subplots that's only purpose was to serve as sixty chapters of papapa to an overpowered protagonist whose harem reached triple digits! And when he says that he would happily curse it until his last breath, he means it.

"A-Yuan, what are you doing sleeping right now?" Wait, where is he? "Why are you ignoring your Gege? Answer me!" Whose his Gege!?!

Shen Yuan realizes that the plot holes in PIDW really are going to be the actual death of him, but all he has to do is survive in this new world and keep his Gege and Qi-ge safe and happy with him!

But most importantly, stay as far away from the scum villain and Luo Binghe as possible! Which turns out to be his biggest struggles of all!

For the Peak Lords, what are your favorite foods? Do you guys ever eat together?

(I'll probably fix the English later lol)

shen qingqiu (jiu): so what?

the other peak lords: so what?!?!?

shen qingqiu (jiu): so what if my friends work in a brothel? at least they have jobs, at least they’re active in the community. what do you morons do?

I had a dream, now tell me if there's a fic of Cang Qiong Peak Lords turning into cats and finding them selves in the dubious care of an unknowing Shen Jiu. He's not the best caretaker but Shen Jiu is surprisingly more verbal with pets, while his students feed and pamper their shizun's surprising strays. Yue Qingyuan takes complete shameless advantage of not being shooed away as a cat when he would've been as a human. I think there was something about Shen Jiu finding them outside the Peak, and then bringing them briefly in the Warm Red Pavilion, I don't understand the timeline of my dreams, who knows what reason why no one noticed the dissapearance of the Lords. And I think Qiu Haitang made a brief appearance, as well as Liu Qingge causing Shen Jiu to meet Gongyi Xiao.

This was all Shang Qinghua's fault, of course.

If there's no reccomendation maybe this is a sign for anyone~

Liushen AU where SY transmigrates into SJ's older brother, and subsequently nopes them right out of the slavery backstory by using his general knowledge of the story and actually being an adult in a kid's body to just leave (basically) with SJ and YQ.

SY carts them both up to Cang Qiong for the next sect trials. It's actually not all that hard, the trickiest part is getting enough to eat and finding safe places to sleep between leaving the slavers and taking the trials (SY manages just barely, with considerable help from his new little brothers.) Nobody bothers to go after them because it's before Qiu Jianluo and this style of human traffickers mostly operate by virtue of their merchandise having nowhere else to go. Chasing down runaways is an expense not worth indulging, given that most of them either come straight back or die of exposure.

Anyway, they take the trials, and as expected YQY gets chosen to become a personal disciple for the sect leader, and SJ gets chosen by the Qing Jing Peak Lord, but also as (kind of) expected (by SY alone) nobody wants SY. He's older the Yue Qi, so too old, and unlike YQ and SJ his cultivation potential isn't striking enough to make any exceptions for him.

SY, however, can't leave it at that. He's spent more than five minutes with the street kid codependency gang, so he's gotten attached to both of them. And he knows what will happen if they're left to their own devices and The Plot proceeds accordingly. (Also, they keep threatening to not stay at the sect if SY doesn't stay too, for some reason.) So with a heavy heart and internal candle lit for himself, SY heads to Bai Zhan Peak. Which is the only peak that accepts disciples by way of them turning up and refusing to leave.

SY's not much of a fighter. He actually really hates the atmosphere on BZP, he's not bad at physical cultivation (his health's pretty good in this life, ironic considering how much worse his situation was) but the random ambushes and survival-of-the-fittest stuff is just not his brand. But that's okay, because it turns out that BZP actually DESPERATELY needs disciples on the actual peak who are interested in things other than fighting and cultivating their own strength. Stuff like, filling out requisition requests for An Ding every time things break, apologizing to An Ding every time things break again, organizing schedules, browbeating senior disciples into actually teaching, educating disciples on virtually any artistic or social skill, hosting lectures on how to beat vicious beasts without just overpowering them, and etc.

Okay so some of this stuff isn't and has never actually been on Bai Zhan's curriculum but Shen Yuan is going to make this place tolerable. And stop these children from needlessly getting acid burns or lyme disease or scurvy or whatever. He keeps internally chewing out Airplane for designing a sect system that means there are a lot of largely unsupervised 12-year-olds running around the wilderness on a mountain picking fights all the time. (When he actually meets Shang Qinghua and figures him out he switches to doing it in person, of course, in twice-monthly bitching sessions that look a lot like budding friendship.)

Of course one of the worst offenders is the Liu kid, who SY would suspect was actually raised by wolves if he didn't know for a fact that Liu Qingge has a younger sister, and also the kinds of nice clothing and letters from home that strongly imply not only does he have a family, but that the family is pretty well-off. Liu Qingge is at first deeply offended by SY being a BZP disciple. He rarely fights anyone, and uses tricks and evasion tactics whenever a fight can't be avoided. And he does other annoying stuff, like pestering him about meals and baths and lecturing him on identifying dangerous plants and the early signs of qi deviation. This is not what their peak is about! He should get with the program already! Just fight stuff until you're too tired to keep fighting stuff!

Also SY's younger brother, SJ, is pure evil (at least according to baby Liu Qingge) even though his other younger brother (?) is cool and nice.

Anyway, Liu Qingge stops complaining about SY after their first mission together, where Liu Qingge doesn't lose a fight but does get into a kind of pyrrhic victory situation where he's really badly hurt, and it's SY who helps him win (correctly identifying the monster and then pointing out its weakness) and takes care of him afterwards and gets him safely back to Cang Qiong. SY expresses surprise at LQG actually being polite to him, and LQG realizes that he's been a colossal ass if people think he wouldn't be grateful to someone who saved his life, so the usual Liushen dynamic proceeds from there. Liu Qingge starts bringing SY fans he leaves behind and hunts down animals that are supposed to be useful for bolstering weak cultivation, SY invites LQG to tea and keeps the critters as pets, etc etc.

SY doesn't get the Head Disciple position, because that's only acquired via beating the current peak lord in combat and lol no. Also he's not interested in stealing it from Liu Qingge, to whom it rightfully belongs (in his mind). But that's fine, because Liu Qingge takes the position when the next generation ascends and then he lets SY exclusively handle all the peak duties SY actually likes (mainly teaching). It's perfect -- Liu Qingge gets to focus on his War God antics and occasional administration/meetings without having to deal with students his has no patience for, but the disciples of BZP don't get neglected because SY is actually teaching and organizing classes and student care. BZP hasn't enjoyed a golden age like this since it was founded!

Things are pretty good overall, but Shen Yuan knows that it's only a matter of time before The Plot shows up, and so he can't rest completely easily.

Meanwhile, the will-they-or-won't-they bets on Liushen have been going strong for a while now. The thing is, most of their martial siblings are convinced that these two are already "together", and just being circumspect about it. Those who know SY well (like SJ, YQY, and SQH) know better but think that SY's romantic obtuseness is to blame, whereas those who know LQG well (LMY, WQW, and MQF) are pretty sure that it's actually LQG's obtuseness that's the problem. Of course it's actually both of them, so efforts to "fix" matters by getting through one of their thick skulls inevitably run afoul of the other's.

An additional complication is of course: SJ doesn't like LQG (mutual), and now that he's the leader of his own peak, he wants to poach SY to come and live there. Not only so he can have one of the 2 people he trusts actually close at hand, but also because SJ also hates actually teaching the atrocious little brats on his peak, and would like to have SY come and do it for him. YQY is still a total pushover for him too, and is also now the sect leader, so YQY agrees that SY can change peaks if SY and LQG both agree to it.

Liu Qingge, of course, is a no, but he's a variable "no". He's not going to hold Shen Yuan against his will or anything.

As for Shen Yuan, it's... complicated. He doesn't really like BZP, but it's gotten a lot better than it was at the start. These days he's actually pretty proud of his accomplishments, and it's more comfortable, but it's still a rough and rowdy place with fewer creature comforts, libraries, or other appealing points than QJP. Also, if he goes to Qing Jing to teach, he can personally ensure that SJ doesn't go around persecuting any of his students!

But... SJ never lived with the Qiu family in this AU, and even though SY's not totally clear on what the PIDW backstory for SJ was, he knows he's a better guy now than the scum villain in the book was. He has a reputation for making cutting remarks, not for being an abusive snake or a lecher. SY's honestly less worried about him doing anything bad at all, and there are other people on QJP who can teach. It might even be good for SJ to promote more people to fill out a social circle he can rely on! That guy needs more friends, seriously.

And QJP really doesn't need more layabout literary intellectual types who get into pointless arguments, which is all SY would be if he went there. Just yet another nerdy scholar for the rich kids with middling cultivation that the peak favors to ignore. At least on BZP he's filling a gap.

SY is clearly torn, and the fact that SY's considering it has LQG upset, and LQG doesn't handle being upset very well, so of course they have an argument about it. SY storms off to cool his head and LQG is like, this is it, he's gone to Qing Jing Peak, I've drive him off by being too aggressive and he's probably remembering all those times I told him he didn't belong here and oh no what have I done maybe if I build him a heated bath and get him books he will come back???

Turns out that SY just went to An Ding to vent at SQH while SQH was like "I think you would have fewer problems if you and Liu Qingge just got married and my disciples could call you Shigu to your face instead of behind your back" and SY threw melon seeds at him and sulked on his fainting couch (which is always cold for some reason...)

Thus begins the Liushen Divorce Arc where SY tries to be anywhere but BZP or QJP, Liu Qingge tries to figure out what thing he can punch to fix this not-punchable problem, SJ is like "I don't see what the big deal is they should break up Liu Qingge is awful and I want my brother to teach my classes for me" like the spoiled youngest sibling he's finally allowed to be, YQY is trying to moderate this Hades vs Demeter situation and is all "well maybe SY could spend half the year on QJP and half on BZP?", and Liu Mingyan is going "I know my brother if this doesn't work out he is going to die single and pining like an idiot" and so keeps conscripting other disciples to y'know, lock SY and LQG into storage closets together (ineffective: LQG can punch through walls) or at least get them in the same room (underestimating SY's willingness to yeet himself out of windows to avoid awkward social interactions.)

By the time Luo Binghe joins the sect (as a Qiong Ding disciple), the drama is in full swing and is the main topic of gossip across most of the peaks.

I have been thinking about the blackening (as one does)…

…and it’s so interesting to me, the penalty Shen Qingqiu is faced with should he not decide to yeet his disciple into hell.

Account termination. Instant death. Sent directly home to his already-long-dead body, and that’s it for the villain of the piece who outright refuses his villainy. The protagonist needs a blackening for the story to continue, and Shen Qingqiu is going to provide it or get written out of the narrative. Either way, Luo Binghe is going to lose him. Either way, this is a turning point.

I wouldn’t claim that this is the intent of the penalty, but it fascinates me that the System has, potentially, backed the plotline into a corner - because Binghe still stands to be blackened even if Shen Qingqiu took the other choice.

Think about what that would look like, to him. He’s at the Immortal Alliance Conference, and everything is going wrong. He’s been outed as a demon, and not just a demon - the top tier of demon, as bad as it gets from the perspective of a righteous cultivator. His beloved teacher, the person who has been kindest to him and opened his home and heart to him, is standing there with his sword in hand, deciding what he’s going to do about what must look, to him, like a horrific betrayal. Binghe is apologizing. Binghe is begging for his life.

Shen Qingqiu hears him. Maybe it shows on his face, or in his voice, that he already knew; maybe there’s no hint at all, but Shen Qingqiu is suddenly talking quickly with an abrupt sense of urgency that Luo Binghe is having a hard time keeping up with. Telling him he’ll be wonderful - telling him he’s the best. Telling him the world will be his, with emotions cracking through that aloof mask that Binghe has never seen on Shizun’s face before, and it’s terrifying for reasons that Binghe cannot identify.

(He will, later. When he has time to think, he’ll realize it sounded like a goodbye.)

And then Shen Qingqiu is bleeding. And then Shen Qingqiu is on the ground. And then Shen Qingqiu is dead. There’s no countdown for Binghe - there’s no System, there’s no warning, there’s no answers.

Luo Binghe is a heavenly demon in the middle of a conference sabotaged by demons. Luo Binghe is alone. His fellow competing disciples are scattered, some dead or injured. The Peak Lord of Qing Jing Peak, the second in command of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, maybe the only person he loved and who loved him back, is dead at his feet. No one will believe him if he says it isn’t his fault.

(He can’t believe it isn’t his fault.)

What choice does he have but to run? The last heavenly demon the cultivation world went up against has been sealed under a mountain for years, and one of the people responsible for that is probably looking for Shen Qingqiu already. They’ll be looking for him, too. There isn’t anywhere to hide; there isn’t any time to mourn.

There isn’t even enough time to ask why. Why again.

There is no closure waiting for him, because there is nothing to explain what happened. It just is.

It would be a different kind of blackening, certainly - less intense, probably, less of a warping, desperate thing. But how many times can one person have all the love and safety in their world torn out from under them before it starts to show? Before they just don’t allow things like love and safety to touch them, because that’s the better option?

Interesting to consider that, simply by offering the choices it did, the System rigged the story to guarantee that Luo Binghe would end up in hell (deliberate or not).

Interesting to consider that, even if Shen Qingqiu made what might have seemed like a kinder choice, there was every chance it wouldn’t have been.