Introduction
When you read the title, you may think it’s odd and seems all over the place. Sure, you don’t want to have a destiny that includes a demon in it. However, before this English title is officially used, the previous title from which the source originates it’s even more peculiar. It’s “Offering Salted Fish to the Master”.
What does ‘salted fish’ mean?
In Chinese, the term “salted fish” (Trad. 咸魚 / Simp. 咸鱼, xián yú) can refer to a few things, but most commonly it’s used to describe a person who is stagnant, unmotivated, or lacking in ambition.
The drama native title is also xian yu, but with a different xian character, which is (Trad. 獻 / Simp. 献 ). It means “to offer fish”.
Who is the demon that the English title refers to, then? It depends on how you perceive what ‘demon’ means. The Male Lead, although he is an immortal, his a more demonic negative personality. However, the Female Lead, happens to be a fish demon.
Only by the word play in the title, we can expect the drama plot to be full of modern slang, especially in the original Chinese, which creates jokes that are very funny for native speakers. Hopefully, they are not lost in translation!
Drama Info
Drama title: When Destiny Brings the Demon (Native title: 献鱼 )
Alternative title: Xian Yu, Offering Salted Fish to Master
Genres: Xianxia, Romance, Drama
Aired: Aug 16, 2025 - Sep 1, 2025
Episodes: 33 | Duration: 45 min.
Director: Wen De Guang ( 温德光 )
Screenwriters: Jin Lu ( 金璐 ) - chief screenwriter, Feng Ze ( 冯泽 ), Yan Wen ( 颜文 ), Liu Liu ( 刘鎏 ), Liu Si Wei ( 刘斯玮 ), and Huang Dou Dou ( 黄豆豆 )
Adapted from the novel "Xiang Shi Zu Xian Shang Xian Yu" (向师祖献上咸鱼) by Fu Hua (扶华).
Where to read English translation novel: Novel Updates
Where to watch: Youku and Viki
OST: Full album (fan audio - English translated)
Trailer
Synopsis
Modern-day office drone Zou Yan accidentally stumbles into the world of cultivation and wakes up as Liao Tingyan, a disciple of the Qinggutian Sect. She’s soon selected to serve the reclusive Grandmaster Sima Jiao, a powerful cultivator who’s been secretly sealed inside a mountain for 500 years. Twisted by isolation and rage, he’s cold, hot-tempered, and bent on revenge. Liao Tingyan doesn’t know that “her” original identity is a demonic assassin. But to his surprise, she shows no ill will, no ambition, and no desire at all. Her nature fascinates him. Thus begins an unlikely romance between a villainous immortal and a healing-type “slacker,” a connection that defies fate and spans lifetimes. (Source: Youku)
Characters
Main Characters
Arthur Chen / Chen Fei Yu ( 陈飞宇 ) as Sima Jiao
The great demon master of Gengchen Immortal Mansion. The black master who was sealed for 500 years has unfathomable combat power. He is sensitive, suspicious, and irritable. Under the influence of Liao Tingyan’s salted fish mentality, he gradually moved toward goodness.
Wang Ying Lu ( 王影璐 ) as Liao Ting Yan / Shi Yan / Zou Yan
A “salted fish” who transmigrated from the modern world to the world of cultivation, with no desires or demands, only wanting to relax, but accidentally attracted the attention of the grandmaster due to her instinct to slack off. She is lazy on the surface, but inside she’s resourceful, bringing a lot of laughter.
Supporting Characters
Ye Ru Ling / Hong Luo (Wang Yi Ting)
Hei Nian Jiu (Gao Han)
Feng Qi (Wu Yu Heng)
Zhou Yue Qing / Bi’an (Wang Ya Jia)
Shi Qian Lu (Bao Jian Feng)
Yuan Che (He Zhong Hua)
Sima E / Empress Dowager (Zeng Li)
Recaps Episodes 1 to 6
Episode 1
A laid-back player in a survival mega dungeon.
It has been five hundred years since Sima Jiao woke up, but there was a barrier in the mountain to suppress him. The Eight Great Palaces sealed him here and replaced him as the master of the Gengchen Immortal Mansion. How could he change his fate in such a desperate situation? Jiao knew that these people wanted to suppress him and prevent him from turning the game around and changing his fate. But now he had practiced the Fengshan Spiritual Fire. No one on the Three Holy Mountains could trap him anymore. However, he still lacked one last piece…
In another time and space, Liao Tingyan was sitting in the car on her way home from work. When she passed an intersection, the traffic lights suddenly flickered abnormally. After a flash of lightning, Tingyan found herself in the world of cultivation, a disciple of Serene Vale.
Her master called her and urged her to go with him to Gengchen Immortal Mansion. The grandmaster of the Mansion, had just ended his 500 years of cultivation. The sects sent their disciples to serve the grandmaster and cultivate under his direction. He said she was just making up numbers, so off she went. Unexpectedly, she was chosen amongst several other girls.
Tingyan was not happy being chosen. It seemed like the girls would only be the master’s giant pet snake’s fresh meat. She tried to run away several times but failed. Jiao sensed a demonic aura in her, so he prevented her from running away. Huh, Tingyan here was from a demonic tribe??? Tingyan finally gave up and joined the other girls. Jiao was suspicious of her. But when he approached her, his spiritual fire lit up. He wondered if she was that one piece he needed, so he spared her.
Okay… so Tingyan infiltrated the Gengchen Immortal Mansion to kill Jiao? A master from the Demon Realm wanted to break free from the Immortal Demon Barrier. Once Jiao died, the barrier would be broken, and the demons would be free.
People at Shi Mansion, who organized the sending of the disciples, worried that Jiao already killed someone. Old Master Shi informed us that Jiao’s father destroyed the entire Sima clan. When he and the rest arrived, everyone died but the baby Jiao. He and the spiritual fire were integrated, and he became the carrier of the spiritual fire. He needed to use flesh and blood to nourish the spiritual fire. Because of this rare bloodline, they trapped Jiao in Three Holy Mountains. Many people had ulterior motives to enter the discipleship.
Episode 2
Struck by an NPC’s fate, but cannot go AFK.
Alright, it seemed every sect wanted to get close to Jiao to master the spiritual fire, to kill him, and become the real master of the Gengchen Immortal Mansion. Jiao also knew their motivations.
Tingyan entered the palace, but nobody was there. She got herself situated, ate and drank happily from the magic supplies given by her master, and fell asleep. At this time, Jiao and his pet snake arrived home. He wanted to kill her, but she kept sleeping peacefully. He was curious what she would do as a demon sect spy. When she woke up, he put a spell on her to tell the truth. She only wanted to take a vacation and didn’t want to kill him. He left her.
Tingyan went to bed to continue her sleep. When she woke up, the giant snake was in front of her. She was ready to be eaten, but he only wanted to drink from her bamboo vessel like a pet dog. Jiao scolded him that Tingyan was able to tame him.
At night, Tingyan was having severe stomach pain, poisoned by the demons. The snake took her to Jiao to be cured. When Tingyan woke up, she was scared that she was in the Central Tower where he lived. He cured her with his blood. She wanted to puke. He threatened to kill her if she puked out his blood, lol. Jiao used the truth spell again to interrogate Tingyan. No, she didn’t want to kill him, because there was no reason or no grudge. After two times interrogation and found her not guilty, he let her serve him. He found out that she told the truth about not wanting to kill him, so he might as well use her.
While cleaning the floor, the snake came to visit her and took her to Jiao, who was meditating. He was covered by flames, and he was in pain. Tingwan wanted to touch Jiao, thinking that he was running a fever. When she inched forward, she accidentally tripped on the stairs, and her forehead touched his forehead. Jiao’s forehead cooled down. Unexpectedly, Tingyan could relieve the scorching pain brought by the spirit fire. In order to test her, Jiao pulled Tingyan, so her forehead touched his forehead, and she did not dare to move.
Episode 3
Don’t bother guessing. Live your life.
Although Jiao no longer thought that Tingyan would kill him, he still regarded her as a demon spy. He told his snake to open the outer gate to lure the spies in.
Tingyan worked hard every day. Because she ingested his blood, now she had a little cultivation level needed to magically move the duster, haha. Added to her tasks was watering the bratty magic flower, which was nasty and fought her constantly. That talking flower was actually sought after by people outside, and it was called Bloodseal Bloom. One day, Tingyan asked for her salary. He gave her petals of the flower. She didn’t know what that was for. The flower said it was worth 1000 years of cultivation. Tingyan didn’t think much about it, so she left.
Later, he wanted to teach her a killing spell. Tingyan thought, if it’s in the modern world, a male boss being nice and favoring a female employee over the other female employees might mean the boss likes her. So she asked Jiao about it. Jiao said that he kept her because she cooled down the flames on his forehead. Ugh, Tingyan realized he kept her because she was a walking AC, haha!
The demons were able to poison Tingyan again, so she had a stomachache. The snake saw it and left to tell Jiao. However, Ruling, one of the girls who became Tingyan’s friend, thought the snake ate Tingyan. She attacked the snake with her cultivation level and took the heart, so the giant snake shrank to a normal size, haha.
Episode 4
The “kill me” part is way too scary.
Jiao tried to forcefully break the seal, thinking that Tingyan had already cured him from the burning pain. The palace started shaking and exploding. Tingyan thought it was a fireworks extravaganza. Suddenly, the earth shook, and Tingyan felt that Jiao was in great danger. The so-called seclusion she heard from others was none other than imprisonment. He was imprisoned for 500 years by the other sects!
Jiao was not able to break the seal, and the turmoil subsided. Tingyan looked for Jiao and accidentally fell into the pool where he was taking a cold bath, lol. He used his truth spell on her, and she genuinely wanted to relieve his worries. So she used her cultivation skills to create snowflakes falling from the sky. He was not impressed, though. He thought she just practiced cultivation for useless things.
After forcing out his power, Jiao was weak. The tribes wanted to attack him so they could continue sealing him. Of course, they had to get rid of Tingyan. Some female disciples were ready to kill Tingyan. Luckily, Jiao arrived on time to rescue her and kill the villains. After curing her, he left her with Tingyan, who came after being warned by the snake.
After waking up, Tingyan advised Ruling to return the snake heart to the rightful owner, because he had never harmed them. As soon as the snake swallowed his heart, he was instantly transformed into a handsome man! Let’s call him Mr. Snake now (he would change his name later)! Mr. Snake went to thank Ruling and Tingyan first, before Jiao, haha!
Haha, Tingyan gave Jiao two thumbs up, but he thought she put a spell on him. When she said that was just to kiss up, butter up, to him, he used his truth spell to get the truth out of her, which she genuinely praised him. He couldn’t help but learn it behind her back, so cute!
Poor Tingyan was taught by Jiao how to kill with a dagger!
That night, while Tingyan was watering Bloodseal Bloom, Jiao came and used his blood to nourish the flower. He asked if she ate the petals he gave her. She said they were too precious, but she honestly was afraid to die from being overpowered. After saying this, suddenly, some elders showed up to assassinate Jiao. He was able to counter-attack them, but he was still weak and vomited blood. When Tingyan helped him lie down, the elders asked her to kill him, but she refused. He put his sword in her hand and told her to kill him.
Episode 5
The key player and survivor in Grandmaster’s revenge plan
Poor Tingyan! It must be a traumatic experience to stab someone, let alone to kill him! And this was her boss of all people. Jiao assured her, this was necessary for him to break the seal. He tricked the stupid elders who rushed to attack him, eliminated them all, and absorbed their spiritual energy. He became very powerful and took the eight nails off his body and rushed out of the barrier.
Jiao told Tingyan that he knew the secret of breaking the barrier by connecting the heart veins of the eight masters. Don’t worry, Miss Assistant, the previous people killed, the girls included, were all spies and bad people. Tingyan saw that although Jiao was free, he didn’t look happy. What other secrets did this cultivation place have? Tingyan fell asleep from fear and exhaustion. Because the Gengchen Immortal Mansion was a wartorn place, Jiao took her away to his home in White Deer Cliff, where his clan used to live.
There were many shiny black beautiful flowers in this new mansion, Jiao said the flowers were called Moonshade Blooms. The seeds were the bone pearls left in the bodies of the Sima Clan once they died. Jiao ordered Tingyan to pluck one. She remembered one girl plucked the same flower back in Gengchen Immortal Mansion, and she died. Tingyan reluctantly plucked one, and she was still alive. Jiao explained that if the person used to be bad, the flower would be poisonous; if the person used to be good, the flower would be medicinal. Jiao said that, since Tingyan was still standing in front of him, she considered herself lucky. But then, she passed out!
Luckily, she didn’t die. In fact, she entered the memory of a lady called Sima E. E was forced by her father to marry someone to preserve the poor bloodline of the Fengshan line to feed the Spirit fire, which was the clan’s mission. E argued that the masters from the Eight Palaces kept them as puppets to keep the glory of the Eight Palaces alive. The nasty Bloodseal Bloom flower, not the same one who talked to Tingyan, told E that if one day the Fengshan Spirit ceased to exist, the Sima Clan would be free. But Tingyan remembered that Jiao still fed the Fengshan Spirit; he was not free. Time jumped, and Tingyan saw E get married to Sima Shi, and the Eight Palaces masters were all laughing happily. Another time jump, and a baby was born to the couple. E named him Jiao. Tingyan entered her future mother-in-law’s memory!
Episode 6
I learned the Grandmaster’s big secret. What do I do?
These Eight Palaces’ masters were meanies, and there were eight of them! Of course, the Sima Clan, as powerful as the people were, was outnumbered. The masters sealed the White Deer Cliff palace, and the sect members couldn’t get out. Even when Jiao’s father wanted to see his dying mother for the last time. When Shi heard that his mother’s body was chopped off into minced meat and eaten by the masters (remember, the Sima Clan’s bodies were magical), he went berserk and used his lifelong cultivation to destroy the barrier. But of course, he was no match for the masters, so he died.
E originally wanted to kill herself and her baby, but she remembered her husband had told her that Jiao was the hope of the clan because he carried a rare Fengshan blood. He was both pure and powerful. E begged the Fengshan Fire to merge with her baby once she gave her life (all her blood) to it. From now on, Jiao was the only one who carried the bloodline of Sima Clan.
Tingyan woke up… in a casket! Jiao buried her, thinking that she was dead. Haha, no, he joked. He neutralized her poison. But why, his mom looked like a good person. Jiao explained that if the person died holding a grudge, the person’s bone pearl produced poisonous flowers. She didn’t tell him that she plucked his mother’s flower.
Jiao planned to give slow, painful deaths to his enemies. He even knew that Shi Qianluo, his gatekeeper (I thought he was his housekeeper), was also the bad guy. Through the truth spell, he found out that Mr. Shi had fed him Sima Clan blood since small. Jiao thought that Mr. Shi was even the mastermind above the eight masters.
Now that Jiao was free from Gengchen Immortal Mansion, Tingyian wanted to go back to her clan, but he didn’t let her, not even to visit Ruling. Hmm, he was so possessive! But he gave her pretty dresses and accessories. She was his trusted aide now, haha!
There was an annual martial arts competition. Jiao took Tingyan to watch. As he planned to kill them slowly, he offered two Bloodseal Bloom petals to anyone who could win 20 death matches. One petal meant one thousand years’ worth of cultivation. Contestants started fighting like crazy, killing opponents left and right.
Jiao explained to Tingyan the reason why, when Sima Clan members died, only their body pearls remained. Because their flesh and blood had been eaten and drunk by the Eight Palaces’ people, since the Sima Clan’s bodies were medicines. Upon hearing that, Tingyan threw up. Jiao was surprised that his little demon spy was more upright than the others.
Jiao went soaking in his cold water pool, but he was still angry about the earlier event, when greedy people killed each other to get the flower petals, while their masters didn’t care. So he went to find his living AC. She was relaxing with slices of cucumber on her face. Well, that cucumber on her forehead malfunctioned her AC, so Jiao couldn’t cool down his flame. He went to sleep next to her instead. Since he seemed a career-obsessed man with no interest in women, she let him lie next to her, and she fell asleep quickly. His anger subdued, and he was surprised that she could easily sleep next to him, even snored!
Conclusion
Haha, would Jiao sleep next to Tingyan every day, since he needed his walking air conditioner? We’ll see in the next part: When Destiny Brings the Demon: Drama Recap Episodes 7 to 15!
