DINGHAI FUSHENG RECORDS (NOVEL) VOL 01 (9798893733914)

The hit danmei/Boys' Love novels (originally released in Chinese) that inspired animation and the comic/manhua—also available from Seven Seas!

In an ancient China where magic has been nearly extinguished, two young men must work together to prevent the destruction of all life. (Takes place in the same universe as Legend of Exorcism.)
It has been three hundred years since magic disappeared. Chen Xing is the last exorcist—the only one with any remaining vestiges of spiritual power—tasked with unsealing the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth before Mara descends and brings ruin to the world. But Chen Xing needs a Protector for his journey, and the one fate leads him to is death row convict Xiang Shu: handsome and capable, yet accused of massacring two thousand people!

With each life claimed by war and disaster, calamity draws inexorably nearer, and dark forces seem determined to hasten its approach. Chen Xing himself has less than four years left before his life is destined to end. He has no choice but to put his trust in Xiang Shu...that is, if his supposed Protector is willing to cooperate at all.