The story takes place in the Spirit Realm. The four of them, Nanzhao, a white-flowered spirit; Wuyuan, heir to the Silver Tree royal family of the Spirit Realm; Sida, the Spirit Realm's Sea-Calming Water Lord; and Lizhi, a cuckoo-flower spirit, all studied under Elder Taineng on Mount Jingni Snow, forging a deep bond between them. Nanzhao and Wuyuan had harbored feelings for each other since childhood. They were childhood sweethearts, and Wuyuan even declared that he would marry no one but Nanzhao. Yet the Silver Tree royal family had long upheld strict rules to protect its bloodline, forbidding its heir from marrying outside the clan. Meanwhile, Sida, the Sea-Calming Water Lord, had loved Nanzhao since childhood. After learning of Nanzhao and Wuyuan's feelings, the former King of the Spirit Realm and Elder Taineng conspired to force Nanzhao into marrying Sida. Thus began a tumultuous romance in which he loved her, but she did not love him. Yet Lizhi had secretly loved Sida for years, and Nanzhao's relationship with her former classmate and friend soon fell apart.
Sida was ambitious and had laid a grand scheme to overthrow the Spirit Realm and make himself its king. When Nanzhao discovered his plot, she tried to stop him, but her attempts were repeatedly thwarted. Her relationship with Sida grew increasingly strained, and his love turned to hatred as he tormented her again and again.
The four who had once studied together were ultimately changed beyond recognition. Sida gradually fell into demonic ways, established the Demon Realm, and became its Demon Venerable, with Lizhi as his queen and Nanzhao demoted to concubine.
Nanzhao and Wuyuan, who had devoted themselves to cultivation, eventually ascended to become immortals, and a war between immortals and demons began.
In the end, who won and who lost, what was right and what was wrong, are difficult to judge.
But whether one becomes a demon or an immortal, by the end, nothing remains but heartlessness.
