In the first year of the Tianqi era, amid the roar of waterfalls at the Yijian Tingyu Pavilion in Youzhou, a jade pendant carved with half a maple leaf draws the sect leader's thoughts back thirty years to Jinling. In those days, the Three Kingdoms Daoist Assembly was about to begin. Jiuli, Lengyue, and Qingcang were secretly vying for power. Jinling's sweet osmanthus perfumed the air, yet murderous plots lurked everywhere. Her birth placed her right in the crossfire of a secret struggle between the Hall of the Medical Sage and the Shadow Yin Pavilion. Fortunately, Song Qinghe of the Hall of the Medical Sage saved her with morning dew from Mount Qingcheng and silver needles, leaving half a jade pendant as a pledge.
Thirty years passed. The four kings of Jiuli each had their own designs, the ruler and ministers of Lengyue were at odds, and assassins from Qingcang's Shadow Yin Pavilion appeared one after another. When Song Qinghe returned with half a jade pendant, it was more than a reunion with an old acquaintance. It also brought to light the secrets of the Daoist Assembly all those years ago: the political machinations of a crown prince applying pressure, the dangers of rival sects vying for power, and the unfinished grudges of their parents all came rushing in like pearls of water cascading from a waterfall.
A sword can protect all living beings or stir the winds of change; a single remedy can save a life or lay a bewildering trap. The sect leader stood with sword in hand on the waterfall-viewing platform, watching the flames of war quietly spread across the map of the Three Kingdoms, and finally understood: the fateful bond that began in Jinling had long since bound his destiny tightly to the great game for the realm. The day the halves of the maple-leaf pendant are reunited will be the day the game of a chaotic age begins anew.
