When chaos first emerged, I took form from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as an innate spiritual being. Guided by Tai Shang Qing Xuan Jun, I made protecting the world through cultivation the path of my life. I thought that in this life, I would be accompanied by nothing but the Dao and all living beings. But during a trial in the mortal realm, I was shaken by a profound love that spanned seven lifetimes. A woman gave up her immortal grace and fell into reincarnation just to find me, accompanying me through seven lifetimes of hardship and change. She was once a Qin dynasty princess who gave her life for me. When enemies ambushed me, she took a fatal blade wound in my place. As she died, she clutched a bloodstained piece of jade and said, "I'll look for you in the next life." In another life, she was the daughter of a Tang dynasty chancellor. When she saw me off to war, she gave me half of a jade token engraved with a symbol of two hearts joined as one. That token later became my keepsake, the clue I used to find her in every life. Our meetings in each life were brief, but each time she sacrificed more to protect me. This obsession bound me for seven lifetimes, and gradually made me doubt: If I cannot protect the person before me, how can I claim to protect all living beings?
Now the ninth cycle of reincarnation has begun. As I cultivated on Zhongnan Mountain, the spiritual jade suddenly grew scorching hot. In the morning mist, she approached, a silver-patterned hairpin in her hair, and we called each other's names at the same time. The regrets of our first seven lives had yet to fade when Tai Shang Qing Xuan Jun's warning rang in my ears: "Your mission to protect the world and her sacrifices across seven lifetimes are one and the same. In this life, will you protect all living beings, or protect her?"
