Elder Mo Yuan of Qingyun Sect was as cool and aloof as snow, and especially strict with me. Every day, he had me practice swordsmanship until my spiritual energy was spent, revised my cultivation manual again and again, and made me start over whenever I was off by even half an inch.
Then one day, he sealed his own life force into a protective jade talisman and took a fatal blow for me in the secret realm. I knew that spiritual energy all too well. It was exactly the same as when he corrected my sword moves.
Later, I found a painting in his study. The girl in it wore the same silver chain as I did around my neck. The signature read: Mo Yuan. The date was a thousand years ago.
It turned out that in my previous life, I was a phoenix who died taking a fatal blow for him. He dispersed his cultivation and reincarnated eleven times. He found me in every life, and in every life, I failed to recognize him. He embroidered my name on the inside of his sleeve, against his skin, for a thousand years.
Grand Elder Gu Changyuan had waited 431 years to take my phoenix spiritual meridians.
In the secret realm, golden flames blazed from my left arm. He stood in front of me, sealing patterns spreading over his whole body. His voice was hoarse. "Lingxi. You are not to die for me again."
I said, "This time, I'll protect you."
A thousand-year pact began at Qingyun. When the phoenix returns, the calamity begins.
