Seeking Splendor

Jiang Xun × Xiao Jing: Character and plot introduction

Cool, reserved, untouchable mage Jiang Xun × obsessive, proud, vengeful, sword-riding loyal dog Xiao Jing

Destiny: Seven lifetimes of entanglement, year after year of bonds, reunion in every life

Story overview

A hundred years ago, peaceful Blue Star was suddenly struck by catastrophe. Countless bizarre, mutated creatures fell through rifts in the metaverse, shattering humanity's peace. They rampaged and slaughtered, seized territory, and left the world in ruins.

As these strange phenomena appeared, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth underwent a transformation. Across the land of Huaxia, a group of superpowered individuals awakened with special talents. Possessing extraordinary abilities, they banded together and secretly protected their homeland, raising a shield against the darkness to ensure humanity's survival.

Mage Jiang Xun had always believed he was a foreign wanderer adrift in the world, a transmigrator who had accidentally fallen into this realm. It wasn't until he joined the alliance organization protecting Huaxia and first met Xiao Jing that immense waves suddenly stirred in his heart. Those familiar features, that destiny etched into his soul, made it seem as though, after crossing a thousand lives and countless deaths, he had finally reunited with someone from his past.

The wheels of destiny began to turn slowly. The people destined to meet, scattered across the world, gathered one by one and joined forces, forming the 06 Special Forces Team, which would later earn renown far and wide. Steady and exceptionally gifted, Jiang Xun took command and became the team's captain, leading a group of young men onto the battlefields of a turbulent age.

They first met in midsummer. Their connection began this summer, and from then on, they would be bound together year after year, never parting in life or death.

Whenever battle loomed, Jiang Xun would don his signature black mage's cloak, its hem whipping in the wind as he stood in dazzling splendor. The young man stood straight as a pine, his brows and eyes holding the spirit of mountains and rivers. Standing atop the ruins, he looked down at the Qie'e beasts wreaking havoc across the land. His cool voice rang through heaven and earth, carrying the resolve to break everything before rebuilding it: "My Great Xia's land is safe and sound, the seas are calm and the world at peace. How could the likes of you demons dare trample even an inch of the Nine Provinces!"

A young man's spirit could overcome any hardship and protect the land, yet it still could not withstand the vagaries of fate and the world's unpredictability.

In the battle at North Pass, the border defenses fell and war spread like wildfire, shattering the illusion of a golden age and the peace of the two young men fighting side by side. One calamity followed another. Blood feuds, the shackles of destiny, and the secrets of reincarnation bound the two who had once walked side by side, layer upon layer.

Love and hate spread recklessly through the smoke of war. The obsessive young man clung to the last of his convictions, every word stubborn, every sentence full of love: "What you owe me can't be repaid in three lifetimes or seven. So spend the rest of your long life making it up to me."

Even as the world fell apart and fate was turned upside down, their sincere love never faded:

"I love you. I don't fear a shattered land, desolate years, or any version of you or me."

"In every life, this heart beats for you alone."

"In this life, no matter whether the road ahead is lined with blades or flames, I will never let go of your hand again."

War fires consumed the corpses, and a sea of blood tempered his true form.

In the smoke-filled depths of despair, his white robes were stained scarlet. The young man stood alone amid a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. His once cool, gentle features were covered with layers of sorrow. A warm jade flute rested at his lips, its mournful notes carrying the power of reincarnation as they echoed through the desolate world. Behind him, the phantom of a nine-tailed silver fox slowly unfurled. Nine fluffy, splendid tails flickered in and out of sight in the void, fairy-like grace mingling with demonic charm, coolness blending with brokenness.

Everyone knew him as Jiang Xun, the mage who protected the land, but none knew that once he shed his mortal identity, he was a celestial nine-tailed fox who had crossed lifetimes and borne the fate of seven lives.

The flute fell silent, and all was gone.

Jiang Xun raised a hand and gently wiped the blood welling from the corner of his lips. All sharpness faded from his eyes, leaving only boundless tenderness and grief. He gazed at his beloved beside him, now lifeless and devoid of warmth. In his eyes, mountains and rivers toppled; the lake of his heart lay still. He slowly closed his eyes and softly uttered the two-word incantation, exhausting his cultivation and reversing the order of the universe: "Turn back."

Heaven and earth trembled. Time rewound, and the shattered scenes retreated one after another, erasing every parting between life and death and every wound left by the sea of blood.

When he opened his eyes again, the smoke-filled sky and the fields of corpses had all vanished.

All he saw was a clear, bright world, and a pair of peach blossom eyes brimming with warmth and laughter.

The young man's voice was clear and gentle, tinged with his usual lazy affection, as he softly called Jiang Xun back from his daze: "What are you spacing out for?"

Seven lifetimes of reincarnation, all filled with suffering.

Fortunately, after weathering every storm, the land remained safe, the old friends were still here, and year after year, at last they were reunited.

Theme: The troubled times return, and so do we