Cultivating Through Nine Lives to Be with You

Nine lifetimes of reincarnation, not to become an immortal, but to become a person.

After a car accident, Lin Yi obtains the Scroll of the Way of All Beings, beginning a path of cultivation that spans nine lifetimes. A healer's compassion, the ruthless world of finance, hollow fame and splendor, using evil to fight evil, wisdom for the nation and its people, the burden of power, the pursuit of the Dao, and the self among all living beings: in each lifetime, he lives out a different life under a different identity. At the height of his success, he willingly gives up his life and moves on to the next, beginning anew.

And running through all nine lifetimes is a woman named Zhou Wan.

With nine red cords, she ties together nine partings. After he “dies” in each lifetime, she gathers his belongings, braids a new red cord, then appears again in his next life under a new identity. She is the only one who knows all the secrets of his nine lifetimes, and the one who finally brings their karmic cycle to its close.

When the ninth lifetime arrives, nine inner demons strike at once. On the steps at dusk, he accepts, one by one, all the debts, betrayals, and regrets of his nine lifetimes. She ties the ninth red cord around her wrist.

“You’ve lived through all nine lifetimes. This time, I’ll tie the cord for you.”

The heavenly tribulation never came. He did not ascend.

He chose to stay, returning to his ordinary life as a doctor at Ren'an Station. Green vines fill the windowsill, dumplings are set on the table, and enamel mugs clink together.

Nine lifetimes of cultivation, all returning to one. It turns out that becoming a person is becoming an immortal.