Chapter One — The Mountain and the Vow
The heavens were vast, divided by two great immortal realms.
In the east, Celestial Mountain, radiant and solemn, seat of the Immortal Palace, where laws of heaven were etched in stone and gods gazed down upon mortals as dust.
In the west, hidden within endless clouds, Kulun Mountain—a place untamed and free. It was said that only one immortal lived there, one who neither bowed to heaven nor obeyed its decrees.
His name was Cheng Yii.
He was the immortal who defied fate.
Far below these lofty realms lay the Kingdom of Xuan, a land so small that even maps forgot it. Yet in this forgotten corner of the mortal world, destiny stirred.
A girl was born into a family of farmers. Her name was Jan Yii.
She was poor, fragile, and untalented in every way. She could not cultivate, no matter how she tried. Yet inside her frail body rested something rare and dangerous—
a divine bone, a gift spoken of only in legend.
Her parents, worn by hardship, dreamed their daughter might rise above the dust. But illness took them too soon. On the night she buried them beneath a crooked tree, Jan Yii knelt in the dirt, her hands trembling as she pressed her forehead to the ground.
"Father, Mother… I will not remain in this mortal dust. I will seek immortality, even if the heavens laugh at me. Even if the path is thorns, I will walk it. This is my vow."
The years moved swiftly. When Jan Yii turned sixteen, a decree spread like wildfire across the mortal lands—
Celestial Mountain was opening its gates, seeking new disciples.
For countless youths, this was a chance to ascend. For Jan Yii, it was the thread of her vow.
Carrying nothing but determination, she set forth toward the immortal realm. She did not yet know that fate was already weaving around her, binding her to the immortal who defied heaven's law.
Her journey would lead her to Cheng Yii of Kulun Mountain—
and their first meeting would not be kindness, but the spark of a destiny neither could escape.