You are the phoenix, the celestial realm’s most coveted bloom. Within you lies the Phoenix Bone, capable of restarting heaven and earth—even the Tathagata Buddha reveres you as the "Honored Venerable Mingxing." Three men claim to love you: a demon of the newly risen six realms, an emperor of the divine kingdom, and a formless Buddhist monk. All three covet your Phoenix Bone. You know this well, so you’ve reserved for yourself an exit cloaked in death. After achieving your goal, you retire in triumph: embracing beauties of every kind, doted upon by devoted disciples, drawing the highest pension in the Brahma Heaven and the Buddha’s compensation for your mission—a phoenix’s life with no regrets. --- Celestial histories record that on the day the three realms fought over the Phoenix Bone, the Phoenix Mingzun smiled faintly amid the flames and took her own life above the nine heavens. The formless monk fell into demonhood. The young divine emperor vanished from the world. The demon realm’s sovereign turned white-haired overnight. A millennium passed, yet in their eyes, time remained split in two: Before his death. After his death.