Return from the Nine Springs

Return from the Nine Springs is an Eastern fantasy novel by web author Zimoyu, serialized on Xiaoxiang Academy and other platforms from October 2015 and completed in October 2016, totaling about 1.11 million characters. It was later published in Taiwan in multiple volumes by Feiyan Wenchuang (Mingxian Culture), with the first volume released in January 2016. The novel's core premise is “nine lifetimes of reincarnation”: the protagonist, Xia Sheng, was once the strongest under the starry sky, dying with regret amid betrayal by all; he was also once an emperor who perished when his nation fell to foreign invasion; and he once led humanity back to supremacy, only to suffer a qi deviation while breaking through and die. Tens of thousands of years pass, human civilization turns over again, and Xia Sheng opens his eyes once more—now with eight supreme spirit springs in the depths of his soul: the Bìluò Yellow Spring tempers the body, the Cángfēng Hidden Spring forges artifacts, the Wúgòu Green Spring nourishes life, and so on, each corresponding to a different cultivation function. Returning to the Dajin Dynasty as a youth, Xia Sheng wants only to stay away from blades and scheming and live a quiet life, but he is drawn into the game one by one by his father, whose natal weapon was destroyed; the town chief's son, who abuses his power; a prestigious substitute teacher; and a quirky fiancée—so he must return to a strong man's true heart, forge his spirit apertures and condense martial patterns once more, and set out on a long cultivation road after five hundred years. With the passionate tone of “a surging heart, boundless fantasy,” the work revolves around rebirth and revenge, cultivation advancement, and sect power struggles, and is divided into volumes including Nine Lives Reborn, Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon, and Setting Sun Afterglow. This entry corresponds to the Taiwan multi-volume edition, with each volume released separately and the content progressing by volume.