Immortal

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

Greed and the pursuit of power motivate both mortals and immortals in Liyen’s world, leading to many of the political and interpersonal issues featured in the novel. Liyen’s grandfather says, “Greed turns too many honest men into thieves” (4), and this pronouncement becomes the focal point of the theme. For example, though Liyen originally believes Zhangwei to be an honest immortal she can trust, he betrays her by manipulating her feelings and attempting to steal the lotus. The novel later reveals that his motivations for betraying her in this way are complex and rather selfless, proving Zhangwei’s greed is a misdirection. However, the centrality of greed as a motivator applies to other characters, such as Lord Dalian.

Liyen encounters pursuits of power throughout the novel. Her court advisers conspire against her, wishing to gain power by seizing a connection to her throne. Lord Dalian wants to start a war that will lead to his conquest of the Mortal Realm. The immortals, already wielding significant power themselves, wish to continue taking advantage of their power over the mortals. Queen Caihong, in particular, wishes to continue benefiting from the treaty with Tianxia even though the mortals have already met their treaty obligations.