Chronicles of Chenyao's Mountains and Seas

Worldbuilding: An ancient fantasy dynasty with immortal cultivation and court intrigue, set in an alternate world.

Protagonist: Zhuge Yun appears cold and taciturn but is kind and loyal at heart. He is a teacher at an academy who longs for an ordinary life, but is accidentally drawn into the ruling court's factional struggles and the contest for the throne. As one of the heirs to the Twelve Zodiac Guardian Gods, he endures trial after trial before finally inheriting his legacy. He drives out the foreign invaders.

Antagonists: Xuanming, the imperial astrologer, controls the emperor and massacres those with spiritual veins for an immortality plan; foreign invaders who seek to seize China; and the traitorous Twelve Zodiac Guardian Gods.

Core plot: The protagonist is accidentally caught up in the court struggle, discovers his identity as a guardian, grows stronger, befriends the other heirs to the Twelve Zodiac Guardian Gods, and protects China.

Theme: The corruption of human nature by power versus the choice between responsibility and freedom.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.