After failing the imperial exams, Tang Ziyu heads west. On White Tiger Ridge, he narrowly escapes having his skin flayed and soul stolen by Lady White Bone. Rescued by a monk from the Wuxiang Temple, he becomes entangled in the strange schemes of the Baoxiang Kingdom after losing his travel papers. Here, day and night are hard to tell apart, and status is determined by “elephant tokens.” The stunning beauties paraded through the Red Pavilion conceal a method of preserving beauty with living souls, while Buddhist and Daoist powers coil around each other like venomous snakes. A Mirror of Revealing Truth sees through illusions, and a protective talisman conceals a fragment of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, thrusting him into a fateful game of destiny.
The Third Princess of Baoxiang Kingdom appears in a dream to plead her case, while the Yellow-Robed Monster's blood-written letter brings royal secrets to light. An investigation into the theft of scriptures from Wuxiang Temple uncovers a corpse with a white tiger carved into its spine. Buddhist scripture and dragon bones lie buried deep beneath the royal tombs, while a Daoist alchemy furnace refines Buddhist and demonic gold. Tang Ziyu is caught in a struggle over skin and bones, and in the Mirror of Revealing Truth he glimpses a past life as a Northern Wei general who persecuted Buddhism. Ju Jingjing, mistress of the Red Pavilion, uses an illusion to reveal the connection between Wu Meiniang and the Qingqiu Palace, bringing to light the Moon-Heart Fox's plot to make Wu Zetian the Heaven-Chosen Empress.
His close friend Shaoyao sacrifices herself to feed a demon, while Yuan Tiangang burns through his life to divine that “the Qingqiu fox will bring chaos to the Tang.” Only then does Tang Ziyu learn that he is the Supreme Lord Laozi's incarnation of the human way. The protective talisman shatters the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, and ten thousand demons kneel to call him “Bodhisattva Wuxiang.” Princess Qin Chong reveals that she is a secret envoy tasked with suppressing Buddhism. The phoenix's blood brings rebirth and burns the Red Pavilion to ashes. The Moon-Heart Fox summons its nine tails to swallow the moon, while an apparition of Wu Zetian crushes the royal city. Amid the fierce battle among the Three Teachings, Tang Ziyu understands the truth of “Buddha's bones, Daoist heart, and Confucianism as the sheath.” His Sword of Severing Delusion shatters the Jade Seal of Destiny, and the Mirror of Revealing Truth exposes the false golden body of the Buddha.
The Supreme Lord Laozi and the Ancient Buddha Dipankara play their game beyond the heavens. The stars fall, and the calamity passes. A red lotus blooms amid the ruins, while a stele of the Three Teachings inscribed with “When delusion ends, we return to the source” safeguards the land. Tang Ziyu turns his hair white to save the people, yet he knows the contest between Buddhism and Daoism has only just begun. The remnant soul of the Golden Cicada softly chants a Buddhist invocation, and the shadow of Leifeng Pagoda first appears over West Lake. All karma will cycle and continue anew in the “Land of Ultimate Bliss”...
