The story of the Star Lord of Pojun descending to the mortal world and reincarnating as Xuan Ce, then successfully passing through his tribulation. Wang Yuanbao, a farmer's son born in the final years of the Sui dynasty, receives help from Prince of Qin Li Shimin, who gives him the name Xuan Ce. Through a twist of fate, he becomes a disciple of Jueyuan at Shaolin Temple. After mastering his art, he joins the Prince of Qin's service and travels to Central India as an envoy of the Tang dynasty, where the three stars of Shapolang converge. Entangled in layer upon layer of conflict, he is caught in a deadly disaster. Together with Qiao Feng, reincarnation of the Greedy Wolf Star, he kills Aluonashun, reincarnation of the Seven Killings Star. Alone, he brings down a kingdom and renders an unparalleled service to the Tang, earning Li Shimin's gift of the imperial surname: Li Xuance. In his later years, Li Xuance, now a high-ranking and powerful official, grows weary of the political upheavals of the Li Tang and Wu Zhou regimes and retires to the mountains, taking the Taoist name Ling Yunzi. Three hundred years later, having attained the realm of an Earthbound Immortal, he offers guidance to Zhang Sanfeng and repays the kindness of having once found shelter at Shaolin. After another five hundred years of cultivation, just as the Ming dynasty is about to fall, he ascends to the Ninth Heaven and becomes the True Lord Who Subdues Demons. Having killed too much in the mortal world, he is enlightened by the Supreme Lord Laozi, comprehends how to dispel the Three Sins, and is elevated to the Immortal Lord of Compassionate Salvation. At last, his merits complete, he becomes a Great Golden Immortal.
Based on anecdotes about the historical Wang Xuance and folk legends of Li Xuance's cultivation, this book breaks with real historical events and uses literary embellishment to carefully depict the inner changes of the human heart and nature. Spanning the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, it explores Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and immortal traditions, as well as the lives of ordinary people. Historical events from different eras provide the framework, while colorful customs from foreign lands and the traditional culture of a unified China add their own accents. I hope my dear readers will patiently follow the plot, one chapter at a time. Your flowers and applause will encourage me to finish this book.
