[Ensemble Cast + Traditional Fantasy + Political Intrigue + Wuxia + A Villain Who Isn't Stupid]
A legend has long circulated through the martial world: the Yuan family is the foremost of the Four Great Clans, and its members have inherited the mysterious fate of the Celestial Pivot Star for generations. Unlike ordinary stars, the Celestial Pivot symbolizes a world where heaven and earth form the game board and all living beings are pieces. The Yuan family holds the pieces, serving the emperor and plotting the fate of the realm.
Now Yuan Qingfeng, the current heir of the Yuan family, shoulders an even greater responsibility. He is determined to revise the Register of Surnames and break the clans' monopoly, giving talented people across the realm a chance to distinguish themselves. He serves the sovereign and implements the Favor-Extending Order, skillfully curbing the power of the fiefdoms until their lords bow in submission. Nor does he overlook the rebels stirring in the shadows. He personally leads the campaign against separatist forces like the Society of Light, vowing to wipe them out completely. He promotes the imperial examinations, pacifies threats along the realm's borders, and ultimately brings peace and prosperity to the land.
On this magnificent journey, Yuan Qingfeng encounters countless extraordinary people. There is the Spear Immortal, who takes on an army of a hundred thousand with a single spear, its shadow flashing like a dragon soaring through the sea of clouds and shaking the world. There is also the Taoist Grandmaster, whose mastery of the Dao can defy heaven and alter fate, like an emissary from the celestial realm descending to earth. And then there are the Earthly Immortals who attained sagehood through scholarship, their wisdom as vast as the sea and their insight reaching the secrets of heaven and earth. Their presence inspires awe.
Along the way, he witnesses courage and loyalty as well as the ugliness of betrayal. He experiences both the joy of happiness and the weight of grief. He sees the kingly way, where decrees change from day to day, and the tyrant's way, where anyone who disobeys is killed. Some forsake wealth and life for loyalty and righteousness, their noble deeds moving heaven and earth. Others betray their friends for personal gain, their actions utterly vile.
