After a bizarre car accident, Tong Yanzhi, a graduate student in history, transmigrates to a mysterious otherworld and takes over the body of a boy with the same name. Here, multiple universes coexist: the Nine Realms of the Heavens, ruled by Confucianism, and the Guixu Abyssal Sea, governed by Legalism, among others. Thirty-six parallel timelines intersect, while the Timekeepers secretly manipulate the central hub of the river of time.
During an academic examination at the Jixia Academy, he boldly proposes the unorthodox idea of combining benevolent governance with the rule of law, drawing shocked looks from everyone around him. In the library, he happens upon a mysterious bamboo slip covered in strange symbols, only to be hunted by the guards because of it. In the mountains behind the academy, he meets Ming Zhuxue, a stunning young woman whose arrival seems intricately connected to the slip.
As his explorations deepen, Tong Yanzhi discovers that the legacies of the Hundred Schools of Thought are on the verge of vanishing. Bearing the legacy of the Myriad Images Heavenly Book and mastering the lost secret arts of the School of Diplomacy, he can perceive three timelines at once. He is destined to become a key figure in the crisis.
At his side are Ming Zhuxue, the cool and beautiful heir to Legalism; Gongshu Xuan, the lively master artisan of Mohism; Lin Qingqiu, the gentle medical saint of the School of Medicine; Xing Jianyao, the mysterious young lord of Yin-Yang School; and Miaoyin, a barefoot Buddhist nun. Together, they explore the Secret Realm of Burning Books, witness the Mohist mechanical city emerge into the world, become embroiled in the Legalist Campaign of Canonical Punishments, and confront Yin-Yang School's Heaven-Stealing Plan.
In this vast and turbulent world, how will Tong Yanzhi unite the six great traditions and rewrite the laws of the universe? Can he break free from the fate of thirty-six cycles of reincarnation and become the new Heavenly Dao?
