When Zhang Yichao, a modern historical researcher, opens his eyes, he has fallen into a fantastical Hexi of the fifteenth year of the Tianbao era. The An Lushan Rebellion has swept across the Central Plains ahead of schedule, and each of the twelve prefectures hides a "Hidden Domain": the flying apsaras in Shazhou's Painted Domain can become shadow guards, the blood lotus in Guazhou's Time Domain conceals a puzzle about time, and the totems in Yizhou's Wind Domain can summon gales. Meanwhile, the dragon vein that runs through them all is on the verge of shattering as rival factions covet it.
He takes over the body of a young leader of the Guiyi Army and awakens to the power of flying-apsara spirit talismans in the Mogao Caves. Along the way, he meets the old Anxi general Guo Huaiyuan, who protects him with a Mo Dao; Kang Ling'er, a Sogdian girl who solves predicaments with star charts; and the Lingxu clan and the Uyghurs, with whom he forms an alliance for "shared prosperity through the spiritual veins." But danger is never far away: the Xuance Hall reads the stars to calculate the hearts of men, seeking to monopolize the spiritual veins and return them to Chang'an; the Nightwalk Sect uses dream parasites to steal memories, hoping to seize the dragon vein and rule the world; and the Tibetans send troops to cut off Hexi's waterways in an effort to prolong their lives...
From protecting the spiritual veins in Shazhou's Painted Domain to uncovering the truth about the dragon vein in Shanzhou's Celestial Domain, Zhang Yichao gradually realizes that "returning to righteousness" does not mean conquering by force. The twelve Hidden Domains are pieces of a civilization's puzzle, and the bonds between the Han, Hu, Sogdians, and Lingxu clan are the key to restoring the dragon vein. When the Xuance Hall and the Nightwalk Sect join forces to unleash a catastrophe across all twelve domains, he gathers the cores of each domain and establishes the Hexi Alliance beside Crescent Moon Spring, declaring, "This land belongs to no one. It shall be governed by all its people."
Yet deep within the dragon vein, the lingering shadow of an "Observer" remains. And whose future does the blood lotus in Guazhou's Time Domain reveal? The Guiyi Army's banners fly in the wind, and the adventures across the twelve prefectures have only just begun.
After watching the beginning, I found it very attractive and wanted to continue reading. The plot is very mysterious, which is my favorite style. I hope the subsequent plots will be exciting.