Synopsis: Tribulation Ashes, Heavenly Patterns
Beneath Mount Qingming, a blood moon hangs in the sky. Lin Mo, a young herb gatherer, clutches a bronze fragment in the depths of a frozen pool. The blood in his palm awakens the soul of the Xuanyuan Sword, dormant for ten thousand years. The fragment reveals the blood-red wheel of fate between his brows: the karmic shackles bestowed upon all living beings by the Heavenly Dao, now crawling with cracks. The shriek of an ancient demon sable lifts the bloody curtain, while the funeral bells of the Garrison Manor herald an impending calamity across the three realms.
With the mysterious Taixu Scripture in hand, the boy embarks on a path to challenge Heaven. From the Nine Nether Demon Abyss to the Cloud Palaces of the Immortal Realm, the severed reverse scales of a flood dragon become his natal sword bones, while the stolen immortal pills plant the seeds of a tribulation of love. When his gentle childhood friend, a healer, falls and becomes a demon saintess, and the remnant soul of his mentor proves to be an ancient Immortal Emperor, Lin Mo finally sees the truth behind the wheel of fate: the so-called Heavenly Dao is nothing but a decaying cage imprisoning all living beings.
Before the Three Lives Stone, he sees the tears of the woman he loved in a past life. In the Sea of Chaos, he faces his future self. As the ninth tier of heavenly palaces crumbles, the boy points his sword at the firmament. Behind him lie the burning ruins of the Thirty-Three Heavens of the Immortal Realm; before him roar billions of savage beasts of chaos. With the Taixu Sword in his left hand, he severs the chains of fate. With the bronze fragment in his right, he reforges the laws of reincarnation. When the last wisp of tribulation fire goes out in his palm, a newborn sun shines upon half a rusted bronze fragment in the herb basket atop Mount Qingming.
Immortals and demons are the pieces; the three realms are the board. This defiant journey, begun beneath the blood moon at the frozen pool, will it end in submission to fate, or prove that human will can overcome Heaven? The spark struggling free from the shattered wheel of fate will at last kindle a new age amid the ashes.
