Han Ping, a tenant farmer in the Qing Kingdom, unexpectedly awakens a "late-blooming fate," only to be drawn into a century-old conspiracy by the Chiwen Organization. A bronze ring burns itself into his bloodline, talismans turn his hair white, and his former lover becomes an ingredient for a sacrificial altar. From a servant of a noble family to a prisoner in a mine, he navigates the world of the powerful with a fragmentary manual on Turtle-Breathing, uncovering the dark secrets behind the Ministry of Works' weapon-forging and the princes' struggle for the throne. As the Chi Dragon formation devours all living things, he grips a bloodstained tiger tally and leaps into a poisonous pool, using his mortal body to break free of fate's cage.
