Li Chen, a mechanical engineer in the 21st century, fell into the turbulent undercurrents of the late Qing Dynasty because of a titanium alloy ring engraved with a dragon pattern. The ring dragged him into the shocking tomb robbery of Emperor Guangxu's mausoleum, and made him the "Son of the Dragon Vein" pursued by all forces. According to legend, he was the destined person who could unlock the dragon seal passed down to the country. In Beijing, a city divided by warlords, he met two completely different women: Aixinjueluo Yunxi, who was Qingqinggege, with amber-gold eyes like a lone wolf outside the Great Wall, and a Tang sword to kill all evil spirits. She possesses the Thirty-Six Crazy Sword Styles and studied in Japan to learn Western medicine. Ye Qingluan, a thousand-faced agent of the Revolutionary Party, has guns and poisonous needles hidden in the swaying cheongsam, and is a master of disguise. She used her identity as an antique dealer in Liulichang as a cover to deal with warlords and foreign powers, and vowed to protect the spark of civilization to the death.
In the darkness, snake-like enemies have already opened a huge net: Fujiwara Chiya, a Japanese Black Dragon Society agent, used the tea ceremony as bait to set up a deadly killing plot; warlord Sun Dianying's army of tomb robbers used black donkey blood to open the royal underground palace; British spy William Hawke, the code of civilized colonization is hidden in oracle bones; and there is even the mysterious "Dragon Vein Curse" - those who touch the Dragon Seal will suffer from ulcers all over their body, and only the direct blood of Aixinjueluo can break it.
This is a battle to protect civilization that spans a century: from the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City to the flying murals of Dunhuang, from the grassland Khumai shattering the Japanese sonar to the wooden kite carrying explosives and burning the Fengtian arsenal, iron blood and romance are intertwined in troubled times. On the night when the Kowloon Jade Seal is illuminated again, Li Chen will face the cruelest choice: return to the future with his true love, or use his body to suppress the dragon's veins forever? "Cultural relics never die, they just sleep forever." "Mountains and rivers never change, but the soul of the dragon will last forever."
