On the edge of Qinglan County in the vast lands of the Ten Provinces, Su Ri, a boy from Funiu Village, grips a bloodstained jujube-wood shoulder pole and watches an immortal ride his sword into the distance. Amid the flames of bandits burning his village to the ground, he accepts a jade token from the Lingxiao Sect, an invitation to join them. Thus begins the path of cultivation for a mortal with no spiritual roots, amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
In this world, spiritual roots determine one's worth: those with a single spiritual root soar to greatness, those with mixed spiritual roots struggle at every step, and those without spiritual roots are dismissed as useless, unable to even absorb spirit-opening liquid through their meridians. But Su Ri dares to defy the Heavenly Dao. He splits bandit blades with his shoulder pole, stirs chaotic gray mist during the test at the recruitment platform, and clutches the examination slip declaring his meridians to be Grade A, despite the cultivators' mocking laughter. When Blackwind Stronghold's Soul-Locking Chain strikes again, he stands atop the recruitment platform with his shoulder pole on his shoulder. "No spiritual roots? Then I'll use this pole to smash a path across the Ten Provinces!"
When the Lingxiao Sect's spirit-guiding lamps shine like the Big Dipper, and Blackwind Stronghold's bone talisman curse dissipates into green smoke, the gray mist in Su Ri's palm grows ever denser. This is the path of cultivation for those without spiritual roots: no smooth sailing on the strength of heavenly roots, only the solitary courage to hack through every inch of brambles with a shoulder pole. Watch as this mortal who rose from the flames of death uses his mortal body and bones to write an against-the-heavens legend in the vast world of the Ten Provinces, where spiritual roots reign supreme: "A shoulder pole breaks ten thousand laws; without spiritual roots, I shall prove immortality!"
