In the Beginning: When Heaven and Earth Were Separated

"In the Beginning: The Severing of Heaven and Earth" is the third volume in the four-book series "In the Beginning". Drawing on ancient texts such as the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and the "Book of Documents", it tells of the confrontation between Yan and Huang at Banquan, the great battle against Chiyou, the gathering of shamans, and Zhuanxu’s severing of the connection between Heaven and Earth, along with other tales from the remote past.

In the primordial dawn, the tribes of the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor faced off at Banquan, preparing for war. But then a blizzard lasting seventy days descended, forcing the two tribes to work together to dig out a city buried beneath the snow. The following spring, the melting snow caused a flood, and the southern tribe of Chiyou was forced to head north to seek refuge. As the three tribes struggled to survive together, they came to understand one another and formed an alliance.

The floods brought an epidemic, so shamans and healers from across the land gathered in Zhuolu for a conference. Their discussions began with medicine and moved on to philosophy. Gradually, they developed their own schools of thought and began to debate and challenge one another. Faced with such turmoil, Zhuanxu forbade shamans from summoning spirits, cutting off communication between gods and humans. Thus the age of the gods came to an end, and the age in which humanity ruled its own destiny began.