**Core concepts:** The Three Destinies (Heavenly Destiny, Earthly Destiny, and Human Destiny), the "Comprehensive Treatise on the Three Destinies", the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, feng shui killing formations, the Gate of Guixu, ink markings (the Three Yin Locking Yang Pattern), and the Keeper.
* **Key items:** Heavenly Destiny gold markings (Chen Shicheng), a black jade bangle (Mrs. Lin), the Heaven's Punishment Demon-Breaking Awl (the target), Xiao Dan's copper bell (a key ritual artifact), and the Three Destinies Compass (used by the Hermit of Yunmeng and the Destiny Masters Association).
* **Major factions:**
* **The protagonist's group:** Chen Shicheng (the central figure), Xiao Dan (mentor and guardian), Lin Guodong and Mrs. Lin (benefactor and family ties), Su Ya and Qin Haoran (antique restoration and technological support), Jin Manshan (antique trade information and resources), Shen Mobai (feng shui formations), Mei Yingxue (divination and deduction), Zhu Jiuling (talismanic healing), Ye Zhenzhen (association coordination and official connections), and the Fire Li Tribe (later on).
* **The Destiny Masters Association:** The Hermit of Yunmeng (president? guardian?), Ye Zhenzhen (secretary-general), and certified members such as Shen Mobai. Their loyalties are unclear, and the association may be divided internally or infiltrated.
* **Antagonists, the Keeper and its minions:** A mysterious organization or individual that sets up “bait pools” (places rife with baleful energy) around the world to capture infants with special destinies (vessels bearing ink markings) and nurture them. Zhou Shaokun and Xuan Zhenzi may be no more than minor underlings. Their purpose is unknown: immortality, power, or destruction?
* **Other factions:** Jubao Pavilion (Zhou Shaokun), Xuan Zhenzi (a charlatan who may be being used), the Fire
