Cheng Mo, a scholar from a poor family, was traveling to the capital to sit for the imperial exams when bandits ambushed him on the road. As he fell off a cliff, close to death, a mysterious golden light saved him. When he awoke, he found he could fly through the skies and burrow into the earth, with strength enough to shake mountains and rivers. But this power was no blessing: it was the beginning of a conspiracy a thousand years in the making.
The blood of flowing gold awoke within him, and nine bronze swords that had sealed ancient calamities began appearing one after another. Hunted by the Imperial Observatory, coveted by martial sects, and caught between struggles for power involving the emperor and the gods, Cheng Mo was forced into the heart of the chaos. Standing atop a city engulfed in flames, he heard the black-robed figure sneer, “You’re nothing but a vessel.” Only then did he finally understand: Should the hands that could tear open the firmament fight for the world, or strike for his own redemption?
