The Calamity of Kunyu and the Mountains and Seas

In a cultivation world blending the strange beasts of the Classic of Mountains and Seas with Daoist philosophy, disturbances in the Kunyu leylines, the spiritual pivot of the earth, trigger a world-shaking tribulation. The Yang Sect of immortals, led by Yuxu Palace, clashes in a fight to the death with the Nine Nether Yin Sect, which hides in Guixu and commands ferocious beasts. Huang Chengyue, lord of the Qilin bloodline and guardian of the Central Province, and Xuanming, the Nine Nether Saintess also known as Xiyue, are descendants of the Five Elements divine beasts. Bound by their past-life bond as twin lotuses on Kunlun, they become entangled in a love destined to span three lifetimes. Yet in this life, opposing factions force them to take up arms against each other.

The Nine Nether Cult uses the Origin-Eroding Demonic Pestle to devour the Five Elements’ source and foment discord among the five clans: baleful energy taints the Sword Mound of the Metal Clan, death qi corrupts the Azure Dragon’s Jianmu tree, the Weakwater floods back into the Northern Dark Sea, and the Vermilion Bird’s karmic flames set the heavens ablaze. Huang Chengyue wields the power of Xirang to protect all living beings, while Xiyue struggles between destruction and redemption. As the Kunyu leylines teeter on the brink of collapse and Taotie appears to devour all life, Huang Chengyue grasps the truth that “great virtue demands sacrifice” and shatters his own Qilin horn to mend the leylines. Xiyue fuses with the will of Guixu and becomes Xuanming, ultimately sacrificing herself to quell the raging tide of death qi.

In the final battle, the last survivors of the four clans sacrifice their bloodlines to rekindle the Five Elements. Huang Chengyue reverses the demonic pestle’s power, but in doing so, causes Guixu to collapse. With her remnant soul, Xuanming opens the Gate of Guixu and consigns the Nine Nether to oblivion. Huang Chengyue shatters Xirang to seal the abyss, then disperses into spirit rain that revives the mountains and rivers. In the world after the tribulation, mortals sing of the “Kunyu Tribulation,” while children plant blue lotuses before the Houtu Shrine. It is a new beginning for the world of mountains and seas, and an allusion to the heavenly cycle: “The earth bears all things; from the ashes of tribulation, the Dao is born.”

The story follows the love spanning three lifetimes between Huang Chengyue and Xiyue: first, the innocent bond of twin lotuses on Kunlun; second, their rift as immortals and demons; and third, their transcendence as they become the leylines themselves.

The ultimate romance: “I would destroy heaven and earth just to die with you on the path of the Dao.”