Lin Xia, a modern history graduate student, is transported by a drop of blood from her fingertip staining an ancient scroll into the Great Yin dynasty, where she becomes a hostage prince who feigns madness to avoid disaster. The realm is divided among seven powers, including the Northern Yan War King and the Southern Border Gu King, held in check by the Ink-Iron Tokens. Meanwhile, the avenger Nangong Yanli assumes the identity of an alchemist and presents Emperor Long with a plan involving six Supreme Tokens, persuading him to issue six death warrants and plunging the court into turmoil.
Using his historical perspective, Su Ke unravels the tangled web of power. He and Nangong Yanli plot the fate of the realm on the shores of the Eastern Sea, where they meet Yuwen Huang, who has left the Wu clan and carries a lotus bangle that can save the world. From a coup in the capital and clashes across the martial world to the fight against demons at the border, Su Ke uses his wits to unite the factions, while Yuwen Huang uses the bangle to cleanse the evil aura. In the final battle, the Demon God breaks through the barrier between worlds. Yuwen Huang burns up her life essence to forge a new barrier, and Su Ke seals his sword and retires to Jiangnan. Gazing at the lotus mark on his wrist, he sighs: “Across these ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains, you are everywhere. Amid these countless lights and fires, there is nowhere you are not.” This is a martial-arts epic of power struggles, revenge, and the legacy of protection.
Yanli sets the factions against one another, but loses control as the game reaches its climax. Su Ke gathers the fragments of the tokens and the Ink-Iron Command, summoning ten thousand vengeful souls to devour Emperor Long. Yanli sets the Listening Tide Pavilion ablaze and reveals the mystery of her origins. In the end, Su Ke gives up the throne and trades away years of his life to save Yuwen Huang. The broken tokens are melted down into a lotus bangle, and the rusted sword is sheathed. The turmoil that began in hatred finally ends with the two of them together: “There is not a single mountain or river that isn't you, not a single light or fire that isn't you.”
The blind hostage prince Su Ke of Northern Yan, Yuwen Huang, the Grand Tutor's adopted daughter, and Zhu Sha, a witch from the Eastern Sea, are among six people who each receive a token and are drawn into the game. The God-Slaying Sword awakens Su Ke to the truth that Emperor Long buried his mother alive. As Yuwen Huang investigates her father's death, she discovers that she is the emperor's illegitimate daughter. Their blood feud intertwines with deep love, and she even uses her long hair to cook porridge that counteracts the deadly Heart-Shattering Powder in his system
