Stars Sink, but the Sea Has No End

[Ancient-Era Ensemble Cast]

A bloody murder and a fragment of a star map drag her out of her gilded cage and shake the foundations of a dynasty that has stood for three hundred years.

The Yong Dynasty has ruled for three centuries. Though songs and laughter ring out on the surface, rot festers beneath. When Cui Lingjiang, an illegitimate daughter of the Cui clan, tries to escape the fate of a political marriage and accidentally witnesses a death tied to a secret of the imperial court on the night of her engagement, the mysterious star-patterned token in her hand immediately becomes a death warrant. At the same time, Wei Zhao, a military officer from a humble family, is ordered to investigate the case, and the clues point straight to the inner chambers. Xie Zhifei, a rakish antiques dealer, offers a fortune for a rare book from a previous dynasty on the black market, stirring hidden currents. All eyes turn toward The Star Map of the Vast Sea, an artifact from a bygone dynasty that can reveal the empire's dragon veins and its prophecy.

To protect herself, Cui Lingjiang is forced into a temporary alliance with Wei Zhao and Xie Zhifei. They steal the map, set fires, fake their deaths, and make their escape... They think they've broken free, not realizing they've long been pawns in someone else's game. As Qin Wuxia, a poison master from the southwest, intercepts them, Helian Zheng, a steppe hostage, makes his move, and powers from across the sea and elder members of the Starwatch Pavilion enter the fray, an earth-shattering contest over the star map unfolds.

From the hidden currents of the capital to a solitary lamp over a sea of fog, from prophecies that spread like wildfire to the game of the dragon veins, the old order crumbles amid the flames of war. Swept into a tide that will determine the fate of the realm, will they drift along with the current, or make their move and challenge fate itself? When the stars finally sink beneath the vast sea, who will be able to build a new dawn upon the ruins?