The Demon-Crossing Trilogy

Crossing the Demon Realm: Embers Begin to Burn On a rainy night, inside a cage, Shen Qiyue bought the boy everyone called a “monster.” People said black scabs grew from his bones, his bloodline was tainted, and he was a calamity destined to destroy the world. She gave him just one name: Xuan Jin, because after the ashes, new life must come. But Qiyue had no idea she had rescued more than a lone wolf on the brink of death. Sealed deep beneath his shoulder blades was the power of chaos that had annihilated the ancient world. He was the “living key” the Netherworld Sect would spare no effort to capture, and the bloodiest piece on a board of political intrigue. And she was the empire’s frailest princess, the last heir to the Pure Spirit Physique. An assassination attempt during the autumn hunt tore apart the gentle facade. Poisoned arrows flew, fiends ran rampant, and the imperial throne watched her like a shadow. For the first time, Xuan Jin lost control in front of her. The instant his dark golden, slit-pupiled eyes opened, the mountains and seas fell silent, and every evil spirit fled. “If I really am a monster…” His bloodied hand trembled as it clutched her sleeve. She clasped his hand in return, her eyes as clear as ever. “Then stay with me and burn this world that devours its own people to ash.” From beneath the pear tree at the Qingzhou estate to the mountains of corpses and seas of blood at the imperial hunting grounds; from the clumsy strokes with which he traced his surname to the heavy sword that would cleave through the Netherworld. This is a redemption that began with compassion, and a rebellion that stakes everything on their lives. When the spring thunder roars, the slumbering dragon bones will awaken at last. One will wield a sword, the other a lantern, and together they will plunge into the abyss of black wind that consumes all.