Lu Li, the Heavenly Realm's Divine Judge, has enforced the laws of the celestial court for a thousand years. Wherever the mark of heavenly punishment between his brows appears, even the most arrogant demons tremble. But a case involving collusion between immortals and demons brings this iron-faced judge into contact with warm blood for the first time: the blood seeping from the wrist of Yun Zhi, the immortal physician, resonates with the demonic energy he has been tracking.
On a night when he is forced to join hands with his sworn enemy, Lu Li's judge's brush hesitates above the page for the first time. A glass bead glows an eerie red in the moonlight, reflecting the clear eyes of the little girl he saved three hundred years ago. Now she holds a silver needle to his throat. "My lord, do you know that the real culprit you're hunting is the one most revered across the Three Realms?"
When Xuanji's Demon-Beating Whip tears through the clouds, a Qingluan carrying a mortal's storybook sweeps through a rift in time and space. Sparks falling from its golden feathers ignite Mo Yan's bone flute. Amid the flute's mournful notes, Lu Li finally sees the whole conspiracy: the so-called order of Heaven's Dao is nothing more than a snare woven by an ancient Demon Venerable to resurrect his old followers.
"The rules can be broken, but the heart must not be betrayed." As the judge's brush comes down, the Divine Judge's dark robe is stained with blood. For the first time, he breaks the heavenly laws for someone.
