Building the Way with the Sound of Ruins

Shen Yanci, a young cultivator with no spiritual roots from Qingyun Sect, accidentally discovers a damaged ancient book while helping with a sect-wide cleanup. From it, he learns of an ancient sect called Xuyin Sect, which once used the qin as a weapon and music as a blade. Its disciples could repel enemies from thousands of miles away, communicate with the heavens and earth, and see through the ways of the world. Yet three thousand years ago, it was branded a demonic sect and jointly besieged by the great immortal sects of the Qing Realm. Hundreds of thousands of its disciples were slaughtered, and it was wiped out in a single night.

To uncover the truth, the young man flees Qingyun Sect and travels to Xushan, where he studies for more than ten years under Yun Shuzi, a "remnant" of Xuyin Sect. He learns that Xuyin Sect was once a powerful ancient immortal sect, with disciples throughout the Qing Realm, and that its music was hailed as "heavenly music." He is the sect's successor, its only hope after it was slandered and destroyed. When he turns eighteen, his master passes away, and he takes up the responsibility of uncovering the truth, rebuilding Xuyin Sect, and protecting peace across the Three Realms.

On his long journey to investigate the truth, evade pursuit, rebuild Xuyin Sect, and safeguard peace across the Three Realms, he meets many like-minded cultivators: Su Huaisu, his Dao companion, who alone possesses the Listening Eye; Asheng, the orphaned daughter of Xuyin Sect's former music elder; and Qingxuan Zun, who once led the sect's destruction but has since repented and sought atonement. He escapes death countless times, sees the tide turn time and again, and survives one near-fatal ordeal after another. After enduring and emerging from countless trials, he finally attains the Dao and ascends to the pinnacle of the "Sect of Balance," guarded by all the beings of Hongmeng. He upholds the Way of Xuyin: "embrace imbalance and protect balance," and the heart of forging the Dao: "pass it down through the generations and let all beings coexist." From then on, Xuyin returns to its sect, balance endures forever, and the Dao fills Hongmeng.