The Fate Stele Shines Upon the World

Above the nine heavens, clouds churn across the sea of stars.

The Imperial Observatory of the Great Yan Dynasty is ablaze with lamplight tonight. On the seventh-tier star-gazing platform, the white beard of Chief Astrologer Yuwen Yan trembles in the night wind. He gazes up at the Purple Forbidden Enclosure, where the imperial star, which should shine as brightly as day, is now wrapped in a strange, dark-red nebula.

“The Ziwei star dims, while Mars guards the Heart…” The old chief astrologer’s face is paler than the star-official robe he wears. “This is… an omen that the imperial star is about to fall and the dynasty’s fate will be thrown into turmoil!”

Before he can finish speaking, all thirty-six celestial instruments around the platform begin to shake. Fine cracks appear across their jade dials. Yuwen Yan swiftly forms a hand seal, and starlight gathers at his fingertips, tracing a complex pattern in the air. He is calculating who will answer the calamity foretold by the stars.

At the point where the stellar paths converge, a name appears: Huangfu Yan

…