Bai Suzhen, a thousand-year-old snake demon from Mount Emei, is not only a demon immortal who has perfected her cultivation, but also Heaven's top secret-trained “Demon Slayer,” tasked with killing monsters corrupted into demons.
These demonized monsters are bloodthirsty creatures whose minds have been warped by an ancient source of contamination. They bite any human they see and devour any demon they encounter, making them the most terrifying plague in the mortal world. Bai Suzhen, however, is naturally immune to the corruption, and her swordsmanship is divine: one stroke can slay three demons.
Heaven sends down an edict: demonized monsters are running rampant in Hangzhou. She is ordered to descend the mountain at once and suppress them, while also settling a lingering debt from her past.
Bai Suzhen had only intended to repay the scholar Xu Xian and leave, but she discovers that he is the only “chosen one” capable of helping her purify demonized monsters. And so come the borrowed umbrella by West Lake, their love sealed at Broken Bridge, and the opening of Baohe Hall: by day, they heal the sick and save lives; by night, they team up to fight monsters.
But a greater conspiracy comes to light. The demonized monsters are no natural disaster: they are “tools” deliberately created by Heaven's elite to eliminate rivals and consolidate divine authority. Fahai is no venerable monk who defends the righteous by exorcising demons, but Heaven's executioner. Leifeng Pagoda is no magical artifact for suppressing demons, but a prison for rebels.
“Do you really think Heaven considers you one of its own?” a dying demonized monster taunts her. “You're nothing but their dog.”
Bai Suzhen draws her sword. “Then I'll bite through this chain.”
She carries Xu Xian's child, with her rebellious junior sister Xiao Qing at her back, and all of Heaven's rotten court standing before her. As Leifeng Pagoda crashes down, she chooses to sacrifice a thousand years of cultivation and unleash her power of purification. She will restore the minds of all the demonized monsters tainted by corruption, and let all the deceived people see the truth:
What has always stood between humans and demons is not Heaven's laws, but the lies of those in power.
