Beneath Bianliang, Jin forces press against the city, while the Daoist and Buddhist schools argue without end. People keep disappearing from the city, vanishing without a trace, dead or alive. The people burn incense by day and dare not even step outside after dark.
Seventeen-year-old Chen Yan has been plagued by the same nightmare for six years. In it, there is always an old street, an old man in a blue robe, and an argument he cannot make out. His family tries every remedy, but nothing works. At last, they obtain a wax-sealed pill from an ancient Song-dynasty tomb and make him swallow it. After three days of fever, the nightmare becomes clear. He sees Bianliang's streets, smells something burning, and feels an unfamiliar qi within his body. Later, he closes his eyes and opens them again to find himself standing at Bianliang's city gate, the qi in his dantian sinking heavily, as if it has been waiting a long time.
Clues to the disappearances in the city lead Chen Yan to a case buried for ten years. The Daoist and Buddhist schools each insist on their own version, but neither can offer a solution. Someone else is by his side: his childhood sweetheart, who came out of the dream with him. The two of them were caught up in the same Pill Illumination and ended up in the same city. Bianliang's fate has reached its end, and the qi supporting the entire city is dispersing. Chen Yan must restore it before it vanishes completely. This is a cultivation journey that defies fate. If he succeeds, Bianliang will survive; if he fails, everyone will sink together.
Bianliang is on the verge of collapse. His journey has only just begun.
