When heaven and earth first came into being, nine “Heavenly Pillars” arose from chaos and held up the Nine Heavens. Later, one pillar broke and a corner of the sky collapsed. Ever since, the world has been unstable, and “turbid energy” leaks through from time to time. Wherever it passes, plants grow wildly, beasts become monsters, and people turn into abominations.
To fight the turbid energy, ancient cultivators developed the art of “Qi Refining.” But Qi Refining requires “spiritual veins,” fragments scattered across the earth when the Heavenly Pillars broke. Spiritual veins are finite: every bit used is gone for good. So although the cultivation world seems refined and immortal on the surface, behind closed doors, people will wipe out an entire household over a spiritual vein no bigger than a fingernail.
The world is divided into nine “domains,” each corresponding to one Heavenly Pillar. The pillar corresponding to the Eighth Domain broke, turning it into a wasteland filled with mutated monsters that no one dares enter.
The story takes place in the Fifth Domain, known as the Swallowing Abyss Domain. It is the poorest of the nine: spiritual veins are scarce, sects are in decline, and cultivators are desperately broke. Yet legend has it that the fragment of the Heavenly Pillar that broke off long ago fell beneath the Swallowing Abyss Domain.
