Zhou Shouyi was born with a damaged qi sea and could not retain even a trace of true qi. Yet in his mind, he could deduce every step in the movements of people, places, qi, and ritual patterns. The price was that his divine soul and memories were stripped away with every deduction, and some of the damage could never be undone.
He had hoped to live quietly as an obscure Daoist priest, but one wrongful death after another drew him into a web of intrigue: Daoist registers with names swapped out, talismans and offices granted under false pretenses, and the "Grand Register for Pacifying the World," woven from divine names and spells to encompass the land. When the imperial court used a grand sacrifice to incorporate every Daoist's name and magic into the Grand Register, he finally understood. The real question had never been "Who can attain the Dao?" but...
