The Nine Enclosures are like a city, one ring inside another, trapping everyone beneath the heavens.
People in the Outer Enclosure light lamps, extract oil, and burn through their lifespans to keep the eighty-one eternal lamps of the Inner Enclosure burning forever. The Five Great Clans and Seven Prominent Houses are born in the Inner Enclosure; the imperial clan is born at the very heart of the lamps. Outer Enclosure commoners who want to move one step inward must pave the way with their lives.
Qin Ran was born in a hollow in the outermost ring. He was registered as a lowly lamp-lighter. At six, he awakened a spirit affinity:
