Xuan Zhen is the most precise ruler in the Court of Judicial Review.
Rational, solemn, and never wrong, he made only one miscalculation: his own fate.
He has three years left to live, and before he dies, he must mend the leaky Heavenly Way.
Then he's forcibly recruited into the Mingcheng Bureau, where he meets Helian Jin, the old calamity god, hanging upside down from a beam and grinning with his tiger teeth on full display.
Helian Jin says, "Use three years of your life to give this broken world a chance to last a few more years. Will you do it?"
Xuan Zhen picks up his brush and writes the first blood-red verdict in the air: "I will."
After that, every time Xuan Zhen writes a "Word of True Law," he shaves away at his bones to repay Heaven, bringing him closer to death.
The madman who once said he wanted to watch the world be destroyed now frantically pours divine fire from the heavens into his lungs.
Helian Jin holds him captive in his arms, molten gold burning in his eyes. "Xuan Zhen, I'll follow the rules of this world, but I won't let it take your life."
- "If the rules of the Three Realms are wrong, then we'll rewrite them."
- "Good. I'll clear the way for you."
Theme: In an imperfect world, build a gentle order with one another, an order that allows imperfection to exist.
