Defying the Dao of Rise and Decay

All beasts are mere creatures; only the Dao can shatter the heavens. The world is a chessboard, and I alone cast aside the pieces. In the Great Yong Dynasty, spirit-beast bonding is widespread. As younglings, all spirit beasts are blank slates with empty cores. Only by following orthodox methods to nurture and purify them can they awaken their spirits, fuse their essence, and reach the profound, even the sacred. For five hundred years, the Gu Clan's Spirit-Bonding Office has controlled the grading of all spirit beasts and the allocation of spirit materials. The world reveres its judgments as gospel, and no one dares cross the line. Shen Yan grew up an orphan in a mass grave outside Qingshi County. An inkstone, a wolf, and a mute girl were all he had. When the blade of fate fell, he was forced down a path no one had ever taken before: Defy fate with clashing imprints, and fight for his beasts' lives through a self-destructive method of cultivation.