The Single-Row Scroll

During the Jiajing reign, the Japanese pirate raids in the southeast had yet to be quelled.

At Yuwei Abbey, Shen Zhou, Xu Fang, and Xie Xin thought their lives would be spent training and cultivating in the mountains. One seemingly ordinary delivery of a letter sent their fates down separate paths.

In this world, all things are connected, and people can cultivate the art of forms by drawing on the myriad phenomena of nature. Some command the wind, some wield fire, and some glimpse the heavens and earth in a single stroke of the blade.

Shen Zhou was brought to the capital by Beishuo, a Jinyiwei commander. An old case resurfaced in his wake. Meanwhile, the long-sealed truth about his senior brother Xie Xin's origins was awakened anew by an old blade from across the sea.

Beyond the mountain gate, old friends, bloodlines, power, and war each flowed along their own course.

Since unease in life is unavoidable, all one can do is shoulder a patched straw sandal and a broken alms bowl, roll up one's bedding, and set out.