The young man Guo Wei, trapped in a detention center and enduring days of misery, transmigrates to the most chaotic and lawless era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms with the help of a broken needle, beginning a new life...
In this world after his transmigration, Guo Wei is enlightened by a mysterious nun. He cultivates his mind and seeks Buddhist wisdom, journeying across countless mountains and rivers and exploring a path of the heart no one before him has walked. It comes from the Buddha-heart, yet transcends Buddha-nature. This is the Way of the Buddha-Mind...
The path to Buddhahood has eight stages. The first four are novice monk, lay Buddhist, practitioner, and Zen master... Guo Wei cultivates step by step, growing from a lowly novice monk into a lay Buddhist, then a practitioner. After enduring further ascetic training, he becomes an unparalleled Zen master. But only after becoming a Zen master does Guo Wei discover that, as it turns out...
At the same time, Guo Wei joins the army, beginning his military career as a lowly guard and climbing step by step to the peak of his life... In this troubled age, heroes emerge one after another: Li Cunxu, Li Siyuan, Shi Jingtang, Liu Zhiyuan, Yelü Bei, Yelü Deguang, and many more...