Tales of the Strange: Cultivating Immortality by Devouring Emotions

This is an age of collapsing towers and rampant demons. The Buddha has had his head severed by an evil spirit. Using his golden body to attract followers, he walks among the living. The imperial court grants titles to great demons, who feed on the incense offerings of mortals. City gods and local deities watch over and protect their prefectures and counties, while fox demons and ghosts hold sway beyond the reach of imperial rule. Those who tend evil spirits have already fed themselves to demons. Feng Shui masters use baleful energy to kill, seamstresses prick ordinary people until they bleed tears, and great aristocratic clans refine blood demons with funerary artifacts as they compete for the dragon's fortune. With no way out, the living become yin people or demonfolk, defying the great laws of Heaven and Earth. The netherworld and the mortal realm intertwine, and evil spirits, gods, demons, commoners, and the imperial clan coexist. The golden light of Buddhism, the literary aura of Confucianism, the arcane arts of Daoism, and the sword energy of the military schools: the powers of every tradition take turns appearing, stirring the fortunes of the Nine Provinces. The mortal world has become a living hell. Liang Xun, a young man who had chosen to lie flat, embarks on the path of a man of letters. The strange tales book in his mind delights in devouring the emotions of humanity. He awakens the Immortal Art of Reading Qi. With a book and a sword, he smashes shadow demons and evil spirits with his book, and cuts down the descendants of emperors with his sword.