Chen Changsheng was born in the remote city of Xining with a cruel sentence hanging over him: a rare illness that promised he would not live past twenty. Refusing to accept a life measured by a ticking clock, he leaves everything behind and journeys to the capital, hoping the Grand Examination might offer him a way to defy fate itself.
What he finds instead is resistance at every turn. Bound by an old and unwanted marriage agreement to Xu Yourong, Chen Changsheng becomes a target of political pressure and quiet hostility. Rather than being nurtured as a promising talent, he is cast aside and exiled to a forgotten national academy, a place most people have long abandoned. With nothing but determination and the wisdom of the Three Thousand Daoist scriptures, he begins to carve his own path of cultivation—slow, painful, and uncertain.
Against all expectations, Chen Changsheng rises. He defeats Tianhai Ya’er at the Qing Teng Banquet and shocks the world by breaking through the Seven Laws of the Divine Kingdom within Weiyang Palace itself. Along the way, he finds true companions: the sharp-tongued Tang Sanshiliu, the proud and loyal demon princess Luo Luo, and the steadfast Xuan Yuanpo. Together, they fight their way through the brutal trials of the Grand Examination, reaching heights few ever dreamed of.
Yet victory brings no simple answers. Even standing at the summit, Chen Changsheng realizes that changing one’s destiny is far harder than winning any contest. Lost and shaken, he witnesses the fall of the legendary Xun Mei at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum—a moment that reminds him that even the greatest can fall, and that perseverance is sometimes the only rebellion left.
Fate pulls him once more into chaos during the conflict at Zhou Garden, where demons plot in the shadows. There, Chen Changsheng meets a mysterious young cultivator who turns out to be Xu Yourong herself, moving through the world in disguise. Fighting side by side, trusting one another with their lives, the two grow closer through blood, sacrifice, and shared resolve. Love blooms naturally between them—not as an agreement written long ago, but as something earned through survival.
Together, they stop the demons’ scheme and stand against death itself. But just as they find each other, Zhou Garden collapses, tearing them apart once more. Separated by fate yet bound by love, Chen Changsheng continues forward—still weak, still mortal, but no longer alone in spirit, determined to challenge a destiny that refuses to let him go.
