Nine Tribulations of the Hollow Root

In the empire of Tianxia, a cultivator’s fate is decided at twelve, when the Spirit Bell reveals the color and purity of their roots. Shen Lian expected shame, perhaps mediocrity. Instead, the bell cracks, the elders recoil, and his verdict is worse than talentless: Hollow Root, a forbidden constitution said to devour qi, ruin sects, and invite heavenly wrath. Cast out by his clan and hunted after his awakening kills a noble heir’s spirit beast, Lian survives only by falling into the corpse-choked abyss beneath Cloud Burial Mountain.

There, he inherits the prison-mantra of an ancient immortal who tried to cultivate not by defying the heavens, but by questioning them. To grow stronger, Lian must refine poisons into pills, steal insight from tribulations, and turn every humiliation into a step on his path. But sects, demons, imperial princes, and even gods buried in the stars want the Hollow Root for themselves.

As tournaments ignite, inheritances awaken, and heavenly lightning begins to speak his name, Lian discovers the terrifying truth: his root is not empty. It is waiting to contain the Dao itself.