The Dao That Devours Heaven

In the empire of Nine Lanterns, every child awakens spiritual roots beneath the gaze of the Heavenly Stele. Those blessed with pure roots enter immortal sects; those without become dust beneath their feet. When ash-hauler Shen Ruyi awakens a forbidden Devouring Root that consumes qi, pills, techniques, and even tribulation lightning, the imperial sects mark him as a calamity before he can take his first true breath as a cultivator.

Hunted by righteous elders, tempted by demonic inheritances, and bound to a broken alchemy furnace containing the soul of a dead grandmaster, Ruyi claws his way from outer-disciple humiliation to the blood-soaked arenas of heaven. But the higher he climbs, the more he learns that cultivation is not ascent—it is debt. Every breakthrough steals from the world, every immortal stands atop a mountain of bones, and the Heavenly Dao itself may be the greatest predator of all.

To save those he loves, Ruyi must master the art of devouring without becoming hunger incarnate.