The Rootless Dao

In the empire of Ninefold Heaven, every child is judged by the resonance of their spiritual roots. Those blessed with thunder, flame, or star roots enter immortal sects and climb toward eternity. Those born rootless become servants, fuel, or forgotten bones. Lian Zhen is the lowest of the low, a grave-sweeper in the outer cemetery of the Azure Serpent Sect, until a forbidden burial exposes him to an inheritance no cultivator can survive: the Sutra of the Hollow Heaven, a path that devours the absence where roots should be.

Marked by an ancient will, hunted by sect elders, and guided by the sarcastic remnant soul of a fallen pill sovereign, Lian Zhen must cultivate emptiness itself. But every breakthrough asks a question sharper than a sword: if power is gained by surrendering what makes him human, what remains at the summit? As tournaments ignite, heavenly tribulations descend, and buried immortals stir beneath the world, the rootless boy may become either the end of cultivation—or its only salvation.