Above the Dust, Beneath the Dao
Li Qingshan is born into obscurity in a forgotten village at the edge of the world. His life is defined by leaking roofs, empty fields, and the quiet certainty that nothing extraordinary will ever happen to him. Like all mortals, he believes the heavens are distant and indifferent, and that death is the natural conclusion of a life lived close to the earth.
That belief shatters the day a wandering cultivator passes through Clear River Village.
Drawn into the hidden world above the mundane realm, Qingshan learns that reality is layered. Above the dust-choked mortal world lies the domain of cultivators, sects, ancient inheritances, and beings who defy time itself. Those who walk this path seek not comfort, but eternity. Not justice, but the Dao.
With no noble lineage, no innate talent, and no one to guide him, Qingshan steps onto the road of cultivation armed only with perseverance and an unyielding will. As he ascends through sect hierarchies and forbidden realms, he encounters righteous alliances built on hypocrisy, demonic paths paved with freedom and cruelty, and immortal legacies that demand blood as payment for power.
Friendships bloom and wither. Love becomes both anchor and burden. Each breakthrough carries a cost, and every step toward longevity pulls him further from the mortal ties that once defined him. The higher he climbs, the clearer it becomes that immortality is not a blessing, but a verdict.
To reach the summit of the Dao, Li Qingshan must decide what he is willing to abandon, and whether an immortal who remembers the dust he came from can truly stand among the heavens.