TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Chapter One:
For All That Must Unfold
“Heaven and Earth are without mercy; in ages long before, such was the world; in this age, it is truth made manifest;
for all that remains of eternity, such the world shall be.”
—Zaiji Emperor
ZIJIE: Minimal
TIME: Y-257 Zaiji ERA M11 S20 16:55:23.203
NODE: Imperial Core: Jiuxing Zhucheng
SECTOR: The Fourth Octant
LOCATION: Zhi Suo Overpass
Chapter Two:
When Skies Fall
“Should we refuse to choose the sacrifice, the storm will choose for us.”
—Consortium, Board of Twelve
ZIJIE: Hazardous
TIME: Y-257 Zaiji ERA M11 S20 17:21:09.112
NODE: Imperial Core: Jiuxing Zhucheng
SECTOR: The Fourth Octant
LOCATION: Fourth Spire Zhi Suo, 150th floor
Chapter Three:
Protocol
“History remembers her survivors. Seldom does she remember their intent.”
—Grand Chancellor Hu of Qing
ZIJIE: Detrimental
TIME: Y-257 Zaiji ERA M11 S22 12:00:00.000
NODE: Imperial Core: Jiuxing Zhucheng
SECTOR: The First Octant
LOCATION: First Spire Gao yu, 99th floor
Chapter Four:
When Mountains Shake
“Curséd be the kingdom of flesh that hath welded his throne upon ruinous plunder. Hearken, O children of ash and iron, for this I declare: death be unto the vile Empire of Man!”
—Captured Blight Specimen U1-ZJ001
ZIJIE: Hazardous
TIME: Y-257 Zaiji ERA M11 S22 15:31:42.583
NODE: Imperial Core: Jiuxing Zhucheng
SECTOR: The Sanctum
LOCATION: Gate of a Thousand Blossoms
Chapter Five:
The Light of Falling Moons
“You have taken the throne. Pray you have also taken the weight of the world it once held.”
—Zaiji Emperor
ZIJIE: Calamitous
TIME: Y-257 Zaiji ERA M11 S23 02:48:20.742
NODE: Imperial Core: Jiuxing Zhucheng
SECTOR: The Sanctum
LOCATION: Hall of The Ninefold
Chapter Six:
Where Threads Are Cut
“Speak. This I beg. Any truth, no matter how warped, may yet inspire hope.”
—Guxia Clansman
ZIJIE: Minimal
TIME: Y-257 Zaiji ERA M11 S23 19:11:01.020
NODE: Imperial Core: Jiuxing Zhucheng
SECTOR: First Octant
LOCATION: Lianshu District
Chapter Seven:
Ten Thousand Calamities
“Humanity will curse us today so that tomorrow may exist.”
—Chairman of Ziteng Industrial Group
ZIJIE: Hazardous
TIME: Y-257 Zaiji ERA M11 S29 05:00:00.000
NODE: Imperial Core: Jiuxing Zhucheng
SECTOR: First Octant
LOCATION: Yiying District
Chapter Eight:
When Petals Scatter
“When all are united, Mount Tai can be shaken; where men are divided, the realm is forsaken.”
—Zaiji Emperor
ZIJIE: Hazardous
TIME: Y-257 Zaiji ERA M11 S29 08:02:53.239
NODE: Imperial Core: Jiuxing Zhucheng
SECTOR: Undocumented
LOCATION: Xuan Sha Sea (Gulf of Tie)
Chapter Nine:
For All That Must Be Done
“Across a hundred seas and a thousand mountains, with severed threads and shattered memories, what may tether me home?”
—The Weaver Empress
ZIJIE: Minimal
TIME: Y-257 Zaiji ERA M11 S29 19:00:00.000
NODE: Imperial Core : Grand Circle
SECTOR: Undocumented
LOCATION: Xuan Sha Sea (Gulf of Tie)
[END OF BOOK ONE]
NOVEL TWO:
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Chapter One:
The World Within The Immortal’s Palm
“The nation is shattered. Families—scattered. Calamity looms near as the sweat upon one’s own brow.”
Chapter Two:
When Earth Rises
Chapter Three:
Selection
Chapter Four:
When Stones Gather
Chapter Five:
The Dark of Rising Suns
Chapter Six:
Where Tethers Weld
Chapter Seven:
Ten Thousand Storms
Chapter Eight:
When Blossoms Rot
Chapter Nine:
The World Beyond The Immortal’s Eye
[END OF BOOK TWO]
Page One Sample:
The Mighty, long unshaken, at last must one day fall;
The Fallen, long forgotten, must one day rise to Heaven’s call;
The Earth, long inhumane, shall witness Man’s most blighting gall—
Three truths thus writ where starlight beholds all.
Chapter One:
For All That Must Unfold
“Heaven and Earth are without mercy; in ages long before, such was the world; in this age, it is truth made manifest;
for all that remains of eternity, such the world shall be.”
—Zaiji Emperor
ZIJIE: Minimal
TIME: Y-257 Zaiji ERA M11 S20 16:55:23.203
NODE: Imperial Core: Jiuxing Zhucheng
SECTOR: The Fourth Octant
LOCATION: Zhi Suo Overpass, Foot of the Fourth Spire,
18th Annual Cessation Rite of Her Imperial Majesty
Where gazes rise skyward, there lies a painter’s expanse; the Heavens have yet to darken, growing deeper still, clothed in empyrean silks dyed a thousand gleaming violets. Bands of scarlet and bronze bleed across the aether where fallen haze settles against the blazing horizon. The skies are always loveliest when most faithfully sustained by light’s lie, steadfast in the forbearance of twilight. Through the vaulting firmament, there pierce Nine Scarring Blades of hallowed steel, rising in darkened, segmented planes like a palm thrust against the sky. Each one climbs higher than the last. Each one—a fortress exact. Each one a monument raised upon the ruin of a world long entombed.
INSERT SHUIMOHUA ILLUSTRATION: CROWN PRINCE XUAN CHENGYU
TIME: 16:57:11.720
A processional march, held lockstep, eastbound winds bring with it the dulling stink of wet iron. A distant thundering clangor heaves at constant marks, rolling across the overpass. In perfect array adva…
[SAMPLE END]