after more than three centuries, the empire of juntian begins to collapse, as three of the four major duchies - tianquan, tianshu, and tianxuan - declare their independence. ling guang, the power-hungry king of tianxuan, sends his close companion, the swordsman qiu zhen, to assassinate the emperor. although qiu zhen succeeds, he is tormented over his actions and kills himself in order to protect his king from malicious rumors, sending ling guang into a deep state of depression. the death of the emperor prompts the final duke, jian bin, to declare his duchy tianji an independent kingdom as well. in tianshu, the warrior scholar zhong kunyi becomes a confidant of the young king meng zhang, who orders him to begin undermining tianji. meanwhile, a mysterious wandering musician of renowned beauty called murong li arrives in remote tianquan, where he is doted upon by the naive and childish king zhi ming, who quickly becomes romantically obsessed with him.