The mere mention of the Yiling Patriarch strikes fear in those who hear it, even though the man behind the title has been deceased for 13 years. It is said that, as a practitioner of demonic cultivation, he raised the dead to wage war against the great cultivation sects. The true name of the Yiling Patriarch is Wei Ying, courtesy name Wuxian, and he has returned from the dead, summoned into the body of a mad man!

When Wei Wuxian reawakens, he finds himself in Mo Village, which is owned by a branch family of one of the great sects. No sooner does he have time to get his bearings before his world is thrown into disarray again—by a dismembered arm leaking an immense amount of demonic energy. However, the origin of the limb is only the first mystery. Shortly after, the ever-stoic Lan Wangji—someone whom Wei Wuxian believes to harbor great animosity toward him—arrives to sweep Wei Wuxian off his feet!

As Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji seek to unravel the mystery behind the demonic arm, they face both enemies and friends of old, and its link to Wei Wuxian's downfall all those years ago.