Lee Myeongyi has lived his whole life with pneumothorax—a collapsed lung. He despises the attention he draws at school with his bouts of loud hyperventilating, extended coughing fits, and exemption from physical education as well as military service. Whether suffering through the curiosity or ire of his classmates, Myeongyi is left feeling like a complete outcast. However, the class president Han Seonho often shows Myeongyi kindness and understanding. With his friendly gestures and handsome looks, he becomes Myeongyi's first crush. Nine years later, Myeongyi attends his high school reunion for only one reason: to see Han Seonho once again. He holds a tiny glimmer of hope about the other man's feelings for him—but after seeing the bright gold ring on Seonho's left hand and listening to their classmates' prying questions, that hope is quickly dashed. Excusing himself to go take a smoke, regardless of the state of his lungs, Myeongyi is followed outside by Seonho. Unexpectedly, that marks the beginning of their illicit love affair.

In a not-too-distant future, humanity has established a loosely organized world government with everything managed by an international AI network called Sapientia. People live peaceful lives by loyally obeying its rational decisions. However, Sapientia's lunar development project, which sends criminals and pollutants to the Moon to maintain Earth's peace, creates disparity and poverty on the Moon, sparking a catalyst for war. Jacob "Jack" Shadow gets caught up in this conflict after losing his family to a terrorist bombing by the Moon's rebel army. Vowing revenge, Jack joins the Earth army as a scout on the Moon, only to discover an unexpected leader among the resistance forces.

Along an empty road in the rural countryside, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji stumble across a stone plaque that reads "Yi City." Still on their quest to unravel the mystery behind the cursed severed arm, they venture into the deserted city to obtain further leads. However, with the appearance of a mysterious new cultivator, the demonic arm investigation leads Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji to a plot that threatens the cultivation world as they know it. The gravity of the new situation escalates when the two find it involves the chief cultivator of the renowned Lanling Jin Sect—Jin Guangyao. As the pair continue to piece together the crucial conspiracies of the cultivation history, their friends and colleagues grow suspicious of their motives. With the world against him, Wei Wuxian must prove he is not the demonic sorcerer people believe him to be to regain their trust and save the cultivation world from the sinister evil lurking within it.