Feathers Over the World

Feiyu Tianxia (Feiyu Under Heaven) is a martial-arts fantasy by Bu Feiyan, centered on a protagonist named Lu Feiyu. The story opens with a suspenseful hook: on the fourteenth day of the seventh month, Daoist Songhe, acting head of Mount Emei—the foremost sect under heaven—steps out of his meditation chamber, and the first words from his mouth are “Where is Lu Feiyu?” Shimo and Canxia, who have already attained the rank of wandering immortals, are likewise frantic, piloting the twin swords Dongming and Lishui as they scour the cosmos for the same name. Meanwhile, upon a high terrace in a cave dwelling shrouded in mist and far removed from the mortal world, a Daoist absorbs primordial qi and breathes yin and yang; the three blossoms above his head flicker in and out of view, a purple fetus has formed within his mind, his organs are nearly transparent in the surging current of true qi, and seated upright inside him is a nascent soul the size of his own body. Before him, on a jade tablet of gold seal script, are written three bold, dancing characters—Lu Feiyu. The book is short, eight chapters in all, each titled with a seven-character line of verse, such as “Feiyu Under Heaven, Thoughts Unending,” “Incense Ash in the Jade Grotto, Contemplating the Mystic Yang,” “Immortal Tribulation at the Cloud Mansion Breaks the Purple Emperor,” “Demons Lose Their Hearts, Malevolence Runs Wild,” “Numinous Colors and Seven Auspices Hasten the Cold Gleam,” “Soul-Locking Paradise, a Shura Arena,” and “Three Lives of Autumn Splendor Fade the Red Adornment.” The chapter titles alone reveal the narrative threads of immortal mountains and cloud mansions, battles between good and evil, and pledges from former lives. The work continues Bu Feiyan’s signature gorgeous imagination and poetic style, weaving such traditional cultivation elements as Mount Emei, wandering immortals, nascent souls, and jade tablets of gold seal script into a light, vividly pictorial tale of the martial world—a book suited to readers who relish the flavor of classical immortal fantasy and delight in encountering strange romance and literary flair within a compact span.