Qin Zheng, a young revolutionary emperor of Huaxia who has crushed Hunduns, defeated rival Chrysalis pilots, and roused workers across seven nations against their oppressors, finds himself dying of an aggressive form of flowerpox. With no cure possible in the days he has left and the gods refusing his prayers, he resorts to a desperate experiment: using the Yellow Dragon Chrysalis, burrowed beneath Mount Zhurong to access the planet's living energy, to freeze himself in time until a cure can be made.

His mentor, Queen-General Mi Xuan, leader of the Iron Widows and pilot of the Three-Legged Crow, joins him in the cockpit to channel her Water qì through him, despite Water being her weakest affinity. They share a tender, intimate farewell, with Qin Zheng calling her "Xuan-jiějiě" and her calling him "Zheng'er," before her cold qì freezes him into stasis. She promises to wake him only when a cure exists.

Qin Zheng awakens believing only minutes have passed, expecting General Mi with the cure. Instead, he finds an unfamiliar young girl in red armor channeling Fire qì into him. She injects him with a cure but demands he immediately pilot the Chrysalis from the yīn seat, threatening to withhold further medicine. When he resists, she reveals that 221 years have passed. Realizing General Mi and everyone he knew are long dead, Qin Zheng's world is upended. A stroke-like numbness affects half his face, which he covers with a spirit metal mask.