An Earthling must quickly learn the rules of a new world ruled by ancient powers—and prove his worth as a mere mortal—in the first book of this xianxia series.

Former MMA fighter Booker Kerrison is drifting aimlessly through life, when he suddenly wakes up in another man's body with a raging hangover and a swollen, infected tattoo covering one side of his face. Transported to the strange, cutthroat realm of Sha, he soon realizes he's somehow come to inhabit the corporeal form of a young man named Rain.

Orphaned at just fourteen, Rain buried his pain in drug addiction and reckless behavior, taking every risk under the sun. And now Booker's inherited the beat-up wreck of his body, including the tattoo that marks him as a cripple, a reflection of not only his broken physical state but also his social excommunication from the Mantis Sect. But Booker's inspired by Rain's tenacity—even if it wasn't pointed in the most productive direction—and he's determined to repair his poisoned self and forge a new destiny.

Armed with fighting skills from his previous life, a magical crafting book embedded in his mind, and Rain's own jumbled memories, Booker begins amassing wealth and networking his way up the social ladder. However, crafting abilities and elaborate street scams alone won't protect him as Sect politics and a local cartel back him into a corner. Can Booker prove that with enough grit, dirty tricks, and explosive alchemy, even a branded cripple can leap the dragon gate to immortality?

The first volume of the hit progression-fantasy series—with more than a million views on Royal Road—now available in paperback, ebook, and audio!