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Shrouding the Heavens () is a Chinese xianxia web novel written by Chen Dong. It was serialized on Qidian beginning in 2010 and concluding in 2012 with its 1,859th chapter. It is part of Chen Dong's Shrouding the Heavens trilogy, alongside Perfect World and The Sacred Ruins.

The novel follows Ye Fan, a young man from Earth, and a group of former university classmates after they are transported away from Earth aboard a bronze coffin pulled by nine dragons. The story subsequently develops into a large-scale cultivation narrative involving supernatural powers, ancient forces, conflicts among cultivators, and the pursuit of longevity.

An animated television adaptation premiered on Tencent Video in May 2023. The series is produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures and animated by Build Dream Animation.

Publication

Serialization

Shrouding the Heavens was serialized on Qidian from 2010 to 2012. The novel consists of 1,859 chapters, concluding with the chapter titled "遮天大结局" ("The End of Shrouding the Heavens"). The novel was also distributed through JD Reading in a multi-volume edition.

Print publication

The novel was published in print by Tai Bai Wen Yi Publishing House. A first edition published in Xi'an in 2012 was issued as an 18-volume set.

The first volume, Jiulong La Guan, was published as part of the 2012 print edition.

Themes

Shrouding the Heavens combines its fantastical setting with elements drawn from everyday social life, particularly in its portrayal of interpersonal relationships.

The novel places recurring emphasis on family, friendship, and romantic relationships, while retaining connections to Chinese social ethics and traditional culture even after the characters leave Earth.

The novel incorporates conventions associated with xianxia, including cultivation, supernatural abilities, the pursuit of longevity, and conflicts among cultivators. It also shifts from a contemporary setting into a broader supernatural world while retaining elements of everyday social life.

The novel also uses the pursuit of immortality as a broader narrative theme. The cultivation journey is presented not only as a progression in supernatural power but also as a response to mortality and the limits of human existence, with characters seeking to transcend ordinary human lifespans and uncover the mysteries of the ancient world.

Reception

By September 2014, Shrouding the Heavens had accumulated five million recommendation votes and 500,000 collections on Qidian. The novel also appeared repeatedly in the platform's monthly-ticket, reader-recommendation, and book-review rankings during 2012 and 2013.

The novel entered Qidian's premium program in March 2012 and received the "Highly Popular" distinction in April 2020. Qidian defines the distinction as applying to works with at least 200,000 VIP characters and average paid subscriptions exceeding 10,000.

Shrouding the Heavens entered Qidian's monthly-ticket top ten nine times during its serialization. It also ranked first on the 2013 Baidu Fengyun Chart and had accumulated approximately 63 million clicks and 5.51 million recommendation votes on Qidian.

It was included in the Shanghai Library's 2023 selection of 100 high-quality online-literature works.

In 2016, Shrouding the Heavens was included in the recommended works for the First Online Literature and Art Criticism Competition, where it was listed as work number 30.

In 2017, the novel was included in Guangming Online's "China Online Novels Popularity List" in the xuanhuan and xiuzhen category. It was also described as one of Chen Dong's representative works, with attention given to its world-building and cultivation narrative.

Shrouding the Heavens has been noted for combining fantasy with elements of Chinese social life and traditional culture, particularly in its depiction of social ethics, family, friendship, and romantic relationships.

In 2023, Shrouding the Heavens was selected for inclusion in the Shanghai Library's collection of outstanding Chinese web literature. It was included among the library's 100 outstanding web-literature works.

Shrouding the Heavens ranked at the top of the Baidu Novel Popularity Chart multiple times during its serialization. It had accumulated more than 200 million clicks and more than 20 million readers and followers.

Literary analysis

A 2019 critical study of Shrouding the Heavens examines the novel as one of Chen Dong's representative works, with particular attention to its world-building, narrative techniques, and relationship between reality and imagination.

Adaptations

Donghua

A donghua adaptation of Shrouding the Heavens was developed by Xingyue Chenshi Culture Development, which held the intellectual property rights to the novel. In August 2021, the company was reported to be developing the property in multiple media formats, including animation.

In August 2022, the planned donghua was being developed by Xingyue Chenshi as an adaptation of Chen Dong's web novel. The production used Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) technology and brought together production resources and teams from the film, television, and animation industries.

The series premiered on Tencent Video on 3 May 2023, with three episodes released on the first day and subsequent episodes released weekly.

The animated series premiered on Tencent Video on 3 May 2023.

The series continued as a weekly production. A 2024 report stated that it had reached 57 episodes since its premiere in May 2023.

Production of the series incorporated digital techniques to reproduce elements of traditional Chinese visual culture. The animation used digital scene construction and character motion capture, with visual designs drawing on traditional Chinese gardens, Tang dynasty clothing, and Sanxingdui masks.

By April 2026, the adaptation had entered its third season and had been released continuously for 156 weeks since its debut in 2023.

The animated adaptation entered its third season in 2026. Its first theatrical film was also released that year, as part of the adaptation's continued development in Chengdu's digital cultural and creative industries.

The production company operates in Chengdu's Tianfu Changdao Digital Cultural and Creative Park. The series' production uses virtual-production stages, 3D scanning, motion capture, and facial micro-expression technology.

Reception

The series attracted substantial attention following its premiere. By May 2023, it had more than 1.5 million followers on Tencent Video and more than 3 billion associated views on Douyin.

In December 2023, Shrouding the Heavens received the "Most Promising Animation of the Year" honor at the 2023 Tencent Video Golden Goose Honors. The award placed the series among Tencent Video's recognized animation productions for the year.

By 2024, the series had accumulated more than 6.248 billion associated views on Douyin and 3.55 million followers on Tencent Video.

The animation was included among the 73 works selected by the National Radio and Television Administration as outstanding online audiovisual works for the second quarter of 2024. It was classified as an online animated series.

By April 2026, the series had accumulated more than 17 billion associated plays across platforms.

By September 2025, the animation had exceeded 140 billion associated plays across major video platforms.

Awards and honors

Other adaptations

By 2017, the work had been adapted into a mobile game, a web game, and a manga, while a television adaptation was reportedly in preparation.

Theatrical film

The first theatrical film associated with the animated adaptation, Ni Ming Zhi Zhan: Bei Guan Zhan Wang Teng, was released exclusively on Tencent Video on 4 April 2026. The film was produced by the Chengdu-based digital cultural-creative company Xingyue Chenshi.

The film has a runtime of 90 minutes and was the first theatrical film of the Shrouding the Heavens animated series. It extends the animated series and connects with its ongoing storyline.

Before its release, the film received more than 2.148 million advance reservations. It opened with a score of 9.6 on Tencent Video and generated 220,000 bullet comments on its first day.

Related topics concerning the film had accumulated more than 270 million views on Douyin, and the film had also ranked first in several Tencent Video animation categories.

Bibliography

• Chen Dong. Shrouding the Heavens. Qidian, 2010–2013.
• Chen Dong. Zhe tian (遮天). Tai Bai Wen Yi Publishing House, 2012. 18-volume edition.

See also

• Xianxia