遮天
Shrouding the Heavens
Nine dead dragons, a bronze coffin and a one-way trip far from Earth
Synopsis
At a class reunion on the summit of Mount Tai, Ye Fan and his former classmates witness nine giant dragons hauling a colossal bronze coffin. Swept across space, they wake on a dead planet — the prelude to a far vaster world.
Reaching an ancient cultivation universe, Ye Fan discovers he has the legendary Holy Body, an exceptional physique that the heavens nonetheless seem to condemn to stagnation. He will have to invent his own path to survive — and perhaps to return home.
Based on the novel by Chen Dong, author of Perfect World, the donghua has aired on Tencent Video since 2023. An animated feature, Bei Guan Zhan Wang Teng, extended the series in 2026.
World
At the heart of the story lies the Northern Dipper region (北斗), where ancient families, holy lands and old imperial bloodlines fight over the legacies of vanished Great Emperors. Every ruin hides a clue to the origins of the bronze coffin.
Power system
Cultivation follows a highly codified progression, from the Sea of Bitterness to the Divine Bridge and the Other Shore, before the higher realms. Ye Fan's Holy Body defies these rules: physically overwhelming, it struggles to break through each stage.
Reception & popularity
Named "Most Promising Animation of the Year" at Tencent Video's 2023 Golden Goose Honors, the donghua was singled out in 2024 by China's National Radio and Television Administration and had passed 17 billion plays by April 2026.
My take
Few donghua have such a memorable opening: nine dead dragons hauling a bronze coffin through space. Shrouding the Heavens sets up a mood of cosmic mystery from the start and sustains it very well.
Ye Fan is a clever, down-to-earth hero, and Hei Huang often steals the show with his humour. The series is long, but it remains one of the most ambitious around — ambitious enough to get its own feature film.
Who is it for?Watch it if you liked Perfect World, or if you want a great xianxia epic to follow over the long haul.
Main characters
More character profiles are coming.
Adaptations
This franchise also exists in other formats — each with its own pacing and audience.
Trivia
- Chen Dong, the novel's author, went on to write Perfect World, set in the same universe in a different era.
- The original novel runs to more than 1,800 chapters, one of the longest xianxia sagas by its author.
- Hei Huang, the talkative black dog, has become one of Chinese viewers' favourite characters over the episodes.
If you liked…
More donghua to discover after Shrouding the Heavens: same author or same genres.
