After finishing the test on the Moon, where Van Baole got drawn into a chain of intrigues and desperate battles that were truly to the death, the young man heads to Mars. His training in the Dao Academy of Ethers is coming to an end, and the plump fellow faces a dilemma: take a quiet job as a minor official in the warmth and comfort of his home, or risk everything and go to one of the human colonies of the Solar System and join the vanguard of humankind as it explores space. Mars is a desert, poorly studied planet full of ancient secrets and deadly dangers. And that means there are more than enough opportunities for an ambitious guy like Van Baole to prove himself—he definitely won’t miss them…