Shen Yan studied stone carving under his master, Zhou Baoshan, for five years, only to have his master steal his work, enter it under his own name, and win the provincial competition's gold medal. After exposing the truth in public, Shen Yan was believed by no one and was expelled from his master's school, becoming the laughingstock of the entire village. Refusing to give up, Shen Yan used his meager savings to take over an abandoned quarry in a neighboring village. Amid everyone's ridicule, he spent seven whole days digging, hammering and chiseling. On the very day his master arrived with others to humiliate him, declaring that he would never rise again in his lifetime, Shen Yan's shovel struck something hard: a world-class vein of Qingtian stone, forgotten by everyone and sleeping deep within the barren mountains for countless years.