In Dust City, the lamp craftsman Su Mingdeng is said to have a thin fate, but he refuses to believe in it. His mother passing her heart-lamp to him with her life becomes his deepest obsession for half a lifetime; he will rely on his own ability to seize his destiny back into his own hands. From a lamp craftsman trampled at the bottom to finding a good partner and rising step by step, he sees through the truth hidden beneath the perpetual light of this world along the way, and finally uses his own single strength to overturn that thousand-year lamp city weighing down upon all living beings. He makes everyone no longer need to fight for their lives by fate, but instead rely on ability, labor, and conscience to live uprightly to the natural lifespan they ought to live.