Do Not Say the Soul Is Not Moved

Twenty years ago, the Bright Holy Cult of the Western Regions invaded the Central Plains, committing every imaginable atrocity, from rape and looting to abduction. Wudang and Shaolin sent out a wide call for heroes to attack the demonic cult, but were defeated by the cult's Hell Prison Netherworld King and severely weakened. That August, the martial world held a tournament. Sima Wuji, known throughout the martial world as the "Number One Sword Under Heaven," was named Supreme of the Martial World. Sima Wuji and the Hell Prison Netherworld King fought atop Wudang for four days and three nights. When the Netherworld King fell, heroes surged forth and stormed the cult's sacred altar. Peace returned to the martial world.

Twenty years later, the reigning emperor was incompetent and ineffectual. The eunuch An Muran held the emperor hostage to command the nobles, styled himself the Thousand-Year Lord, and slaughtered his political rivals. In the east, he won over wandering martial artists and Japanese pirates, letting them run rampant. In the west, he contacted remnants of the demonic cult and stirred up chaos. A shocking conspiracy was now unfolding.

The so-called righteous factions simply use their numbers to bully the few, while the so-called evil factions are just the losers branded as bandits. What does it matter whether you're righteous or evil? Let me tell you how things really are, one tale at a time.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental. Please do not imitate.