It is said that the Way of Heaven turns in cycles, and fortune waxes and wanes. The Great Ming had endured for over two hundred years, but by the Tianqi era, the emperor was benighted, his ministers corrupt, and the bonds of society in ruins. Greedy officials bled the common people dry, while powerful clans seized land across the provinces. A thousand miles lay barren, starving corpses littered the roads, flames of war rose everywhere, and white bones covered the wilderness. In this dying age, the Heavenly and Earthly Spirits answered the call of calamity, and heroes rose from the countryside. Among them was an unusual star, fierce as fire and resolute as iron: Li Zhuo, who swore to split open this chaotic world!
Caught in a time of upheaval, he watched his entire family perish at the hands of their own clan. His burning hatred became a blaze that could scorch the heavens! He gathered the starving, executed cruel officials, and stormed cities and strongholds. In Fujian and Guangdong, he established a base and raised his banner, then campaigned across the north and south. Through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, he fought his way to survival.
But an age-old question loomed before him:
He aspired to rival Heaven itself, with the ambition to encompass the universe. He would establish new policies, equalize wealth, and smash the chains of a thousand years of Confucian rites, laying the foundation for peace for all ages. “The emperor’s throne changes hands in turn, so next year it’ll be my family’s turn? No! We will build a new world where no one ever becomes emperor!” His ambition rivaled that of the sage kings of antiquity!
Corruption eats away at the bones, and turmoil turns bitter. The comrades who once lived and died together gradually forgot their original purpose when power fell into their hands. Some indulged in riches, taking concubines and seizing fertile land; others fought for power and secretly formed cliques. Still others, swayed by the Qing court or won over by the old dynasty, turned against their former allies! Beneath the Hall of Loyalty, undercurrents surged, and heroes shed tears!
Could this cycle of flourishing and sudden collapse truly never be broken? Standing alone atop a solitary peak, Li Zhuo gazed up at the river of stars and asked a question that shook the ages! Enemies threatened from without, disaster brewed within, the new order was not yet secure, and shadows of the old world loomed everywhere. Before his eyes, even the foundation he had built with his own hands began to show signs of a grave illness.
Overthrow the old order and forge a new world.
Fight Heaven! Fight Earth! Fight mankind!
