Earth has entered the Interstellar Era. Citing humanity’s cultural poverty, the advanced Saint Covenant Empire classifies humans as an inferior slave race, and colonial rule begins as expected. Yet the empire never expected that on a remote garbage planet it had overlooked, a young man named Lin Mu would accidentally inherit the long-lost Intangible Cultural Heritage System of Chinese civilization.
Paper cuttings become soldiers, suona horns break enemy formations, Sichuan opera face-changing creates countless incarnations, a bowl of spicy pepper soup sets the interstellar web ablaze, and a mortise-and-tenon wooden building stands against an orbital cannon!
From behind the scenes, Lin Mu safeguards the flame of civilization, sparking a sweeping cultural counterattack all on his own. He gets arrogant starship commanders hooked on acupuncture and wellness, prompts the empire’s princess to launch a “rebellion” for a taste of hot pot, and even makes the empire’s supreme ruler offer up the scepter of civilization with tears in his eyes, moved by the sound of “A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” played on a suona.
This isn’t conquest by force. It’s a crushing cultural victory from our ancestors, using an entirely different level of power!
