In the final years of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang's three campaigns against Goguryeo and the construction of the Grand Canal exhausted the nation's strength. Refugees filled the land, and warlords began carving out their own territories. At court, the Yuwen, Li, and Dugu clans fought in the open and behind closed doors. In the jianghu, the greatest masters had all perished after the “Mount Hua Sword Debate” decades earlier. The imperial court's ban on martial arts further suppressed the world of martial arts, leaving its sects in decline and a generation of masters missing. People mockingly call it “an age when the spirit of heroes has run dry.” All jianghu figures yearn to “revive the spirit of chivalry,” yet most remain trapped in self-interest and bloodshed.
