A historical, philosophical war epic with a vast ensemble cast.
The war game is its central stage, where renowned generals, rulers, and thinkers from across eras and civilizations meet in battle. This is not a conventional power-progression story about traveling through countless worlds. It brings together humanity’s brightest stars across the dimensions of time and philosophy, looking inward to explore human nature and will.
The work is built around four philosophical pillars. Three factions, the order of humanity, the instinct of the wild, and the transcendence of emptiness, form its framework. “Goodness” serves as the standard of value that defines excellence, while différance dissolves the possibility of absolute answers. Deconstruction runs throughout, taking no side and offering no single ultimate truth.
The story unfolds across five volumes, from the ancient Battle of Zhuolu and the flourishing of diverse schools of thought in the Axial Age, through clashes between feudal empires and the world wars of the twentieth century, culminating in an ultimate cosmic crisis at the end of the universe. There, the philosophical questions of meaning raised in the first four volumes come fully into focus. Across 63 chapters, central figures including the Yellow Emperor, Chiyou, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Bai Qi, Zhukov, and Oppenheimer each appear in turn, complete with human flaws and moments of excellence.
At last, as the cosmic void descends and all meaning is about to vanish, every character chooses to burn their essential will, becoming starlight that cannot be erased from the void.
To seek meaning in nothingness, and leave a mark amid annihilation.
