The Last Wall-Climber

The universe destroyed itself, and Earth was reborn. Humanity was imprisoned by the Southern Ice Wall in the southern reaches of the continent, where spiritual energy became the only resource for survival.

A Jiu, A Qi, and the others were born in the lowest levels of the mines. The "blood marks" on their wrists were both shackles and the only means of resonating with the Wall. When A Jiu dug up fragments of the remains of the first "Martial Champion" at the foot of the Wall, a truth buried for seventy thousand years began to emerge:

Spiritual energy was running out. The upper classes used periodic "purges" to reduce the population and delay the end. Beyond the Wall, legend spoke of a source of spiritual energy that would never run dry.

To cross the Wall, they would have to exhaust the last bit of energy within it. That meant millions of their fellow people would perish in the "Great Suffocation."

A Jiu, A Qi, and the others resolutely chose to become road builders, carving a passage through the void with their blood marks and unshakable will.