The Spirit Returns to the Palace

Ordinary mortals who take in the world's strange and violent energies become ghouls. They can barely cling to life, sustained only by killing and devouring living blood.

In ancient times, the path of immortality was first established. The various races formed tribes according to their methods of cultivation, and this continued for four thousand years.

Then Emperor Zhou took up arms to quell the chaos, subdued the tribes across the land, united the realm, and founded the Zhou dynasty, known as the Celestial Empire.

With the Zhou dynasty's rise came a new path of martial cultivation. No longer would practitioners rely on strange energies and living blood to cultivate the truth. Instead, they forged a way to nurture divine treasures within, tempering the myriad spirits in their body's inner palace and transforming their vital energy into pure, spiritual essence. They tempered their bodies until they could soar into the heavens, ultimately reaching the same supreme realm as the ancient immortals by a different path.

But midway through the dynasty, corrupt eunuchs threw the government into chaos. The imperial dragon essence leaked away, and the lords of the realm claimed lands for themselves. The Zhou territory fell apart, and the Yan dynasty rose in its place.

The ruler of Yan had no heir. Eunuchs and officials seized power, and generals who controlled the land again plotted usurpation. The Yan dynasty fell, and the Liang dynasty took its place.

At that time, sects beyond the mortal world flourished, while the martial families of the realm grew deeply entrenched.

When the late Liang emperor ascended to immortality, the court suddenly collapsed and power fell into other hands.

A descendant of the Zhou imperial house discovered the ruins of the old dynasty, inherited its legacy of a thousand years, and spent five generations building strength. They raised a rebellion, overthrew Liang, and established the Later Zhou.

Yet the sects and martial families were never stripped of their power. In the present day, the court is rotten and the realm lies in ruin. The Jueyin Kingdom in the north repeatedly invades the border, and the wars rage without end. The nation's destruction is imminent.