Dragon's Spine

After countless immeasurable eons, the nations of Jambudvipa faced an unprecedented apocalypse. At that time, the Three Realms fell into chaos, as asuras and evil spirits poured into the human world from the underworld through the gates of hell. To purge the underworld of its demons, the gods unleashed heavenly fire, bringing catastrophe to the mortal world. One god could not bear to see humanity suffer. He transformed all the merit he had accumulated in his lifetime into the sacred Mount Sumeru, bringing it down to seal the rift into the underworld. From then on, people revered him as the King of Mount Sumeru. The King of Mount Sumeru exhausted his divine power and descended into the mortal world, ushering in an era of peace that lasted for centuries. After the king passed away, the earth mourned. Mountains collapsed and the land split into nine provinces and twenty-four kingdoms. The King of Mount Sumeru's people scattered throughout Jambudvipa, while the twenty-four kingdoms were separated by hellish mountains and rivers, the Gobi Desert, barren wastelands, salt seas, and lands of fire. In time, the King's realm fell apart. Only Dragon City, ruled by the descendants of the King of Mount Sumeru, remained prosperous. The story begins in Dragon City, ruled by Long Yuan, a descendant of the King of Mount Sumeru. Through the efforts of a master craftsman of extraordinary skill, the King's people are reunited, and an era of conflict and rising heroes begins. (Although this is an original story, some character models were inspired by the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. If the characters' names seem familiar, well... you're right, they're based on those figures...) (PS: I expect you might think some of the characters are overpowered at first... But I can tell you quite seriously... there are a lot of overpowered characters in this story... You may be wondering if the protagonist can outdo them... Spoilers would be immoral, so I won't tell you that the protagonist appears rather late.)