The demon race flourishes, while humanity declines.
Only mighty cultivators who have mastered ancient arts can stand a chance against them.
But today, countless millennia later, humanity has long since lost too many ancient traditions, and the world's spiritual energy has dwindled to the point that it can no longer nurture powerful cultivators like those of old.
Just as humanity suffers defeat after defeat and faces extermination at the hands of the demon race, he uses his unique creativity to establish a new system of talisman cultivation, single-handedly saving the world from collapse.
The Demon-Subduing Talisman Sect he founds, whose cultivation system is based on talismans, shines brilliantly in the unprecedented battle that will decide the fate of humanity.
He is the Demon-Subduing Talisman Emperor, celebrated by later generations: an ordinary man who was unremarkable in his youth, so poor he could barely afford to stay in school.
