Heavenly Fire 2642

Three thousand years ago, the ancient Yuchao civilization—whose cultivation system drew power from the constellations—collapsed when alien races incited upheaval that sent celestial stars plummeting from the heavens. The cosmic order fractured, sacred artifacts were destroyed, and the divine continent split into five warring lands. With humanity's strength crippled by the falling stars, mortals became prey, slaughtered and subjugated at will. As alien factions turned on one another in a brutal scramble for dominion over the central plains, the land descended into nearly three centuries of dark, ceaseless warfare—a meat-grinder that painted rivers and mountains in blood and pushed humankind to the brink of extinction. In that desperate hour, the great sage Zhang Jiao arose, proclaiming that the Blue Heaven had perished and the Yellow Heaven must now reign. Abandoning the defunct star-based cultivation, he forged a new path rooted instead in the Earthly Branches, breaking through to the saintly realm. With this power, he reclaimed the continent, drove out the alien races, and reestablished the Great Yu dynasty. Because Zhang Jiao's courtesy name was Qianli, he named the new era Tianhuo—Heavenly Fire. Now, in the year Tianhuo 2642, nearly three millennia of peace have begun to fray. The world stirs once more with unrest, and alien forces grow restless beneath the surface. Xu Zhao is nothing more than a lowly Sky Patrol Guard—mediocre in talent, middling in every regard. In these treacherous and uncertain times, will he seize the rising tide and soar, or will he be swept away and drowned beneath the waves of history?