Peach Blossom Sanctuary.0

Fifty years passed in the blink of an eye.0

That spring, the Tang Dynasty fell. The last young emperor was forced to abdicate by a rebel warlord who claimed to be restoring royal order.0

And with that, the Great Tang Empire was no more. The vast empire splintered into chaos, plunging into an age of fractured power, where warlords rose like weeds after rain. It became common knowledge that if you could offer sacrifices to the mountains and river, you could declare yourself king. One after another, formidable contenders stepped into the spotlight, vying for the throne once reserved for a single sovereign.0

Once, there was only one emperor under Heaven.0

Now, emperors sprang up like mushrooms after a storm.0

At first, Li Yuan couldn’t quite wrap his head around it.0

The Church of Light he founded shouldn't have been so fragile. The mighty ones he'd left behind were capable of suppressing all sorts of threats and chaos. Even in the face of calamity, it shouldn’t have fallen to the point of becoming a minor, dwindling sect.2

But with just a glance, he saw it clearly. Once a glorious beacon, the Church of Light had become a scurrying rat, hiding in rural villages and small towns, its few remaining members too afraid to show their faces, let alone boast any real strength.0

It had only been 170 years since the Tang Empire fell into ruin, and already the Church of Light was reduced...0