Chapter 1

[It has been a thousand years since the Central Plains were unified.

This also means that the iron-fisted rule of the emperors and their mighty imperial army, who possessed transcendent martial arts, has lasted for more than a thousand years. It was also a time more than sufficient for the descendants of the heroes who rose up to save the suffering people and the world to become corrupted by power and strength.

The original intent of the founding emperor, who established a new empire to stop the tyranny of the First Emperor, has been so thoroughly tainted by the blood of the people and the disgusting sweat and greed of the wealthy that it is unrecognizable.

The absolute emperor, who does not allow opposition, and the imperial army, which blindly follows his will, have, over the long years, become a monstrous entity that has sucked the blood of countless people, to the point where it is impossible to turn a blind eye. The powerful imperial authority has made the roads unobstructed and the cities bloated, and at night, the tall buildings glitter like stars pulled down from the sky. However, the mud at the base of these towering buildings is mired with the sticky blood and tears of the starving people, and the pus from their flayed flesh.

Unable to bear this, countless martial artists, knights, and righteous individuals rose up with their swords. Perhaps this was a natural occurrence for the empire's people, who grew up hearing the myth of the founding emperor who established the empire.

However, none of these countless knights managed to overthrow the emperor and the imperial army.

Perhaps this was also a natural occurrence. The imperial army, trained with the full support of the state to master unparalleled martial arts, and the emperor, who was inevitably the strongest among them, could not easily be defeated by a few people who had secluded themselves in the mountains to learn ancient martial arts alone or in small groups.

Even if the powerless people united to raise an army of a million, they would be swept away by the ten thousand imperial soldiers who could swing their swords ten times.

Ultimately, the purpose of learning martial arts in the various sects of the Central Plains became to join the imperial army and catch the emperor's eye, a natural progression.

In the end, the many people of the empire were exploited by wealthy merchants and corrupt officials, and from the moment they were born on this land until they lay in shallow graves, they never owned a single plot of land or a single workshop. They were reduced to mere components of the empire, spending their lives fattening the bellies of those above them.

In the midst of these days of despair, which seemed like another form of hell, one day,

a new land was discovered.

It was a land that appeared after sailing for dozens of days across the vast eastern sea on a giant ship. It was a vast land with wide grasslands, forests, high mountains, deep valleys, desolate deserts, and mighty rivers. It also had plants and animals similar to those of the Central Plains, as well as similar monsters and people.

The current emperor, who had just ascended the throne, was surprised when the business supported by his predecessor as a pastime actually succeeded, but that was all.

According to the records of those present, when the emperor saw the plants and animals brought back by the exploration team, the people who were slightly different from the empire's people, and the gold and silver, he appeared quite indifferent.

This was also a fitting demeanor for the iron-blooded emperor of an empire that had not only lasted for over a thousand years but had grown stronger with each passing day.

However, his indifference did not reflect his true intentions, as he soon bestowed many treasures and new ships to those who explored the new continent, along with the order to establish a stable route between the new continent and the empire.

With the full support of the emperor—though to him it was merely a pastime—the exploration team and the shipbuilding industry quickly completed the route and the map. Then, countless people of the empire began to cross the sea on the ships created through this route.

The indigenous people of the new continent could only form small tribal groups of a hundred or so. Moreover, they did not cultivate large-scale agriculture. Naturally, there was an abundance of unclaimed land, which the new subjects of the empire saw as the only opportunity to escape the cruel officials and ruthless tycoons and own their own land.

Over several decades, as tens or hundreds of thousands of people crossed the sea, the emperor not only did not stop them but even created a fleet under the royal household to compete with other merchants' ships and transport people. He also issued an edict stating that the land cultivated by the people in the new continent would belong to them.

In the author's opinion, the emperor likely anticipated that the crossing of a handful of people from the empire, which already numbered in the hundreds of millions, would not be a significant issue. He might have even been secretly pleased that the people would till the land without the need for the royal household to waste its power on developing new land.

And in several decades, at the end of his reign or during his son's reign, he would undoubtedly send the ruthless imperial army to swallow up the land.

However, there was something the iron-blooded emperor and the imperial army did not anticipate.

It was that those crossing the sea were not just the powerless people.

Martial artists who had struggled to maintain their connections in the shadows, avoiding the eyes of the imperial army; extraordinary individuals who had hidden in deep mountains and valleys waiting for an opportunity; the families of the old dynasties, thought to have disappeared; and those who had hidden their strength and nurtured their power under the emperor's rule, all crossed the sea dreaming of a new dynasty and a new world.

Of course, not only those with noble intentions crossed the sea.

Criminals who had committed crimes in the dark corners of the cities, opportunists hoping to make a fortune in the new continent, and madmen who had mastered evil martial arts also crossed the sea.

At the time, scholars feared that all these people would gather in one place and explode like water poured into boiling oil, leading to a disaster where countless lives would be lost.

However, this was merely a groundless fear. In the author's opinion, there were several reasons for this, but the most significant was that the new continent was vast, and compared to its size, the number of people was very small.

...I am aware that many scholars have written numerous books and articles about the current situation. I wish to add my humble thoughts to this.

It is that the emperor's intention to swallow up this land will fail.

More than a thousand years ago, martial arts were not taught to just anyone, and only those with a connection were taught. Therefore, most of those who rose up to challenge the chaotic Warring States period and the tyranny of the First Emperor were knights.

However, the empire established by the founding emperor after defeating the First Emperor and the Overlord was far from what the knights had expected, and under the powerful empire's authority and surveillance, they could not grow stronger and had to wander underground endlessly.

But this place was different. This new land, far from the empire, the emperor, and the imperial army, was different.

This land, overflowing with knights, villains, virtuous people, and demons, can be described as a return to the old martial world of a thousand years ago.

Countless beliefs, intentions, selfishness, greed, and all kinds of martial arts will fight to realize their wills. The sparks and sweat from these battles will become the vitality of the new martial world, and it will grow strong and resilient, contrary to the emperor's expectations.

Without the oppression of the empire, the struggle for each martial artist's beliefs will become the embodiment of old romance, igniting the flames in their hearts.

Thus, the spark of the martial world, which has blossomed after a thousand years, will not be easily extinguished by the power of the emperor and the imperial army across the sea...]

The rest of the book was soaked in blood and illegible.

"When did this story take place?"

The man, crouching and flipping through the book, idly flicked it a couple of times and then tossed it to the ground. The book landed on the chest of the corpse lying on its back, and due to the large wound, the remaining part of the book, which was relatively intact, began to slowly soak in blood.

"And romance, my friend, is lying in a comfortable bed at home, munching on snacks while reading a martial arts novel. The reason the Yu Fang dynasty, which lasted about five hundred years, managed to surpass a thousand years is precisely because of the martial world and martial arts. Why are you looking for romance there?"

The man, scolding the dead man with a hoarse voice, twisted his lips and turned his head. The crimson sunset made him squint his eyes.

The sun, setting over the vast plain, was spilling its last rays of light for the day. The light clouds spread widely over the plain, clearly divided into parts that received the sunset and those that did not, proudly displaying their diversity.

The same was true for the corpses around the man.

About a dozen corpses, including men, women, and the elderly, lay scattered with large wounds. A carriage with one broken wheel was tilted, and the contents inside were scattered, and the absence of the horse's body suggested it had been robbed.

The man, crouching, looked at the cooling corpses with a crooked eye, then slowly stood up. His eyes moved to the clothes scattered around the carriage. He rummaged through them, hoping to find something useful, but found nothing. However, there were a few clothes that seemed to fit a small child.

Since there were no children among the corpses, the bandits must have taken them, either to raise them as bandits or to sell them cheaply.

"Such a pity."

The man, muttering to himself, put on the straw hat in his left hand, spat lightly, and whistled briefly. His horse, Zaozao, approached lazily. The man, adjusting the sword on his waist, mounted the horse with a smooth motion and kicked the horse's side with his foot in the stirrup.

Zaozao, understanding his master's intention from the action, snorted and immediately started galloping away from the scene.

The man and his horse galloped across the red plain. The dry wind, mixed with sand, blew under the man's clothes and straw hat, and his body and the saddle swayed with the horse's movements. Leaving the bodies, which had not been dead for half a day, behind, he galloped towards the sunset.

It was a late afternoon in the new continent.