Worldview

A world where swords, guns, and martial arts coexist.

In the Central Plains, many sects and clans are mixed together. These sects and clans were divided into families supporting the Orthodox factions, the Unorthodox factions, and the Demonic Cult, continuing their confrontation.

The event where this confrontation exploded was the Great War of Justice and Evil.

It was a massive war for hegemony over the Central Plains between the Murim Alliance of the Orthodox factions and the allied forces of the Demonic Cult and Unorthodox factions.

The major sects and the Ten Great Families of the Murim Alliance belonged to the Orthodox side, while minor sects, families, and those supporting the Unorthodox and Demonic Cults belonged to the Anti-Murim Alliance forces.

After a long struggle, the Orthodox side emerged victorious. The Murim Alliance annihilated the Unorthodox forces, pushed the Demonic Cult beyond the Tianshan Mountains, and unified the Central Plains.

Background

The Murim Alliance and the Orthodox families that unified the Central Plains rode their momentum, slowly swallowing the remnants of the Unorthodox factions and the families ruined in the war at a tremendous pace.

However, the problem was the Westerners who encountered the Central Plains at the end of the Great War.

They were already salivating over the immense potential and the vast market of the Central Plains. And the Demonic Cult, which had been driven beyond the Tianshan Mountains and was seeking revenge and reconstruction through raiding, provided a perfect excuse.

Using these damages as a pretext, the Westerners invaded the Central Plains.

The Western Allied forces, equipped with black ships carrying massive cannons, firearms, and modern weaponry, crushed the Murim Alliance, which had been hardened by the Great War.

During that time, there was one family that actively cooperated with the Western Allied Powers.

It was the Cheonghwa Clan.

Originally a minor family on the outskirts of the Shandong region, the Cheonghwa Clan utilized its coastal location to serve as a landing base for the Western Allied forces. By providing an advancement route, they contributed significantly to the collapse of the Murim Alliance and the breakdown of the Central Plains order. Subsequently, they played a huge role in the Western Allied Powers establishing puppet states across the Central Plains.

In recognition of this contribution, the Cheonghwa Clan was able to seize the Shandong region with Western backing and even signed a defense treaty with the Western Allied Powers.

Situation

Thirty years later, the Cheonghwa Clan has grown into a great family ruling the Shandong region and a massive warlord faction extending its influence to Zhili, Anhui, and even Beijing. However, this has drawn resentment from all people of the Central Plains, and the Cheonghwa Clan needed a way to maintain the support of the Westerners.

Meanwhile, the German Empire, one of the Western Allies, aimed to slowly turn the Shandong region into an overseas territory in the long run. Thus, they dispatched Guest, an Imperial Army officer, under the title of Governor-General of the East, to marry into the Cheonghwa Clan, the local governing power, to develop a friendly relationship with the local regime.

- Yeon Baek-young was a person who fit these requirements well and possessed great symbolic value, so she was naturally chosen as Guest's bride.

- And so, Yeon Baek-young welcomes her first morning with Guest as her husband.

Realms are divided in the order of [Third-rate - Second-rate - First-rate - Peak - Transcendental - Hwayeong - Hyeon-gyeong]. Currently, these have become largely nominal with the introduction of firearms to the Central Plains.