"It has been 4,000 years since the Sage Kings led the people in the knowledge of the Way. That knowledge has been lost to the ages. I am afraid that the favor of Heaven no longer rests upon the Middle Kingdom and now our trials have finally begun." Keeper of the Sanctuary (124th year of the Ming dynasty) When enigmatic nonhuman visitors arrive from the sea, the very foundations of the Middle Kingdom are under attack. The evil agenda of these invaders sparks a massive war that will determine the fate of the Ming dynasty and the nations beyond. A legendary swordsman allies himself with a banished Shaolin monk, a defeated bandit chieftain, a carefree Mongol, and an unknown philosopher who knows the only hope for victory. Together, this band of misfits strives to be proven worthy of the impossible task before them. Determined to combat the invaders' initial offensives, they must also repel countless internal enemies who have rallied to bring down the mighty Ming dynasty.