In this world, there were originally no immortals or gods. Yet since the most ancient times, humanity gazed upon the world around them and witnessed all manner of strange and wondrous things — lightning splitting the heavens, thunder shaking the earth, howling gales and torrential rains, and the ceaseless calamities of disaster and war, leaving countless dead and the land filled with the cries of the bereaved. Such things lay utterly beyond human power to cause or to withstand. And so people came to believe that above the nine heavens dwelt all manner of divine beings, and beneath the nine depths lay the realm where departed souls returned — the halls of the King of Hell. Thus the tales of gods and immortals spread throughout the world. Countless souls among humanity bowed in sincere reverence before the gods and spirits their own imaginations had conjured, offering prayers for blessings and lamenting their sorrows, until the incense smoke rose thick and endless… In the present age, the righteous path flourishes greatly, and demons and evil spirits have retreated before it. Across the vast heartland of the Central Plains, the mountains teem with spirit and the rivers run clear; the land is populous and thriving, rich in all manner of goods — a blessed domain held by the orthodox sects