Chapter One: The Temple of Empress Sophia

On a winter afternoon, warm sunlight spread across the land. Guo Kang leaned against a large tree in the small garden, feeling increasingly lazy and unwilling to move.

The bells rang out, seemingly from the landmark of Constantinople, the Hagia Sophia Cathedral, signaling the start of another service.

The Guo family mansion was located in the Fourth District, near the imperial palace of Constantinople, a gathering place for the powerful and noble. From the garden, one could see the Hagia Sophia Cathedral—referred to colloquially by Guo Kang’s adoptive father and others as the "Lady’s Temple." Its magnificent main structure and the four massive Sulu pillars surrounding it were striking even from this distance.

Guo Kang had long suspected who might have designed this layout.

But now, he had no mood to ponder such things. The soreness in his limbs made him want to lie still and do nothing.

Having arrived in this world for several years, he still found his adoptive father’s rigorous training unbearable.

The night before, he had a strange dream: a towering inferno engulfed an unknown city, resembling the apocalypse described by the Greek priests. He wandered through the city in a daze, unsure of what to do. Upon waking, he felt a heavy weight on his chest, gloom settling in.

After breakfast, still feeling dazed, Guo Kang decided to take a walk to clear his mind. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw his adoptive father practicing martial arts.

Bare-chested and entirely indifferent to the winter chill, the man twirled an iron rod with a whooshing sound. Muscles coiled beneath his skin, and a mist rose from his body. Guo Kang greeted him, and his adoptive father put down the rod, walking over with a kindly expression to ask how he was.

Guo Kang admitted his mood was low. Hearing this, his adoptive father nodded seriously, then picked up two stone locks and handed them to Guo Kang.

“Kang’er, don’t overthink. Just exercise a little, and your worries will vanish,” he said with a hearty laugh.

As a result, Guo Kang was pulled into training for more than half an hour and now had no desire to move at all.

Lost in these thoughts, a head suddenly peeked over the garden wall, glancing left and right.

Seeing who it was, Guo Kang knew he wouldn’t be resting today.

Before he could even get up, a handsome young man skillfully vaulted over the wall and landed in the garden. Holding a long pole, he strode over, calling out loudly, “Stop lying down! Get up! Master Wang wants to see you!”

“Why can’t he come to the front door if he has something to say?” Guo Kang snapped. “My adoptive mother warned me last time that if Li Xuanying climbed the wall again, he’d be kicked out…”

“The front door is too much of a detour,” Li Xuanying waved dismissively. “Why does your gate open to the east? Every time I come through town, I have to take a roundabout path. Next time I see your madam, I’ll apologize.”

“If you get caught next time,” Guo Kang added thoughtfully.

Guo Kang found this kind of casual trespassing quite vexing. But after dropping a line, “I’ll wait for you outside,” Li Xuanying turned and left without another word.

The Guo family’s walls were not low, but Li Xuanying gripped his pole, ran a few steps, thrust it into a corner of the wall, and vaulted over easily, pulling the pole over after him.

Guo Kang rolled his eyes. Seeing no one around, he ran to the wall corner, took a deep breath, used a crack in the stone to boost himself up, and climbed over.

“Your skills have improved a lot, kid,” Li Xuanying said, holding his pole and smiling. “But barehanded, you’re definitely not as good as with a spear. Want me to teach you? Call me ‘big brother,’ and I’ll show you some ancestral techniques.”

“If your ancestors knew you used the spear to climb walls, they’d probably beat you to death,” Guo Kang retorted. “So, what does Master Wang want?”

“Probably something about the royal decree,” Li Xuanying said. “Just go to the Lady’s Temple and ask him yourself.”

Master Wang was a nickname; his real title was “Grand Patriarch Wang.” But Guo Kang and others had gotten used to the teasing nickname and never changed it.

In this world, people from the Central Plains coming to the Western Regions far outnumbered those like Guo Kang, who came from another world. For example, Master Wang was originally a wandering sorcerer, earning his living by pretending to perform miracles along the river in his youth. But the competition was fierce and the prospects poor, so he decided to move elsewhere and start anew.

He had heard that the Roman Empire was now ruled by the Purple Tent Khanate and thought the most promising path there was the Lamaist faith. He packed some scriptures, donned ceremonial robes, proclaimed himself a great lama from the East, and planned to build his own following.

However, the Purple Tent Khanate’s officials had already embraced Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Lamaism was no longer popular. Facing the risk of unemployment again, Master Wang had to start from scratch.

While doing odd jobs for the church to make ends meet, he met the newly appointed Grand Patriarch Yin Daozhang. Yin Daozhang was also unfamiliar with the local environment and found Master Wang clever, taking him as a disciple and gaining a helpful assistant.

Fortunately, Master Wang’s foundational skills were solid—his sermons and miracle performances were excellent. With Yin Daozhang’s guidance and support, he rose quickly in the church hierarchy and naturally succeeded Yin Daozhang as Grand Patriarch after his death.

Of course, this was not unusual. The Roman Empire had a long tradition of emperors interfering with the church; emperors often appointed trusted eunuchs as patriarchs. At least Master Wang was a clergyman, making him somewhat more “legitimate” than the eunuchs.

Leaving the Guo mansion, the two followed the main road toward the Lady’s Temple. Thanks to previous military victories, the city had been relatively stable these past years and was growing more populous, especially with Venetian merchants.

Venice and the Khanate maintained a traditional friendship. When Batu Khan’s western campaign reached the Black Sea coast, they established contact with Venetian traders.

The merchants provided detailed intelligence to the Mongol army, and in return, Batu’s troops protected their commercial interests and drove off competitors. With Venetian guides, the Mongols often knew the local geography better than the native princes, greatly aiding their campaigns. The Venetians profited handsomely.

As the Golden Horde neared collapse, one faction under it on the Black Sea’s western shore gradually grew stronger—though at that time, they had no name.

Their leader, Borjigit Temur, claimed descent from Batu Khan of the Golden Horde. With help from friends like Guo Gai, an ancestor of the Guo family, they broke from the Golden Horde and established a new khanate. Although Guo Kang’s original world had never heard of this power, and even in this world Borjigit Temur’s lineage was questionable, no one cared to investigate amid the chaos.

From then on, due to shared interests, the khanate maintained close ties with Venetian merchants.

After years of effort, they successfully moved south and took control of Constantinople. Seeing themselves as a Roman regime, they adopted purple as the symbol of the supreme khan’s dignity. Though they kept the Roman imperial titles formally, people generally called it the Purple Tent Khanate.

Venetian merchants were among the strongest supporters of restoring their trade status here. For the khanate, Genoese power was too great; to balance it, Venice was the best choice.

Passing through the bustling streets, they soon arrived at their destination.

Master Wang had several offices. Besides residing as abbot at the Hagia Sophia, he also served as the royal shaman, attending various diplomatic and religious ceremonies. It was usually hard to find him.

Fortunately, a clergyman was waiting right at the gate this time. Li Xuanying said he had other business and told Guo Kang to go alone.

Guo Kang immediately sensed something was amiss.

“If you had something important, you wouldn’t come find me yourself,” he bluntly said. “If it were just a notification, a servant could handle it. Would the young master of the Li family drop everything to make a personal trip? And now you’re in a hurry to leave… Let me guess—you just want to sneak off to the theater, right?”

Li Xuanying’s face reddened, and he stammered in silence.

Guo Kang wasn’t unsympathetic, but the excuse was ridiculous. Still, his family was strict, and there was no way around it.

Like the Guos, the Lis were honored hereditary nobles of the Purple Tent Khanate, ranked among the pillars of the state. Li Xuanying’s great-grandfather, Li Tiance, had fought five battles and won five victories, crushing the Hungarian-Polish alliance and their Holy Roman Empire backers, securing the northwest from direct threat.

That war was regarded as one of the two founding wars of the Purple Tent Khanate. Afterward, taking advantage of internal Byzantine strife, the Khanate drove out Emperors John V and John VI, seizing Constantinople with ease. Li Tiance earned great honors.

Constantinople was established as the khanate’s capital, renamed the Great Capital. Li Tiance was appointed the first governor and city commander.

In truth, the khanate was long familiar with the city. Since it was founded by the Roman great khan, it was once called “Khanbali” — “Khan” meaning great khan, “bali” meaning city — combined, “City of the Great Khan.”

The khanate’s vassal Oros people also knew the name, calling the great khan “Tsar” and the city “Gorod,” so “Khanbali” became “Tsar Gorod.”

The rulers of the Oros were Vikings from the north, whose cultural influence remained strong. These Vikings, or Rus, called Constantinople “Miklagard.” “Mikla” meant great, and “gard” referred to the city—simply “Great City” or “Great Capital.”

Thus, Tsar Gorod, Khanbali, and the Great Capital all referred to the same place, with the latter name favored for its simplicity and memorability.

However, after the war, Li Tiance grew complacent, indulging in Greek theater and neglecting affairs. Within two years, while the main khanate forces were away campaigning, the two Johns, supported by the Holy Roman Empire and Poland, secretly returned to Constantinople and incited a popular uprising.

In a critical moment, Li Tiance was watching a play when actors suddenly attacked him. Caught off guard, he was seriously wounded. Only with the desperate aid of fellow noble and old minister Cao Meng did he narrowly escape the city, though his forces suffered heavy losses, and Cao Meng died from his wounds.

The next year, Li Tiance died of his injuries and despair. Before passing, he gave his son Li Yinglin three arrows and tasked him with fulfilling three wishes: reclaim Constantinople, destroy the Polish-Hungarian alliance, and eliminate the usurping Holy Roman Empire. These goals remain unfulfilled to this day, and the Li family constantly remembers their national and personal grievances.

Li Xuanying grew up in this environment, pressured daily to study military strategy and train in martial arts. His leisure activities were far fewer than those of other noble sons, and theater was strictly forbidden by the family.

Guo Kang’s attitude was somewhat freer, believing that as long as duties were not neglected, some amusement was acceptable. He waved off Li Xuanying’s worries, promising not to report him.

Li Xuanying, as if pardoned, grabbed his distinctive pole and dashed away.