The Port City of Pearl was the gem on the Emperor's crown. A perfect place at normal times for a cultivator to find everything they need: Cultivation resources, magic manuals, alchemy teachers, sparring adversaries, Dao partners, and deathly rivals.  But these are not normal times. An intrigue so big it threatens to swallow the whole empire is brewing at the same time that rumors of an unification among the Orc tribes are running through all information brokers. How will the residents of Pearl City find ways to survive and, like any good cultivators, thrive in this chaos?