Set during the turbulent final years of the Han dynasty, the story follows Ziluan, an amnesiac wanderer who knows only that he must find the hero destined to unite a China torn apart by rebellion and warlords. As he travels the land amid the Yellow Turban uprising and the schemes of tyrants like Dong Zhuo, a young healer named Yuanhua uses incense to help him recover fragments of his lost memories, while three mysterious figures from his past variously aid, guide, and stand against him. Along the way Ziluan crosses paths with the era's great leaders, and the ally he chooses to follow shapes the course of the wars that will decide the fate of the realm.