Chi You Island

Chi You was a tribal leader of the ancient nine Li tribe. He is best known as the tyrant who fought against the then-future Yellow Emperor during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era in Chinese mythology. For the Hmong people, Chi You was a sagacious mythical king.

In prehistoric China, the tribes of Yellow Emperor rose to power on the plains of Guanzhong and merged with Yan Emperor's tribes following the battle of Banquan. The Huaxia tribes, as the merged tribes were known, spread along the Yellow River towards the East China Sea. The Jiuli tribes, led by Chi You, had developed near the present-day borders of Shandong, Hebei, and Henan, and expanded towards the west. The Huaxia and Jiuli tribes were in conflict over the fertile land in the Yellow River valley, and thus they fought in the plains of Zhuolu. Chi-You's tribes were fierce in war and skilled at making weapons; allying themselves with the Kua Fu tribe and the Sanmiao tribe, they first attacked the Yan Emperor's tribe, driving them into the lands of the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor was angered by this, and went to war with Chi-You.

Chi-You led 81 tribes against the Huaxia tribes in a thick fog. The Huaxia sent tribes under the totems of the Bear, Pi , Wolf, Leopard, and others in retaliation but due to the fog they initially suffered several defeats. To counter the fog the Yellow Emperor brought forth the South Pointing Chariot (which is essentially a compass), a geared mechanism able to point in one constant direction designed by himself and built for him by the craftsman Fang Bo. In addition the Xuannü tribe helped the Huaxia forces by blowing horns and hitting drums, thus scaring the enemy. The Huaxia forces were ultimately victorious, killing Chi-You in Hebei. In the moment of his death however Chi managed to Ascend an shift his spirit into the astral realm. At first he spirit merely wandered the plane before eventually discovering an island teeming with strange life.

In time Chi became ruler of the island and found a way to breach the  dimensional barrier to bring it to earth. However he can only do this once every thousand years, and can only hold the island there briefly (a week at most). In order to make it permanent he needs to consume the Chi (no pun intended) and Mana of the seven greatest warriors of history. So far he has had six victories. One more will allow him to remain and conquer the Earth realm.

Around 219 AD another general Guan Yu died and ascended as the Chinese god of war. He became revered as Saintly Emperor Guan and a leading subduer of demons. In time he took over the role of guarding earth from Chi You, including forming a Temple of Light to train mortals in martial arts and to prepare them to defend their world from evil.