A modern science and engineering man time-travels and becomes Liu Jing, a poor scholar in Qinghe County who has failed the imperial examination for six consecutive years. His juren official title is stolen when the magistrate's son, Wang Dafu, switches his examination paper. Afterward, he is abandoned by his fiancée, Su Wan'er, and beaten by servants. Liu Jing uses niter to make ice to earn his first pot of gold, then crushes the Drunken Immortal Tower with distilled liquor, recruits refugees to open Black Stone Mountain, refines steel to build flintlock guns and red-crowned cannons, raises an army to capture Qinghe County and Linjiang Prefecture, completely annihilates the imperial court's 100,000-strong army, bombards the capital, abolishes the imperial examination system, and establishes the Great Xia. Subsequently, he develops steam engines, railways, heavy machine guns, ironclads, and airplanes, defeats the Northern Di, overshines the powers, establishes global hegemony, and ultimately makes all nations come to court, with his journey pointing toward the sea of stars.