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The First Stop
  • Published: 18 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9798217188444
  • Imprint: Ace
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $65.00
Categories:

The First Stop

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A young man searches for his own path to immortality—while grappling with the looming threat of war—in this compelling novel in the A Thousand Li epic progression fantasy series. Includes a bonus short story exclusive to this print edition.

Long Wu Ying’s studies at the Verdant Green Waters Sect, an exclusive school of cultivation, are at a turning point. It’s time for him to choose what secondary occupation to pursue—alchemist or blacksmith, physician or martial specialist. Yet Wu Ying struggles to decide which focus will best define and contribute to his dao, his personal path of cultivation. And what happens if he chooses wrong?

But beyond the walls of Verdant Green Waters, the drums of war beat as the sect is pulled deeper into the battle for supremacy between states. The Sect Elders thrust Wu Ying and his friends into a desperate gamble to prepare for the upcoming war—a risky assignment that will put to the test everything Wu Ying has learned.

As pressure builds from within and without, Wu Ying must find his place in this new martial world, or he may not survive the trials to come.
  • Published: 18 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9798217188444
  • Imprint: Ace
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $65.00
Categories:

About the author

Tao Wong

Tao Wong is the author of the A Thousand Li progression fantasy series and the System Apocalypse LitRPG series, among others. When he’s not writing and working, he’s practicing martial arts, reading, and dreaming up new worlds. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
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Praise for The First Stop

Praise for Tao Wong’s A Thousand Li series:

“Tao Wong is a magician. A Thousand Li is an expertly wrought foundation for one the most epic English-language cultivation book series of all time. This book is infused with magic and wonder and some of the most kick-ass, heart-pounding action sequences I’ve ever read.”—Matt Dinniman, New York Times bestselling author of Dungeon Crawler Carl

“A Thousand Li more than lives up to its name—a grand journey from the humblest of beginnings to a heavenly ascent. Tao Wong skillfully blends xianxia action, political intrigue, quiet poetry, and fascinating historical details into a superlative cultivation epic.”—Travis Baldree, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Legends & Lattes

Praise for Tao Wong’s A Thousand Li series:

“Tao Wong is a magician. A Thousand Li is an expertly wrought foundation for one the most epic English-language cultivation book series of all time. This book is infused with magic and wonder and some of the most kick-ass, heart-pounding action sequences I’ve ever read.”—Matt Dinniman, New York Times bestselling author of Dungeon Crawler Carl

“A Thousand Li more than lives up to its name—a grand journey from the humblest of beginnings to a heavenly ascent. Tao Wong skillfully blends xianxia action, political intrigue, quiet poetry, and fascinating historical details into a superlative cultivation epic.”—Travis Baldree, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Legends & Lattes