In the "jianghu" (martial artists' community), there is a highly coveted martial arts manual known as the Bixie Swordplay Manual. The manual is an heirloom of the Lin family, who run the Fuwei Security Service in Fuzhou. Yu Canghai, the leader of the Qingcheng Sect, leads his followers to massacre the Lins and attempts to seize the manual but does not find it. Lin Pingzhi, the sole survivor of the Lin family, is saved by Yue Buqun, the leader of the Mount Hua Sect, which is a member of the "orthodox" Five Mountains Sword Sects Alliance. Yue Buqun accepts Lin Pingzhi as an apprentice and trains him in swordplay.