Books, Swords, and Rivers and Mountains

Take life and death in stride; care nothing for honor or disgrace. Spill blood and bare your head; carry books and swords across the land.

In the late Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, the descendants of Lan Yu, acting leader of the Ming Cult, hid in a remote fishing village by the sea to escape the pursuit of the Imperial Guards of the Zhu Ming Dynasty. They changed their surname to Long, studied and trained in martial arts, supported their family through trade, and secretly kept the Ming Cult's Five Elements Hall running. After an unforeseen incident exposed the Long family's secret to the Imperial Guards, the family was slaughtered. Long Tianyou, the young master of the Long family, was rescued at the cost of his master's family's lives. He fled across the martial world, eventually mastered peerless skills, and united the Ming Cult. Torn between his personal vendetta and his country, he chose the greater cause of his people, founded the Hongmen, and shed his blood across China.