In the final years of the Qing dynasty, Western powers ran rampant, Empress Dowager Cixi held absolute power, and the country teetered amid turmoil. After China’s defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed, and the Reform Movement failed once more, plunging society into endless darkness. In this chaotic era, the Qi and Zheng families were massacred for supporting reform. Fortunately, Qiu Tianhua of the Longmen Sect and the Seven Heroes of the Central Plains came to their rescue. The two orphaned survivors, Qi Zhenxing and Zheng Zhonghua, lived, and Qi Zhenxing was taken to Shandong to grow up.
As an adult, Qi Zhenxing is ordered to head north, while Zheng Zhonghua becomes a traitor. On his travels, Qi Zhenxing meets Xiao Yun, daughter of the lord of Julong Island. The two join forces to roam the martial world, make friends with heroes, and grow ever more powerful. In the end, Qi Zhenxing avenges his family’s bloody grievance.
As the times change, the New Culture Movement brings fresh ideas, and Qi Zhenxing is deeply influenced by Marxism. During the May Fourth Movement, he joins forces with fellow patriots to drive out the German invaders. Guided by Deng Enming, Qi Zhenxing enters the Whampoa Military Academy and takes up the revolutionary cause. After the April 12 coup, he holds fast to his communist convictions and continues to resist with unyielding determination.
When Japan invades China and the nation faces disaster, Qi Zhenxing rallies the martial world to unite against the enemy. Zheng Zhonghua, who once sold out his country for personal gain, also receives his due punishment in this struggle between justice and evil.
Through the trials of blood and fire, Qi Zhenxing grows from a young man burdened by his family’s feud into a fearless leader who faces the Japanese invasion and commands his troops in defense of his homeland.
A very recommended book!