Synopsis of The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Prequel
Picking up where The Return of the Condor Heroes left off and leading into The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, this story follows Guo Xiang after her first encounter with Yang Guo at Fengling Ferry and her fruitless search for the Condor Hero. Carrying on the legacy of Guo Jing and Huang Rong, who fought the Yuan dynasty to protect the people, she takes the Heaven Sword and sets out to find the Dragon Saber.
She travels throughout the lands south of the Yangtze and the northern deserts, forging a lifelong bond with He Zudao, leader of the Kunlun School. Together they search for the saber’s whereabouts, but are repeatedly caught in schemes by the Yuan court’s “Shadow” and Cheng Kun. Later, she establishes the Emei School on Mount Emei and takes in disciples such as Fengling, hoping to make Emei a stronghold in the fight against the Yuan. But rumors that the Ming Cult “harms the people and steals their grain” gradually drive a wedge between her and Fengling.
Though Yang Dingtian lends the Ming Cult’s support to the search for the saber, he cannot overcome the misunderstandings between the sects. He Zudao dies with regrets, and Guo Xiang never sees the Dragon Saber with her own eyes. Even on her deathbed, she urges them to “ally with the Ming Cult to fight the Yuan,” yet leaves behind a divide between Emei and the Ming Cult.
At its heart, the story follows Guo Xiang’s lifelong search for heroes and her regret at never finding the Dragon Saber. It completes the journey of the heroine from The Return of the Condor Heroes while laying the groundwork for the secrets of the Heaven Sword, the rules passed down by Emei, and the Dragon Saber’s wanderings, linking the chivalrous legacy of two generations of martial arts legends.
