The story's protagonist, Ergou, is a rookie in the martial world who is “useless at everything and a first-rate troublemaker.” His greatest dream is to become the leader of the martial arts world, yet every time he tries, he manages to make things worse in spectacular fashion. At his side is a sharp-tongued fat cat named Pangju. Not only can it talk like a human, it is also the chief commentator and “victim” at the scene of Ergou's every mishap.
Ergou's journey through the martial world begins by chance: he finds a manual called The Nine Yang Divine Art: A Haphazard Edition beneath a cliff. Its contents are absurd, but he takes them as gospel, mistakenly believing himself to be a once-in-a-century martial arts prodigy. From then on, he resolves to leave home and roam the martial world.
His main conflicts stem from “misunderstandings and twists of fate.” The martial world has a celebrated “hypocritical hero” named Mo Wentian. He appears righteous on the surface, but is actually sinister and deceitful, secretly plotting to take control of the martial world. Yet Ergou mistakes Mo Wentian for a “model of the martial world,” and repeatedly ruins his most crucial schemes with his “kindness” and “help.” Ergou always thinks he is upholding justice, but in reality, he unwittingly “helps the wicked,” or, more accurately, “helps the wicked make a mess of things,” causing Mo Wentian's plans to fall apart one after another amid endless hilarity.
For example, when Mo Wentian tries to frame a rival at a martial arts tournament, Ergou mistakenly thinks he is preparing a “surprise” and burns the entire venue to the ground. When Mo Wentian wants to meet his accomplices in secret, Ergou assumes he is “cultivating in seclusion” and brings him a pile of bizarre “tonics,” drawing a huge crowd and completely exposing Mo Wentian's whereabouts. Pangju watches coldly from the sidelines, now and then using its...
