They say that deep in the Kunlun Mountains lies a place that has never concerned itself with the affairs of the martial world, called Valley of Worrylessness. A family surnamed Shi lives in the valley. For generations, each household has had only one heir, who guards an iron brush and a yellowed book. The book is called The Record of the Martial World, and it chronicles the rise and fall, glory and disgrace, of every sect and school.
The current valley master is an old man with a white beard, known throughout the martial world as Shi Wuming, the Wind-Shocking Historian. One day, he was telling his grandson, Shi Xiaoxian, an old tale: the thousand-year legend of the greatest sect in the martial world, the Son of Heaven Sect.
"Boy, do you know that the greatest sect in the martial world isn't Shaolin or Wudang, but the Son of Heaven Sect? This sect has been passed down from the Xia Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, for a full four thousand years. It has had eighty-three generations of sect leaders, and every one of them called himself the Son of Heaven. Our Shi ancestors served as record-keepers to the first sect leader, responsible for documenting the sect's major affairs."
As Shi Xiaoshi gnawed on a steamed bun, he asked, "Grandpa, what martial arts does the Son of Heaven Sect practice?"
Shi Wuming stroked his beard and smiled. "They practice the Great Art of Winning the World's Hearts and the Skill of the People's Aspirations. Their martial arts are strange indeed. They rely neither on fists and feet nor on weapons, but on making ordinary people obey them, believe in them, and follow them. Once mastered, the combined strength of millions can remake heaven and earth!"
"Do they fight?"
"Fight? Of course they fight! And they fight fiercely! Listen, and Grandpa will tell you the whole story from the beginning..."
