When the Sword Rises from the Duckweed: The Greatest of Heroes, a Young Man’s Journey

In the middle period of the Great Jing Dynasty, imperial authority has waned, feudal lords carve up the realm, and undercurrents churn through both the martial world and the imperial court. Yun Jingchen, a young man from Qingping Town, was an ordinary commoner until Blackwind Stronghold raided his home, killing his adoptive parents and inadvertently revealing his origins: he is the last surviving heir of the Yun family, who guarded the hidden treasure, the Map of Mountains and Rivers, twenty years ago.

An ancestral iron sword and a fragment of the Qingping Sword Manual lead him into a treacherous martial world. He meets the Emei heroine Su Qingyao, befriends Lei Xiaotian, the young chief of the Beggars' Sect, and receives secret protection from the mysterious traveling physician, Mr. Mo. He learns the intent of Taiji swordsmanship at Wudang and reforges the divine weapon Qingfeng at the Swordsmith Manor.

The relentless pressure from the mastermind Ye Wushang, the overt and covert attacks of the Guarding Martial Bureau, and the torrents of blood stirred up by the Shadow Pavilion all point toward the Map of Mountains and Rivers, which conceals the lifeline of the realm. From an innocent young man who draws his sword for revenge to a knight who cares for all under heaven, Yun Jingchen wields three feet of gleaming steel to cut through the tangled mysteries of court and martial world, living by the immortal conviction that "the greatest chivalry serves the nation and its people."