In Republican-era Hangzhou, at the Wudang branch hall, Xuanzhen Hall, by the banks of West Lake, a plaque hangs above a black iron box left behind by Zhang Sanfeng, which contains Wudang's supreme secret manual. Chen Shouzhuo, the unremarkable protagonist and a lowly disciple of Xuanzhen Hall, is entrusted by his late master to protect the treasure. From an ordinary young man whose plainness conceals great skill, he gains enlightenment through the lingering power of the founding patriarch and rises against all odds. He purges the sect of traitors, repels foreign enemies, protects Wudang's legacy and Hangzhou's peace, and ultimately rises to the top of the martial world.
