During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song, Lin Yanzhou, the impoverished son of a military family in Bianliang, loses his father, who is framed and executed for exposing a powerful clan’s conspiracy to collude with the enemy. All he leaves behind is half a bronze tiger tally and one final command:
Travel across the nine provinces of China and master the five elemental martial lineages. Use martial arts to defend the land.
To clear his father’s name, revive the martial spirit, and guard the frontier, Lin Yanzhou sets out alone on a long journey to study martial arts:
He heads west into the deserts of Guanzhong to learn the Metal-style combat arts of Kongtong and defend the Song-Xia border;
He travels south through Jiangnan’s misty rains to cultivate the Wood-style spiritual arts of Songxi, blending the strengths of scholarship and martial prowess;
He journeys west to the treacherous roads of Shu to practice Emei’s Water-style healing arts and aid the common people;
He returns to the Central Plains to study Shaolin’s Fire-style Chan martial arts and uphold a righteous spirit;
He heads north to Yan-Zhao and Liaodong to master Baji’s Earth-style defensive arts and fortify the mighty frontier.
Along the way, he survives life-and-death trials, sectarian persecution, powerful enemies’ assassins, and foreign foes’ schemes.
He weaves the history and culture of China’s lands into his martial arts, from Qin opera and Song lyrics to the Shu Road, the Yellow River, and the black soil of the north.
From a commoner and the son of a disgraced official, he grows into a martial prodigy who masters the finest arts of all five regions and elements.
At last, at the grand martial arts gathering in Bianliang, he draws on the mountains and rivers of the nine provinces and wields the five elemental arts to overwhelm all rivals and expose a treasonous conspiracy.
He is appointed leader of the Nine Provinces’ Five Elements Sect, and with his unbreakable martial spirit, he protects the vast lands of China!
