Blazing Flame: Embers of the Heaven Sword

Fifty long years lie between the end of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and the beginning of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. Why did the Ming Cult become the Sun Moon Holy Cult? What rises and falls did Wudang and Shaolin endure? What became of the descendants of Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min?

Blazing Light: Embers of Heaven Sword fills in that blank with heartfelt care: a lament for the Ming Cult's embers turning into the Sun Moon Holy Cult, and a hidden history of the martial world behind the Jingnan Campaign.

The protagonist is Zhang Feng. He is Zhang Wuji's son, but lacks his father's compassion for everyone. With Mongolian blood on one side and the fierce spirit of the grasslands in his bones, he nevertheless grinds himself down into a menial servant who chops wood and boils water. He doesn't lack the desire to live freely and avenge his grievances. But a voice tells him that a true hero isn't measured by how many people he can kill, but by how many he can protect.

If the figure who rode off to the grasslands at the end of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber ever left you feeling wistful, come sit awhile in this little Jiangnan town. The fire in the Forget Worries Tavern's kitchen still burns, and the flagstones in the back courtyard still hold the warmth of someone who was once there. The boy chopping wood is getting ready to draw his sword for someone.