Historical setting: The final years of the Great Jing dynasty. The court is corrupt, powerful relatives of the imperial family dominate politics, and regional warlords are rising everywhere. The barbarian tribes of the northern frontier repeatedly raid the border, while court officials draw the martial world of the Central Plains into their schemes and divide it. The orthodox schools curry favor with the powerful, the unorthodox factions grow stronger amid the chaos, and the people suffer through a world of fire and water.
The central connection: In the remote, frigid peaks of the Western Regions stands Qingfeng Pavilion, a century-old sect that has remained hidden from the world. It upholds the ancestral precept, "The sword does not serve power; its blade protects the people," and never involves itself in court disputes. Seeing the Central Plains engulfed in chaos and the decline of chivalry, the only surviving master of the Solitary Peak makes an exception. He takes in seven disciples of different backgrounds and temperaments, gives them seven legendary blades, and teaches them peerless sword techniques. When the seven have completed their training, he sends them down the mountain and into the world, commanding them to stay out of court politics, save the people suffering in these troubled times, and uphold the chivalrous path of justice as it teeters on the brink of collapse. The world comes to call them the Seven Blades of the Cold Peaks.
The seven are not perfect heroes. Each has their own obsession, weakness, and shortcoming, and each is a vivid, complex person capable of both good and evil. Each of their seven weapons has its own spirit and embodies a different path, reflecting the fate of its wielder.
