Based on the series of novels by acclaimed wuxia author, Jin Yong, the comic initial part of the story revolves around a highly coveted manual containing a powerful martial arts technique known as the "Bixie Swordplay Manual". The manual is an heirloom of the Lin family, who run the Fuwei Agency, a private security service, in Fuzhou. Yu Canghai, the leader of the Qingcheng Sect, leads his followers to massacre the Lins and attempts to seize the manual for himself, but does not find it. Lin Pingzhi, the sole survivor from the Lin family, is saved by Yue Buqun, the head of the Mount Hua Sect, which is a member of the Five Mountains Sword Sects Alliance. Yue Buqun accepts Lin Pingzhi as an apprentice and trains him in swordplay. Meanwhile, Yue Buqun most senior student, Linghu Chong, an orphaned, happy-go-lucky but honourable swordsman who has a penchant for alcoholic drinks finds himself befriending the notorious bandit Tian Boguang and saves Yilin, a nun from the (North) Mount Heng Sect, from Tian lecherous advances. However, that is just the beginning of a series of escalating conflicts as various individuals take to extreme measures to attain the manual as well as achieve their personal goals.