Song Times

During the Renzong era of the Northern Song, the realm was wealthy but its military strength was fading, while the martial world of the Central Plains flourished. Decades earlier, the "Elder of Eternal Life" chanced upon the lost esoteric text Commentary on the Taixuan Classic from a previous dynasty, from which he grasped the transformations of the Three Powers and the mysteries of the martial way; he took on several disciples, and the Changsheng Pavilion lineage of Suzhou took root. Beneath the prosperity, however, undercurrents stirred: the Taixuan Cult of the former dynasty revived, the Maitreya Cult of the present dynasty grew restless, and spies from Western Xia and Liao mingled in the martial world, each with their own schemes. The story begins at a snowbound inn at Mount Kailash on the Tibetan frontier. Xu Fangxu, fifth disciple of the Elder of Eternal Life, brings his sixth junior brother Sun Xiangjing—afflicted since birth with a congenital ailment—on a long journey to Tubo for medical treatment; when medicine fails, they return only with remnants of ancient prescriptions and a partial copy of the Four Medical Tantras. The two then travel south, drifting through Qianzhong, Dali, Shu, and Su-Hang, forever in search of medicine and physicians, yet repeatedly drawn into the conflicts of rival factions: the Maitreya Cult besieging a Dong village, the Taihu boat gang secretly colluding with Western Xia, the Taixuan Cult gathering heretics in Shouzhou... The threads ultimately converge on the Taixuan Cult, the Maitreya Cult, and Western Xia. The youths only wished to complete this journey for a cure, yet amid flashing blades they are pushed step by step into the vortex of the martial world and the imperial court. Some hold fast to chivalry, some exploit heresy for private gain, and some simply wish to keep a little warmth close in a time of chaos. The book is divided into six volumes plus a side story, depicting the rise and decline of the Northern Song martial world in the style of wuxia, with a recurring desolate refrain: "The state cannot live forever, the Way cannot live forever, man cannot live forever."