The Mystery of the Condor Hero

The series is set in 12th-century China against the backdrop of the wars between the Jin and Song empires. The Jiuyin Zhenjing, a highly coveted martial arts manual in the wulin, has been the target of various forces seeking to acquire it.

Feng Heng, a member of a shamanistic cult in the Jin Empire, is dragged into the power struggle as the manual is connected to the cult. By chance, she meets Huang Yaoshi, a formidable martial artist and polymath, and falls in love with him.

The manual ultimately ends up in the hands of Wang Chongyang, the founder of the Quanzhen Sect, after a martial arts contest on Mount Hua which saw Wang, Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng, Hong Qigong, and Duan Zhixing emerging as the top five martial artists in the wulin.

At one point, Huang Yaoshi is poisoned while saving Feng Heng, who tricks Wang Chongyang's junior Zhou Botong into showing her the Jiuyin Zhenjing and letting her memorise it. Feng Heng then writes a copy of the manual from memory and uses it to help Huang heal himself. Ouyang Feng learns about it and comes to confront them.

Chen Xuanfeng, a former member of the Iron Palm Clan, has fallen out with the clan's chief Qiu Qianren as he disapproves of Qiu's unscrupulous attempts to seize the Jiuyin Zhenjing. Huang Yaoshi saves Chen from Qiu's attacks. Around the same time, Ouyang Feng's servant Mei Ruohua, who is initially hostile towards Chen, ends up getting into a romantic relationship with Chen. Along with Chen, Mei becomes an apprentice of Huang Yaoshi.

Ouyang Feng, after failing to seize the Jiuyin Zhenjing, coerces Mei Ruohua into pressuring Chen Xuanfeng to steal Huang Yaoshi's copy of the manual. Torn between his love for Mei and his loyalty to his master, Chen ultimately chooses to steal the manual and run away with Mei.