Post by kyc on May 4, 2020 15:35:49 GMT
A synopsis of the novel for soengyee :
The novel starts with Chen Tianyu (陳天宇) whose official father is "banished" to Tibet by the Qianlong Emperor for blowing the whistle on Heshen, the most corrupt official in Qing history. Chen Tianyu had secretly learned martial arts from Xiao Qingfeng (萧青峰), a fighter from Qingcheng Sect who is hiding from his foes. While attending a banquet of the Tibetan chieftain, Chen Tianyu helps a female assassin escape. She is Zhina (芝娜), a Tibetan girl who has vowed to kill the chieftain for murdering her parents.
Xiao Qingfeng is discovered by his enemies and he escapes with Chen Tianyu to the Tibetan borders. They are soon embroiled in the affair of the Golden Urn, a sacred urn of the Tibetans. Many forces want to seize it, while others are escorting the urn. One of those secretly helping the Qing government is Tang Jingtian (唐經天), whose father is the head of Mount Heaven Sect, Tang Xiaolan (唐曉瀾).
The fight for the urn alerts the Heavenly Glacier Maiden, a peerless beauty and martial artist who lives nearby in a palace in the glacier mountains. Together with her serving maids, she handily defeats the rest and stops the fight. The Glacier Maiden's name is Gui Bing'e (桂冰娥), her father is the famous Han Chinese warrior Gui Huasheng (桂華生) and her mother a Tibetan princess. She encounters Tang Jingtian and both are very impressed with the other's skills. Gui Huasheng had mixed Western fencing and traditional Chinese swordfighting techniques to come up with his own swordplay. The Glacier Maiden and Tang Jingtian set a date for a later duel.
On the day of the duel, the Glacier Maiden leaves and after that, there is an earthquake in the mountains. The other palace girls hide in a underground chamber but they cannot get out because some rubble is blocking their way. Chen Tianyu's new master, Lv Qing (吕青) dies when fighting a sinister Nepalese religious leader and his minions. Chen Tianyu, however, has earlier discovered swordfighting murals in a chamber left by Gui Huasheng for his daughter. He learns them, thinking all the servant girls dead, and his skills improve greatly. He also takes some fruit which helps in his lightness skill. He escapes and encounters Indian and Nepalese warriors fighting over the urn again. The Glacier Maiden appears and with her consummate skills seizes the urn and gives it to Tang Jingtian. To stop Indian and Nepalese forces from invading Tibet, Tang Jingtian gives the sacred urn back to the Qing forces. He persuades the other Han leaders to help escort the urn to Lhasa.
After this, there are a number of subplots. Tang Jingtian wants to bring the Maiden to Mount Heaven but they part after a misunderstanding owing to his mischievous aunt Feng Lin (馮琳), who is his mother's twin sister. The Glacier Maiden also mistakes his female cousin Li Qinmei (李沁梅) as his sweetheart. Around this point in the story, Jin Shiyi (金世遺) appears, a young misanthrope who is the disciple of the late Toxic Dragon Reverend (毒龍尊者). Jin Shiyi pretends to be an itinerant leper, and he fights every warrior from orthodox sects, finding them hypocritical when they avoid him. Jin Shiyi fights with Tang Jingtian and to each's amazement, their skills are about on par. The Glacier Maiden treats him well, not avoiding him as a leper, and Jin Shiyi soon develops a crush on her. He becomes jealous of Tang Jingtian and is motivated to follow the Glacier Maiden and her servant maid, Youping (幽萍).
Another subplot involves the Tibetan girl Zhina who manages to kill the chieftain, then commits suicide. Although she has feelings for Chen Tianyu, they cannot be together. Chen Tianyu is grief-stricken over her death.
To cut a long story short, Jin Shiyi goes berserk because of his unorthodox inner training. Unless saved by Mount Heaven Sect's orthodox inner strength, he will soon die. Feng Lin and her daughter save him many times, but owing to a misunderstanding and his pride, Jin Shiyi refuses to visit Tang Xiaolan.
There is a subplot involving the Sino-Nepalese War, when Nepal tried to invade Tibet. Thanks to the Glacier Maiden, the Nepalese king (her cousin) decides to retreat. (To know more, read Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Nepalese_War#Second_Invasion). There are other subplots which are minor, I won't narrate them.
Jin Shiyi decides to climb Mount Everest just before his death, challenged by a warrior from Middle East and the West. He faints midway up the mountain, is revived by Tang Xiaolan and saved. He is too ashamed to face the other martial artists and decides to leave silently.
Challenged by the same warrior, Tang Xiaolan also tries to climb Mount Everest. That warrior from the West plummets to his death. Tang Xiaolan finds his wife near the summit, and also Lv Siniang. All three realize they cannot reach the summit due to the thin oxygen and their utter exhaustion. They also realize that Ling Weifeng (凌未風, see Seven Swords) of the Mount Heaven Sect had made a similar attempt and failed. Ling Weifeng had left a poem near the summit. After they descend the mountain, they realize that Tang Jingtian and the Glacier Maiden are an item, while Chen Tianyu and Youping, the Glacier Maiden's servant girl, are another. Feng Lin's daughter, Li Qinmei, however is waiting for Jin Shiyi, with whom she has fallen in love.
The novel starts with Chen Tianyu (陳天宇) whose official father is "banished" to Tibet by the Qianlong Emperor for blowing the whistle on Heshen, the most corrupt official in Qing history. Chen Tianyu had secretly learned martial arts from Xiao Qingfeng (萧青峰), a fighter from Qingcheng Sect who is hiding from his foes. While attending a banquet of the Tibetan chieftain, Chen Tianyu helps a female assassin escape. She is Zhina (芝娜), a Tibetan girl who has vowed to kill the chieftain for murdering her parents.
Xiao Qingfeng is discovered by his enemies and he escapes with Chen Tianyu to the Tibetan borders. They are soon embroiled in the affair of the Golden Urn, a sacred urn of the Tibetans. Many forces want to seize it, while others are escorting the urn. One of those secretly helping the Qing government is Tang Jingtian (唐經天), whose father is the head of Mount Heaven Sect, Tang Xiaolan (唐曉瀾).
The fight for the urn alerts the Heavenly Glacier Maiden, a peerless beauty and martial artist who lives nearby in a palace in the glacier mountains. Together with her serving maids, she handily defeats the rest and stops the fight. The Glacier Maiden's name is Gui Bing'e (桂冰娥), her father is the famous Han Chinese warrior Gui Huasheng (桂華生) and her mother a Tibetan princess. She encounters Tang Jingtian and both are very impressed with the other's skills. Gui Huasheng had mixed Western fencing and traditional Chinese swordfighting techniques to come up with his own swordplay. The Glacier Maiden and Tang Jingtian set a date for a later duel.
On the day of the duel, the Glacier Maiden leaves and after that, there is an earthquake in the mountains. The other palace girls hide in a underground chamber but they cannot get out because some rubble is blocking their way. Chen Tianyu's new master, Lv Qing (吕青) dies when fighting a sinister Nepalese religious leader and his minions. Chen Tianyu, however, has earlier discovered swordfighting murals in a chamber left by Gui Huasheng for his daughter. He learns them, thinking all the servant girls dead, and his skills improve greatly. He also takes some fruit which helps in his lightness skill. He escapes and encounters Indian and Nepalese warriors fighting over the urn again. The Glacier Maiden appears and with her consummate skills seizes the urn and gives it to Tang Jingtian. To stop Indian and Nepalese forces from invading Tibet, Tang Jingtian gives the sacred urn back to the Qing forces. He persuades the other Han leaders to help escort the urn to Lhasa.
After this, there are a number of subplots. Tang Jingtian wants to bring the Maiden to Mount Heaven but they part after a misunderstanding owing to his mischievous aunt Feng Lin (馮琳), who is his mother's twin sister. The Glacier Maiden also mistakes his female cousin Li Qinmei (李沁梅) as his sweetheart. Around this point in the story, Jin Shiyi (金世遺) appears, a young misanthrope who is the disciple of the late Toxic Dragon Reverend (毒龍尊者). Jin Shiyi pretends to be an itinerant leper, and he fights every warrior from orthodox sects, finding them hypocritical when they avoid him. Jin Shiyi fights with Tang Jingtian and to each's amazement, their skills are about on par. The Glacier Maiden treats him well, not avoiding him as a leper, and Jin Shiyi soon develops a crush on her. He becomes jealous of Tang Jingtian and is motivated to follow the Glacier Maiden and her servant maid, Youping (幽萍).
Another subplot involves the Tibetan girl Zhina who manages to kill the chieftain, then commits suicide. Although she has feelings for Chen Tianyu, they cannot be together. Chen Tianyu is grief-stricken over her death.
To cut a long story short, Jin Shiyi goes berserk because of his unorthodox inner training. Unless saved by Mount Heaven Sect's orthodox inner strength, he will soon die. Feng Lin and her daughter save him many times, but owing to a misunderstanding and his pride, Jin Shiyi refuses to visit Tang Xiaolan.
There is a subplot involving the Sino-Nepalese War, when Nepal tried to invade Tibet. Thanks to the Glacier Maiden, the Nepalese king (her cousin) decides to retreat. (To know more, read Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Nepalese_War#Second_Invasion). There are other subplots which are minor, I won't narrate them.
Jin Shiyi decides to climb Mount Everest just before his death, challenged by a warrior from Middle East and the West. He faints midway up the mountain, is revived by Tang Xiaolan and saved. He is too ashamed to face the other martial artists and decides to leave silently.
Challenged by the same warrior, Tang Xiaolan also tries to climb Mount Everest. That warrior from the West plummets to his death. Tang Xiaolan finds his wife near the summit, and also Lv Siniang. All three realize they cannot reach the summit due to the thin oxygen and their utter exhaustion. They also realize that Ling Weifeng (凌未風, see Seven Swords) of the Mount Heaven Sect had made a similar attempt and failed. Ling Weifeng had left a poem near the summit. After they descend the mountain, they realize that Tang Jingtian and the Glacier Maiden are an item, while Chen Tianyu and Youping, the Glacier Maiden's servant girl, are another. Feng Lin's daughter, Li Qinmei, however is waiting for Jin Shiyi, with whom she has fallen in love.