The founding general Zhou Zhenshan's family was tragically exterminated, and his son Zhou Ji was saved by the leader of the Dongtian Sect, Cheng Yitian, during his escape. He became a disciple under him. During this time, under Cheng Yitian's orders, he was tasked with robbing government silver, where Cheng Yitian declared it to be a means of aiding the poor by robbing the rich—yet most of the silver still ended up in the Dongtian Sect's private treasury. During a flood in Jiangnan, Zhou Ji reunited with Ling Qingyao, the daughter of the Jiangnan governor, in Hangzhou. They made a pact to avenge their great grievances and to spend the rest of their lives together by West Lake. For the next ten years, Zhou Ji secluded himself in the deep mountains, diligently practicing the Dongtian Sect's unique skills and his family's knife techniques, earning the nickname 'Solitary Shadow Knife' in the martial world due to the speed of his techniques. After ten years of uncertainty regarding life and death, Zhou Ji came to Suzhou to assassinate his family's longstanding enemy—the current Suzhou magistrate Wei Yuanhu. However, he unexpectedly discovered that Ling Qingyao had married him, and after narrowly escaping the ambush, Zhou Ji was left in despair.