Set in 1920s Tianjin, China. Upon the death of a well-respected martial arts master, two students become bitter rivals as they vie for ownership of his academy. One is the master’s top apprentice, Qi, the expected heir to the school. His challenger is the master’s son, Shen, whose future was meant to be outside the martial arts circle, were it not for his obstinate passion to pursue his father’s practice. Their dispute is to be settled in combat, but its outcome stirs only malcontent and, as the challenges between the two fighters multiply, customs become stretched and broken to the scandalized shock of their wushu community.
