A swordsman raises an assassin's orphaned son across a dying empire, teaching him that some debts are paid in blood, others in mercy. The show moves like a sword itself, economical, purposeful, never wasting a moment on exposition when it can show you through action. The Qin Dynasty becomes a character of its own, crumbling faster than any of them can fix it, which means every victory tastes like ash.
After an assassin fails to kill the Qin Emperor, soldiers are sent after his eight-year-old son, and a gifted swordsman steps in to save the boy. The orphan, Jing Tianming, now lives on the run with his protector Ge Nie, once hailed as Qin's finest swordsman and now labeled a traitor. Tianming is sick with an illness no one can name, and Nie is held to an old promise to keep him safe. When a squad of three hundred elite soldiers comes for them, Nie defeats it but is badly hurt. As Tianming tries to keep him alive, he meets Xiang Shaoyu, a proud fighter from the fallen Chu Kingdom. The three shelter with the secluded Mohist School, a faction opposing Qin rule, while the Emperor turns to Wei Zhuang, Nie's old rival and fellow disciple, and his band of assassins. Along the way the group meets friends and foes as they set out to change the empire's destiny in this action fantasy adventure.
