The first, Zhu'er, is a horribly disfigured girl who is actually his maternal cousin. Throughout his adventures, Zhang Wuji finds himself entangled in a complex web of love relationships with four maidens. He becomes a key figure in leading the wulin and rebel forces to overthrow the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. He reforms the cult and helps to mend its relations with other sects. He earns the respect of the cult's members and becomes its leader after mastering the skill 'Heaven and Earth Great Shift'. Later on, he helps to resolve the conflict between the 'evil' Ming Cult and the six major 'orthodox' sects, which are bent on destroying the cult.

He masters the inner energy skills described in the book, uses them to heal himself and becomes a formidable martial artist in the process. The orphaned Zhang Wuji is initially mortally wounded but he wanders into an isolated valley by chance and discovers the long-lost Nine Yang Manual. They soon find themselves the target of several martial artists in the wulin, who all try to coerce them to reveal the whereabouts of Xie Xun, who possesses the Dragon Slaying Saber. When he is about 10 years old, his parents brought him back to the Chinese mainland. He was born on a reclusive volcanic island, where he spent his childhood with only his parents and his godfather, Xie Xun. His father, Zhang Cuishan, is an apprentice of Zhang Sanfeng, the highly revered leader of the 'orthodox' Wudang Sect his mother, Yin Susu, is the daughter of Yin Tianzheng, the chief of the 'evil' Heavenly Eagle Cult. The protagonist, Zhang Wuji, is of mixed heritage. Either or both of them are thought to allow their wielder to rule the wulin (martial artists' community), according to a widely circulated mantra. Set in China towards the end of the Yuan dynasty, the story revolves around a pair of allegedly unrivalled weapons, the Heaven-Reliant Sword and Dragon-Slaying Saber, which are coveted by many martial artists. The political and ethnic clash between the Han Chinese rebels and the ruling Mongols is also a prominent theme in the novel. As is typical of some of his other novels, Jin Yong included elements of Chinese history in the story, such as featuring historical figures like Hongwu Emperor, Chen Youliang, Chang Yuchun and Zhang Sanfeng.

It also introduced many changes to the plot and cleared up some ambiguities in the second edition, such as the origin of the Nine Yang Manual. A second revision was published in early 2005, incorporating later thoughts and a lengthier conclusion. Jin Yong revised the novel in 1979 with a number of amendments and additions.

It was first serialised from 6 July 1961 to 2 September 1963 in the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao. It is the third and final installment in the Condor Trilogy, preceded by The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes. The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber ( Chinese: еЂље¤©е± йѕ™и®°), also translated as The Sword and the Knife, is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). Story of the Heaven Reliant and Dragon Slayer

The heavenly sword dragon saber