The two protagonists – Nie Feng (Wind) and Bu Jingyun (Cloud) – learn martial arts in their early years and grow up to become legendary figures in the jianghu.

They gradually improve their skills, acquire powerful weapons, befriend other notable jianghu figures, and meet their respective lovers.

Wind and Cloud travel to Japan, where they meet Tennō, a Japanese warlord, and join forces with him to counter Godless.

After returning to China, Wind and Cloud realise that Tennō is secretly plotting to seize the Dragon Bones, the spiritual foundation of the Chinese empire.

Even though they manage to defeat Tennō and the Dragon Bones get destroyed in the process, the demon-possessed Wind now poses a serious threat to the jianghu.

In the final showdown, Cloud confronts Wind and manages to knock him out of his trance, but falls off a cliff during the fight and goes missing.

Around this time, a mysterious martial arts clan, Tianmen (Heaven School), has emerged in the jianghu and attracted many top fighters to join them.

The clan's leader, Dishitian, is actually Xu Fu, who has become immortal and spent the past centuries mastering all kinds of martial arts, thus making himself nearly invincible.

In the meantime, Wind and Cloud are saved from being frozen in ice, and they return to the jianghu, where they face an old foe, Juexin (Heartless), as well as other enemies.