In their last duel ten years previously Tsing Tsung almost defeats Foeless, and he never fully recovers from the internal injuries sustained at that time.
One of those selected for this task is Fu Yuk Shui, a new pupil at Wudang who is taken in by the school when his entire family is supposedly murdered by Foeless.
The Old Man is the leader of Anarchist Valley a group that delights in chaos, murder and destruction for its own sake rather than as a tool to further ambition as Foeless does.
However Wan is not greeted as a hero and saviour, the skills that he used to defeat the foeless was Wudang's level six, he is accused of stealing secrets he is not entitled to and of being Tsing Tsung's killer.
During his adventures Wan's actions and deeds show the Wulin community what kind of man he is, his chivalry earning him the respect of the elders of other schools, leading them to act as intermediaries between him and Wudang.
The battle for supremacy in Wulin becomes a four way one: the orthodox schools aligned with Wudang, Foeless, the Anarchists, and late comers Jyun Ye Court, a faction from outside China proper.
Those of his followers that are not killed, scatter go into hiding or switch sides to join the Anarchists or Jyun Ye Court in order to escape the vengeance of the many enemies Foeless has made.
Heartbroken Phoenix throws herself off a cliff into the sea, with her death Wan loses interest in life and the struggles for supremacy in Wulin.
Without any prospect of allies willing to help him, in order to escape his enemies, Foeless hides beneath a mask and offers his services and loyalty to Jyun Ye Court.
He chooses Luk Dan, someone with an intense hatred of Wan, to be his partner, they each take one of the animals, and become the strongest contender's for the orthodox champion.
The upshot of this was that the role of Wan Fei Yeung was given to another actor, this being explained away by the in story device of the protagonist receiving a new face when he was reincarnated by the cocoon of the Wudang qi manual.
As a counter spoiling tactic RTV created their own Chu Liuxiang analog, It Takes a Thief, and scheduled it to run on weekends before TVB's weekday broadcasts.
The first sequel is the 1979 60-episode RTV series Dragon Strike (天龍訣), a friend of Wen helps the Zhengde Emperor to fight his enemies the White Lotus sect.
In the beginning of the 1980 60-episode RTV series Hegemony of the Lake or known as On the Waterfront [zh] (湖海爭霸錄), Wan is killed by the White Lotus sect.
Reincarnated was remade in a 1983 Shaw Brothers Studio film as the Bastard Swordsman A follow on 1984 Shaw Brothers Studio film, Return of the Bastard Swordsman [zh], saw Wan fight a Japanese ninja, it is rewritten from Reincarnated and Face to Fate written by Woon Swee Oan.
Wong wrote a prequel to "Reincarnated" in the Hong Kong magazine Knightly (武侠世界) about the origin of the Wudang level eight martial art.
[4][5] Tin tsam bin (天蠶變) is a Cantopop album by Michael Kwan, released in 1979 by Philips Records (Hong Kong).