Set in the late Yuan Dynasty, the story revolves around a pair of priceless and extremely powerful weapons, known respectively as the Heaven-reliant Sword (倚天劍) and Dragon-slaying Saber (屠龍刀), which many pugilists covet. Either or both of them are thought to allow their wielder to rule the wulin (martial artists' community). The Story follows a Zhang Wuxi as he travels throughout the pugilistic world, meeting trouble and dangerous ladies along the way.