Seven Masters vs The Underworld

Story summary for Seven Masters vs. The Underworld:

Li Mao, a young peasant villager, finds a dying man amongst a group of dead men. Ho Chen, one of the Seven Masters, has been ambushed and cut with poisoned blades. He charges Li Mao with delivering a warning to the other Masters on Wudang Mountain. Ho Chen transfers his chi energy and martial arts skills to Li Mao, and gives him his sword (the Lunar Sword), then expires.

Trying to decide how to find Wudang Mountain, Li Mao blunders into the camp of the Poison Clan assassins. He discovers that he knows how to use the sword and fights well, but is cornered. Wu Bin happens by and helps him to finish off the assassins, hears the story of Ho Chen's demise, and decides to help and train Li Mao.

Seeking shelter from the rain, Wu Bin and Li Mao go into a cave which turns out to be the lair of Ting Ting and her bandit gang. Wu Bin challenges Ting Ting for Li Mao, then talks Li Mao through the fight. The chi energy he received from Ho Chen allows him to learn incredibly quickly, and Li Mao defeats Ting Ting. After hearing their story, Ting Ting joins the quest.

The next day, as they travel through a dark and twisted forest, Wu Bin departs, citing only "urgent business to attend to," leaving Li Mao and Ting Ting to make their way to Wudang Mountain. That night, they take shelter in an abandoned temple. Li Mao is awakened by what he thinks is Ting Ting coming to seduce him, but the real Ting Ting slays the ghost, Jiang Fei. They rush outside but are attacked by a horde of gyonshi (vampires), and a demonic tree. They are getting the worst of it when Monsoon appears, a student of the Seven Masters. He takes care of the vampires and the tree. They tell Monsoon what happened to Ho Chen, and he agrees to guide them to Wudang Mountain.

When they reach the mountain, they discover a huge encampment of Poison Clan warriors hidden nearby, blocking their path. They steal guard's clothing and then sneak through the camp. On the way through the camp, they overhear a conversation between Xiang Kai, leader of the Poison Clan, and an unknown overlord. They learn that this person has plotted to take down the Seven Masters by inflaming hatred between the transformed animals and the Shao-Lin, and setting up the Masters to take the fall. The three armies are set to clash in the morning, and the Poison Clan army is to go in that night to clean up anyone left alive.

The three heroes reach Wudang Mountain just as the armies start to fight. They try to find the Seven Masters but are swept up into the melee. Suddenly, a beam of light cuts a huge gouge in the field. It is Wu Bin, using the Celestial Eye to get everyone's attention. Wu Bin convinces the leaders of the three armies to meet and talk. They learn that Kong Jun She, one of the Seven Masters, has betrayed them and is working with the attackers. After a bit of talking the leaders are convinced and plan a ruse to deceive the Poison Clan. That night, when the Poison Clan moves to mop up, they see a battlefield littered with bodies as expected. But as they go partway across the field, the warriors of all three armies leap up and fight, destroying their army. Li Mao meets Xiang Kai in single combat, and defeats him.

After the battle, we learn in brief about Wu Bin's many adventures since he left Li Mao and Ting Ting, about how he discovered that the source of the plot against the Seven Masters is the Emperor Xin Kai Sheng. Ghost Wind and Sky Dragon, two more of the Seven Masters, arrive and add that they have discovered Kai Sheng plotting to open a the Underworld Gateway, and release the demon lord Desolation. The Gateway has been guarded by the Seven Masters for centuries, hence the need to remove them first. Kai Sheng has been weakening the gateway while the Masters were distracted. The Masters are not strong enough to defeat Desolation, but set Li Mao and Ting Ting the task of retrieving two legendary swords, which, when combined, might be able to do so. Monsoon and Wu Bin go with them.

Wu Bin leads them to the edge of the world so they can travel quickly. Kai Sheng has anticipated this, and sends four assassins to dispatch them. Li Mao kills Long Axe and knocks Short Axe off a cliff. Monsoon kills Cenotaph. Wu Bin destroys Miasma, but not before it seriously injures Monsoon. They are forced to split up to reach the swords in time: Li Mao heads for Thousand Sword Mountain, Ting Ting for the Jade Palace of the Dragon King, and Wu Bin takes Monsoon to a sorceress for help.

Li Mao confronts Shung Dai, the guardian of the swords, at Thousand Sword Mountain. Shung Dai is impervious to metal or wooden weapons, so Li Mao tricks him into revealing which of the swords is the Invincible Earth Sword. Li Mao steals the weapon, but is forced to leave the Lunar Sword behind in the process.

Wu Bin convinces the Moon Sorceress, Lin, to help Monsoon. Apparently there was a relationship gone bad between Lin and Wu Bin, but she agrees to help anyway.

Ting Ting navigates past a trap and confronts Ang Dao the Corrupt. She manages to turn the trap against the demon, and retrieves the Boundless Heaved Sword.

Li Mao arrives at the Underworld Gateway just as Xin Kai Sheng is about to release Desolation. He is attacked by Kong Jun She, the renegade Master, but saved by the timely arrival of Wu Bin. Li Mao uses the Invincible Earth Sword to annoy Desolation, a demon as large as an island. Meanwhile Wu Bin is severely beaten by Kong Jun She and Xin Kai Sheng, but saved by the timely arrival of Monsoon and Lin. She traps Xin Kai Sheng temporarily, long enough to heal Wu Bin.

Wu Bin and Lin fight Xin Kai Sheng. The two of them together manage to defeat him; he is last seen being consumed by a blue fireball from Wu Bin, presumed dead.

Monsoon fights his former master, Kong Jun She. He is beaten, but Jun She is distracted by the blinding flash of light when Ting Ting and Li Mao unite the swords. Monsoon kicks him, knocking him into the crater that contains the Underworld Gateway.

Ting Ting arrives with the Boundless Heaven Sword; she and Li Mao unite the two swords and plunge into Desolation's mouth to reach his heart. Desolation is destroyed, and the sword disappears.

In the aftermath, Li Mao takes Ho Chen's place as the Seventh Master.

This story summary was written by Stefan Vincent, and can originally be found on his website, here.