Using an ancient, mystical Sword, Lin Lie protects the world from evil, making him the brave and spirit Sword Master.
Dreams of Demons
Descended from a legendary emperor of the Fu Xi—one of the three tribes that stopped the war god Chiyou from destroying the world a millennia ago—Lie grows up under his archeologist father alongside his brother, completely unaware of his ancestry. Hearing tales of ancient Chinese history and mythology about heroes and demons, the brothers accompany their father on archeological expeditions. When their father accidentally removes the mystical Sword of Fu Xi from the Valley of a Thousand Tombs—one of the three tombs where the tribe leaders had buried sacred weapons and remains of Chiyou—a piece of Chiyou’s soul is also freed in the form of an orb. Shortly after, Lie’s father and brother go missing.
While Lie is an undisciplined, untrained kid who is haunted by dreams of demons, he quests to find his family and discover the secret of the sword he left behind. His friend Ah Cheng helps him track down some grave robbers that Lie later questions. The robbers tell him they watched his father, the Professor, disappear into a cloud of red smoke. Lie gives them a token for their information but secures it in a puzzle box that he carved himself. Along his journey to find his father, he wields the sword and becomes known as Sword Master.
Ancient Artifacts and Gifts
Lie wields the magical sword of his ancestors, the Fu Xi, and in doing so becomes the Sword Master. Though mastering the sword takes some time and he learns it’s more of a companion than a tool, offering wisdom if he listens. Once it breaks, pieces of it become embedded in his hand, and he can use the energy that remains in them to a certain degree. He can eventually focus the shards into an energy sword rather than a physical blade.
After being wounded and taken in by the people of K’un Lun, Shou-Lao the Undying offers him chi to save his life, making him an immortal weapon known as the Iron Fist. Though tapping into the power of the Iron Fist proves difficult. He learns to focus his chi and channel it into his fist, making for one powerful punch. Being the Iron Fist also offers him expanded healing abilities.
Native to China, Lie is multilingual, speaking Mandarin as well as English.
Forces of Evil
Sindr, the Queen of Cinders and Msupelheim and daughter of Surtur, seizes the opportunity to transform Earth into her fiery hellscape during the War of the Realms. She uses her Fire Goblins and Flames of Msupelheim to attack the Pacific Rim, and Sword Master faces the mad Asgardian God and her minions alongside the Agents of Atlas.
Close Ties and Heroic Allies
Lie grows up with his brother, Lin Feng, exploring their father’s archeology sites. After his father and brother disappear, leaving a mystical sword behind, Lie uses it and discovers his ancestry and quests to find his family, only to learn that his brother seeks to resurrect war god Chiyou, complicating their relationship.
Lie as Sword Master reluctantly fights alongside the New Agents of Atlas to assist in defeating Sindr under former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jimmy Woo and headmaster of the Pan-Asian School for the Unusually Gifted. He allies with Shanghai Super Hero Lei Ling, AKA Aero, Pearl Pangan, AKA Wave, Tūtū Pele, the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire and Lava, and Shang-Chi. Li and Shang-Chi have a tense relationship when they first meet, likely because Shang-Chi humbles the new Sword Master by disarming him. He ultimately trains with the Master of Kung Fu, Shang-Chi in martial arts as well as the other Agents of Atlas, and works alongside heroes spread out across the Pacific Rim to defeat Sindr and her forces.
When he searches for his family, he suffers an attack by a demon and the descendant of one of the three tribes tasked with protecting the tombs, demon hunter Ji Shuangshuang, rescues him. Like Lie, she’s a descendant of one of the three tribes, the Nü-Wa, and she helps him understand what the sword is and what’s at stake. Shuangshuang is a reluctant ally but one he needs none the less.
Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Stephen Strange, AKA Doctor Strange, also comes to his rescue him after an attack by the evil Baron Karl Mordo, AKA Baron Mordo, who seeks the sword.
A Warrior in the Making
Lie soon received a package containing a glowing red orb, but the delivery man transformed before his eyes into a demon and attacked. During the tussle, some of Lie’s blood landed on the sword and activated it. Unable to control the sword and its magic, a demon hunter Ji Shuangshuang arrived on the scene. She rescued Lie, using the ancient sword left by Lie’s father and slayed the monster. Lie demanded answers but Shuangshuang stabbed him with the sword and transported him to ancient times where the war god Chiyou and his demon army were in the midst of slaughtering the tribes descended from the legendary Three Sovereigns. This was a vision showed to him by the sword but he was promptly returned, unharmed to his time and apartment in Shanghai where Shuangshuang was waiting for him. She explained that she and he were both descendants of the ancient tribes who defeated Chiyou, but Chiyuou’s monsters were back roaming the city. She explained that the tribes’ descendants had a responsibility to block the tombs of Chiyou and keep the three parts of his remains separated, forever preventing his return. But, a year prior, Shuangshuang and her family learned that the tomb’s seal containing Chiyou’s skull had been broken, allowing the army of the God of War to rise again.
Now, Lie needed to desperately learn how to use the magic word and protect the spirit orb from Chiyou’s army, and Shuangshuang didn’t believe he was capable so she absconded with the orb. Baron Mordo suddenly appeared through a portal and tried to steal the sword. Luckily, the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange himself intervened, saving him, and began questioning the young Sword Master. Strange sensed a great power in the land and Lie revealed that it was Chiyou’s army and things began to click for Strange. He asked for the sword to keep it safe but Lie refused, claiming he was entrusted with it. Strange offered to deal with Mordo and told him that the sword knew who his allies would be and where to find them. So he set forth on a task to find his allies and let the sword lead. Strange opened a portal to the first ally and it was Shuangshuang, and despite Lie’s hesitation since she stole the orb, Strange suggested that they fight side by side just like their ancestors and shoved him through the portal.
Reluctant to work together and confrontational, they had no other choice but to fight the resurrected demon hordes of Chiyou. When another attack from Chiyou’s demons descended upon them, Lie used the sword and defended himself, and the sword saved him from falling to his death, all of which impressed Ji. But her orders were to bring him home and. She offered him two choices, to give the two artifacts to her and return to his normal life or come home with her to fulfill his ancient birthright of his bloodline. He chose the latter and Lie’s friend and roommate, Cheng, helped them get to Ji’s home base. But the sword revealed that Lie’s older brother, Lin Feng, who disappeared with their father, has mysteriously returned. Before they could discover more, they arrived at Ji’s home base in Gansu Province, China, which was under attack by a demon horde but the Chief of Ji’s clan, her grandmother Ji Xiangyun, stopped the assault with her clan’s magic bands and the secret to Chiyou’s plan lay within the sword and he needed to train with Shuangshuang.
Lie trained and eventually takes the name Sword Master, dedicated to finding his missing family and protecting the world from Chiyou’s army. When Sindr’s forces, the Fire Goblins of Msupleheim, attacked Shanghai, Sword Master tears through them with his magical sword. Joined by Aero, Wave, and Pele the Hawaiian Goddess of fire, they drive the Goblins back and when they have them on the run, they are suddenly transported to Seoul, Korea where they met with the Agents of Atlas. After seeing their heroics over Atlas’ Flyspies, Brawn requested their help to fight Sindr’s forces but regroup first in Siberia. At first the group is resistant as both Wave and Sword Master forcefully demand that they be sent back to defend their homes along the Pacific Rim. Pele joined them with more details about Sindr’s plan to melt the ice caps but Sword Master was still resistant until Shang-Chi disarmed him.
After the team shared a meal together, they coordinated attacks with other Super Hero teams across the Pacific Rim and divided to Sword Master’s chagrin. Since they were going up against a functional Goddess, Woo decreed that in the final fight, only mystical power has a chance, so the plan was to save those with mystical powers until the end. So in the meantime, Sun Wukong, AKA Monkey Knight, joined them and they all trained in Kung Fu with Shang-Chi.
Finally fighting Sindr in Northern China as she and her forces made their way to the Arctic, Sword Master fights alongside the Monkey Knight, Ami Han, AKA White Fox, Shang-Chi, Crescent and Io. Though Monkey Knight disappeared while battling Sindr, the remaining team worked together to defeat the queen of cinders though she escaped through her Black Bifrost portal just north of Beijing. The Agents of Atlas teleported to her location and fought alongside Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel, and defeated Sindr. They sent her forces back to Muspelheim through the Asgardian Rainbow Bridge and helped the people of the Pacific Rim recover from the devastating attacks.
After defeating Sindr and her Goblins, Lie traveled to New York City and interrogated an antique dealer. Though Shang-Chi interrupted his process and began training him. He reminded Lie that he has enemies all around him and that the sword made him a target for villains who sought to steal it. Ares, God of War, soon attacked and stole Lie’s sword to rescue his abducted son, the Drakon Ismenios, a dragon. Ares’ smith, the dwarf Orgarb, revealed that the sword’s power couldn’t be unleashed by Ares. Thanks to Shang-Chi, the weapon ended up back in Lie’s hands, and they struck a bargain to help Ares if only Ares would help Lie find his father. The trio traveled to Madripoor where Drakon was held captive in an ancient temple for plundering Namor McKenzie, AKA Namor the Sub-Mariner’s unguarded treasure in Atlantis—a fact they learned from Davi Naka, Mother Goddess of Madripoor. Though, they fought first, and Lie attempted to help but the sword left him for Naka. She taught Lie that the sword wasn’t a tool, it was a partner to learn from. The Goddess encouraged the group, with the wrath of Atlantis, to find the underwater kingdom’s sea serpent who went missing.
Lie and Shang-Chi reunited with the Agents of Atlas portals appeared in major cities across the globe, connecting Asian communities like never before by tech mogul Mike Nguyen into Pan, a Pan-Asian portal city. But his motives remained unclear and the city was attacked by Sea Serpents and Wyverns. The leader of the Agents, Amadeus Cho, AKA Brawn, agreed to have his team become the protectors of the city and it was here Lie learned that Nguyen’s company had captured Atlantis’ dragon to use her scales as a power source for the portals. Namor soon attacked Pan to retrieve his dragon. Brawn ordered Lie and Shang-Chi to discreetly spy on Aquaria Neptunia, AKA Namora, one of the original Agents of Atlas and cousin to Namor, in Atlantis. Once Namor’s dragon was returned to Atlantis, Lie and Shang-Chi were witness to an out-of-control dragon who, they soon discovered thanks to Atlantis’ scientists, contained an implant that caused the dragon to act violently. Namor believed Brawn to be part of the Trojan Horse plot, leading Brawn to transform into his hulk-self and ended up being controlled by Nguyen who made another attempt to destroy Atlantis by proxy. Lie helped free Amadeus of his control and put an end the conflict.
When the symbiote god Knull invaded Earth with his dragons, Lie and his sword traveled to Shanghai but soon learned that these invaders were not Chiyou’s minions. He refused to help but the sword disagreed and left him for Dane Whitman, AKA Black Knight. But Whitman was soon attacked and taken over by a symbiote dragon and the Sword attempted to leave him for Lie. The sword lit itself ablaze so that the possessed Whitman would release it and finally returned to Lie who helped Shanghai’s protector Aero against Knull’s invasion.
Lie and the Sword soon helped his fellow Agent of Atlas, White Fox, against a demonic Kumiho who was attacking in South Korea. The Sword of Fu Xi ended up in Kumiho’s jaws who shattered it, bits of it getting embedded in Lie’s hands. Kumiho proceeded to throw Lie into an abyss with only a shard of the sword left behind.
Wounded, Lie was later found in K’un-Lun at the same time as Shou-Lao the Undying emerged from his egg. Shou-Lao gave him chi to save his life, which granted Lie the power of the Iron Fist. Helped by Mei Min and her family, Lie desired to collect the pieces of his broken sword so that Chiyou could not return. He set out on a quest and ended up in Flushing where he met Danny Rand, AKA Iron Fist, who assisted him in finding a missing piece of his sword. Lie continued on his journey with Min often in tow and met Yang Yi and Sparrow Yu-Ti, the latter helping Lie with his unique issue with the blade shards, which began telling him to go back to Min’s home. Min’s family had been attacked by a Chiyou demon, it killed her father, impersonated him, and wounded her mother. Lie, Min, and Yi returned and fought the demon, taking the remaining shards into his body to defeat it. The demon revealed that Lie’s brother had broken the tomb of his master and waited for him in another. Lie, Min, and Yi traveled by portal to Gansu and met Fat Cobra and Bride of Nine Spiders, immortal weapons who were sent by Rand. They tested his skills by fighting him and Lie could not produce the iron fist like his predecessor. Min and Yi fought Fat Cobra and the Bride while Lie slipped off to the tomb to face his brother Feng, a horde a demons and a gigantic centipede, the latter of which defeated Lie. Feng had just beaten Shuangshuang and stolen her bands.
Losing consciousness, Lie meets Shou-Lao in his mind who reassured him about his situation. Lie awoke to a brother who claimed he was awakening Chiyou to destroy him with Lie’s help but Lie didn’t believe him. The brothers fought, with Lie losing ground and Feng began fighting Lie’s allies. Lie then combined his two sides as Sword Master and an immortal weapon, summoned an energy blade from his shards, and wounded Feng who fled via portal, escaping justice. Rand offered to train Lie which Lie accepted.
As the mystical protector of K’un-Lun, which was under siege by Feng, Lie must endeavor to reclaim access to the hidden city. When Lie traveled by plane to Seoul to visit White Fox, Loki Laufeyson, AKA Loki, appeared and magically disappeared everyone on the plane. Loki revealed to Lie that he was in league with Feng for entertainment reasons since the newly resurrected Celestial—the Progenitor—was bound to pass judgement over Earth, humans, mutants, and gods alike. Loki was unware of the latter until the Progenitor attacked the plane, sending it crashing to the ground with Lie and Loki landing in Asgard, in one of Loki’s memories which was his test. When Mjolnir hammers rained down from above, one struck Loki, drowning him in a nearby lake. Lie rushed to his aid and in removing the hammer, tossed it aside and returned to the surface, only to have been transported to K’un Lun.
Without time to recover, the dragon Shou-Lao appeared and demanded Lie complete the Trial of the Iron Fist (i.e., take his heart or die trying) as all Iron Fists must do. Loki summoned a portal above the action and watched Lie’s literal trial by fire, of which he didn’t want to partake in since he considered Shou-Lao a friend. Determined to not slay Shou-Lao, unsure if it was real or not, he was only going to take his heart if the dragon willingly gave it to him. Loki ended up assisting Lie and together they passed the Progenitor’s test. Returned to the plane which was restored and full of passengers again, Lie noticed the dragon’s mark on his arm, which meant it was all real and he completed the trial. Lie demanded to know about his brother and how to get to K’un-Lun but Loki disappeared, as usual. Lie landed in Seoul and upon seeing White Fox, hugged her.
