Sword Master features some of the country's new stars like Lin Gengxin.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Eventually he quit acting and even announced that he would never act in a martial arts movie again. But that didn't stop Yee from making a martial arts movie.

And, for this movie, Yee didn't buy a cliche of old Chinese films that depicts swordsmen as heroes whose lives are far too interesting to be real. The director decided to show his heroes as often confused and desperate, closer to Gu's book published in the 1970s.

In the novel, the titular character, San Shaoye, seeks a spiritual answer. Born in a family boasting generations of martial arts masters, he has to guard the family image via endless, lethal duels. Lost in such a life, he abandons his fame and wealth and leads the life of a slum-dweller. But his former rivals track him down.

"I met Gu in 1977. He told me about his novel ... Now thanks to Hark Tsui (director), I can bring to life that world through 3-D effects," Yee said at a recent Beijing event.

Tsui, who is a Hong Kong-based pioneering filmmaker, uses cutting-edge technology to shoot big-scale action sequences. He is an executive producer of Sword Master.