Woon Swee Oan in a Hangzhou event gathering his fans.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Woon has been writing for more than 50 years with his representative works The Four and Return of the Bastard Swordsman enjoying huge popularity

For most martial arts fans and critics, Woon, alongside late masters Louis Cha, Gu Long and Liang Yusheng are hailed as the “Four Masters of Wuxia Novels”. Woon is the only of the four who is still alive.

It is noticeable that all of his work are infused with a strong sense of modernity. He integrated his own life experience, and that of the people around him, into his wuxia novels, which built a distinctive world for his readers.

“Wuxia is a bridge culturally connecting China and the rest of the world, and the genre will never die,” said Woon.