When Xena (Lucy Lawless) returns to Chin to recover Lao Ma's book of power, she must defeat one of Lao Ma's twin daughters, who wants to acquire the power for her own evil purposes. Xena, Gabrielle (Renée O'Connor) and Joxer (Ted Raimi) are awakened by a monk from the Xo monastery, who dies moments after delivering a letter stating the hawk and the dove must become one with wisdom. Xena realizes that her spiritual mentor, Lao Ma, must have written the letter before her death and that "wisdom" refers to her book which teaches ways to obtain special powers. To unravel the mystery, Xena decides to return to the land of Chin with Gabrielle and Joxer, expecting to find the book in the Xo monastery where she left it.