The tale of the spiritual, erotic and psychic evolution of Tu Ming, a Taoist monk in Old China. Tu is apprenticed in sequence to five female adepts in the discipline known as the dual cultivation, a type of tantric yoga in which sexual techniques replicate states of spiritual progress. This practice culminates in the creation of a spiritual embryo at the moment of enlightenment. The five masters who instruct Tu are characters akin to those in Chinese folklore: the gentle pillow girl, Mei Cha, the doughty herb gatherer, Su Ba, and Lekshe Tsogyel, an acrobatic aristocrat from Tibet. Tu advances not only in his practice, but also in his understanding of life and love as he falls under the spell of five unforgettable women and experiences an epiphany that redefines what it means to attain the highest knowledge.