Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer 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. They arrive in an abandoned Chinese village to find the monastery being attacked by warriors using explosives. A tough and beautiful young Chinese woman, Pao Ssu, joins Xena and Gabrielle in their fight against the troops which retreat. Much to Xena's surprise, Pao Ssu introduces herself as Lao Ma's daughter and explains that the explosives are made from black powder -- an ancient Chin formula which was forbidden but which a vicious warlord, Go Kun, rediscovered. When Xena opens the cabinet that contained Lao Ma's book, she finds it empty. Xena sends Gabrielle and Joxer on a mission to discover a mysterious key ingredient in the black powder, while she and Pao Ssu follow the trail of the book thief. While shopping for herbs and spices for the black powder recipe, Joxer gets caught with a sample and both he and Gabrielle are thrown in jail. Xena and Pao Ssu find the book in the hands of Pao Ssu's twin sister, K'ao Hsin. It becomes clear that Pao Ssu will stop at nothing to get her hands on the book and use its powers to annihilate her enemies. Knowing now that Pao Ssu is behind the black powder army and its atrocities, Xena challenges her to fight. Pao Ssu unleashes a cherry bomb and steals the book -- not realizing that it's a fake Xena planted. Meanwhile, Gabrielle, while locked in the stocks next to Joxer, manages to retrieve the black powder from his pants and blow open the locks. On their way to meet up with Xena at Ming's Palace, they run into Pao Ssu who wishes to join them. As Xena and K'ao Hsin study the book, Pao Ssu arrives with Joxer and Gabrielle in tow. She has tied them to separate carts, which she has booby-trapped with explosives. Not wanting any bloodshed, K'ao Hsin hands over the book to Pao Ssu, who ignites the two trails of powder anyway and rides off. Xena defuses the path to Gabrielle and frees Joxer just before his cart explodes. Xena, Joxer and Gabrielle figure out the secret ingredient in the black powder and they use explosives to set a trap for Kun's army. While Gabrielle, Joxer and K'ao Hsin fight the army, Xena and Pao Ssu battle each other with their newfound powers. Both Pao Ssu and Xena are able to harness the special powers through their purity of thought and actions. Whereas Pao Ssu learns to master it with her pure hatred, Xena realizes that pure joy gives her access. Xena is able to weaken Pao Ssu's hatred by telling her that Lao Ma only gave her up to save her life, and thereby defeats her. In an attempt to save their leader from Xena, Kun's army mistakenly fires a rocket at the tent containing the black powder which explodes into flame. With neither Pao Ssu to lead them nor the black powder, Kun's army is rendered powerless and peace is restored. DISCLAIMER To obtain a copy of Joxer's recipe for Moo Shu Sauce and other Chinese delicacies visit your local Bookstore or look for it on the Internet.