On the plot:
The first volume had two very obvious threads. They began intertwining from the Wind and Cloud Tournament onward, then collided little by little before finally erupting.
There was no need to say much about Xu Xiaoshou's growth along the open thread. The hidden thread was mainly about the development of the world's plot.
Remove Xu Xiaoshou, and the world's course would have been this: while the Wind and Cloud Tournament was underway, Elder Sang suddenly returned to the palace, made preparations with the Spirit Palace's bigwigs, and cast a great net to await the Saint Slave's invasion.
The Saint Slave came. Unexpectedly, the one who arrived was the Saint Slave's First Seat. The Spirit Palace's power alone simply could not take him down, so they had no choice but to let him go.
Having learned from that setback, they seized information amid the White Cavern's unrest that the Saint Slave might come for the Blackfall Sword Scabbard. Ye Xiaotian sent word to Holy Spirit Hall, but Holy Spirit Hall was careless.
They only sent Jiang Bianyan. He could not even take down the masked man, let alone now, when the Saint Slave had come prepared and brought Cen Qiaofu.
After failing once more, the Famous Sword was taken, their dignity was trampled underfoot, and the only thing the Spirit Palace managed to keep was the Blackfall Sword Scabbard.
Yes, if Xu Xiaoshou had not appeared, Luo Leilei would probably have casually walked off with even the scabbard.
This was an indisputable fact, and it was also the most fundamental sentiment the first volume sought to express: before absolute strength, all struggle was vain and powerless.
Elder Sang, too, became one of the only two chess players controlling the board in Volume One, through an identity and way