The sword's name: Skyward

The Skyward Sword had a legend of its own in the martial world.

It measured three feet and seven inches long, its blade forged from Western Regions black iron and South Sea frost crystal, its entire surface resembling frozen essence veiled in frost.

Seven natural blood-red veins were embedded along its spine, winding like the branches of Lingxiao flowers. Beneath sunlight, those crimson markings shimmered as though living creatures were moving within them.

Its guard was cast in layers of cloud patterns, with a pigeon-blood stone set at its center. When the sword was swung, red light rippled outward in a three-foot aura. Most extraordinary of all was its scabbard-carved from thousand-year-old bogwood into the shape of a horned dragon coiling around a pillar. A jade pearl rested in the dragon's mouth; when the sword was drawn, the pearl dropped to the bottom of the scabbard with a cry like a phoenix's call.

Legend held that the first to wield this sword was the Sword Immortal, Yuxiaozi.

He had wielded it against the Yuan army in the decisive battle at Yashan. Wherever the wind of his sword swept, the sea mist froze. Historical records claimed, "Within thirty feet, every arrow fell like rain." Later, he plunged into the sea with the sword. A hundred years afterward, a fisherman caught its scabbard in his net.

It subsequently fell into the hands of the Painting Sage, Shen Zhou.

After obtaining the sword by chance, he used it in place of a brush to create the Skyward Sword Intent Manual.

Then, a little over a decade ago, dredging work on the Yellow River unearthed the bogwood scabbard.

Following records in ancient texts, Xue Yiren discovered the blade embedded point-first in the stone of a sheer cliff on Mount Huang. By then, the blood-red veins had spread all the way to its tip, and crimson Lingxiao flowers filled the surrounding cracks in the rock.

From that day onward, the sword hung in the Sword Lodge at Xue Family Manor, becoming one of Xue Yiren's most cherished treasures.

Then, a little over a year ago, Xue Yiren gave the sword to Fang Yunhua, causing an enormous stir throughout the martial world. Quite a few skilled swordsmen flocked to Xue Family Manor to ask for swords of their own, only to be beaten out by his sword attendants without so much as glimpsing Xue Yiren himself.

Meanwhile, the story of how Fang Yunhua obtained the sword grew increasingly fantastical. Because his reputation as an Amorous Young Master was so widespread, another rumor claimed that he had won over Xue Yiren's daughter, Xue Honghong, who had married into Shi Family Manor, and received the sword as a result.

It was supposedly a gift for the pretty boy his daughter kept.

"Bullshit!"

When Chu Liuxiang recounted that rumor with a teasing expression, Fang Yunhua nearly cracked.

"I admit I did make a little use of Sister Xue's connections."

"Oh?" Chu Liuxiang's interest was piqued. After all, the gifting of the Skyward Sword could now be counted among the martial world's ten greatest unsolved mysteries.

"First, you have to acknowledge one thing: getting an audience with Senior Xue Yiren, renowned as the greatest swordsman under heaven, isn't easy. Even my Mount Hua background wasn't enough."

Chu Liuxiang nodded.

"So naturally, I needed to pull a few strings at the start. Honestly, judging by the rumors in the martial world, people have some profound misconceptions about me. Think about it-I've only become famous in the last few years. How could I possibly have gotten involved with so many heroines and young ladies?"

After considering that, Chu Liuxiang continued nodding in agreement. Plenty of people claimed he had some extraordinary relationship with one woman or another, when in reality he had never even met some of them.

"Of course, some of those rumored romantic connections were entirely accurate."

Fang Yunhua's sudden change of tack nearly threw his back out.

"For example, Shi Yin, who could help arrange a meeting with Senior Xue?"

Imitating Chu Liuxiang's habitual gesture, Fang Yunhua rubbed his nose.

It wasn't just Shi Yin, but Zuo Mingzhu as well. They were the two key figures whose supposed return to life in borrowed bodies set off "Ghostly Love, Heroic Passion," a major arc in the original story, and Fang Yunhua had taken both of them for himself. Naturally, that entire plotline from the original had been severed as a result.

"I'm a swordsman. It's perfectly normal for me to want to meet Senior Xue, the man known as the greatest swordsman under heaven, isn't it? And Yinyin had the means to make that happen. Once she learned what I wanted, she took the initiative to arrange a meeting for me. That's perfectly reasonable too.

"As for Sister Xue...

"If you met her, Commander Chu, you'd understand that winning her over really isn't difficult. With looks and bearing like yours and mine, a few sweet words are enough to coax her most of the way."

Chu Liuxiang fell silent.

Although he had never met Xue Honghong, he had heard that she had a face like a donkey and was hopelessly infatuated with handsome men. Those "few sweet words" Fang Yunhua mentioned probably weren't quite so simple. That made him rather less envious of Fang Yunhua's success in obtaining a treasured sword from Xue Yiren.

But then he reconsidered. Xue Honghong probably hadn't played such a crucial role; at most, she had helped Fang Yunhua meet Xue Yiren. If she really could persuade Xue Yiren to give away swords so easily, then no matter how unbearable her appearance might be, countless swordsmen would have trampled Shi Family Manor's doorstep to pieces.

"Meeting Senior Xue Yiren was only the first step." Fang Yunhua sighed.

"And the second?"

"As a swordsman, it's normal to want to witness the skill of the greatest sword under heaven, isn't it?"

"Normal."

"And as a young man, even though his strength crushed me so thoroughly that I couldn't lift my head, it was still normal for me to dare shout, 'Never Look Down on the Young,' wasn't it?"

Chu Liuxiang didn't answer. He simply looked at Fang Yunhua in silence.

In principle, there was nothing wrong with that statement, but coming from this man, it seemed very wrong indeed. After spending a little over two hours talking with Fang Yunhua, he felt that the man hardly seemed capable of such youthful hotheadedness.

Seeing his reaction, Fang Yunhua sighed again.

Awakening the memories of his previous life had inevitably affected him somewhat. In fact, a little over a year ago, he had been precisely that sort of spirited young man.

And because he had always been the prodigy who put his scummy senior sister in her place, while also spearheading the reforms that had brought prosperity to Mount Hua, Fang Yunhua's exuberant confidence had long since overflowed from the inside out.

"Anyway, you have to believe me: that was a perfectly normal course of events. And because of it, Senior Xue Yiren set me a trial. Every six months, I have to visit Xue Family Manor to test my sword. If my progress falls short of what he considers worthy of the words 'Never Look Down on the Young'..."

At that point, Fang Yunhua paused and looked at Chu Liuxiang with a solemn expression.

"He'll kill me outright."

"Well..." Chu Liuxiang had initially wanted to ask whether he was joking, but at the sight of Fang Yunhua's serious face, he fell silent yet again. After all, everyone knew Xue Yiren had another nickname: the Blood-Robed Man.

"So that's why he gave you the Skyward Sword?"

"He didn't give it to me. I'm holding it temporarily. Of course, I prefer to see it as the price I have to pay to wield this sword."

Fang Yunhua stroked the Skyward Sword lying on the wooden table. He was deeply fond of this treasured blade. After all, to a swordsman, the sword in his hand was like his very life, a devotion that would never waver!

Chu Liuxiang, however, couldn't quite understand such a bargain.

Because he wasn't a swordsman.

"Senior Xue Yiren really is..."

"Actually, that's his true nature. As the greatest swordsman under heaven, he's both lonely and stubbornly self-willed."

Putting together certain details from the original story, Fang Yunhua had gained a deeper understanding of this senior. He probably did genuinely want to nurture Fang Yunhua, hoping that one day he would reach the heights Xue Yiren envisioned-only to kill him without mercy afterward.

Of course, in return, aside from the guidance he could receive after passing Xue Yiren's assessment every six months, Xue Yiren also tacitly permitted Fang Yunhua to drape himself in his tiger's hide and borrow his intimidating reputation out in the world.