Literature / Qian Qiu

Yan Wushi was someone who had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

He did not believe that human nature was intrinsically good, nor did he believe that there would be anyone in this world who was truly benevolent and righteous, acting with others’ interests in mind but never asking for repayment.

One fine day, Shen Qiao, the sect leader of the foremost Daoist sect, Xuandu Mountain, was challenged to a duel, and then fell from the steep cliffs.

At the time, Yan Wushi just happened to be passing by.

Seeing Shen Qiao, whose injuries were so severe that he was on the verge of death, he suddenly thought of a marvelous idea...

After a thousand autumns, who would remain unforgotten and immortal?

Qian Qiu (千秋), which also translates to "Thousand Autumns", is a Web Novel written by Meng Xishi. It falls under the danmei, historical and wuxia genres.

Yan Wushi has seen the worst humanity has to offer, and therefore doesn't believe there is someone out there who could have a sense of true justice and giving kindness to other unconditionally.

Yet one day, a Daoist priest named Shen Qiao, the sect leader of Xuandu Mountain, falls from the cliff during a duel. Yan Wushi happens to stumble upon him and decides to save his life not out of kindness but to see how far he could push the other's pure ideals before he becomes corrupted like everyone else.

Qian Qiu is 126 chapters long with 17 extra chapters. Several English fan translations are available, starting and ending at certain chapters of the story.

The novel has been adapted into the following adaptations:

• Animated Adaptation: The donghua, titled Shan He Jian Xin (山河剑心) or "Mountain and Rivers, Heart of the Sword" is produced by Motion Magic. The first season aired from February 8, 2021 to May 24, 2021 with 16 episodes on both Tencent Video and WeTV. A second season is officially confirmed to be in the works, and is scheduled for release at an unknown date.
• Audio Drama: The audio drama aired from August 2019 to February 2021 with a total of two seasons. The audio drama is available on MissEvan.
• The rights to both a Manhua and Live-Action Adaptation have been bought, but no release date has been revealed for either adaptation.

The novel has a semi-independent sequel titled Wushuang.

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Qian Qiu contains examples of the following tropes:

• Adaptation Expansion: The novel reveals that Yan Wushi kept Xueting alive because he intended to give him to the Tiantai Sect in exchange for a copy of the volume of the Zhuyang Ce that is in their possession. The audio drama gives an additional scene that focuses on this event, and it's revealed that the exchange wasn't as smooth as it seemed, however, as the bargaining of terms eventually led to Yan Wushi declaring that they will give him what he wants if he successfully defeats all the combatants in the Tiantai Sect, to which he did.
• Adaptation Name Change: The donghua renames any place or person that is directly inspired from Real Life history.
  • Tujue is known as Beimu (Northern Mu) instead.
  • The kingdoms of Northern Zhou (Beizhou), Northern Qi (Beiqi), and Southern Chen (Nanchen) are changed to the kingdoms of Northern Feng (Beifeng), Southern Ye (Nanye), and Eastern Kang (Dongkang).
  • As for some of the Historical Domain Characters, Yuwen Yong is renamed to Yuwen You, Puliuru Jian is changed to Huangfu Jian, and Mu Tipo is known as Mu Ti instead. Interestingly, only Zhan Ziqian gets to keep his name in the adaptation.
• An Aesop:
  • As Shen Qiao had told Shiwu, no matter how much time and effort you put into something, you won't always be rewarded in return. As such, you shouldn't expect to be paid back in kind so that whatever the outcome, you can spare yourself the pain of disappointment.
  • Sometimes, you have to be careful who to show kindness to. Some people expect the whole arm once you offer them a hand and can resent you for what they view as an act done out of pity.
  • Even if you genuinely want to do good and help people, you should also acknowledge that no matter how selfless or kind you are, or powerful or rich you are, you will never be able to help everyone.
  • There is nothing wrong with desiring wealth, prominence, and the like, so as long as that desire does not consume you and drive you into committing outright immoral actions just to have a chance at attaining them.
• All-CGI Cartoon: The donghua is animated purely in 3D, with the only 2D segments being entirely motionless artworks that only show up during the opening narration of the first episode and in a few other select moments.
• Anti-Climax:
  • Right before Hulugu can get to land the killing blow on Shen Qiao, Yan Wushi arrives at the very last moment. Almost everyone was expecting both grandmasters to fight, but Yan Wushi simply takes Shen Qiao and disappears, which leaves everyone dumbfounded and confused at what had just happened.
  • The author uses this trope for the finale, as she ends the final chapter right at the moment when Shen Qiao breaks down in tears after believing Yan Wushi died from his fight with Hulugu, only for Yan Wushi to wake up and reveal that he's Not Quite Dead. However, the extra chapters do help give the reader a better sense of closure with the story as well as tie up any remaining loose ends and set up the plot for Wushuang.
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi get to have a happy ending, but on a larger scale, the plot ends on this note.
    • Shen Qiao becomes the sect leader of Xuandu Mountain once more and helps it prosper by allowing the sect to become more involved with the secular world. However, Yu Ai — after admitting that he was in the wrong — dies after protecting Shen Qiao from a fatal attack, and Tan Yuanchun is revealed to be the true traitor and mastermind who coerced Yu Ai into making a deal with Tujue and poisoning Shen Qiao; and Tan Yuanchun is punished by being stripped of martial arts and exiled for the remainder of his days.
    • Yuwen Yun's tyranny is put to an end, and Puliuru Jian ascends to the throne and undoes all the mess that Yuwen Yun had made. However, there are other members the Yuwen family who are conspiring to take action against Puliuru Jian in the future. Setting aside the events of Wushuang, anyone who knows what happened in Real Life history can already tell that the golden years of Puliuru Jian's reign are not bound to last, especially once his second-born takes the throne.
    • Hulugu is killed in his duel against Yan Wushi, and with their other conspirators in the Central Plains having been already dealt with, the Tujue are left with no choice but to retreat and give up on their plans of conquering China. However, the extras show that the Tujue people haven't completely given up and are only biding their time. Years later, they are hinted to be conspiring with the other remnants of the Yuwen Clan and the Buddhists to seize power from the royal family once again.
    • The extra that's only available in the simplified edition of the novel hints that after Yang Guang succeeded his father as emperor, things have reverted to how it was during Yuwen Yun's reign, to some degree. The Buddhists and the Hehuan Sect are in power once again, and although the latter has undergone a reform under Bai Rong's leadership, the alliance between these factions is still murky, especially when one takes into consideration Yang Guang's infamy as a tyrannical and incompetent emperor, just like Yuwen Yun was.
  • The first season of the donghua ends on this note. Unlike in the novel, Shen Qiao arrives just in time to stop the five martial arts masters who plotted to ambush and assassinate Yan Wushi. Despite his earlier interference, during the ensuing fight, Yan Wushi takes a fatal attack meant for Shen Qiao. However, The Stinger shows that Yan Wushi is alive, albeit only barely, with his core still severely damaged. Also, the Golden Flower Ring gets destroyed in the battle, which waylays Beimu's plans to unite all their leaders in another attempt to conquer the Central Plains. But even then, Hulugu is revealed to be alive all along, hinting that their plans are far from over.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: Besides leaving many nuances Lost in Translation, the official subtitles of the Animated Adaptation also either mistranslates the dialogue or translates a sentence/phrase/term too literally.
  • Qi Fengge's name is sometimes transliterated to "Qifeng Pavilion" instead. While the ge (阁) in Qi Fengge's name (祁凤阁) does mean "pavilion", any unsuspecting viewer might mistake the term for the name of a place rather than a person.
  • Xuandu Mountain is also known as the Purple Manor of Xuandu (玄都紫府), but the donghua calls it "Xuandu Pink Manor" instead, even though purple (紫 or zi) and pink (粉 or fen) are two entirely separate terms.
• Bloodless Carnage: Downplayed. The Animated Adaptation does show blood, but it's not featured too gratuitously. It's even lampshaded in-universe, when Shen Qiao mentions that people of the demonic sects — as brutal as they are — use techniques that would not result in too much bloodshed.
• Book Ends: Right at the beginning of the novel, the tale about how Qi Fengge defeated — but not killed — Hulugu is told to the reader. Come the final arc, Yan Wushi and Hulugu engage in a battle, where Hulugu is finally Killed Off for Real.
• Brick Joke: When Shen Qiao asks Yan Wushi why he's accompanying him in his visit to the Bixia Sect instead of heading to Chang'an as expected, Yan Wushi replies that he'll only answer if Shen Qiao calls him "Yan-lang" — a request which Shen Qiao doesn't entertain. The extras reveal that Shen Qiao eventually calls Yan Wushi by that Affectionate Nickname when they have Their First Time.
• Cain and Abel: Of the martial siblings variant.
  • Yu Ai is a complicated case as the Cain to Shen Qiao's Abel. Due to his political ambitions, he poisons Shen Qiao before the duel with Kunye, causing Shen Qiao to lose and get knocked down the mountain. However, in their subsequent encounters, he shows increasingly more remorse for what he's done and constantly begs Shen Qiao to come home with him. It eventually culminates in him seeing the error in his ways and pulling a Heroic Sacrifice to save Shen Qiao towards the end of the novel.
  • Played straight with Tan Yuanchun as the Cain to all of his martial sibling's Abel. Discontented with being snubbed for the position of sect leader, he conspires with the Tujue, manipulates Yu Ai into poisoning Shen Qiao, all to destroy Qi Fengge's legacies out of spite. When his schemes begin to crumble, he even tries to stab Shen Qiao in the back, only to be stopped by Yu Ai.
  • Hui Leshan, the former leader of Bixia sect, framed his martial brother Ruan Hailou to get the position of sect leader, causing the latter to leave Bixia sect in humiliation. This proves to have disastrous consequences, as Ruan Hailou returns decades later with foreign forces to massacre Bixia sect. Fortunately, Shen Qiao intervenes in time to save those who are left.
• Chekhov's Gun: The messenger bird that the Huanyue Sect momentarily intercepted in Episode 5 of the donghua proves to have a significance to the plot in the next episode. Once the confrontation between Shen Qiao and Yu Ai escalates, Yan Wushi reads to Shen Qiao some of the letters he intercepted to give the latter further proof about Yu Ai's alliance with Beimu.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The donghua has most of the characters' clothing be characterized by a specific color depending on which sect they're from. To list a few, the Huanyue Sect's signature color is purple, the Liuhe Organization's color is yellow, the Linchuan Institute's color is red, and the Bixia Sect's color is green. The only exception is the Hehuan Sect, as its members do not follow any particular color scheme.
• Compelling Voice: Moyin Shexin ("Devilish Charm") is a spell known amongst the demonic sects which allows the user to channel their qi into their voices in such a way that anyone who hears their words are coerced into following their command. Anyone who has fully mastered this spell gains the additional ability of gaining complete control of others' minds such that the victims follow the user's will without even being aware of it.
• Contrived Coincidence: Yan Wushi challenges Hulugu to a duel, which just so happens to be after Shen Qiao left for Xuandu Mountain. Bian Yanmei later reveals why; while he does genuinely enjoy the prospective challenge of fighting the World's Strongest Man, he is also ensuring that Hulugu will no longer seek out Shen Qiao on Xuandu Mountain and focus on the duel instead.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The Fenglin Yuandian. Unlike most other martial arts techniques that have the user become stronger the more they improve the art they practice, the Fenglin Yuandian has the opposite effect. The more powerful it evolves, the higher the toll it takes on the user's meridians; and if overused, it can even shorten the user's lifespan.
• Decadent Court: Politics play a huge role in the novel's plot, involving the conflict between both cultivators and non-cultivators alike.
• Disguised in Drag: Multiple characters cross-dress to accomplish their goals throughout the novel.
  • Bai Rong's first appearance has her disguised as a young male monk.
  • To avoid detection on their way back to Chang'an, Shen Qiao disguises Yan Wushi as a woman. Xie Ling is not pleased, though Yan Wushi seems rather amused by Shen Qiao's decision and teases him for it.
  • Later, to rescue Puliuru Jian's children, Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei disguise themselves as maids to infiltrate the imperial palace. When the plan goes sideways, it's revealed that Yan Wushi has also disguised himself to go in with them.
• Everyone Can See It: By the second half of the novel, a lot of people lampshade that the way Yan Wushi acts towards Shen Qiao is completely unlike the way the man would act around everyone else. Shen Qiao believes that it’s only one of Yan Wushi’s whims, albeit not without reason.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: As soon as Shen Qiao expresses his concerns about the necessity to assassinate Yan Zhiwen and his family, any reader can sense that the mission will not go according to plan.
• Foreshadowing: The conflict in Bixia sect as a whole may be seen as one huge foreshadowing for the eventual showdown on Xuandushan.
  • In both cases, a disciple who feels cheated out of their rightful place as sect leader colludes with foreign forces to attack their sect, resulting in catastrophic consequences.
  • In both cases, the perpetrator suffers a Villainous Breakdown when the full scope of their story is finally revealed.
  • In both cases, the conflict finally pushes the current sect leader to end the sect's reclusive state and begin to actively participate in worldly affairs.
• Flash Step: Martial arts practitioners are able to cross vast distances in a single leap using their qinggong ("lightness skills"). If powerful enough, one can also use their qinggong to even climb great heights in places with treacherous terrain.
• Go Through Me: When it becomes clear that Hulugu will stop at nothing to kill Shen Qiao to avenge Kunye, everyone that Shen Qiao has befriended or helped immediately puts themselves between Shen Qiao and Hulugu, ready to defend him with their lives.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: While there are a handful of characters who are vile to the core or have crossed the moral point of no return, the story is less about good versus evil and more about how one can grow stronger and remain resolute in a harsh and cruel world while staying true to their heart, regardless of the kind of person they are.
• Historical Domain Character: Some of the characters in the novel are actually based on real-life historical figures, and actually play an important role in the plot. Namely, the rulers of the nations of Zhou (Yuwen Yong), Qi (Gao Wei), and Chen (Chen Xu) all existed in real life. Additionally, anyone who has some background knowledge of Chinese history might be able to guess what will soon happen to the Yuwen family and the role that Puliuru Jian will play in the future.
• Historical Fiction Literature: The plot of Qian Qiu begins around the time of Yuwen Yong's reign. Just like in Real Life history, Yuwen Yong is eventually killed and usurped by his son, Yuwen Yun, before eventually being deposed by his father-in-law and the eventual founder of the Sui Dynasty, Puliuru Jian.
• Hourglass Plot: In the first half of the novel, even though they do not see eye to eye on almost anything, Shen Qiao started to see Yan Wushi as a friend, only for the latter to betray him in more ways than one. At around the last quarter of the novel, Yan Wushi has reevaluated his opinion of Shen Qiao and began to fall in love with him; but by then, Shen Qiao is completely wary of him and thinks that he's just messing with him like before, and is reluctant to trust him a second time.
• It Amused Me: Yan Wushi decides to save Shen Qiao's life not out of kindness, but just so he could see if Shen Qiao would lose his pure ideals now that he has suffered through a tragedy.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Between the five grandmasters who attempted to ambush Yan Wushi, Yan Wushi is able to get revenge on two of them, namely Dou Yanshan and Xueting. Dou Yanshan is poisoned to death, and in a rematch with Xueting in the imperial palace, Yan Wushi manages to defeat the latter before sealing his meridians to ensure he can never practice martial arts again.
• Lost in Translation: The official Tencent English subtitles often leave out some cultural nuance when handling certain Chinese terms and phrases:
  • "Qi deviation" (走火入魔), in the wuxia setting, pertains to someone's martial arts going severely awry, often leading to deadly consequences. The term is often left alone in translations due to the lack of suitable English equivalent, though the closest definitions given by Chinese-English dictionaries is "spellbound" or "obsession". In this official translation it's called "infatuation", which bears little resemblance to the original meaning.
  • The subtitles often fail to acknowledge if someone is addressed with a formal term and uses only their names or another English term, which can lose a lot of connotations behind characters' relationships and roles:
    • When Yu Shengyan calls Shen Qiao shidi (junior martial brother), the subtitles spell out Shen Qiao's first name instead. Yu Ai is also Shen Qiao's shidi, but the subtitles transliterate the term as just "peer". This completely removes the connotations of martial relationships betweeen the cast, which is a huge point of importance in all wuxia and xianxia stories.
    • When Shen Qiao is called "A-Qiao", the prefix of "A-" or "Ah-" is never included in the subtitles, which only show his first name as well. But one of the common principles of naming or calling someone in China is that no matter what, one must always call someone with a name that's at least two syllables long. If the person's first or last name is monosyllabic, then the person adds a prefix or suffix to said monosyllabic name.
    • In any instance Shen Qiao is called by his family name followed by a form of address, no matter the address, the subtitles always transliterate it as "Mister Shen". Even "Shen-daozhang", which can translate to either "Daoist Priest Shen" or simply "Priest Shen", is translated by the subtitles to only "Mister Shen", which completely fails to get through the message that Shen Qiao is being acknowledged as a Daoist priest.
    • In Episode 16, Xueyin addresses Duan Wenyang as "Duan-shizhu", which the subtitles translate to simply "Mister Duan"... except that shizhu is a form of address Buddhist monks use for non-monks and translates to either "alms-giver" or "benefactor"; hence Xueyin is actually referring to him as "Benefactor Duan".
    • When Yue Kunchi addresses Zhao Chiying, he uses the term shimei (junior martial sister). The subtitles make use of Zhao Chiying's first name instead; but given that Zhao Chiying is the sect leader and a fellow martial disciple of Yue Kunchi, it would be a colossal no-no for him to call her by her name.
  • The poison that was used to weaken Shen Qiao in his first duel with Kunye is called xiang jiang huan. This term refers to a joyful meeting or the joy of reuniting once more, and is also inspired by a poem of the same name from the Tang dynasty. The subtitles make no reference to the poem and transliterates it as "Deadly Reunion", even though the term doesn't suggest anything deadly nor lethal.
  • Yu Shengyan rationalizes the decision to kill Yan Zhiwen and his family with the idiom "斩草不除根, 春风吹又生" which essentially means "when one fails to cut the weeds by their roots, they will return with the spring wind". However, the subtitles heavily dumb this down to "a root will grow into a big tree someday".
• MacGuffin: In the first season of the Animated Adaptation, the Golden Flower Ring serves as this due to its role being expanded in the donghua's plot. It is the reason why the people of Beimu (Tujue) are suddenly stirring up trouble as they attempt to locate it so that they can bring it back to their lands and unite all their military forces to conquer the Central Plains. However, Yan Wushi destroys it in the season finale, and the production team confirmed that it's gone for good.
• Make Me Wanna Shout: Downplayed. Martial arts practitioners can use their inner qi to make their voices sound more resounding and powerful, with anyone close to them feeling knocked back from the sheer force emitted by their voice.
• Meaningful Echo: In Chapter 62, Shen Qiao and A-Yan talk about how Shen Qiao is still capable of forgiving, or at least not harboring a hatred for, the people who wronged him. A-Yan then assures Shen Qiao that the latter's kindness is genuine in spite of Yan Wushi's attempts to corrupt his soul, and that there may be countless people who are self-serving like Chen Gong, but there is only one Shen Qiao. Twenty-eight chapters later, Yan Wushi reflects on how Shen Qiao's experiences did not shatter his morals and beliefs but only made him stronger, and internally muses to himself that he can never change Shen Qiao, who is unique and unlike anyone else he has ever known.
  Although the world is vast, there is only one Shen Qiao.
• Morality Kitchen Sink: One of the main themes of the novel is how two characters with opposing beliefs and ways of life can still forge a connection as long as they're willing to understand each other and agree to disagree without any lingerring resentment. That aside, while there are a few characters who are utterly deplorable in nature, majority of the cast is driven by differing ambitions that clash against the other, and one of the main sources of conflict in the plot is how either a nation wants to conquer another or how a sect wants to establish themselves as the highest source of power in the nation alongside the imperial court.
• Morton's Fork: When members of the Hehuan Sect arrive at Bailong Temple to search for Shen Qiao, Zhu Lengquan tells Shen Qiao to not surrender himself since the Hehuan Sect is sadistic and ruthless enough to kill everyone else anyway. Shiwu also acknowledges that even if they weren't sheltering Shen Qiao, the Hehuan Sect would still kill them under the mere suspicion that they were protecting him.
• The Needs of the Many: This is the primary reason Shen Qiao tries to save Yan Wushi and keep him safe in spite of the latter's complete betrayal of his trust. Despite what Yan Wushi had done to him, Shen Qiao also acknowledges that Yan Wushi is essential to keeping Yuwen Yong alive, since the emperor's reign has kept Northern Zhou stable and prosperous throughout the years, yet the people of both Tujue and the jianghu want Yuwen Yong dead to further their own goals.
• Only Six Faces: All the nameless background characters in the donghua are bound to have the same face and/or body model be reused over and over.
• One-Steve Limit: Oh no. There are some characters who happen to share the same surname; while some are written differently from the other in hanzi, they sound completely similar in romanized form. There are even some cases where two people who are otherwise not related to each other have the same family name written with the exact same character.
• The Phoenix: The Animated Adaptation has the Fenglin Yuandian take the form of a two-horned phoenix made purely of fire, or qi that resembles fire.
• Rule of Symbolism: The donghua always features the bagua or the Eight Trigrams (which is a popular symbol of Daoism) whenever there's a scene where Shen Qiao's abilities increase due to his learnings of the Zhuyang Ce.
• Running Gag:
  • There's at least more than one character who gets confused at how Shen Qiao's given name is spelled, with Shen Qiao having to clarify them if they get it wrong.
  • One can count every character who finds Shen Qiao attractive, wants to sexually ravage him, or simply acknowledges his beauty.
• Sacred Scripture: The Zhuyang Ce is treated as such In-Universe. Besides being able to help any reader vastly improve their martial arts or even cultivate a new core if their original one ever gets destroyed, the text contains everything that Tao Hongjing learned in his life regarding martial arts, and combines all the teachings of the Three Schools (Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism). The missing volume is also revealed to contain what he had learned from the martial arts of the demonic sects.
• Sequel Hook: Some of the events in the extra will soon become an integral part of the main plot of Wushuang. In fact, a few of the characters mentioned late in the story (e.g. Bing Xian and Yu Xiu) and appear only for a chapter or two serve a greater role in the sequel.
• She Will Come for Me: Zigzagged; when Yan Wushi's true personality resurfaces for some time, he blackmails Chen Gong into giving him one of the books of the Zhuyang Ce before leaving him and everyone else to die in the underground city of Ruoqiang, Shen Qiao included. However, Xie Ling took control of Yan Wushi's body at the last minute before he could escape the caves, allowing him to come back and rescue Shen Qiao.
• Shown Their Work: Meng Xishi's love for history is shown in the novel, which spares no details about various locations, dynasties, monarchs and officials, and all other things that existed during the time of the Zhou and Sui dynasties.
• Supernatural Martial Arts: The novel is rife with the trope and is filled to the brim with wuxia lore and terminology. Not to mention, the novel has plenty of fight scenes that you would expect from any other wuxia story that wears the genre right on its sleeve.
• Tamer and Chaster: Due to censorship, the donghua had to remove some parts of the plot that would have never been allowed to be shown on television. For example:
  • In the novel, Mu Tipo is infamous not only for killing commoners whenever he pleases, but for also kidnapping men that he finds pretty enough to his liking and keeping them as his boytoys. The donghua only gets to show his penchant for slaughtering commoners like a hunter would shoot down wild game, but the adaptation makes no mention whatsoever of his habit of capturing men and turning them into his Sex Slaves. Whereas the donghua shows him going after Shen Qiao to make him write down what he knows of the Zhuyang Ce, in the novel, he becomes interested in Shen Qiao for his beauty and intends to turn the other into his plaything.
  • Similarly, in the novel, Sang Jingxing is infamous for being a Depraved Bisexual, a Serial Rapist and an ephebophile who likes to torture his victims, both sexually and otherwise, until they're nearly or already dead. The donghua does portray him as a cold-blooded sadist, but otherwise it doesn't hint at the other depravities he's notorious for in the novel.
  • Some time after knowing Yan Wushi, Shen Qiao soon becomes mistaken by the jianghu as Yan Wushi's "male escort", and no amount of denial is able to convince almost anyone that this isn't actually the case. The Animated Adaptation still has Shen Qiao be mocked by the public for his association with Yan Wushi, but at worst, he's mistaken to be the latter's servant rather than his boytoy. Even then, the donghua does have some of the characters mention the "rumors" surrounding both Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi, without explicitly clarifying just what kind of rumors they're talking about.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: A variation. While Yan Wushi has a score to settle against the five masters who ambushed him, he leaves Yu Ai well alone. However, this is only because Shen Qiao also has some unfinished business with the man, and he decides to let Shen Qiao deal with Yu Ai.
• Top Ten List: There is an In-Universe top ten ranking as to who are the strongest martial artists in the jianghu. In the most recent Sword Trial Conference, the contenders for the list are revealed. By the finale, however, five of the candidates are struck off the list. Shen Qiao killed Kunye in the aftermath of their rematch, Yan Wushi destroyed Xueting's foundations, Sang Jingxing killed Yuan Xiuxiu, then Bai Rong killed Sang Jingxing after the latter was heavily injured by Shen Qiao, and Hulugu died in the climax of his duel against Yan Wushi.
  • Top 1: Qi Fengge (former), Hulugu (current)
  • Top 2: Yan Wushi
  • Top 3: Yi Bichen or Ruyan Kehui (indeterminate)
  • Top 4: Yi Bichen or Ruyan Kehui (indeterminate)
  • Top 5: Shen Qiao or Xue Ting (indeterminate)
  • Top 6: Sang Jingxing
  • Top 7: Guang Lingsan
  • Top 8: Jushe
  • Top 9: Yuan Xiuxiu
  • Top 10: Shen Qiao (former), Kunye (former), Duan Wenyang (current)
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 45. Just when it looks like Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi are finally beginning to get along, Yan Wushi takes Shen Qiao by surprise and betrays him, paralyzing him and handing him over to Sang Jingxing.
    Yan Wushi: A-Qiao, why do you always trust others so easily?
    Shen Qiao: I... I thought we were friends.
  • Chapter 104: It's revealed during the Sword Trial Conference that Hulugu was alive the entire time. Then once Duan Wenyang alerts his master to Shen Qiao's presence, Hulugu immediately declares his intentions to kill Shen Qiao and avenge Kunye.
• Wham Line:
  • Chapter 18, where Shen Qiao figures out the source behind the suspicious circumstances surrounding his battle with Kunye, something he reveals outright to the culprit: Yu Ai.
    Shen Qiao: Didn't you already foresee such a result when you poisoned me?
  • Chapter 59 showed that the near-fatal injuries Yan Wushi suffered to his head from the ambush did more than what anyone would expect: they caused his soul to split apart, resulting in the appearance of a different persona.
    Yan Wushi: Meiren... gege...
  • Shortly after the events of Chapter 59, Chapter 61 shows that Yan Wushi's injuries had resulted in his soul manifesting into multiple personalities.
    Yan Wushi: Don't tell me that you prefer the other Yan Wushi, who was not only blind to your sincerity, but even gifted you to Sang Jingxing.
  • After Hulugu shows himself in the Central Plains once more, everyone is expecting a battle between Shen Qiao and Hulugu, so that Shen Qiao would finish what his master started, but their expectations end up being subverted in the most surprising way possible.
    "Did you all hear? The Huanyue Sect's leader had issued a formal letter of challenge to Hulugu!"
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After Yuwen Yun gets deposed and Tujue's plans are foiled, there is no mention of Empress Ashina's fate. Since she supported her son-in-law and the Hehuan Sect in their goals to take over the Central Plains, the most likely outcome is that either she is imprisoned or even killed when Puliuru Jian took over, or she fled back to safety in Tujue, but nothing gets confirmed.
• Where It All Began: The novel began with Shen Qiao and Kunye's duel in Banbu Peak of Xuandu Mountain, which is also where Yan Wushi and Hulugu fight to the death in the finale.

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