Swords of Legends Episode 1 Recap
> Swords of Legends Recap
In ancient times, Zhurong, the God of Fire, crafted a zither and entrusted the Goddess Nuwa to imbue it with a soul. This spirit was named Taizi Changqin and was cherished like a son. Taizi Changqin, known for his gentle and serene nature, found joy in playing music at Yaoshan, where he befriended Qianyu, a water serpent.
Qianyu and Changqin made a pact: once Qianyu achieved the form of a Dragon of Supreme Power capable of traversing heaven and earth, he would carry Changqin on his horn to witness the world's beauty. However, before this promise could be fulfilled, Zhurong summoned Changqin back to the celestial realm. Centuries later, Qianyu committed a grave offense and sought refuge in Mount Buzhou. Taizi Changqin and other immortals were dispatched by the celestial realm to apprehend him.
Recognizing his old friend, Changqin showed mercy, an act that inadvertently led to a catastrophic event: the collapse of Mount Buzhou's heavenly pillar, which nearly annihilated the world. Both Qianyu and Changqin faced severe celestial punishment. Changqin was stripped of his original zither form and banished to the mortal world. Still yearning for his friend and the solace of Yaoshan, Changqin's immortal spirit lingered but was eventually captured by a mortal blacksmith.
The blacksmith exploited Changqin's spirit, harnessing countless grievances from the Three Realms to forge the formidable Sword of Burning Solitude. Unwilling to be confined to the sword, half of Changqin's spirit managed to break free and escape from Mount Zhonghuang. From its creation, the Sword of Burning Solitude was imbued with destructive power, capable of consuming its wielder's mind and driving them into an endless spiral of bloodshed.
Fearing the sword's malevolence, Nuwa sealed it within the Cave of Ice in Wu Meng Valley, entrusting its guardianship to a local tribe for generations. The seal on the Sword of Burning Solitude began to weaken, and its protective enchantment over Wu Meng Valley was on the verge of fading. Xiuning, the current guardian, expressed her urgent concern to the Youdu Granny, contemplating seeking help from Reverend Ziyin of Mount Kunlun if the Youdu emissary did not arrive soon.
The Granny urged Xiuning to wait one more day, assuring her that the sorcerer Feng Guangmo would be dispatched promptly. Meanwhile, Xiuning had to scold her ten-year-old son, Han Yunxi, for entering the forbidden area near the sword, though he insisted he did so out of worry for her. Later, Feng Guangmo arrived, three days late, explaining he had taken a detour, unfamiliar with the mortal world.
Xiuning was wary of his inexperience, despite the Granny's suggestion that it was natural for a young person to be captivated by the human world's allure. Xiuning resolved to seek assistance from Reverend Ziyin. Outside the village, Yunxi encountered a stranger. He explained that his village was typically inaccessible, especially during the next two days while his mother reinforced the seal. He offered the man firecrackers he made from nitre to ward off beasts during his journey.
The stranger, who revealed himself to be Feng Guangmo, recognized Yunxi by his shaman's necklace and asked him not to mention their meeting to his mother. In return, Guangmo shared tales of the vibrant, bustling mortal world—its fairs, markets, rivers, and entertainments—making Yunxi long for such experiences. Yunxi asked Guangmo if he could convince his mother to let him see the outside world after the sealing ritual, but Guangmo replied that he would have to return to Youdu.
Yunxi felt a kinship with Guangmo, realizing they both shared the confinement of their homes. When Xiuning and Feng Guangmo began the crucial sealing ritual, Guangmo assured her he would do his utmost. However, during the ritual, the enchantment around Wu Meng Valley was breached. Intruders stormed in, slaughtering Grandpa Qiu and the other clansmen, then seizing Yunxi. They threatened to kill him if Xiuning didn't unseal the Sword of Burning Solitude.
To prevent the sword from falling into wicked hands and to save her son, Xiuning tragically transferred the sword's tyrannical aura directly into Yunxi's body. In Youdu, the future spiritual maiden Feng Qingxue was tormented by a nightmare of her older brother, Feng Guangmo, dying. She desperately pleaded with her Granny to intervene, sensing the dream's reality. The Granny, however, explained that the Sword of Burning Solitude's seal was breaking and Guangmo was absent, preventing her from leaving Youdu.
She refused to let the young Qingxue go, emphasizing her future responsibilities as the spiritual maiden, but promised to send others to investigate. Undeterred by her Granny's refusal, a worried Qingxue secretly left Youdu, following a map her brother had given her. After his mother's sacrifice, Yunxi awakened with no memory of his past, bewildered by the devastation around him.
Wandering aimlessly, he eventually collapsed on the outskirts of Youdu territory, where he was discovered by the future spiritual maiden, Feng Qingxue. Touched by his plight, young Qingxue brought him to her Granny for healing. While at Youdu, Yunxi slowly recovered, and he and Qingxue became close, forming a bond as childhood sweethearts. Youdu's healers attempted to draw out the malevolent aura from within Yunxi, but the sword spirit violently resisted, causing him immense pain.
Fearing the powerful and destructive energy would ultimately consume Yunxi and endanger Youdu, the Granny, without Qingxue's consent, decided not to keep him and abandoned him in the wilderness. Meanwhile, Reverend Ziyin, having just emerged from a period of seclusion, chanced upon the gravely ill Yunxi. Moved by compassion, Ziyin took the boy under his wing, accepting him as his disciple. Qingxue later discovered Yunxi was gone and began her search for him.
Yunxi later awoke at Tianyong City on Mount Kunlun, having been unconscious for seven days and nights. Lingyue, Reverend Ziyin's disciple, informed him of his whereabouts. Reverend Ziyin explained that Yunxi had been afflicted by the Sword of Burning Solitude since birth and was now an orphan because of it. As he had been a friend of Yunxi's mother, he felt bound to protect the child.
Although an initial sealing attempt showed success, another elder warned that while the current seal would prevent the aura from devouring Yunxi immediately, it would not stop its influence on his growth, and would weaken over time. He questioned Ziyin's ability to keep Yunxi in Tianyong City. Despite his own injuries and impending retreat for recuperation, Reverend Ziyin was moved by Yunxi's silent endurance and determination not to cause trouble.
He had initially tried to place Yunxi with villagers for care but found Yunxi unable to be separated from the sword, quietly enduring his pain on the journey back to Tianyong. Touched by the boy's resilient spirit, Reverend Ziyin decided to take Yunxi as his own disciple. He renamed him Baili Tusu, a name signifying "to exterminate evil forces and awaken one's soul," hoping to free him from the sword's influence.
Ziyin instructed Tusu to forget his past and embrace his new identity. Lingyue then began teaching Baili Tusu sword cultivation, revealing that Tusu's constellation form was the Chongming bird, an ancient mythical creature, much to Lingyue's surprise.
