While the famous figures of the martial world compare the length of their white crane mounts' tail feathers, Xu Xiao rides into an appraisal gathering on a bald old donkey. Two unremarkable long sabers hang from his waist. With one slash, he cuts through the white beard of true qi that the gathering's presiding master has spent thirty years cultivating. At the bottom of a lake, a white-haired monster gnawing on the remains of a dragonfish suddenly opens his eyes; the sword case polished by a toothless old servant begins to hum. The great-grandmaster on the mountain, riding a blue ox, sighs, while a girl assassin riding a panda below cheerfully pulls out some sunflower seeds. Everyone scolds him for not knowing the rules. Xu Xiao flicks his blade. “The rules?”
“One of my sabers is called ‘Unmoored Boat,’ the other ‘Strike the Oars.’ I've come here today to, ”
“Punch a hole through your phony sky!”
