Story
A reclusive sword cultivator who holds the nominal title of Xuan Paragon of Xuanfang Hold, and a peerless master of both qin and sword. Aloof and distant, she seems untouched by emotion. The world knows her as the Sword Transcendent. For years beyond counting, she has stood guard over these lands, and the cold light of her blade remains as keen as the day she first drew it.
"From the Ministry of Sentinel Affairs, submitted for the review of the Mengzhou Magistrate: On the Establishment of an Additional Xuan Paragon Post in the Land of Xuanfang" ... At the Ministry of War's request, Huaxu Academy has verified that her history of Resonance exceeds one hundred years, and that its origins are all but untraceable. The pair of horns upon her head, shaped like drifting cloud, is a physical trait manifested by that Resonance, and may be related to the all-knowing Auspicious Beast recorded in the Grand Library. Qingxiao's mastery lies in the "Heart Sword." By forging her very thoughts into Sword Intent, she can instantly manifest ten thousand flying blades that answer to her will, purging all evil wherever they fall. Though her swordcraft was learned blade in hand, it has long since carried her beyond the confines of wrought steel. A plucked string, a drifting petal, a falling leaf—to her, any of these may become a sword. The Quietude Art, along with the other techniques she has demonstrated, is believed to be part of the esoteric craft Cultivators use to modulate frequency via their Forte, though much about them remains unverified. ... <i>Magistrate's Reply:</i> <i>I have long heard that her swordcraft is divine and her power formidable. This should be a blessing for the Land of Xuanfang. And as the document comes submitted through the Ministry of Sentinel Affairs, I presume it carries Her instruction.</i> <i>Intendant's Reply:</i> <i>It does. There is no need for concern, Magistrate.</i>
Published by the Pioneer Association, "Records of Huanglong Tacet Discords" catalogs several hundred kinds of Tacet Discord from across the cities of Huanglong—where they range, how they behave, what they are capable of, and how to handle them. Practical, as these things go. It has remained in print for generations, and since the original's language proved rather impenetrable to readers outside Huanglong, a simplified edition followed. Few explorers or travelers arrive in Huanglong without a copy tucked away somewhere. Rumor holds that "Qing," the book's mysterious author, is in fact a hermit of formidable attainment. She is said to have roamed all of Huanglong observing its Tacet Discords in her early years, then spent a century compiling what she had seen into this book.
A rumor once went around among the common folk: that the pouch Paragon Qingxiao carries is made of some rare and precious material, impervious to fire and water, with a whole world folded away inside. Within it, they said, lie famed swords and antiquities gathered on her travels, along with every manner of talisman confiscated from the wicked she has punished. The truth is far less wondrous. It holds only small things she might want within reach: a folded map of Mengzhou, a compass, a talisman or two. Before the legend ever started, it was only sewn from a cloth Qingxiao once used to wipe her blade. She had only just set foot on the path of the sword in those days, and she would sit in the moonlight working the cloth over her sword, unwilling to leave so much as a speck on it.
A plain red cord strung with beads of jade. Though a gentle Sword Energy has soaked into it, the years have still worn it thin. Common things of shadow and malice give it a wide berth on sight. By an old tradition of Huanglong, elders would tie such a charm on a child to ward off evil and call down blessing, so that the child's life might run safe and smooth. Qingxiao has kept this cord all along, in memory of the one thread of worldly attachment left to her in this life.