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Sword of Xuan Yuan

Encyclopedia

Xuan-Yuan Sword original name Mo Di , was a Chinese philosopher during the Hundred Schools of Thought period . Born in Tengzhou, Shandong Province, China, he founded the school of Mohism, and argued strongly against Confucianism and Daoism...

sent Fu Ziche to investigate, and if possible, to stop Shu.

Being the first game in the series to have connection with real world history, Dance of the Maple Leaves inherited most of the previous game's interface, arts, and battle system, with subtle modifications, and wrapped with new plot. More realistic ancient war machines were made alive, while historical figures such as Mozi, Lu Ban

Lu Ban

Lu Ban was a Chinese carpenter, engineer, philosopher, inventor, military thinker, statesman and contemporary of Mozi, born in the State of Lu, and is the patron Saint of Chinese builders and contractors. He was born in a renowned family during the Spring and Autumn Period when China was...

, Sun Bin

Sun Bin

Sun Bin was a military strategist who lived during the Warring States Period of Chinese history. An alleged descendant of Sun Tzu, Sun Bin was tutored in military strategy by the hermit Guiguzi...

, could be encountered in the game.

As were the cases with most LEGEND games in the series, players do not have the chance to wield the Sword. In this game the Sword is in Shu Sangzi's possession, and is used against players. In the final battle, Shu will use a move called Xuanyuan Jian Fa (軒轅劍法), which would cause serious damage to all party members.

Released on 6th of January 1995.

Xuanyuan Sword 3 Legend: The Scar in the Sky

Set in the era of Sui Dynasty

Sui Dynasty

The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....

, 150 years earlier than Sword of Xuanyuan 3, this game intended to cover the starts of several loose threads in Sword of Xuanyuan 3.

The main character is a teenager Chen Jingchou（陳靖仇）, the only royal descendant from the then decimated Chen Dynasty

Chen Dynasty

The Chen Dynasty , also known as the Southern Chen Dynasty, was the fourth and last of the Southern dynasties in China, eventually destroyed by the Sui Dynasty....

. The final attempt for counterattack from the Chen family happened several years before Chen Jingchou was born, where several thousand strong armies were congregated, but were single-handedly destroyed by a young general of Sui, Yuwen Tuo (宇文拓), who wielded the Sword better than any in the history.

Living in a time ruled by the killers of his family, Chen Jingchou has been educated by his mentor, Chen Fu, that life is "nothing but revenge". In their journey to acquire the Mirror of Kunlun, one of the Powerful Ten Ancient Artifacts

Taotie

Taotie

The Taotie is a motif commonly found on ritual bronze vessels from the Shang and Zhou Dynasty. The design typically consists of a zoomorphic mask, described as being frontal, bilaterally symmetrical, with a pair of raised eyes and typically no lower jaw area...

was released from a fake Mirror. In order to protect Jingchou, Fu has trapped himself with Taotie using Silk of Ice spell, and instructed Jingchou to embark at once to find a way to save him, as well as finding informations concerning other Artifacts.

Jingchou later was later joined by Yu Xiaoxue (于小雪), a white haired girl showing unusual magic potential, the Göktürks

Göktürks

The Göktürks or Kök Türks, were a nomadic confederation of peoples in medieval Inner Asia. Known in Chinese sources as 突厥 , the Göktürks under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan The Göktürks or Kök Türks, (Old Turkic: Türük or Kök Türük or Türük; Celestial Turks) were a nomadic confederation of...

blooded Zhang Lie(張烈), and , Zhang's sister in law Tuoba Yu'er (拓拔玉兒). During their expedition in collecting the Artifacts, they spied several Blood Rituals of a Million Souls, rites conducted by Yuwen Tuo, which involved the killing of a million souls, and gathering the essence of their blood into a single Blood Pearl. This greatly enraged the party, but Yuwen Tuo was too strong an enemy to be confronted. Thus they began to spy on Tuo's army, hampering his every effort to collect the Blood Pearls, and was even helped by Tuo's political rival in the palace, a young countess named Dugu Ningke(獨孤寧珂), who also wished to collect all the artifacts.

Eventually, their plan failed, and Yu Xiaoxue was held as a hostage by Tuo in exchange for the Artifacts that Jingchou's party had collected, namely the Ding of Shennong

Shennong

Shennong , which names mean "Divine Farmer", but also known as the Emperor of the Five Grains , was a legendary ruler of China and culture hero reputed to have lived some 5,000 years ago...

, the Seal of Kongtong, the Axe of Pangu

Pangu

Pangu was the first living being and the creator of all in Chinese mythology.- The Pangu legend:...

, the Stone of Nüwa

Nüwa

Nüwa is a goddess in ancient Chinese mythology best known for creating mankind and repairing the wall of heaven.-Primary sources:...

, and the Mirror of Kunlun. Jingchou complied, yet Tuo discarded the Stone and the mirror, proclaiming that he himself was actually the human manifestation of the Mirror of Kunlun. Yu Xiaoxue refused to leave with Jingchou, stating that she will stay and help Tuo's project. Losing all hope, Jingchou gave up and stayed with his saved mentor.

This did not bode well with Ningke, who was actually a demonlord from the Western pantheon. The time era she appeared was calculated to be within the time a demonic star named Chi Guan (赤貫) passing through China, thus opening a rift allowing demons from the West for invasion. Tuo somehow knew the consequence of the star, thus set out to collect five of the Artifacts in order to seal the rift the meteor would cause. However, several of the five Artifacts required for the Ritual of Mending has been out of reach. Ningke proposed to replace these with Blood Pearls, the rebuild of the Tower of Babel

Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...

, and a Pentagram

Pentagram

A pentagram is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes...

. In order to save the Chinese world, using his power, his riches and his relation with the Emperor Yang, Tuo managed to accomplish these against his moral codes. In the process Tuo also recognized that Xiaoxue was actually the avatar of the Stone of Nüwa, thus he told her his plan and convinced her to stay.

Naturally, Ningke cannot allow the Ritual to be cast away. Thus she once again manipulated Jingchou through treachery by murdering Yu'er, and left the blame on Xiaoxue and Tuo. With burning rage, Jingchou's party managed to fight their way up the Tower of Babel, where they were beaten once again by Tuo. Ningke appeared then and seized Xiaoxue as hostage to divert Tuo's attention. At this moment Jingchou leaped forward and severed Tuo's arm. Ningke then revealed her true demon form, and magically imprisoned Tuo. Unable to mend the sky, the Chinese world fell under Satan

Satan

Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

's rule.

Days later, under the instruction of the now immortal He Ran and Gu Yue Sheng, Jingchou's lot successfully collected back the Artifacts from Ningke's handmaidens in the bloodied world, then rushed the Tower again. They beat Ningke in her demonic glory, and rescued Tuo. Having the Artifacts at hand, Jingchou invoked the Ritual of Reversal (which is also named the Ritual of Loss, 失卻之陣) at the top of Tower of Babel, which, utilizing the power of Tuo as the avatar the Mirror of Kunlun, reversed time and brought the party back to the moment prior to the passing of Chi Guan.

After this was done, they then invoked the Ritual of Trespass (also called the Ritual of Babel), sending them above the sky, and arrived at Chi Guan itself. At the heart of the meteor, where Mastero Gu prepared to cast the Ritual of Sealing, the then-alive Ningke appeared. Not knowing that her plan has been known, she intended to continue her deception, yet a fight eventually ensued, and Ningke yielded. She said that her wish was to return to her homeland, and to "love her love". Mastero Gu stated that was naturally impossible due to her demonic nature, and put her soul into the Koto of Fu Xi (伏羲琴) for cleansing.

One moment prior to their leaving, Chen Fu saw that Jingchou standing side by side with Tuo, his supposed archenemy, who he hated with all his life. Ningke exploited this by giving Chen Fu the Fruit of Satan. By consuming it, Chen Fu suddenly possessed the strength and the power of Satan himself, his hate magnified a thousandfold. Chen Fu soon arrived at the heart of Chi Guan and starting destroying. As a finality, Jingchou's band had no choice but to kill Chen Fu to save the world.

Several decades later, Ningke was reborn as Nicole, while Septem was the descendant of Tuo, which can be seem from his eye.

The Magic System is revamped in this game. All magics now belong to one of the five elements金木水火土

Five elements (Chinese philosophy)

The Wu Xing, also known as the Five Phases, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, and the Five Steps/Stages, are chiefly an ancient mnemonic device, in many traditional Chinese fields....

in Chinese mythology.

The game was released on 2 December 2000. A television series

Xuanyuan Jian: The Scar in the Sky

Xuanyuan Jian: The Scar in the Sky is an upcoming Chinese television series adapted from Xuanyuan Jian, a series of Chinese role-playing video games developed by Taiwanese company Softstar Entertainment Inc...

based from the game, produced by Chinese Entertainment Shanghai Limited, starring Hu Ge

Hu Ge (actor)

Hu Ge , is a Chinese actor and singer. Hu is best known for his role as Li Xiaoyao in the 2003 television series Chinese Paladin.-Biography:...

and Cecilia Liu

Cecilia Liu

Liu Shishi , better known as Cecilia Liu, is a Chinese film and television actress and ballerina.-Biography:...

, scheduled to air on 2012.

Xuanyuan Sword Legend: The Millennium Destiny

The introduction begins at the Battle of Fei River

Battle of Fei River

The Battle of Fei River or “Feishui” was a battle in 383, where Fu Jiān of the Di Former Qin Empire was decisively defeated by the numerically inferior Jin army of Eastern Jin....

, a war between Former Qin

Former Qin

The Former Qin was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Founded by the Fu family of the Di ethnicity, it completed the unification of North China in 376. Its capital had been Xi'an up to the death of the ruler Fu Jiān. Despite its name, the Former Qin was much later and less powerful than...

and Eastern Jin. It ended up with Eastern Jin surrendering to Former Qin. Former Qin merged with Eastern Jin and united the whole China.

Set in the period of Spring and Autumn. The story of a little girl, Che Yun (車芸) who has lost her legs and is very talented in the skill of mu jia (a way of making machinery using wood and metal). And so she made herself wooden legs and a wooden fox, Yun-hu (雲狐). In the story, it was told that she was a close friend with Huan Yuan Zhi (桓遠之) - who once was saved by Che Yun from drowning, and to repay the favour helped her with building the wooden fox by collecting special wood acquired by her. However, Che Yun meets with Ying Shi (嬴詩) who shares the same soul with Che Yun except that Ying was from a different era. In the end, Che, Ying and Huan reaches the room with a wheel which can change the destiny, Round of Taiyi (太一之輪). However, Ying and Huan each wants to change to a different era for their own purpose. Che intended to stop Huan from killing Ying by ordering Yun hu. However, Huan now wield the Sword and injures Che fatally. At this point, the gate to the Taiyi zhi Lun closes. Ying, unable to grab on to her friends then flies out of the gate, leaving Huan and Che in the room where Huan cries for Che's death for years. Ying then discovers that she is linked to Che and feels that the knowledge of mu jia stays with her. She then goes to beyond the gate for the Taiyi zhi Lun once again as she returned to the future, seeing Huan aged and it is believed that Ying has forgiven Huan for what he had done.

Introduced on 6th of February 2004.

Xuanyuan Sword Legend: Clouds of the Han Dynasty

Released on 19th of December 2007.

The game is set in the era of the Three Kingdoms

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...

, Kingdom of Wei

Wei

-States:* Northern Wei , during Southern and Northern Dynasties* Wei , during the Spring and Autumn Period* Wei , during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period...

, Shu

Shu

Shu may refer to:*Shū ** , Japanese Kanji.*Shu * 蜀 , an abbreviation of Sichuan province of the People's Republic of China, as well as the following historical regimes that have existed in this region:...

and Wu

Wu may refer to:Places:* Wu , a region in China, associated with:** Wu Chinese, a variety of spoken Chinese spoken in the Wu region** Wu , a state in the Wu region during the Spring and Autumn Period...

. Most of the main characters were designed base on real history. Zhuge Liang

Zhuge Liang

Zhuge Liang was a chancellor of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He is often recognised as the greatest and most accomplished strategist of his era....

, the chancellor of the kingdom of Shu

Shu

kept trying to take on with the army of Wei but never return with victory. On his third try, a mysterious group called "Fei Yu"(飛羽)(the two words came from the names of two famous generals of Shu kingdom -Zhang Fei and his sworn elder brother Guan Yu

Guan Yu

Guan Yu was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period, of which Liu Bei was the...

) helped in the war and the kingdom of Shu won the battle. However, on the fourth attempt, the Wei found the weakness of Shu which forces fei yu to set out for war once again.

Xuanyuan Sword Legend: The Clouds Faraway

Released on 12th of January 2010.

The Clouds Faraway, also set in the era of the Three Kingdoms

Three Kingdoms

, is an opposite story which happened previous to Clouds of the Han Dynasty. Instead of from the standpoint of the Han Kingdom, the main character, Xu Mu Yun (徐暮雲), was adopted by the Kingdom of Wei

Wei

-States:* Northern Wei , during Southern and Northern Dynasties* Wei , during the Spring and Autumn Period* Wei , during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period...

. Growing up with his childhood friends Renyin (蘭茵) and Zhang Gao (張誥), the three young swordsmen promised themselves to fight for their homeland and meet the prosperous days together in the future. Through his journey, Mu Yun came to a new level of maturity and realized the ruthlessness of war.

The story does not truly end in the main episode. Three patches are coming up following the main episode to fulfill the whole story. These 3 patches are: The chapter of Mu Yun in Wu Zhang Yuan , The chapter of Zhao Yun in Wu Zhang Yuan , and The chapter of Renyin .

List of titles

Main series:
- Xuanyuan Sword (軒轅劍)(1990)
- Xuanyuan Sword 2 (軒轅劍貳)(1994)
- Xuanyuan Sword 3: Beyond the Clouds and Mountains (軒轅劍參：雲和山的彼端)(1999)
- Xuanyuan Sword 4: Hei Long Wu xi Yun Fei Yang (軒轅劍肆：黑龍舞兮雲飛揚)(2002)
- Xuanyuan Sword 5: The Adventure in Shanhai World (軒轅劍伍：一劍凌雲山海情)(2006)

Waizhuan (Legend) titles:
- Xuanyuan Sword Waizhuan: The Dance of the Maples Leaves (軒轅劍外傳：楓之舞)(1995)
- Xuanyuan Sword 3 Waizhuan: The Scar in the Sky (軒轅劍參外傳：天之痕)(2001)
- Xuanyuan Sword Waizhuan: The Millennium Destiny (軒轅劍外傳：蒼之濤)(2004)
- Xuanyuan Sword Waizhuan: The Clouds of Han Dynasty (軒轅劍外傳：漢之雲) (2007)
- Xuanyuan Sword Waizhuan: The Clouds Faraway (軒轅劍外傳：雲之遙) (2010)

Other titles:
- Xuanyuan Fu Mo Lu (軒轅伏魔錄) (2001)
- Xuanyuan Sword Online: The Chain of the Life (軒轅劍網路版) (2002)
- Dream of Mirror Online
  Dream of Mirror Online
  Dream of Mirror Online is a free-to-play MMORPG game with storylines based on ancient Chinese mythology. It is the second online game of the Xuanyuan Jian series. The graphics are anime-style with various Chinese themes...
  
  (飛天歷險：軒轅劍網路版2代)(2005)
- Xuanyuan Sword Online: The Scar in the Sky (軒轅劍網路版參：天之痕)

External links

Official Xuanyuan Sword website
Softstar's website
Xuanyuan Sword series at MobyGames
MobyGames
-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...