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Soul Edge
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Soul Calibur
The Ming Emperor was irritated by the lack of progress in the quest for Soul Edge, the "Hero's Sword," so he ordered his royal guards to join the search. Xianghua was a member of this group.
The guards masqueraded as a traveling Chinese opera troupe to avoid suspicion about their true mission. Xinghua, trained in martial arts since childhood by her mother, was chosen to be the star attraction of the troupe.
As she prepared for her journey, Xianghua recalled her mother's last words: "You were born to complete an important task...Cut your path through an uncertain future!"
With her treasured keepsake sword in hand, Xianghua departed with the sense that the invisible forces of her destiny were pushing her onward.
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Soul Calibur 2
Live without regrets.
-Musashi Miyamoto, Dokkoudou
Constantly invaded by Japanese Pirates, the great Ming Empire of the East was one of the countries that expended great effort to search for Soul Edge - believed to be the "Hero's Sword" - to protect its people and regain its dignity. Unfortunately, three such quests failed. The first two search parties never returned, and the third group, which had just returned recently, was also unsuccessful in finding the Hero's Sword. The failure of the third quest devastated the Emperor, given that the group consisted of warriors hand-picked from his royal guards.
Xianghua was one of the members of the third group. She grew up in a family with a prestigious military lineage, and learned the ways of the sword from her now-deceased mother. Even after her mother fell ill and passed away, Xianghua continued to hone her skills and eventually became a member of the Emperor's royal guards.
She was then assigned the prestigious honor of the search for Soul Edge, but her mission failed. Falling into disfavor with the Emperor for her failure, Xianghua was stripped of her rank of royal guard and reassigned to a menial position that she had no desire to do. Her family lamented her fall from grace, but Xianghua was content with her situation.
In truth, she actually found Soul Edge four years ago. But the weapon said to be the Hero's Sword turned out to be an evil sword that had an infinite appetite for human souls. "Nothing good will come of this if I bring such a sword back to my country. I must destroy this evil thing!" Xianghua decided.
She battled Soul Edge with the help of her companion, Kilik, and managed to shatter the evil sword within the fiery vortex created by the weapon. Regrettably, her mother's keepsake sword that protected her with its mysterious powers during the battle was lost in the void when they escaped from the vortex. "Cut your path through an uncertain future…" Xianghua may have lost her mother's keepsake sword, but her mother's last words remained clear in her mind. She firmly believed that she had made the right decision.
One day, an incident occurred which devastated Xianghua. The Emperor attacked a castle near the border of her homeland. The Empire justified its attack by publicly stating that the castle was plotting to rise in revolt. But Xianghua found out the truth from Ming spies.
A man from the second search team apparently had found the Hero's Sword, but refused to return and holed himself up in the castle. He did not respond to any of the messengers sent to summon him, and the lord of the castle refused to turn him over. The Emperor was convinced that the lord of the castle refused to turn over the weapon in order to keep it for himself. As a result, soldiers were dispatched to retrieve the sword. Although the castle fell, the sword could not be found.
The Emperor ordered Xianghua to investigate the remains of the castle. He reasoned that she was the only person who came within reach of Soul Edge and that her experience and knowledge of the sword would be valuable in locating it amongst the rubble of the castle.
Xianghua had destroyed the evil sword, so the castle could not have housed Soul Edge. Had she reported the truth, the tragic incident may never have happened. Dispatched to the battlegrounds of the castle, she left with a heavy heart. Gathering information from the few remaining survivors and tattered records, Xianghua discovered that an object referred to as a Soul Edge fragment had existed there.
If it was truly a piece of Soul Edge, there had to be those who sensed its evil energy. That would explain why the individual who found the fragment hesitated to surrender it to the Emperor. From what she gathered about the shard, it was hard to believe that the lord of the castle would desire such an insignificant little object for himself. Could it be that the fragment was really from the accursed Soul Edge?
The weapon that Xianghua believed she had destroyed may still be wreaking havoc unto the world!
If this proved to be the truth, someone had to find every single fragment and crush them down until nothing remained. Xianghua convinced herself that this was a burden she had to bear, since she failed to destroy Soul Edge completely the first time.
Xianghua moved quickly once her mind was settled on the matter- she resigned her Emperor's assigned duty that very night...
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Soul Calibur 3
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
-Vincent Willem van Gogh
"I couldn't do anything..." The pain she had felt since they had lost squeezed at her heart. In the end, she hadn't been able to help at all. She, who had said that she would destroy the cursed sword, hadn't even been able to stand up against a threat in their path...
She had been reunited with Kilik, but had then lost in the fight they had fought together. No, perhaps it would be better to say that the fight had been between Kilik and the man with the scythe. The man had shown no interest in Xianghua. After defeating Kilik, he had left without even a glance toward her. The only thing she had been able to do was fight back her tears and run away, carrying Kilik.
She had tended his wounds, and his life was no longer in danger, yet Kilik did not open his eyes. Frantically wondering what to do, Xianghua remembered Kilik's teacher, a man who lived in a hermitage. Since Kilik had no family, she couldn't think of anyone to whom she could turn besides that old man, Edgemaster.
When she arrived at the sword master's hermitage, the old man welcomed her warmly. He informed her that if he dedicated himself to tending him, Kilik would recover. Relieved by the old man's words, Xianghua entrusted him with a letter to Kilik and left the hermitage that same day.
After returning to her country, she followed the Edgemaster's suggestion and placed herself in the care of a certain retired general. Having run away from the military, Xianghua would normally have been arrested, but upon reading the letter sent by Edgemaster, the general said that he would shelter her. He had spent his younger days in training at the Ling-Sheng Su temple and remembered the old man who had taught him.
"I must become stronger." Xianghua pleaded with the general. He was surprised to hear this. He had thought that her skills, though self-taught, were nevertheless more than sufficient. Regardless, he did his best to aid her. Even though he had retired, skilled warriors still gathered under him. Amongst them was an exceptionally skilled man whom he had employed as an instructor. Noticing the swordsmanship of the Ling-Sheng Su temple in Xianghua's style, he became interested in her and approached her himself about becoming her training partner. Devoting herself wholeheartedly to her training, Xianghua increased her skills considerably in a short time.
Ever faster, ever sharper...Each time she swung, her power grew stronger and her aim surer. Despite knowing this, she was unable to wipe away the uneasiness that had fallen over her heart.
"Even if I increase my power, if I can't use it when I need it...When I fought against the cursed sword, Kilik was with me. But if I'm alone..." Xianghua thought to herself, but forced her doubts aside. "No. I mustn't fear. I have to keep my spirits up!"
"Your blade is keen. However, it appears that you are forcing yourself." One day, the instructor cautioned her. She was focusing too exclusively on her strength. Xianghua told him of what troubled her. After hearing her concerns, he began to speak softly.
"In combat, it is inevitable that one's heart will waver. But it is not wise to try only to reject and refuse these feelings. Sometimes, the path of the warrior requires letting in dark feelings, weighing them, then letting them go."
From that day forward, Xianghua began to train not her swordsmanship, but her soul. Her heart would be as water. A hard, solid heart will shatter upon the sharp point of fear, but when water is pierced or cut, it does not resist--by permitting everything to pass through, it does not break.. This was the truth which she had found. She no longer feared the swaying of her heart.
It had been several months since she had come to visit the general's mansion. Xianghua's blade now possessed both its past elegance and a newfound strength. She had grown strong. She now felt comfortable believing that.
Feeling that the time had come, she politely thanked those who had helped her and set out on her journey once more. Xianghua turned her thoughts to that which awaited her in the west. Inside her heart, she made a small promise to herself. When she met Kilik, she would proudly announce, "Sorry to keep you waiting! My skills have finally caught up with yours!"
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Soul Calibur IV
The training Xianghua had undergone in her homeland had given her the strength to conquer her own psychological frailty. She hurried west along the Silk Road and soon found Kilik. Happily reunited, the two headed for India on Maxi's trail. But while they found their old friend, just as they had hoped, he would not join them. Was Maxi looking for the cursed sword in order to seek revenge? If so, Xianghua would do everything in her power to stop him. Using that cursed sword to avenge the fallen would bring her friend no salvation.
And Kilik.... She turned to glance at him standing beside her. She had no idea how he felt about her, but her heart was quite clear on the matter. But as long as so much still remained to be done, she could never say the words. They had to stop Soul Edge. The last time they had faced it, they had lacked the power to destroy the weapon outright, and their faulure was to blame for every tragedy the cursed sword had brought since.
(I will cut out my destiny. This time, we will eliminate Soul Edge once and for all!)
And so, having turned remose into resolve, Xianghua pressed on. When she saw the meteor shower shooting west across the sky on night, she knew; the final battle was at hand.
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