Tale of the Last Swordsman

Ben WuguangXiaoxiang Academy2019

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Word count: 101K words
Chapters: 60

Summary

After the fall of the Immortal Ancient Era, the heavenly dao waned, gods descended upon the world, and the mortal realm became all but a living hell. Following the incident known as the World-Slaying Sword, sword cultivators across the land were hunted to near extinction by the Imperial Pavilion, and none dared speak of the sword again. Jun Shier, a boy from a secluded village, was taken in by an old man in his childhood and taught the art of channeling qi. At seven, he left home for Kaiyuan Town. Along the way, he learned that Zhelong Village had once produced a sword cultivator of dazzling brilliance, who perished together with the dragon vein when the Imperial Pavilion besieged him. Thereafter, Jun Shier was drawn into conflicts among the Ice-Fire Academy, the Buddha Temple, and the gods who favored him. Between grueling cultivation and power within easy reach, he held fast to his true heart and set out on a hero's journey that was his alone.

Editor's review

Suitable for readers who enjoy traditional Eastern fantasy and sword-cultivation themes. The opening line about the "World-Slaying Sword" captures the swordsmen's desperate straits in a single stroke, with a bleak atmosphere, before shifting to the growth arc of an isolated-village boy; the pacing is steady, and the settings of body refinement and source qi are readable. Its weaknesses are its short length, a worldbuilding that is not fully unfolded, thinly drawn supporting characters, and a somewhat rushed ending.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy sword-cultivation and Eastern fantasy
Readers drawn to coming-of-age arcs and jianghu grudges
Readers comfortable with a short, complete novel rather than an epic length

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer light comedy or mindless power fantasy
Long-form readers who require a fully unfolded grand world

Reading tips

First read the prologue 'World-Slaying Sword' to grasp the era background of swordsmen being purged throughout the book
Pay attention to the settings of 'qi' and source qi; later realms such as body refinement and star-drawing all develop from them
At only about 100,000 words, it can be read in one sitting; note that the ending wraps up rather quickly

About the publisher

Xiaoxiang Academy

Xiaoxiang Academy is a book publisher whose main line is online-literature publishing; publicly available information is limited, and its founding year and country/region have not been confirmed. Its catalogue contains 11,338 titles, with common categories concentrated in premium fiction, women's fiction, quality web fiction, girls' fiction, time-travel and alternate-world stories, and ancient romance, indicating a selection aimed at female readers and weighted toward romance and time-travel themes. Representative titles include Shanli Renjia, the Quick Transmigration System series, Shoufu Jiaoniang, Muchuan Xiangwan, This Is Not A Song of Ice and Fire, The Houfu Miss's Entertainment Career, and Mr. Long, Please Take Care of Me for the Rest of Your Life, covering quick transmigration, ancient romance, alternate-world time travel, and modern romance. Representative authors include Zhu Li Qingcha, Yun Sansan, Pian Fangfang, Si Jin, Xiang You, Tanjian Tingchan, Han Jiangxue, and Linghu Qianxue, with a author base made up mainly of web-fiction writers. Its publishing profile can be summarized as relying on original web fiction, focusing on female-oriented romance and time-travel/alternate-world narratives, and covering popular subgenres such as light sweet romance and system-based quick transmigration.

Prologue: World-Slaying Sword
Chapter 1: Twelve
Chapter 2: The Great Wind Rises
Chapter 3: Zhelong Mountain
Chapter 4: Traces of Favor
Chapter 5: Dark Favor
Chapter 6: Strange
Chapter 7: Possession
Chapter 8: The Young Emperor
Chapter 9: A Thread of Dao
Chapter 10: The Right Hand Tainted by Black Mist
Chapter 11: The Myriad Swords Mountain Range
Chapter 12: Jun Twelve
Chapter 13: You're a Sword Cultivator?!
Chapter 14: He Has a Sword
Chapter 15: The Gate of Arcane Arts
Chapter 16: The Sword Burial Ground
Chapter 17: The Heavenly Origin Sacred Body
Chapter 18: Drawing Down the Stars of the Heavens
Chapter 19: The Great Battle of Congcong
Chapter 20: The Method of Bursting Qi
Chapter 21: The Way of Balance
Chapter 22: The Great Collapse of the Sword Burial Ground
Chapter 23: The Legendary Flame
Chapter 24: The Indelible Will
Chapter 25: The Burning Seventh Army
Chapter 26: The Trial of Life and Death
Chapter 27: The Will Stone
Chapter 28: The Opening Stance Shakes Kunlun
Chapter 29: They're All Here
Chapter 30: Enemy Nation
Chapter 31: The Platform of Resolution
Chapter 32: Fierce Battle
Chapter 33: This Is What Is Called Mighty
Chapter 34: The Ultimate Dao
Chapter 35: The Young Emperor Grows Stronger
Chapter 36: The Twin-Born Flower and Fu Linglong
Chapter 37: Fu Wushuang Is Defeated
Chapter 38: Fu Linglong's Turn
Chapter 39: The Gods Appear
Chapter 40: The Twin-Born Flower
Chapter 41: Qiu Zhengshan Rejuvenates
Chapter 42: He Transforms into the Longevity Heaven
Chapter 43: Parting
Chapter 44: The Ice-Fire Academy
Chapter 45: The Desolate Academy
Chapter 46: The Ice-Fire Academy Is Besieged
Chapter 47: The Buddha Temple
Chapter 48: Compassion
Chapter 49: The Path of the Overlord
Chapter 50: The One-Punch Grandmaster
Chapter 51: This Sword, You Cannot Learn
Chapter 52: The Glutton
Chapter 53: The Temple of Many Gods
Chapter 54: Realms
Chapter 55: One Force Breaks Ten Thousand Methods
Chapter 56: The Secret Power of Body Refinement
Chapter 57: Forbidden Power
Chapter 58: The Wrong Path
Chapter 59: Evil

FAQ

Is this book completed?

It is completed, about 100,000 words in total, around sixty chapters.

Where was it first published?

Xiaoxiang Academy, serialization began in 2019.

Is it single-heroine or multi-heroine?

The main text centers on the youth's growth and the way of the sword; the romance line is not the focus.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Ben Wuguang Author

Ben Wuguang is a web-fiction author about whom very little public information is available; his nationality, dates of birth and death, and personal background are not clearly recorded. The main verifiable information about his writing centers on his representative work, The Last Swordsman. This novel is classified under male-oriented fiction and xianxia/wuxia, indicating that the author works, or at least has ventured, in narratives built around jianghu conflicts, sword cultivation, and the spirit of chivalry. Judging from the title, the story may revolve around the inheritance and ending of a swordsman's identity, carrying the wuxia theme of changing eras intertwined with personal fate. Since only one work by him is included in the database, it is not yet possible to give a full account of his consistent style and creative development. Readers wishing to understand his craft may begin with the narrative pacing, character portrayal, and wuxia atmosphere of The Last Swordsman. Overall, Ben Wuguang is an author with few works and scarce external information, and his literary profile awaits further public material.