Zhu Qingyao, the first sword of the Guiyun Sword Sect, has her spiritual veins wither on the eve of the Asking Blade ceremony, turning overnight from a chief disciple looked up to by everyone into an ordinary sword cultivator unable to circulate Qi. Her father wants to cover for her, her younger sister is weary of living in her shadow, and her arch-nemesis refuses to kick her while she is down. She waits not for miracles, but learns, amidst repeated losses, quarrels, saving others, and re-gripping her sword, not to prove herself by being "the first".