Gu Shenwei unconsciously held on to his sword shaft. He had two types of weapons on his waist sash - a machete and a sword. The machete was used for cover and the sword was the most suitable as a killer's blade. Due to the sudden appearance of a highly skilled opponent, he had forgotten his role as a killer of the Golden Roc Fort and as such should be better versed in the arts of using a machete instead.
Most existing sword crafts could be considered as fanciful and were pleasing to the eye but of no practical use. Therefore, in the merciless and real jianghu, swordsmen were never the mainstream but they were never lacking of skill. There were always some of them who possessed god-like swordsmanship and ranked high above other martial artists. Ye Silang was one of them.
Ye Siling never liked to speak and had dedicated his life to his sword, hence he was known as the "Sacrificial Sword".