Xiang Qiang

Xiang Qiang is warm, confident and protective toward Qiang Lei despite being raised in an environment designed to suppress ordinary familial attachment. She treats her younger sister as a person to be loved rather than merely another candidate she may someday have to fight.

She also dreams of experiencing the world beyond the clan. Although trained from childhood to accept the Shiyuu ritual, she does not embrace the idea that her entire life should end in a ritualized battle between young women.

Her confidence in her own combat ability is considerable. She believes she has a genuine chance of surviving the selection, but her priority remains preventing Qiang Lei from being forced into a fight between them.

Xiang Qiang is one of the strongest Shiyuu candidates of her generation. Her swordsmanship and Priestess Dance place her above almost every other participant in the ritual.

Like Qiang Lei, she uses controlled breathing and the Priestess Dance to enter an exceptionally deep combat state. Her dance can be maintained for longer than the younger Qiang Lei's could at the same stage of training.

She demonstrates extraordinary stamina during the selection ritual. After the other candidates cooperate to attack her first, Xiang Qiang fights through large numbers of opponents before exhaustion finally leaves her vulnerable.

Xiang Qiang appears principally through Qiang Lei's memories of life within the Shiyuu clan. The two grow up together as sisters and eventually become their tribe's chosen representatives for the succession ritual.

Knowing that the ritual requires candidates to fight until only one remains, Xiang Qiang secretly acts to protect her sister. She drugs Qiang Lei before the ritual so that she will sleep through it, intending to win and later escape the clan with her.

The other candidates target Xiang Qiang collectively, and after she becomes exhausted, Yu Lian kills her. Her death becomes the driving force behind Qiang Lei's departure from the clan and her long search for Yu Lian.

Qiang Lei is Xiang Qiang's adopted younger sister and closest companion. Xiang Qiang sacrifices her chance to fight beside her by drugging her before the ritual in order to save her life.

Yu Lian is a rival Shiyuu candidate who orchestrates the attack on Xiang Qiang and ultimately kills her after she has been exhausted.

Li Qiang is another younger member of the extended Qiang family and later inherits a sword associated with Xiang Qiang.

Qiang Shi is another adopted younger sister within the Qiang tribe.