The sword was the most commonly seen weapon, as well as the weapon that held the greatest status. To countless sects and schools, their greatest Daoist skills were sword techniques. The reason why the Longevity Sect could control countless other sects, and why it truly had the confidence in allowing this southern sect to become important enough to contend against the Li Palace, was still because of the Mount Li Sword Sect, perhaps because of this reason.
The blade was normally only used in the army, to kill the enemy on the battlefield. It was always unqualified to take a place in the higher circles, until a thousand years ago, when Zhou came into being. Only after he had used the blade to defeat all the experts in the world did a change in this situation occur. However, after Zhou Dufu, there were still very few famous people that used the blade.