The Ling Sheng Su Temple rested on a quite mountain deep in the interior of China.
This temple is considered to be the finest school for the sword and rod arts.
Many heroes of history have come from this great temple and to this day the monks here are still strong.
Up until 10 years ago the temple had very little communication with the outside world.
But one-day, robbers raided the neighboring town and the monks opened their doors and saved the village.
Now the great temple accepts anyone regardless of age or gender, so long as they have a strong fighting spirit.
Since then it has been customary for the children of soldiers to visit the temple to brush up their skills.
Farmers and merchants also come to the temple to learn some basic techniques to protect themselves from robbers.

In the main hall of the Ling Sheng Su Temple there were three sacred weapons call the Kali-Yuga, the Krita-Yuga and the Dvapara-Yuga.
No one knew why the treasures were kept there, the reasons stretch far beyond recorded history and the monks of the temple have strictly enforced the rules.

One winter day a baby was found deserted in front of the Ling Sheng Su Temple.
Despite weeks of searching the child's parents could not be found and thus the baby was named "Kilik" and adopted by the temple.
Kilik grew up healthy and trained himself with the monks and pupils of the temple in the ways of the rod from a very young age.
He also had a sworn elder sister named Xianglian. She too was adopted by the temple and there she studied the art of the sword.
She felt close to Kilik since they were both orphans and she loved him as a younger brother.

Years passed and Kilik grew into a strong and healthy youth.
By natural talent or not Kilik mastered art of the rod taught from Master Han and became one of the school's finest students.
With his skill and warm personality he was able to serve as one of the school's teachers.
Thus it was natural that he would be nominated to be the successor of the Ling Sheng Su style rod at the succession ceremony held once every 20 years.
At the ceremony he would be granted the Kali-Yuga, on of the three scared weapons of the temple.
As the successor his status in the temple would be raise atop the rod school as the most skilled student in the temple.

The cool wind of the night was gently blowing.
Kilik couldn't sleep and sat on the stone wall behind the main hall and looked up into the moon lit sky.
This was Kilik's favorite place within the temple.
When he was a child he used to come here and look into the stars each time his heart was sad.
Suddenly he sensed a new presence behind him, there stood Xianglian.
She too was elected to be one of the successors of the treasures, the Dvapara-Yuga.
As they talked they remember many old memories; this place was special to both of them.

Why did Xianglian, master of the sword, succeed the Dvapara-Yuga and not the Krita-Yuga?

Kilik finally asked her the question that had troubled his mind for so long.
Xianglian quietly replied that there were only two of three treasures currently in the temple and that the Krita-Yuga had been lost over ten years ago.

The scared weapons had been a spiritual goal for the students of the temple.
In days of turbulence, such as attacks by robbers, the thought of losing one of the treasures would have been a great moral damage to the temple.
Thus the fact that the Krita-Yuga was missing was strictly taboo and only a few of the highest-ranking monks knew about it.
The thief  was non other than a high ranking monk of temple once nominated to be the successor of the Kali-Yuga !

Surprised to hear one of the three treasure had been lost, Kilik stood shocked as Xianglian continued her tale.

" Those are not all the facts, I am not worthy the succeed the art of the sword because the thief of the Krita-Yuga is ...... no other than ...... my father. "

She learned of this when she overheard a conversation between the school's masters.
Master Han was aware Xianglian had heard and said to her gently,

"You have no connection to these facts, cut your own path in life and never let the act of your parents rule you."

At the time Xianglian was too young to understand but as she grew she understood the words of the master.
However she still felt she had no right to be the successor of the art of the sword.
If she did succeed and people discovered the truth they would not except her.
And Xianglian herself did not wish to be the successor.
This was her decision after long and deep thought on the matter and Master Han understood her choice and nominated her to be the successor of the mirror.
The skills need to be the successor of the mirror were not natural fighting talent but the power of a pure soul and a strong mind.
In those areas she was more than strong enough.

Silence fell on the couple as their thoughts reflected on understanding the other's situation.
The cool night breeze grew cold as they began to stand to leave for a good night's rest.
They suddenly felt the moonlight grow stronger and looked into the sky and saw a beautiful display of lights covering the sky.
But some how the couple sensed the evil within the light and ran to a nearby hall.
Deep in the hall lay the shrine for the sacred treasures.
Some priests in the hall were preparing for tomorrow's ceremonies when they felt the evil presence.
Quickly they handed Kilik and Xianglian the Kali-Yuga and the Dvapara-Yuga to fight the evil.

It all began some hours before in the land of Spain when a young mercenary carelessly touched the forbidden evil sword Soul Edge.
At that moment Soul Edge lost it inner balance, expelled its evil will and scattered the Evil Seeds of disaster all over the world!

A  part of that evil energy reached across the continent to this mountain village and fell upon the temple.
It forced pure evil into the people of the temple, driving them mad with rage as they started killing each other.

Poisoned by the Evil Seed, Kilik also went berserk with one of the three treasures in his hands.
He was so strong he defeated many people and still relentlessly fought on.
Only Xianglian with the Dvapara-Yuga on her shoulder could escape the evil influence.
Realizing the power of the mirror she tried to get close to Kilik to place the mirror on him but the people of the temple seized by the Evil Seed savagely attacked her.

When his senses returned Kilik had no memory of what had happened.
Though he remained confused he was forced to fight his attackers in order to survive.
His master who rescued and raised him, the friends he had trained with, his own students, everyone attacked Kilik or ruthlessly killed each other.
Kilik's words never reach them, tired and confused by the madness Kilik tried to escape from the temple.
But just then Kilik sensed a bloodthirsty presence behind him, he raised his rod in defense and saw a sight he had hoped never to see.
Xianglian had turned into a puppet of madness; Kilik desperately repelled her attacks that held strength clearly beyond any woman's.
He was exhausted, his consciousness was fading and then he closed his eyes and moved without thought.
A moment later he felt a pain on his left check and a response in his hands. The something warm trailed down the rod and covered his hands.
He opened his eyes reluctantly and in horror gaze upon the Kali-Yuga piecing the heart of Xianglian.

  "AHHHHHHHHH ...... !!!", a sad cry echoed in the darkness of night. He remembered nothing after that.

A s the sky began to turn gray from the east a figure stood in the now silent temple.
The old man remained calm despite the mountains of death and rivers of blood that fell upon his eyes.
He found Kilik laying alone unconscious. The old man set fire to the once great temple and carried Kilik to his home.

Kilik had been asleep for two days and now awoke in an unfamiliar house.
He found his body covered in scares and signs that his wounds had been cared for but he couldn't summon the strength to move.
He realized the old man sitting in front of him had taken care of him despite not knowing who he was.

The old man told Kilik that he was the adviser to the Ling Sheng Su arts of fighting and that he was in charge of teaching the secret arts of the Ling Sheng Su style.
He told Kilik that he could never take the Dvapara-Yuga off his shoulder no matter what might happen.
The old man told a silent Kilik that he must concentrate on healing his body and nothing more.

Time has passed and Kilik recovered the ability to walk.
One night he looked up into the southern sky, the nightmare of that night returned to his mind.

Kilik couldn't bear his life.
Though he had to defend himself he felt the weight of guilt bearing down on him,
he who had killed the people that raised him as an orphan, his master, his comrades whom he shared joy and sorrow and most of all his beloved Xianglian.

  "I do not deserve life ...... Kilik wanted to die.
But, how strange it was. He fought desperately for the chance to live then and yet the pain of living was more than he could bear.
Then Kilik suddenly realized, "Why was the Dvapara-Yuga on me when Xianglian had placed it on her shoulder ?
If I survived because of the power of the mirror, then Xianglian must have gave her own life to entrust me with the mirror.
She gave me life ...... TELL ME, SISTER, WHY MUST I LIVE!?"

  " Time will give you the answer. " The old man told an agonized Kilik.

From that night the old man broke his silence and began the story.
The true source of the tragedy at the temple was known as the "Evil Seed".
In fact as they spoke evil spirits possessed both Kilik and the Kail-Yuga, but the power of the Dvapara-Yuga suppressed the evil and protected them.
If the mirror was removed from Kilik he would be seized with evil and run berserk just as the people of the temple had.
If the Dvapara-Yuga was removed form Kilik's body, Kilik would turn completely evil.
If the Kali-Yuga was separated from Kilik it too would cause disasters, therefore Kilik and the two ancient treasures could never be separated.
Then the old man told the legend of the evil sword "Soul Edge".

  "You must live as I once did." The eyes of the mentor shined deeply as if he could foresee everything.

Kilik decided to train himself under the old master.
As Kilik trained hard to master the secret arts of the Ling Sheng Su style rod and three years passed quickly.
He learned to control himself and the Kali-Yuga to stop the possession.
The final trial was a journey to purify himself in the west.

  " Everything is waiting for you in the west. "

With the final word of the master, Kilik left the hermitage to begin his quest.
During his travels, Xiang Hua and Maxi joined Kilik on his quest.

They eventually reached Nightmare's stronghold but were surrounded by Astaroth and his horde of monsters.
Through Maxi's selfless actions, Kilik and Xianghua were able to slash their way through the endless waves of foes to reach Nightmare.
They challenged their powerful adversary, and a fierce battle ensued.
Ultimately, the power of Xianghua's Soul Calibur prevailed, and they succeeded in destroying the evil blade.

Dvapara-Yuga shattered during the violent encounter against Nightmare.
It was then that Kilik realized the evil within his body remained under control, even without the sacred treasure.
During the long journey, he had gained the ability to suppress the demonic powers within him.

For some time, Xianghua and Kilik searched for Maxi, but could find hardly a trace of the lost pirate.
The two of them eventually went their separate ways - Kilik returned to his master in order to perfect the technique of neutralizing and purifying the evil energy over time.

Four years had passed since the fateful battle.

One day, Kilik sensed a malevolent aura - it had the same energy as the wicked, demonic blade.
Soul Edge still existed !
Merely shattering the weapon had not destroyed it.
" If brute strength alone wasn't enough to destroy Soul Edge, would it be possible to absorb all of its powers into Kali-Yuga ? ". Kilik wondered.
" Kali-Yuga can absorb any form of energy, so it should be possible to keep all of the blade's evil power under my control. Then I can try to purify it over time ... "

He then realized the enormity of his plan.
Four years had passed since he'd begun his training, yet he had been unable to completely purify the evil inside his body.
It would take a long time to purge the colossal amount of demonic energy possessed by Soul Edge, but it did not matter - his mind was made up.
Kilik was willing to make the sacrifice as a means to atone for the deaths he caused.

Even if it took an entire lifetime ...