Pan Zhang
In the 14th-century historical novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the blade is forged by a local blacksmith using steel sponsored by Zhang Shiping (張世平), a merchant sympathetic to Liu Bei's cause. When Guan Yu meets his end in 219, the blade is given to Pan Zhang by Sun Quan for his role in capturing Guan Yu. During the Battle of Yiling, Guan Yu's son Guan Xing kills Pan Zhang when the latter is stunned by a vision of Guan Yu's spirit. Guan Xing then takes back the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and later passes it down the generations from father to son in the Guan family.