Old Woman

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Old Woman (老妪)
Alias(es)	Unnamed master; “Mother-in-law” to Midwife Liu
Species/Race	Unknown; her nature cannot be discerned through ordinary observation 301
Gender	Female
Occupation/Role	Seeker and assessor of Calamity-Responding Persons; mentor to prospective disciples
Status	A manifested body died after dispersing its cultivation; her main body’s status is unknown, and she is revealed to have had three thousand clones 303 304 320
First Appearance	Xuan Yu’s recollection of its first home in a northern mountain temple 196

Background / History

The Old Woman lived alone in a small northern mountain temple, where Xuan Yu first stayed. She constantly recited scriptures; the chanting repeatedly pulled Xuan Yu out of recurring nightmares involving a skull mountain and a blood-red river. Her outwardly quiet temple life concealed a larger purpose. 196

Over centuries, she traveled with and cultivated disciples including Xuan Yu and the Nine-tailed Fox Bai Qiuyu. She selected Xuan Yu as her seventy-seventh Calamity-Responding Person after seventy-six prior candidates failed. Her method demanded candidates with strong destinies, benevolent hearts, and aspirations to save the world; she was willing to sacrifice one of a candidate’s lives through a secret rite that erased them from the notice of the Three Realms and Six Paths. 302 303

Her treatment of disciples was deeply harmful. Xuan Yu was deceived into going to Cloud Dream Mountain and lost a life, while Bai Qiuyu was repeatedly made to feel inadequate under the Old Woman’s disappointed assessments. Despite this, Bai Qiuyu remembered that the Old Woman had taught and guided her for decades. 233 319 320

Posing as an eighty-year-old widow, she sought the author of the Childcare Manual and attempted to investigate Xu Qing. When she later entered Baosheng Temple, Xu Qing used the temple’s dharma realm against her. The Old Woman then disclosed her knowledge of the Three Dharma Corpses and her plan to find someone capable of answering the coming calamity. 301 302

She claimed that eliminating the Dharma Corpses required mastery of the Immortality Technique and attempted to persuade Xu Qing that they were on the same path. Xu Qing rejected her reasoning, viewing her selection of “Calamity-Responding Persons” as forcing others to take the blame. Their conflict escalated into an incense battle. 302

The Old Woman ultimately dispersed all her cultivation, released a fire-headed, snake-tailed squib, and died. Xu Qing later learned that she had relied on forbidden methods, borrowed life force through Weak Water, and maintained three thousand clones—most of which were near death from the technique’s cost. 303 304

Appearance

The Old Woman typically appeared as a frail but alert elderly woman.

• Leaned on a cane or wooden staff. 301 302
• Had bright, watchful eyes despite her aged appearance. 301
• Could manifest black-and-white energies in her eyes while examining others. 301 302
• Her nature remained unreadable even to Xu Qing’s Heavenly Eye Yin Pupils. 301

Personality

The Old Woman was patient, calculating, and intensely committed to her long-term goal of ending the great calamity. She could present herself as a compassionate elder, invoke the suffering of all living beings, and frame her plans as necessary sacrifices. 302

Her benevolent rhetoric contrasted with her conduct toward those close to her. She repeatedly abandoned people once they no longer served her purpose, manipulated disciples through expectations and disappointment, and treated their lives as resources for her plan. 303 304 319

She was also remarkably composed under threat. When Xu Qing demanded that she pay for Xuan Yu’s death, she initially agreed to offer her life, only losing composure when he told her to die immediately. 302

Abilities & Skills

Candidate Selection and Forbidden Rites

The Old Woman developed methods to identify and prepare Calamity-Responding Persons.

• Chose Xuan Yu as her seventy-seventh candidate after seventy-six failures. 302
• Sought candidates with great destiny, compassion, and the resolve to save the world. 303
• Used a secret rite that sacrificed one life from multi-lived beings, making them effectively “non-existent” to the Three Realms, Six Paths, and Dharma Corpses. 303
• Expanded her search beyond humans to Cheng Huang, phoenixes, Nine-tailed Foxes, and other spiritual beings. 303

Incense and Weak Water

She wielded highly unusual incense and borrowed power at the cost of life force.

• Carried a wooden ladle containing viscous incense, with each drop valued at tens of thousands of units of Merit Incense. 302
• Her eerie green incense could dissolve opposing forces, including Xu Qing’s vitality-filled temple incense. 302
• Used Weak Water to borrow power for divine abilities, incurring a debt repayable only through life force. 304
• Expended a ladleful of borrowed power before her death to launch an unknown attack toward Jinmen. 302 304

Clones

The Old Woman employed a forbidden technique to maintain numerous bodies.

• Possessed three thousand clones. 304
• Her clones were nearing death because of the technique’s cost. 304
• The Old Woman encountered by Xu Qing was identified as a clone whose aim was to draw him into her larger plan. 320

Equipment / Items

• Wooden ladle — Held her accumulated incense and was later revealed to be connected to her use of Weak Water and borrowed life force. 302 304
• Cane/staff — Her customary support and visual marker during meetings with Xu Qing. 301 302

Relationships

• Xuan Yu — Former disciple and the seventy-seventh Calamity-Responding Person she selected. She deceived Xuan Yu into Cloud Dream Mountain, causing it to lose a life. 196 233 302 320
• Bai Qiuyu — Former Nine-tailed Fox disciple whom she took from her homeland and taught for decades. Bai Qiuyu remained emotionally affected by the Old Woman’s expectations even after losing a tail. 319 320
• Midwife Liu — A woman the Old Woman took away after previously helping her. Midwife Liu regarded her as a mother-in-law and practiced medicine alongside her. 207 301 304
• Xu Qing — Opponent who confronted her at Baosheng Temple, rejected her plans for Xuan Yu, and witnessed the death of her manifested body. 301 302 303
• Fu Lu — A Flying Corpse who tried to become her disciple and present herself as the ideal Calamity-Responding Person. The Old Woman rejected and attacked her. 360

Notable Quotes

“She is the seventy-seventh Calamity-Responding Person I have chosen. Before her, seventy-six others have already failed the assessment.” 302

“To deal with the three types of Dharma Corpses, one must comprehend the Immortality Technique. Otherwise, no amount of lives will be enough.” 302

Trivia

• She addressed Xu Qing’s manifestation of the Mother of Life Goddess as “big girl,” repeatedly irritating him. 301 302
• Though she accumulated substantial merit through actions such as medicine and aid, Xu Qing considered her methods toward Xuan Yu and other candidates unforgivable. 301 302