Liu Xu

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Liu Xu (柳絮)
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Liu Family; Azure Cloud Academy
Occupation/Role	Scholar; Paper Figure Maker; acting Dean of the Academy
Status	Alive; has reached the Extraordinary Peak 328
First Appearance	Chapter 24

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Scholar	24	At seventeen, she comprehended Righteous Qi while observing the full moon; the Liu Family's brushes, inkstones, paper, and ink rose around her in response.
Eighth Rank Scholar	29	Relied on paper and the Paper Crafting Essentials to investigate the Blacksmith Shop and uncover its hidden corpses.
Sixth Rank Scholar	99	Broke through overnight after resolving her inner conflict over whether she was suited to an official career.
First Rank Scholar	183	Her cultivation began increasing at an alarming rate while an Old Hag's soul suppressed her own.
Extraordinary Peak	328	Reached the peak alongside Wu Hua after gaining opportunities connected to countless worlds.

Background

Liu Xu is the second daughter of Liu Yuanfeng, head of Sheng County's wealthy Liu Family, and has an older brother. Her family originally prospered through the cloth trade. At seventeen, Liu Xu awakened as a scholar by comprehending Righteous Qi beneath a full moon. Azure Cloud Academy accepted her as a disciple shortly afterward, and she spent two years studying there before returning to Sheng County. 24

Upon returning, Liu Xu remained reclusive and devoted to reading, but began investigating the county's murders and the Extreme Life Sect. Her inquiry into the abandoned Blacksmith Shop uncovered a concealed chamber filled with corpses, confirming that its apparent owners had concealed far darker dealings. 24 29

After events in Sheng County, Liu Xu returned to Azure Cloud Academy troubled by the expected path of scholars into officialdom. A night of study led her to conclude that she was better suited to the martial world: unlike Yun Zihai, she preferred swift and direct solutions over operating through official authority. Her teacher Wang Qingfeng accepted her choice. 99

Following the Academy Dean's seclusion and conflict with Prime Minister Wen, Liu Xu became the Academy's acting Dean. During an attempted breakthrough to the Extraordinary Realm, she became blank and hostile toward anyone who approached; Xu Bai later discovered that the crisis involved the black book she carried and the woman residing within it. 264 265

Appearance

Liu Xu usually presents herself as an ethereal scholar in white, her face concealed by a white veil. She removes it only in private because she dislikes the attention her appearance attracts. 35 180

• Fair-skinned, with cloudlike black hair usually arranged in an elegant coiffure. 35
• Noted for her slender build, graceful bearing, and willow-leaf brows. 29 35
• Habitually carries a writing brush and books or loose pages. 29 53
• Her natural scent carries a long-steeped sandalwood fragrance. 48 141
• Her Paper Crafting Essentials can change her refined, immortal-like aura into an eerie demonic one, yellowing her pages and spreading black qi. 29

Personality

Liu Xu initially appears distant, refined, and detached. She spends long periods alone reading, speaks calmly, and keeps her face hidden behind a veil. Beneath that reserve, however, she is warm toward those she knows and is willing to involve herself in dangerous matters to pursue justice. 24 46 231

She is cautious and practical. Her room is protected by concealed nail-and-chain traps, and she was willing to wait for Bureau of Surveillance assistance when she recognized that the unknown killer in Sheng County was beyond her strength. 35 48

Liu Xu is also decisive in a way that clashes with conventional scholarly ideals. She concluded that she was unsuited to officialdom because she favored direct action—such as personally disguising herself to kill Lin Fenghua—over slow institutional procedures. 99

Her serene public image conceals a mischievous private side. While Xu Bai and Wu Hua held late-night discussions, Liu Xu secretly wrote imaginative and inappropriate accounts of them, ultimately destroying the work under pressure from both men. 63

Abilities & Skills

Righteous Qi and Scholar Arts

Liu Xu cultivates Righteous Qi as a scholar. Her writing brush is the core of her methods, while books and written pages act as vessels for attack and defense. 29

• Writes characters such as “light” to illuminate dark spaces. 29 40
• Uses Righteous Qi to direct pages as destructive projectiles; one page collapsed a wall and exposed the Blacksmith Shop's hidden chamber. 29
• Can use written characters to fly into guarded locations. 40
• Produces written characters as part of sustained defenses alongside Wu Hua's Buddhist light. 82
• At Eighth Rank, she still required physical paper rather than forming books directly in the air. 29

Paper Crafting Essentials

Liu Xu's unorthodox paper-based art allows her to manipulate pages and conduct investigations.

• Creates and uses paper cranes for tracking; this led her to the charred remains of the Nether Blacksmith couple and an Iron Bead. 35
• Releases loose pages around herself for searching, attack, and defense. 29 42
• Its side effect transforms her pages yellow and black and gives her a sinister aura she dislikes. 29
• Her unusual aptitude allows her to read both righteous and unorthodox books without being corrupted by the latter. 183

Disguise

Liu Xu is proficient in practical disguise techniques learned from books rather than purely scholarly cultivation. 73

• Can alter her appearance so completely that Xu Bai could not recognize her as a woman. 73
• Uses makeup to make allies less conspicuous during covert operations. 73
• Carries a medicine made from common herbs that changes her voice for roughly half an hour per dose. 73
• Uses disguises for infiltration, including posing as a wealthy merchant at Spring Rain Pavilion. 73 74

Black Book and Black Small Swords

Liu Xu possesses a black book inhabited by a woman from a destroyed world. The book became the source of Liu Xu's unprecedented study and modification of Evil Books. 265

• The book can form Black Small Swords capable of placing immense pressure on powerful opponents. 264 265
• When the book is attacked or activated, Liu Xu can become stiff and act with cold hostility rather than conscious control. 265
• The woman within the book is bound to Liu Xu: harm to Liu Xu would also endanger her. 266
• The book's presence became unstable after Chief Mu entered Exiting Sainthood, prompting the woman's fear that the Supreme Saint could locate them. 265

Equipment

• Writing brushes — Includes the Spring Flower Brush, which she entrusted to Xu Bai for study, and the Azure Cloud Brush used during the Shadow Courier Station crisis. 79 82
• Books and loose paper pages — The primary vessels for her scholar arts. 29
• Black book — A dangerous book containing a surviving woman from another destroyed world. 264 266
• Voice-changing medicine — A short-lived disguise aid carried in a sleeve bottle. 73
• Concealed nail-and-chain traps — Defensive traps installed around her room's entrance. 48

Relationships

• Xu Bai — Initially investigates him as the mysterious saber-wielding third party in Sheng County. They become trusted allies after cooperating over Xiao Yue's case, Spring Rain Pavilion, and the Shadow Courier Station. Liu Xu gives him advanced disguise methods and later relies on him to save her from the Old Hag and black-book crisis. 42 73 173 265
• Wu Hua — Fellow investigator and companion from the Sheng County incidents. Liu Xu works with him under her teacher's instructions and later reaches the Extraordinary Peak alongside him. 46 82 328
• Wang Qingfeng — Her teacher at Azure Cloud Academy. He helped Liu Xu explore Paper Figure Maker-related studies and respected her decision to pursue a martial-world path rather than officialdom. 85 99
• Yun Zihai — Her senior brother from Azure Cloud Academy and later Sheng County Magistrate. Liu Xu asked him to look after Xu Bai after leaving Sheng County. 84 85
• Liu Yuanfeng — Her father and the head of the Liu Family. 24
• Academy Dean — The Dean recognized Liu Xu's exceptional compatibility with both righteous and unorthodox texts and feared that this made her an ideal vessel for his junior sister. 183
• The Old Hag — The Dean's junior sister, whose powerful soul suppressed Liu Xu's soul and attempted to use her body to lure Xu Bai into a trap. 183 184
• Woman in the black book — A survivor from a destroyed world who resides within Liu Xu's black book. Their fates are bound together. 265 266

Story Role / Major Arcs

Sheng County Investigation

Liu Xu returns to Sheng County and investigates murders connected to the Extreme Life Sect. Her search of the Blacksmith Shop exposes its hidden bodies, while Paper Crane Tracking confirms the deaths of the Nether Blacksmith couple and points to a far stronger third-party combatant. 24 29 35

Alliance with Xu Bai and Wu Hua

After Xu Bai exposes her identity as a scholar, Liu Xu tests his motives while he tests her abilities. She agrees to assist him with the Lin Family's accounts in part because she wants justice for Xiao Yue, and later joins Xu Bai and Wu Hua in investigating Spring Rain Pavilion and the Shadow Courier Station. 42 48 73 82

Choosing the Martial World

At Azure Cloud Academy, Liu Xu resolves her uncertainty about scholarship and government service. Her realization that she favors decisive action allows her to advance from Eighth Rank to Sixth Rank overnight. 99

Old Hag Possession

Liu Xu's sudden rapid advancement and disturbing dreams reveal that the Old Hag's soul has been suppressing her own. Xu Bai discovers the possession, follows her to the abandoned temple without exposing his knowledge, and waits for the Old Hag to leave Liu Xu's body. 183 184

Acting Dean and the Black Book Crisis

As acting Dean, Liu Xu attempts to enter the Extraordinary Realm but becomes vacant and violently defensive. Her black book manifests Black Small Swords against Xu Bai; the woman within the book ultimately explains that she had been hiding there to protect Liu Xu from the Supreme Saint. 264 265

Notable Quotes

“This disciple has discovered that I am not someone suited to being an official.” 99

“This disciple's temperament is more suited to the martial world.” 99

Trivia

• Liu Xu's veil is primarily meant to prevent unwanted attention rather than conceal her identity. 35 180
• Her refined “immortal maiden” image is undermined by the demonic aura produced by her Paper Crafting side effects. 29
• She privately wrote an inappropriate work inspired by Xu Bai and Wu Hua's late-night meetings. 63
• Xu Bai spent a long time trying to see her unveiled face; when he asked again as she departed Sheng County, she nearly shaved his hair with her book pages. 84