Old Ancestor Xuanming

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Old Ancestor Xuanming
Original Name	玄冥老祖
Alias(es)	Old Ancestor Dark Nether; Dark Nether 796 973 974
Gender	Male
Age	Tens of thousands of years 972
Affiliation	Dark Nether Immortal Vein; Origin Return Alliance; Zhou Xuan’s Immortal Court-bound followers 828 830 930
Occupation/Role	Immortal-vein ancestor; Zhou Xuan’s subordinate; administrator of contribution points and resource exchanges at the Immortal-Burying Abyss 992 1003 1063
Cultivation	Peerless Longevity Realm 1035
Status	Alive in his latest provided appearance 1090
First Appearance	Chapter 795, the earliest appearance documented in the provided context 795

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Early Longevity Realm; low-grade Dao Fruit	825 946 972	His original breakthrough followed a Heart Inquest in which he admitted that he sought survival and his sect’s protection. He remained at early Longevity for tens of thousands of years and regarded his Dao Fruit as half-crippled.
Dao Fruit purification; no stated realm change	828 837	Zhou Xuan removes Nothingness contamination from his Dao Fruit. The treatment brings profound relief, but black qi later becomes restless again, requiring further purification.
Immortal Court-branded Dao Fruit	930	Zhou Xuan brands his Dao Fruit with Immortal Court law, strengthening and stabilizing his cultivation while binding him to the Token Master’s authority.
Dao Fruit reforging begins	1029	At the eastern earth-vein node, the torrent cracks his Dao Fruit. Immortal Court laws enter the cracks, purge impurities, and replace unstable origin, raising his cultivation ceiling.
Peerless Longevity Realm	1035	Completes the reforging alongside Cangwu, Jiang Wu, and the Origin Return Alliance Leader. Their auras become several times stronger, though initially difficult to restrain.

Background / History

Xuanming is an ancient cultivator associated with the Dark Nether Immortal Vein. In the era when Taichu, Hunyuan, and Wuji dominated Central Province, he stood far below them in status, describing himself and his contemporaries as juniors who served them tea and water 828 988.

His original Longevity breakthrough secured survival rather than a strong foundation. He passed the Heart Inquest by acknowledging his desire to live and protect his sect, but condensed only a low-grade Dao Fruit. He concealed that weakness for thousands of years; its public exposure provoked intense shame and anger 825 946.

Nothingness corruption further endangered his cultivation. He had also knelt outside the Court Guardian Pavilion for three days and nights, during which he glimpsed an ancient text concerning the longevity of its successive Pavilion Masters. Later, he accused the Pavilion’s old woman of marking him for eventual harvesting rather than genuinely giving him a path to survival 939 940.

Appearance

• Plump build: His fat face, hands, legs, and body are repeatedly emphasized, particularly when he trembles with fear or excitement 972 974 981 988.
• Aged face and grizzled beard: His beard shakes and bristles when he becomes agitated 826 870.
• Highly expressive reactions: He turns pale, sweats, weeps, and visibly shakes under threats, then becomes animated and ingratiating when treasure or advancement is within reach 958 972 981 988.

Personality

Xuanming’s arrogance is closely tied to insecurity. He initially mocks Zhou Xuan’s questions and dismisses the claim that a Spirit Transformation cultivator repaired the Supreme One Token. When his low-grade Dao Fruit is exposed, he reacts as though his most humiliating secret has been laid bare 795 796 825.

Survival usually takes priority over dignity. He repeatedly urges retreat, hides behind the Prison Ship’s mast or his shield, and begs Zhou Xuan to avoid overwhelming enemies. Nevertheless, his caution can be sincere: his warning about Zhou Xuan’s Heart Inquest is explicitly supported by Jiang Wu as heartfelt advice 946 958 959 964 988.

He is intensely acquisitive. He seeks cultivation shortcuts, strips a storeroom of even its lighting pearls and floor-crack fragments, and repeatedly counts his rewarded crystals. His enthusiasm for exploiting other factions extends to proposals involving slaughter and refining living people into origin source—methods Zhou Xuan explicitly condemns 972 985 986 1020.

His cowardice is not absolute. The prospect of genuine advancement makes him willingly endure a potentially fatal Dao Fruit reforging. In a later crisis, he resolves to stake his life and pours out his origin source despite the danger 1029 1088.

Abilities & Skills

Cold and Ice Cultivation

Xuanming manifests cold qi and an icy-white origin source 825 916 939.

• Condenses his own Century-Origin Ice Shield for defense 974.
• Uses blood essence to form ice crystals and push his origin source to its limit 916.
• Prepares cold qi in his palm while confronting the Court Guardian Pavilion’s old woman 939.
• His self-created ice shield is vastly less solid than the Immortal Court shield later given to him 974.

Law Avatars and Earth-Vein Control

His cultivation allows him to manifest an avatar formed from laws and interfere with earth-vein activity 826 851.

• Appears outside Zhou Xuan’s carriage through a law avatar 826.
• Locks down earth veins during the campaign against Grand Hua 851.
• Holds the eastern node during Zhou Xuan’s four-direction earth-vein operation, using an array flag linked to the earth-vein core 1029.

Cultivation and Relic Knowledge

His long experience gives him knowledge of Central Province’s cultivation barriers, ancient factions, and dangerous Immortal Court remnants 865 866 940 988.

• Explains why the Earth Vein Instrument cannot serve as an ordinary longevity anchor without usable laws of heaven and earth 865 866.
• Recognizes an Immortal Court malign remnant from an ancient text he once glimpsed 940.
• Describes the violent history and strength of Taichu, Hunyuan, and Wuji 988.
• Shares his personal Heart Inquest experience with Zhou Xuan 946.

Resource Appraisal and Administration

Zhou Xuan entrusts Xuanming with contribution accounting and resource-exchange oversight 992 1003 1007 1063.

• Registers the submitted immortal-vein ancestors and establishes the contribution-point system 992.
• Values demon remains according to their retained origin quality, rather than the casualties or effort involved in obtaining them 996 1003.
• Awards only eight thousand points for Taichu’s late-Longevity Turbid Qi Thunderbird because much of its core origin source is missing 1003.
• Oversees the Purifier and investigates declining-quality scrap 1063.

Immortal Court-Bound Dao Fruit

Immortal Court law strengthens Xuanming’s foundation but also places him under Zhou Xuan’s control 930 1029 1035.

• The initial branding produces instinctive reverence toward the Token Master 930.
• Reforging enables his advancement to peerless Longevity while deepening the law imprint 1029 1035.
• Higher Immortal Court authority can suppress his power, as demonstrated by the Prison Ship’s Prison Formation 930.
• Zhou Xuan’s later aura makes his Dao Fruit submit against his will; the command to rise immediately calms it 1062.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Tortoise-Shell Shield — A heavy, battered shield from the Prison Ship’s A-Rank Armory. Although its edges are damaged, its Immortal Court defensive formation remains intact. Spiritual power activates a dark-gold protective screen 973 974.
• Dark Nether Primordial Stone — An ancestral treasure tied to his immortal vein’s foundation. Zhou Xuan restores its cracks, leaving it radiating origin aura 829.
• Contaminated Formation-Disk Fragment — A fingernail-sized fragment containing Nothingness residue extracted from his Dao Fruit. He secretly retains it under seven layers of seals; it later becomes useful against Grand Hua 846 848 851.
• Gray Storage Bag — Used while hauling supreme-grade origin crystals. Its capacity and spatial formation cannot withstand the entire haul’s dense energy, forcing repeated trips 985.
• Supreme-Grade Origin Crystals — Receives one of two portions drawn from roughly twenty percent of the Black Fortress haul as payment for his work 985 986.
• Dark-Gold Array Flag — Assigned for the eastern earth-vein post and linked to the earth-vein core 1029.
• Creation Crystal — Given after reaching peerless Longevity. Its vitality provokes longing from his newly reforged Dao Fruit and offers the possibility of further advancement 1035.

Relationships

• Zhou Xuan — Initially a junior he openly doubts; later his purifier, benefactor, and Token Master. Gratitude, dependence, rewards, and supernatural control turn their alliance into subordination 796 828 837 930 986.
• Old Ancestor Cangwu — Fellow ancient cultivator and frequent sparring partner in verbal exchanges. They argue over treasure hauling, while Cangwu’s willingness to fight contrasts with Xuanming’s instinct to retreat. Cangwu also shields him during a threatened Purifier explosion 984 985 988.
• Emperor Jiang Wu — Fellow Longevity elder and ally under Zhou Xuan. Xuanming initially ridicules him for guarding a Spirit Transformation junior; they later cooperate in purification, defensive preparations, and Dao Fruit reforging 826 828 916 1029.
• Origin Return Alliance Leader — Fellow alliance elder. He exposes Xuanming’s low-grade foundation and criticizes his reckless rush toward the Prison Ship; both eventually serve Zhou Xuan 825 928 930.
• Old Ancestor Taichu — Former superior turned subject of Xuanming’s exchange administration. Taichu resents his low appraisals, while Xuanming relishes the reversal in their standing 988 992 996 1003.
• Old Ancestors Hunyuan and Wuji — Once intimidating senior figures. Xuanming later mocks their loss of authority and registers their forces under Zhou Xuan’s resource scheme 988 990 992.
• Grand Hua Old Ancestor — Enemy of the Origin Return Alliance. Xuanming supplies the preserved Nothingness residue used against him and helps lock down his earth veins 846 848 851.
• The Court Guardian Pavilion’s Old Woman — An adversary he accuses of treating cultivators as livestock for origin harvesting. After Zhou Xuan defeats her expected protector, Xuanming gleefully mocks her and embraces service to Zhou rather than helpless survival as a wandering ghost 939 966.

Story Role / Major Arcs

From Skeptic to Dependent Ally

• Challenges Zhou Xuan’s claim to have repaired the Supreme One Token, citing earlier failed attempts by Longevity cultivators, the Court Guardian Pavilion, and the Purple-Gold Immortal Vein 796.
• Helps power the Origin-Returning Purification Formation, then receives treatment for his corrupted Dao Fruit and pledges the Dark Nether Immortal Vein’s support 828.
• Continues to require purification. Zhou Xuan deliberately provides limited relief to retain leverage over the elders 836 837.

Origin Return Alliance Conflicts

• Enthusiastically endorses Zhou Xuan’s schemes to empty rival factions’ reserves and weaken their cultivation 838 867.
• Contributes his secretly preserved contamination fragment to the operation against Grand Hua, despite embarrassment when his own interest in studying it is exposed 846 848 851.
• Joins the other elders in protecting the gravely injured Zhou Xuan with costly medicinal resources, recognizing that their survival now depends on him 903.

Prison Ship and East Sea Abyss

• Recklessly rushes toward the newly revealed ship when he sees an opportunity for wealth, then undergoes Immortal Court branding before boarding with Zhou Xuan 928 930.
• Repeatedly urges retreat during the East Sea Abyss expedition, especially when the White Bone Altar appears to contain hundreds of Longevity cultivators 952 953 957 958 959.
• Becomes boastful once Zhou Xuan’s victory is secure, mocking the old woman rather than preserving his former dignity 966.
• Seeks the secret of Zhou Xuan’s peerless Dao Fruit but is forced down by its pressure and ordered to perform his duties instead 972.

Treasure Hauling and Exchange Administration

• Receives the Tortoise-Shell Shield, then helps strip the Black Fortress storeroom and transport its crystal reserves 973 974 985.
• Gains a substantial crystal reward, accompanied by a warning that Zhou Xuan can reclaim it from his Dao Fruit if he betrays or neglects his duties 986.
• Becomes the contribution system’s administrator, enforcing strict valuations even against formerly untouchable ancestors 992 996 1003.
• Is sharply reprimanded when his proposed resource scheme includes encouraging slaughter and refining living cultivators into origin source 1020.

Reforging and Later Service

• Initially fears serving as an earth-vein support, then competes for the opportunity once Zhou Xuan explains its cultivation benefits 1028 1029.
• Endures the eastern torrent and reaches peerless Longevity, only to have his renewed aggression checked when he offers to kill Taichu and the others 1029 1035.
• Remains subject to Zhou Xuan’s overwhelming authority after the advancement; his shield buckles and his Dao Fruit involuntarily submits during Zhou’s emergence from seclusion 1062.
• Returns to Purifier supervision and scrap-quality investigations on Zhou Xuan’s orders 1063.
• Later stakes his origin source during a crisis involving the clashing powers inside Zhou Xuan. During subsequent wreckage collection, he finds a fragment marked Heavenly Strategy Pavilion, reacting with shock and fear 1088 1090.

Notable Quotes

“Now I think Grand Hua Old Ancestor truly shortened his own life by provoking you.” 851

“Thank goodness we're on the Token Master's side now.”
“If we were still against him, we probably wouldn't even know how we died.” 935

“If I die, I die! Even on the Yellow Springs Path, I'll be ahead of you!” 1088