Xia Zhao

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Xia Zhao (夏昭)
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Female
Age	30 at the time she meets Li Yuan in Qijia Town 37
Affiliation	Xia Family, Main House
Occupation/Role	Eighth-Rank martial artist; Xia Family prodigy and direct descendant being groomed as a future family head 288
Martial Dao Realm	Eighth Grade, Initial Stage; can briefly contend with a Ninth-Rank martial artist at peak condition 37
Spouse	Li Yuan 282
Status	Active; rescued after being stranded during the Mutant Beast investigation and subsequently returns to the Xia Family Estate 341 343 344
First Appearance	Chapter 36

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Eighth-Rank Martial Dao, Initial Stage	37	Reveals that she can briefly rival a Ninth-Rank expert when at her peak. Her poison and injuries temporarily prevent her from using this strength fully. 37
Revised Feather Blade	63	Applies Li Yuan’s advice: most scattered feather blades become feints, while three carry concentrated killing power. The change addresses the technique’s longstanding weakness against durable opponents and Fierce Beasts. 63
Star-Shattering Sword Shadow, Third Level — “Sword Follows”	66	Demonstrates genuine mastery of the third level, surpassing Xia Tai’s own understanding and breaking his control over the technique’s inheritance. 66
Eighth-Rank combat power approaching Ninth Rank	67	Her improved Feather Blade, used at Eighth Rank, displays power comparable to the Xia Family’s Ninth-Rank experts. 67
Physical restoration through Life Essence Fluid	290, 291	Consumes diluted Life Essence Fluid, restoring lingering injuries and improving stamina, movement, and bodily control. No new Martial Dao realm is confirmed. 290 291

Background

Xia Zhao is a direct descendant of the Xia Family’s Main House. Her grandfather, Xia Ping, is the family head, while her father, Xia Cheng, is a powerful Grandmaster. The Main House traditionally produces the family head, but its authority has been weakened over generations as six Branch House lineages gained influence over practical family affairs. 258 262

She began Martial Dao cultivation at a young age and describes her early path as exceptionally smooth: diligent study consistently produced results until she entered the Eighth Rank. Her talent, combat ability, and ability to rapidly grasp advanced martial arts led the Xia Family to regard her as a potential future leader. 262 288

Her education came primarily from private tutors hired by her family. She attended ordinary cultural classes only for a period, partly because the family wanted her to learn interpersonal skills. This background, together with her exceptional comprehension, leaves her with relatively little practical advice for conventional school teaching. 165

Despite her privileged background, she was not raised as a pampered young lady. Years of exhausting cultivation, frontline training, and dangerous combat made her accustomed to hardship. She also taught Li Yuan that advancement beyond the lower realms requires tempering the mind through real danger, not merely strengthening the physique. 135 285

Her status also limits her freedom. After the Qijia Town incident revealed both her value and vulnerability, her family restricted her participation in dangerous expeditions, fearing the loss of such an exceptional successor. 165

She is described as the youngest Eighth-Rank Martial Dao practitioner of the current era. Ten years earlier, martial-arts circles and related media frequently discussed her alongside Pei Xiaoyan as a leading prodigy. 288 302

Appearance

Xia Zhao is noted for a striking, sharp beauty that can make others feel intimidated or inferior at first sight. Compared with her cousin Xia Yao’s gentler appearance, Xia Zhao’s presence is described as more aggressive and imposing. 137

• Often wears practical, fitted combat attire suited to martial activity. 175
• Has a snow-white complexion and figure. 40
• Usually dresses only as appropriately as an occasion requires; her decision to wear makeup and an elegant outfit for dinner with Li Yuan was unusual enough to surprise Cheng Jing. 175
• Her natural aura creates pressure independent of Martial Dao suppression, causing many people to keep their distance. 212
• Later deliberately prepares carefully applied, natural-looking makeup before a video call with Li Yuan, reflecting her increasing attention to how she appears before him. 201

Personality

Xia Zhao is composed, self-reliant, and difficult to pressure into choices she does not accept. Her grandparents recognize that she has strong personal judgment and will not submit merely because others attempt to reason with or command her. 218

Although she is usually restrained and polite, she becomes forceful when someone threatens people she cares about. She confronted Xia Tai when he attempted to use family techniques to coerce her younger relatives, and she openly blocked Yuan Zheng from interfering against Li Yuan during Jin Fan’s fight. 66 172

She dislikes insincere attention and being watched in public, partly because her status constantly attracts people seeking favors. This makes her more comfortable with private, direct interactions than with social performances. 133 245

Her feelings for Li Yuan develop from gratitude and admiration into open devotion. She values his martial insight, worries about his safety and career, and refuses to let subordinates or relatives demean him because of his background. 176 255

Her affection also brings out playfulness, jealousy, and a willingness to take the initiative. During their first period of hiding, she teases Li Yuan and finds security in sleeping and cultivating beside him. Later, she proposes introducing alternative suitors to Xu Nianxing’s mother in an effort to prevent Xu Nianxing and Li Yuan from becoming a couple, despite Cheng Jing’s reservations about interfering. 40 41 180

She distinguishes between pursuing someone who is dating and disrupting a marriage. When advising Xia Yao, she says a married person should be left undisturbed, while pursuing someone with a boyfriend or girlfriend remains possible if one accepts the criticism it may attract. 155

Xia Zhao does not regard Li Yuan as an appendage of herself or the Xia Family. She considers him more outstanding than herself in important respects, supports his independent career, and is prepared to follow his decisions in major matters. 248

Although she values martial cultivation deeply, she places the practitioner’s own development above possession of exceptional techniques. After her rescue, she is more interested in Li Yuan’s experiences and safety than in his discovery of the Space Breaking Technique, explaining that even a supreme martial art is meaningless without a capable practitioner. 343

Abilities & Skills

Eighth-Rank Martial Arts

Xia Zhao is an Eighth-Rank martial artist whose peak combat ability can briefly match a Ninth-Rank opponent. Even while poisoned in Qijia Town, she fought the Mutant Hound long enough to try to create an escape opportunity for Li Yuan. 36 37

• Possesses strong resistance to ordinary poisons, though Mutant Beast venom severely weakened her immune system and recovery. 38 39
• Uses refined martial and movement techniques superior to many martial artists of her rank. 172
• Can form protective Gang Qi, which protected her from injury during Jin Fan’s ambush. 133
• Uses a Pinnacle Movement Art to pull Li Yuan out of danger during their return toward Qijia Town. Having learned from her earlier poisoning, she restrains the pursuing Mutant Hound through controlled engagement rather than risking another reckless confrontation. 42
• Her physical condition improves substantially after taking Life Essence Fluid, including the healing of lingering injuries she had not realized were still impairing her. 291

Feather Blade

Feather Blade is a core Xia Family martial technique that converts force into crimson feathers, which shatter into attacking blade fragments. 63

• Conventional Feather Blade spreads its power too evenly, making it less effective against resilient Fierce Beasts and reinforced physiques. 63
• Xia Zhao adopts Li Yuan’s revised structure: weak fragments distract the opponent while three hidden blades concentrate the true force. 63
• Her improved version elevates an Eighth-Rank technique to power comparable with that of Xia Family Ninth-Rank experts. 67
• Even Xia Cheng and Xia Ping struggle to reproduce the technique beyond its outward form. 73
• Her successful revision nearly doubles the technique’s effectiveness and leads the family head to grant her greater authority over family resources. 63 73

Star-Shattering Sword Shadow

Star-Shattering Sword Shadow is a four-level Xia Family inheritance that Xia Tai attempted to monopolize. 64

• Xia Zhao mastered the third level after applying insights Li Yuan had casually shared in Qijia Town. 64 67
• Her third-level execution includes the crucial Sword Follows stage, in which scattered sword shadows possess genuine sharpness rather than superficial imitation. 66
• Her breakthrough removed Xia Tai’s leverage over the family and protected the technique from being withheld for personal gain. 66 67
• Li Yuan also supplied pointers concerning the fourth level. Xia Zhao believes further study will allow her to master it, but her completed fourth-level mastery is not confirmed. 64 66

Martial Comprehension and Guidance

Xia Zhao is a recognized martial prodigy who learns advanced cultivation methods and techniques unusually quickly. Her explanations are often too advanced for ordinary martial artists to understand, so she rarely shares her personal insights freely. 106 165

• Identifies Li Yuan’s unusually refined Cloud Treading Step and blade intent despite his modest cultivation method. 38 39
• Provides Li Yuan with guidance on Fierce Beasts, Sixth-Grade advancement, blade techniques, and practical cultivation experience. 39 43
• Can improve and preserve family inheritances, though Li Yuan’s comprehension surpasses hers in several technical areas. 67 78
• Does not automatically understand every martial artist’s personal bottlenecks; Feng Youwang’s long-standing cultivation problem was one Li Yuan could explain when she could not. 288
• Explains cutting-edge research on powerful physiques resisting external nutrient tonics. Her advice to exhaust himself before taking an S-Grade Nutrient Tonic helps Li Yuan advance directly from Early Sixth Grade to Sixth-Grade Great Perfection. 213
• Has helped and instructed nearly all of the Xia Family’s younger members, earning considerable respect among them. 302

Her comprehension has limits despite her reputation. Many of the improvements attributed to her originated in Li Yuan’s advice, and she cannot independently reproduce every insight or develop further revisions merely because the family expects her to do so. Likewise, her annotations on Heavenly Refining Body largely reflect conventional assumptions that Li Yuan later identifies as incorrect. 45 78 133

Investigation and Strategic Judgment

The Mutant Beast incident made Xia Zhao attentive to signs of organized biological experimentation.

• Recognizes that the Qijia Town attack was not an isolated accident and may be connected to artificial Beast experiments. 176
• Supports Li Yuan’s deduction that laboratories would require accessible transport routes, heavy equipment, and a steady supply of Fierce Beasts. 176
• Plans to personally investigate Mutant Beast tracks south of Qijia Town despite the Xia Family’s internal political pressures. 289
• Warns Li Yuan not to publicize his understanding of Heavenly Refining Body, since the method previously provoked conflict among Grandmasters and renewed interest could endanger him. 179
• Recognizes the political motives behind attempts to use Zhuang Meng to influence Li Yuan and protects him from those schemes. 211 212
• Helps identify a canyon’s apparently calming effect on Mutant Beasts as a possible component of an artificial control system. This remains a suspicion rather than a confirmed explanation. 341
• Directs a publicity campaign against Jin Lou, countering the Jin Family’s efforts to suppress scandal by circulating information about his affair with Ding Xiaoyue and the rumored parentage of Jin Fan. 344

Family Administration and Negotiation

Xia Zhao participates in family decision-making and represents the elders in practical affairs. Her growing authority is supported by both her expected succession and her contributions to the family’s martial inheritances. 73 217 288

• Recruits Li Yuan to restart machinery belonging to Xia Family businesses in Lan Eagle City, linking economic recovery with the effort to remove her corrupt Ninth Uncle from command. 201
• Represents the Xia Family elders in supporting Deputy Commander Zhou’s appointment after Xia Zhan is removed as commander-in-chief. 217
• Has prior experience resolving a difficult mission in Qujiang Town, leaving its command center owing her a personal favor. Before learning of Li Yuan’s successful Trailblazing Mission, she prepares to use her influence to seek leniency over its apparent abandonment. 283
• Negotiates with Gu Xin over Little Creek Mountain, acknowledging his past service while firmly maintaining that the cultivation site must return to Xia Family management. 346

Items Provided and Received

• Heavenly Refining Body flash drive — A mysterious family-obtained cultivation method Xia Zhao entrusts to Li Yuan after Grandmasters failed to interpret it correctly. 40
• Snow Shadow Mountain qualification — Secretly arranged for the person she believed was “Wuling Education,” though it was initially delivered to Jin Fan because of the mistaken identity. 50 78 79
• Master Zheng’s business card — Gives Li Yuan a connection to an influential figure in education to help protect his professional advancement from Jin Family interference. 176
• Treasure-Hunting Grounds access card — Gives Li Yuan a special card that provides access to cultivation opportunities associated with Yanling Town. 179 189
• Gilded Black Card and private suite — Transfers her Scenic Mountain Group card to Li Yuan and arranges for him to use her own hotel suite during his Yanling Town training. 189
• Cloud Swallow Cultivation Method — A movement-oriented cultivation method selected for Li Yuan because Xia Zhao believed his Movement Arts were his greatest advantage. 189
• Wiping Blade — An advanced saber technique sent to Li Yuan for his Yanling Town training. 189
• Mountain Body-Protecting Qi — A high-level martial inheritance she goes to considerable lengths to obtain for an outsider; her family connects the effort with her support of Li Yuan. 247
• S-Grade Nutrient Tonic — Helps secure the rare tonic owed to Li Yuan for his Lan Eagle City work and advises him on its effective use. 201 212 213
• Protective inner armor — Specially made armor capable of blocking one fatal strike, given to Li Yuan before his Qujiang Town assignment. 266
• Life Essence Fluid — Receives and consumes sixty milliliters of diluted Life Essence Fluid from Li Yuan; it restores lingering damage, improves stamina, and makes bodily control easier. 290 291

Relationships

• Li Yuan — Husband. He rescued and treated her after she was poisoned by a Mutant Beast in Qijia Town; their mutual trust, martial discussions, and concern gradually became a romantic relationship and marriage. 36 39 246 282 He later searches for her alone after she loses contact during an investigation and finds her stranded in a canyon with other survivors. She is deeply relieved by their reunion, and the two continue acting together in family affairs and against the Jin Family. 338 341 343 344
• Xia Ping — Grandfather and Xia Family head. He initially had reservations about Li Yuan but came to recognize both Li Yuan’s value and Xia Zhao’s judgment. 258 282 Li Yuan’s demonstration of the Space Breaking Technique further vindicates her choice and strengthens the Main House. 297
• Xia Cheng — Father and Grandmaster. He is protective and domineering, initially skeptical of Li Yuan and concerned about Xia Zhao’s future within the family. 73 258 262 His opinion changes substantially as Li Yuan proves himself; by their later family meal, he regards Li Yuan as an impressive match for his daughter and explains the family’s strategy against the Jin Family. 344
• Cheng Jing — Personal assistant. Cheng Jing manages Xia Zhao’s arrangements and investigations, though Xia Zhao firmly reprimands her when she treats Li Yuan disrespectfully. 78 255
• Xia Yao — Younger cousin. Xia Yao resembles Xia Zhao but has a gentler presence; Xia Zhao later advises her to pursue the person she likes if she refuses to give up. 137 155 Unaware that Xia Yao’s romantic interest is Li Yuan, Xia Zhao asks Cheng Jing to investigate the man she likes. Xia Yao later avoids the wedding because of her feelings and is among the survivors stranded with Xia Zhao in the canyon. 201 282 341
• Xia Tai — Third Great-Granduncle. He tried to exploit the Xia Family’s dependence on Star-Shattering Sword Shadow, but Xia Zhao’s mastery of the third level destroyed his leverage. 64 66 67
• Jin Fan — Initially mistaken for the “Wuling Education” identity used by Li Yuan, leading Xia Zhao to arrange training resources for him. After learning the truth, she opposed his attempts to harm Li Yuan. 78 79 172 Jin Fan interprets her marriage to Li Yuan as the loss of a life he believes should have been his, intensifying his resentment toward her husband. 282
• Yuan Zheng — Eighth-Rank martial artist who intervened to protect Jin Fan. Xia Zhao directly blocked her and refused to permit one-sided interference. 172
• Xia Zhan — Ninth Uncle and former Lan Eagle City commander-in-chief. Xia Zhao helps the family remove him because of his corruption, arbitrary conduct, and withholding of rewards, subsequently supporting Deputy Commander Zhou as his replacement. 201 217
• Feng Yingtian — Fellow major-family descendant who feels pressure from elders comparing him with Xia Zhao. His matchmaking jokes prompt her to reveal her intentions toward Li Yuan; afterward, he supports Li Yuan while warning him about the difficulties of marrying into the Xia Family. 245 246 247
• Zhuang Meng — Li Yuan’s former girlfriend. Xia Zhao investigates the rumors surrounding her, publicly rejects the claim that she is worthy of Li Yuan, and intervenes when she continues approaching him despite his rejection. 201 211 212
• Li Fu — Li Yuan’s aunt. Xia Zhao challenges her belittling implication that Li Yuan was simply a man she “chose,” declaring that she had to act first before another woman won him over. 286
• Jin Lou — Enemy whose possible retaliation she initially monitors for Li Yuan’s protection. After learning of his later action against Li Yuan, she treats the feud as irreconcilable and directs publicity against him. 175 343 344
• Gu Xin — Martial artist known as the “Cloud Immortal,” occupying the Xia Family’s Little Creek Mountain cultivation site after recovering from an injury. Xia Zhao remains skeptical of claims that he is a reincarnation and attempts to negotiate the site’s return to family management. 344 345 346

Story Role / Major Arcs

Qijia Town Incident

Xia Zhao is poisoned while fighting a Mutant Hound and prepares to hold it back long enough for Li Yuan to escape. Instead, Li Yuan attacks the beast and later carries her more than a hundred li to an abandoned Observation Station. 36 37

Unable to recover without medicine or supplies, she forms a survival partnership with Li Yuan: he handles scouting, food, medicine, and security while she focuses on healing and restoring her Eighth-Rank strength. Their shared confinement becomes the foundation of their trust. 37 38 39

During their recovery period, Xia Zhao gives Li Yuan martial guidance and the Heavenly Refining Body method. She gradually realizes that his comprehension exceeds her own in many areas, particularly when he identifies solutions to problems in Feather Blade and other techniques. 39 40 41

Li Yuan’s herbal treatment clears the poison, but their refuge becomes unsafe when he detects signs of an approaching threat. They abandon the station and observe unknown people entering it that night, reinforcing their suspicion that the crisis and communication blackout were deliberately arranged. 40 41

While returning toward Qijia Town, Xia Zhao protects Li Yuan from another Mutant Hound and avoids repeating the mistakes that led to her poisoning. After reaching civilization, she warns him that knowledge of the Mutant Beasts could make him a target. They exchange contact information before departing separately, and she later tells her grandmother what happened. 42 43

The “Wuling Education” Mistake

After returning home, Xia Zhao investigates the false identity Li Yuan used in Qijia Town. Bureaucratic records incorrectly lead her to believe the identity belongs to Jin Fan, Grandmaster Yao Jianyue’s disciple. 49 50

Wanting to help Li Yuan without forcing direct contact, she arranges a Snow Shadow Mountain qualification under the mistaken belief that Jin Fan is him. She discovers the error only after seeing Jin Fan’s official pass photograph and realizing he could not be the insecure, unknown martial artist she met in Qijia Town. 78 79

Her mistaken gift draws unwanted attention from people hoping to secure similar benefits. She repeatedly declines Yao Jianyue’s requests for meetings, avoiding a direct explanation that she had favored Jin Fan only because of mistaken identity. 133

Transforming the Xia Family’s Techniques

While recovering from her injuries, Xia Zhao tests Li Yuan’s Qijia Town advice on Feather Blade and proves that it can dramatically improve the Xia Family’s core technique. 63 67

She also masters the third level of Star-Shattering Sword Shadow, exposing Xia Tai’s deliberate withholding of its true principles. Her demonstration frees the family from Xia Tai’s coercion and establishes her as a martial talent who exceeds even her father in understanding the inheritance. 66 67

Xia Tai is placed under house arrest, while Xia Ping recalls Xia Cheng and cancels other business to study the improved Feather Blade. The discovery earns Xia Zhao greater authority over family resources, but also creates pressure for further improvements that she cannot independently supply. She worries that these expectations will make her desire to find Li Yuan appear calculating rather than personal. 67 73 78 133

Reunion and Defense of Li Yuan

Xia Zhao searches for Li Yuan for months and unexpectedly finds him at the Stone Peak River Teaching Research Conference. 167

When Jin Fan turns a sparring match into a malicious attack and Yuan Zheng attempts to protect him, Xia Zhao intervenes without compromise. She blocks Yuan Zheng from injuring Li Yuan and insists that the rule against interference must apply equally to both sides. 171 172

Afterward, she invites Li Yuan to dinner, explains the mistaken Jin Fan identity, warns him about Jin Lou and the Jin Family, and offers practical help to protect his career. 175 176

She subsequently arranges access to Yanling Town’s Treasure-Hunting Grounds, provides martial methods selected for Li Yuan’s needs, and warns him against both reckless exploration and public disclosure of his understanding of Heavenly Refining Body. 179 189

Lan Eagle City Affairs

Xia Zhao asks Li Yuan to help restart machinery belonging to Xia Family businesses, whose inactivity is producing substantial losses. The assignment also supports the family’s effort to remove Xia Zhan, her corrupt Ninth Uncle, from command. She guarantees that Li Yuan will receive his outstanding rewards, including an S-Grade Nutrient Tonic, and rearranges her engagements to accompany him. 201

When Zhuang Meng and her associates attempt to exploit claims that Li Yuan remains attached to her, Xia Zhao publicly links arms with him and rejects those claims. She explains the political attempt to influence him through Zhuang Meng, helps him complete the remaining production lines, and presses Deputy Commander Zhou to deliver the promised tonic. 211 212

Her advice on taking the tonic after exhausting his body contributes to Li Yuan’s leap from Early Sixth Grade to Sixth-Grade Great Perfection. She emphasizes that his own ability, physique, and determination—not the resource alone—made the breakthrough possible. After Xia Zhan’s removal, she represents the family elders in supporting Zhou’s appointment. 213 217

Courtship and Marriage

Xia Zhao’s concern for Li Yuan becomes increasingly visible through her support during the Lan Eagle City conflict, her jealousy over Zhuang Meng, and her readiness to rearrange her schedule to accompany him. 201 210

At the Chu Palace Trial, she openly states that she is serious about marrying Li Yuan if he is willing. Li Yuan admits that he had long believed her beyond his reach, but asks for time to prepare a proper proposal. 246 248

She later announces their engagement publicly, declares that Li Yuan will be her husband, and rejects the claim that he is merely marrying into a superior family. 255 By the Qujiang Town arc, the two are married and openly support one another despite Xia Family opposition and Branch House gossip. 266 282

During Li Yuan’s visit to her family, Xia Zhao warns him about the elders’ attempts to intimidate him, confronts hostile relatives, and asks Xia Ping to examine his gift rather than dismissing it. She remains confident that relatives who underestimate him would envy her if they understood his true abilities. 258 259 262

Their partnership continues after marriage. She provides protective armor for his Qujiang Town assignment and prepares to intervene on his behalf when she believes his Trailblazing Mission has failed. At a later gathering with his relatives, she openly praises him and rejects the implication that their relationship is a favor she bestowed upon him. 266 283 286

Mutant Beast Investigation

After evidence of abnormal A-level Beasts appears across multiple border regions, Xia Zhao connects the incidents to the Mutant Beast threat first encountered in Qijia Town. 155 288

She prepares to investigate new tracks south of Qijia Town while Li Yuan handles responsibilities created by his success in Qujiang Town. Before they separate, he gives her Life Essence Fluid to restore her health and strengthen her condition for the danger ahead. 289 290

The fluid heals hidden lingering injuries and makes movement and bodily control easier. During the expedition, she initially sends Li Yuan a message confirming her safety, but subsequently remains out of contact long enough to alarm him. After returning to the Xia Kingdom, he receives only a vague report from Xia Cheng that she is still on her mission and travels to the camp himself. 291 300 338

Canyon Rescue and Return

Li Yuan discovers that Xia Zhao’s team is missing and searches alone. He finds her, Xia Yao, and several other survivors in a mist-filled canyon after they were driven there by a pack of Mutant Beasts. Xia Zhao is relieved and affectionate during their reunion. Before his arrival, she had already lost hope and considered how she would face death. 341 343

The survivors report that the beasts within the canyon are unusually docile, apparently because of its water. Xia Zhao and Li Yuan suspect that the location forms part of an artificial system for controlling Mutant Beasts, though the creatures’ instincts may allow them to evade that control. Li Yuan climbs his prepared rope high enough to recover communication and requests rescue ropes from the camp. 341

After leaving the canyon, Xia Zhao and Li Yuan rest together at the camp and discuss their experiences face-to-face. He recounts his demonstration of the Space Breaking Technique at the Xia Family’s Night Discussion and tells her about Jin Lou’s action against him rather than allowing her to learn of it secondhand. He also plans to teach her the family technique, but her mastery of it is not yet established. 343

Jin Family Conflict and Little Creek Mountain

After returning to the Xia Family Estate, Xia Zhao and Li Yuan discuss keeping Jin Lou’s crimes in public view. Her firm publicizes his affair with Ding Xiaoyue and the widespread rumor that Jin Fan is his biological son, countering the Jin Family’s attempts to suppress the scandal. Xia Zhao regards reconciliation as impossible and stresses that continued growth in their own strength is essential to their safety. The couple plans to attend the upcoming Snow Shadow Mountain expedition together. 344

Xia Cheng explains that excessive pressure on the Jin Family could unite its factions, whereas the Xia Family seeks to deepen its internal divisions. His increasingly favorable attitude toward Li Yuan is also reflected in a shared meal with Xia Zhao and her parents. 344

Xia Zhao then turns to Little Creek Mountain, a valuable Xia Family cultivation site occupied by Gu Xin after his recovery from an injury suffered in public service. She and Li Yuan reject claims that he is a reincarnation of the “Cloud Immortal,” while acknowledging his formidable reputation and the difficulty of confronting someone skilled in prediction and psychological tactics. 344 345

At the mountain, Xia Zhao respectfully recognizes Gu Xin’s contribution but states that the property must ultimately be managed by the Xia Family. Gu Xin openly admits that he has largely recovered, yet the dispute is not resolved in the available account. 346

Notable Quotes

“If he can strike that hard, then the other side can naturally strike just as hard. Earlier, it was said that no one was allowed to interfere. That means no one may interfere.” 172

“If he is willing to marry me, then I am serious.” 246

“He deserves it, and he can handle it.” 255

“They just do not understand you. If they truly did, they would be the ones envying me.” 262

“It's really great to be alive.” 343

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