Xia Mu

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Xia Mu (夏牧)
Alias(es)	Dugu Qiubai; Sword Demon 29
Gender	Male 1
Affiliation	Xia Family; allied with the Dugu and Ye families through their medicinal-herb trade agreement 28
Occupation/Role	Soul Master; swordsman; former Slaughter City combatant 29 33
Martial Soul(s)	Light-Hiding Sword; skeletal Body Martial Soul 1
Status	Active 33
Age	Twelve 33
Soul Power	Level 57 Soul King 33
Soul Ring Configuration	One yellow, two purple, two black 33
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Innate Soul Power Level 7	1	Awakened twin martial souls. Attribute Stacking increased his original innate Level 6 soul power by one level. 1
Level 10	3	Used millennium whale glue and a body-tempering medicinal bath; became ready to absorb a soul ring. 3
Level 13 Soul Master	5	Absorbed a 650-year Golden-Scaled Armored Beast ring as his first ring and gained Severing Jade. 4 5
Level 16	7	Reached this level after two months of cultivation and consuming Thousand-Year Whale Glue. 7
Level 20	8	Broke through to the threshold for his second soul ring. 8
Level 23	9	Absorbed a 1,200-year Shieldblade Monster ring as his second ring and gained Concealed Edge. 9
Level 27	12	Advanced through a year of cultivation, with one level attributed to Attribute Stacking. 12
Level 30 Quasi-Soul Elder	16	Reached Level 30 at age nine. 16
Level 33 Soul Elder	17	Absorbed a 5,000-year Holy Light Golden Armored Beetle ring as his third ring and gained Sword Dance. 17
Level 40	24	Consumed the Primordial Unity Immortal Herb, gaining six levels before Attribute Stacking brought him to the Level 40 threshold. 24
Level 44	28	Absorbed a roughly 10,800-year Mutated Black-Jointed Bamboo King ring as his fourth ring and gained Frost Blade Manifestation. 27 28
Level 50	29	Reached the Soul King threshold and departed for Slaughter City to seek his fifth ring and life-or-death experience. 29
Level 57 Soul King	31	Obtained his fifth ring from the 30,000-year Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King; the ring and Attribute Stacking each contributed two levels. He gained Myriad Swords Returning to the Sect. 30 31

Background & History

Early Life

Xia Mu was a transmigrator born to Xia Feng and Liu Yuer in Greenwood Town. Both parents served the Spirit Hall as deacons, while Xia Mu grew up with knowledge and ambitions far beyond his age. At six, Liu Yuer personally awakened his martial souls. 1

He inherited Xia Feng's Arm Bone martial soul and Liu Yuer's Dragon-Pattern Sword, but his Hextech System transformed them. His arm bones evolved into a complete skeletal Body Martial Soul, while the Dragon-Pattern Sword became the Light-Hiding Sword, an ultimate light-attribute martial soul with the sealed sword spirit Radiant Sacred Dragon. 1

Early Cultivation

Xia Mu immediately pursued an unusually aggressive cultivation path. He identified the uses of high-year whale glue, created a body-tempering medicinal bath, and used these resources to reach Level 10 within a day of awakening. 3

With Xia Feng and Liu Yuer's help, he hunted and absorbed soul rings far beyond ordinary limits: a 650-year first ring, a 1,200-year second ring, and a 5,000-year third ring. He also designed a compound bow, used black powder against the Shieldblade Monster clan, and treated soul-beast hunts as calculated operations rather than straightforward battles. 4 9 17

Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well

After learning of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, Xia Mu devised a plan to draw away its 60,000-year Medusa Queen guardian. Xia Feng acted as bait while Liu Yuer carried Xia Mu into the well; Xia Mu harvested all fifteen peerless immortal herbs and numerous Ninth-Grade Great Medicine Kings before the family escaped. 22 23

He distributed immortal herbs to his parents, using their properties to improve their martial souls and cultivation. Xia Mu consumed the Primordial Unity Immortal Herb and Gazing-Through-Autumn-Water Dew, reaching Level 40, gaining Fiery Golden Eyes, and advancing his spiritual power to the Spiritual Abyss Realm. 23 24

Slaughter City

At Level 50, Xia Mu entered Slaughter City under the identity Dugu Qiubai to gain genuine life-and-death combat experience and pursue the Killing God Domain. Over a year and a half, he became known as the Sword Demon, developed the Dugu Nine Swords, and completed one hundred victories in the Hell Slaughter Arena. 29 30

During the Hell Road trial, Xia Mu defeated the Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King, acquired its external soul bone, and later defeated the Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Serpent through clone-assisted hit-and-run tactics. He returned to Heaven Dou City at Level 57 after nearly two years away. 30 31

Appearance

By the time he became a Level 33 Soul Elder, Xia Mu had grown beyond his childish appearance into a spirited young man with a composed bearing. 17

• Sword-like brows and starry eyes. 17
• Carries the formless Light-Hiding Sword, whose jade-green dragon-mouth hilt manifests a transparent blade through soul power. 1
• Used a conical hat and the identity Dugu Qiubai while operating in Slaughter City. 29
• Possesses Dark Gold Bat Wings as an external soul bone. 30 31

Personality

Xia Mu is highly pragmatic and plans his cultivation around resources, information, and long-term foundation. He pursues whale glue, soul beasts, immortal herbs, and rare materials with a clear understanding of their strategic value, but refuses opportunities that he believes would compromise his future potential. 3 23 27

He is decisive and ruthless in battle. Xia Mu considers his sword a weapon of slaughter rather than a tool for arena competition, prefers real combat to staged spirit battles, and is willing to kill soul beasts, wolf bandits, and hostile soul masters without hesitation. 4 19 29

Despite this severity, Xia Mu is devoted to his family. He shares major gains with his parents, risks himself to help Dugu Bo, and repeatedly prioritizes raising his family's strength over keeping every resource for himself. 23 25 33

Abilities & Skills

Hextech System

At his awakening, Xia Mu selected three Hextech traits from five options. 1

• Prismatic Evolution Tier — Evolved his Arm Bone martial soul into a full skeletal Body Martial Soul and his Dragon-Pattern Sword into the Dragon-Slaying Sword. 1
• Attribute Stacking — Grants one extra soul power level for every five gained naturally and 100 mental power for every ten levels gained. 1
• Enhanced Enchantment — Turned the Dragon-Slaying Sword into the ultimate light-attribute Light-Hiding Sword. 1

Light-Hiding Sword

The Light-Hiding Sword is Xia Mu's primary martial soul. Its blade is normally formless and manifests only through soul power; its hidden edge can pass through targets without immediately being noticed. 1

• Contains the ultimate light attribute and the temporarily sealed sword spirit Radiant Sacred Dragon. 1
• Can gather and disperse at will, allowing it to ignore physical defenses. 30
• Its extreme speed and penetration make it especially compatible with Xia Mu's offense-focused Dugu Nine Swords. 30

Soul Skill Arsenal

• Severing Jade — First soul skill. Doubles Xia Mu's attack power, defense, and strength. 5
• Concealed Edge — Second soul skill. Generates sword qi that grants a 40% increase to his attributes while soul power remains available. 9
• Sword Dance — Third soul skill. Instantly increases attack power by 50% and strengthens subsequent soul skills. 17
• Frost Blade Manifestation — Fourth soul skill. Condenses a Flawless Sword Heart, enhances spiritual power, manifests Holy Spirit Sword Intent, and enables preemptive spiritual attacks. 28
• Myriad Swords Returning to the Sect — Fifth soul skill. An area-of-effect sword technique gained from the Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King. 31
• Heaven-Shaking Thunder — Used to destroy the wolf bandits' lair. 11

Dugu Nine Swords

Xia Mu developed the Dugu Nine Swords during his time in Slaughter City. The technique focuses on anticipating an opponent's movements and striking their vulnerabilities before they can react. 29

• Xia Mu described his sword path through sharp sword, flexible sword, heavy sword, wooden sword, and ultimately “no sword triumphing over sword.” 29
• Spear-Breaking Form — Interrupted Tang Hao's attack and pierced through his defense in a single exchange. 30
• Relies heavily on Xia Mu's Flawless Sword Heart and superior spiritual perception. 29

Fiery Golden Eyes

After refining the Gazing-Through-Autumn-Water Dew, Xia Mu cultivated Fiery Golden Eyes and advanced his spiritual power to the Spiritual Abyss Realm. 24

• Allows him to perceive extraordinary things and locate hidden targets, including the Mutated Black-Jointed Bamboo King. 24 27
• Raised his spiritual power to roughly 5,000 points. 24
• Let him overpower and assimilate the remnant will of a ten-thousand-year soul beast during ring absorption. 27

Dark Gold Bat Wings

Xia Mu acquired the Dark Gold Bat Wings from the Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King during the Hell Road trial. The external soul bone later fused completely with his body. 30 31

• Enables high-speed flight. 31
• Clone — Can divide Xia Mu into ten thousand clones; if even one clone survives, he can preserve his life. 31
• Was crucial to his hit-and-run strategy against the Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Serpent. 31

Equipment & Items

• Wishful Hundred-Treasure Satchel — Storage soul tool purchased at the Heaven Dou Auction for 1.1 million gold soul coins. 6
• Compound bow — Designed by Xia Mu for hunting the Golden-Scaled Armored Beast; he later used a compound bow himself against hostile soul masters. 4 32
• Black powder — Used as a concealed weapon to destroy the Shieldblade Monster clan. 9
• Aromatic Silk Immortal Herb — Carried into Slaughter City to purge the toxins from Bloody Mary. 29
• Dragon Core — A rare auction acquisition that Xia Mu used to save Dugu Bo from poison backlash, creating a Poison Dragon Inner Core within him. 22 25

Relationships

• Liu Yuer — Mother. She awakened Xia Mu's martial souls, supported his dangerous ring hunts, and waited to obtain her seventh ring until he returned from Slaughter City. Xia Mu later gave her the Ten-Headed Fiery Sun Serpent's inner core, helping her martial soul evolve into Crimson Sky. 1 17 32
• Xia Feng — Father. Xia Mu treated him as the successful test case for a Body Martial Soul second awakening and regularly planned cultivation resources around improving his father's foundation. They fight and hunt together. 7 23 27
• Dugu Bo — Family ally and beneficiary of Xia Mu's Dragon Core. Xia Mu saved Dugu Bo from soul-poison backlash; in return, Dugu Bo pledged allegiance and offered to follow Xia Mu's commands. 25 33
• Dugu Xin — Dugu Bo's son and a family friend. Xia Mu gave him a Ten-Thousand-Year Ninth-Grade Purple Lingzhi to strengthen his foundation and cultivation. 33
• Feng Yansha — Dugu Xin's partner. Xia Mu prepared a Ten-Thousand-Year Ninth-Grade Ginseng King for her to restore her innate foundation. 33
• Ye Renxin — Head of the Nine-Heart Begonia Clan. He gave Xia Mu a copy of the Immortal Herb Catalogue after recognizing his interest in immortal herbs. 18
• Ye Ziyi — Ye Renxin's daughter. She asked Xia Mu to become her spirit-battle partner, but he refused because he sought only life-and-death combat. 19
• Tang Hao — Challenged Xia Mu in Slaughter City under the name Hammer King Tang Ritian. Xia Mu defeated him with one strike using the Spear-Breaking Form. 30

Notable Quotes

“A sword is a ceremonial weapon, but it is also a weapon of slaughter. Once my sword leaves its sheath, it will not return without tasting blood!” 19

“Of all martial arts under heaven, nothing is unbreakable; only speed is undefeatable.” 30