Zheng Zhuxi

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Zheng Zhuxi (郑朱曦)
Alias(es)	Heroine Zheng; Senior Sister Zheng 44 74
Gender	Female
Age	Twenty at her introduction, according to the rumors Ding Songyan has heard 44
Affiliation	Xiaoming Sect; Zheng Family 43 206
Occupation/Role	Sect disciple, swordswoman, and patrol member; co-founder of the Rescue Association 94 138
Cultivation	Perfected Dayan Realm; reached this stage after one year and seven months 180
Primary Cultivation Art	Illuminating the Long Night Scripture 74 95
Weapon	Autumn Water Sword 81
Parents	Tao Wenshu, leader of the Xiaoming Sect; Zheng Ziming, an Imperial Court chancellor 44 140
Status	Alive; observing mourning in Changhua Prefecture, Du Province, in her latest documented appearance 206
First Appearance	Introduces herself to Ding Songyan beneath the moonlight 43

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Early Dayan Realm; sixth-rank “Strange Being”	44	At twenty, she has been opening unusual apertures for slightly over half a year. Her sixth-rank assessment comes from the Exalted Orchid Roll.
Six unusual apertures	94	Retrospectively reported as her achievement after six months in the Dayan Realm—the outdated information Xie Fengchao brings when seeking a spar.
Nine unusual apertures	94 95	Achieved in under nine months. Yi Qincang credits her Candleheart and compatibility with her scripture for allowing rapid advancement without the usual concerns about cultivation deviation.
Transformed Candlelight Sword Intent	101	Her sword intent has changed substantially since June; she dispels He Luo’s nightmares and breaks through his calamity ward with “Passing on the Candle Flame.”
Self-assessed fifth-rank “Probing Mystery” strength	103	With nine unusual apertures and improved swordsmanship, she believes she has fifth-rank combat strength. This is her assessment, not a newly reported official ranking.
First Organ Dressing: Vermilion Bird	137	Completes implantation of Vermilion Bird organs. Recovery requires repeated circulation of Illuminating Candle True Qi to stabilize them.
First White Tiger unusual aperture	141	Continues opening apertures soon after her first Organ Dressing. Her established Candleheart and previous trials allow her progress to accelerate rather than slow.
White Tiger Organ Dressing	159	Completes the procedure in early March; Ding Songyan and Xue Xian take turns keeping her company during recovery.
Azure Dragon Organ Dressing	171	Has Azure Dragon organs implanted, fulfilling a promise to her late mother, and works to assimilate them while recuperating.
Mortal Realm portion of the Lesser Limitless Method perfected	176	Completes the supplementary method Ding developed. At this point, his enhanced “Passing the Torch” is still not practicable for her.
“Forming an Abyss” adaptation successfully cultivated	179	Tests Ding’s adaptation through the Lesser Limitless Method without apparent conflict with her existing apertures. The initial version lasts longer than “Passing the Torch” but provides little other improvement.
Perfected Dayan Realm	180	Confirmed retrospectively to have taken one year and seven months.

Background and History

Family and upbringing

Zheng Zhuxi grew up between her father’s official postings and her mother’s life on Flat Lake Mountain. She rarely spent more than half a month a year in Changhua, leaving her relatively distant from her Zheng-family cousins until her later mourning period 206.

Her childhood coincided with a vulnerable period for the Xiaoming Sect. Tao Wenshu was pressed to become a Martial Grandmaster and assume leadership after the older generation declined. Zheng Ziming took leave to help defend the sect and learned a position in the Heavenly Dipper Sword Formation. Tao later apologizes for having been impatient with her daughter during those years, though Zhuxi says she barely remembers it 79.

Protecting Ding Songyan

Zheng first approaches Ding after examining his case file. During their conversation, she notices that he can speak about some subjects but seems unable to discuss others. The candlelight from her lantern appears to loosen those restrictions, and she lends him sword intent capable of resisting one attempt to force him against his will 43 44.

When his information points toward danger at the Zhen Estate, she chooses to alert both the sect and local authorities rather than preserve secrecy for the sect’s advantage. She accepts personal responsibility for that decision. Tao Wenshu subsequently challenges her wish to rescue Ding immediately, explaining that provoking the hidden enemies could endanger the whole city 45 48.

After the affair ends, Zheng visits Ding’s empty courtyard to check on him. Once he joins the sect, she becomes his senior sister, swordsmanship instructor, traveling companion, and confidante 59 74 83.

Public reputation

Zheng is initially admired for her beauty, compassion toward the poor, and willingness to champion justice. Her reputation becomes intimidating after several victories are publicly attributed to her, although some depend heavily—or entirely—on Ding’s concealed abilities 99.

Publicly credited achievement	Documented circumstances
Eliminating Feng Zhengning, a sixth-rank Accumulated Evil Path fiend	Feng planned to assassinate her, but Ding killed him. Zheng handled the aftermath and agreed to keep Ding’s unusual abilities secret 77 94.
Destroying a fourth-rank-equivalent Wooden Beast	Zheng delivered the decisive strike after Ding suppressed its Tiger Soul and identified the mechanism’s weak point. The authorities credited her with the victory 81 94.
Killing Xie Zi’an, a veteran fourth-rank Transcendent	Ding killed him; Zheng accepted the official attribution to conceal her junior brother’s strength 89 90 99.

The gap between reputation and personal achievement troubles her. Before fighting He Luo, she worries that failure would expose not only her own limitations but also Ding’s involvement in the earlier victories 101.

The Golden-Rain Flower pursuit

Zheng helps investigate the theft of a Ten-Thousand-Year Golden-Rain Tree flower from Dangkang Temple. After overcoming He Luo, she joins Ding, Xie Fengchao, Xing Chang, and Pan Yunzhou in pursuing the Three Fiends of Xiao City before the flower can reach Qin Guanchan and help restore his youth 97 101 103.

She organizes their river crossing, assigns provisions and boat duties, and establishes withdrawal conditions: they will stop if they cannot catch the fugitives within two days or learn that they have reached New Talisman City. She also offers Pan a tactful opportunity to withdraw without losing face 104.

During the fighting, she kills Lu Guangqing with an opening created by Ding, but his plague-tainted spikes leave her feverish and weak. Ding removes the disease qi and toxins, then carries her through the mountains while calling star-names to guide her sword strikes against attacking beasts 107 108.

Afterward, Yi Qincang accepts her account of the fugitives’ deaths without their heads as proof. His trust prompts her to distinguish between deceiving villains and remaining sincere with everyone else. She later apologizes to the disciples whose patrol rotation her expedition disrupted, bringing gifts rather than relying on words alone 111 114.

Southern travels and relief work

Zheng and Ding travel through Qisong Prefecture, protect the Chen Family Caravan’s Mount Fuyu Elixir Herb, and investigate attacks involving dream techniques. She resists a nightmare in which Qin Guanchan attacks Ding, using Candlelight Sword Intent rather than surrendering to despair 123 126 127.

The pair agree to distribute Yan Peng’s confiscated wealth to victims’ families in stages, reducing the risk that vulnerable recipients will be exploited. Their Rescue Association is established with Xie Fengchao’s assistance; Zheng recruits two stewards from the Hongxin Trading Company to manage its affairs 123 138.

Tao Wenshu’s death and mourning

Following Tao Wenshu’s death, Zheng initially becomes overwhelmed by grief. She nevertheless regains enough composure to ask Yan Jingxian to reassure the unsettled disciples, while also worrying about Ding’s disappearance. He subsequently returns to the mourning hall carrying Bai Zhaolin’s severed head 167 168 170.

During her Azure Dragon recovery, she supports Ding’s investigation and offers to help him study principles from her father’s hereditary Book of Utmost Sincerity. She later stays in Changhua to observe mourning, deepening her relationships with her cousins and continuing her martial training 171 206.

She and Ding maintain correspondence at least monthly. After hearing her cousins discuss the signs of being in love, she begins wondering whether her own feelings for him are romantic 179 206.

Appearance

Zheng is tall, clear-complexioned, and notably beautiful, with long black hair and two shallow dimples 43 44 99.

• Eyes: Described as containing the appearance of starlight and candle flames 43.
• Everyday clothing: Often wears pale green silk, sometimes so light that it appears almost white, with her hair secured by a kerchief or ribbon 43 79 113.
• Fighting attire: Wears fitted black clothing with starlight and candle-flame patterns on the cuffs 99.
• Winter clothing: A white padded jacket with green accents, a thick skirt, pale boots, and a fluffy white cloak 139.
• Mourning attire: Plain white clothing and a strip of hemp cloth binding her hair 206.

Personality

Zheng is proud, upright, and compassionate. Ding initially recognizes her pride, but also relies on her established reputation for helping people without status. Her decision to warn the authorities despite possible sectarian disadvantages demonstrates that this reputation is grounded in action 44 45.

Her sheltered upbringing makes her formal and initially inexperienced in deadly combat. Experience gradually makes her more relaxed, tactful, and adaptable: she enjoys simple meals on duty, considers companions’ dignity when making decisions, and accepts that honorable conduct does not require straightforward fighting tactics 77 95 104 162.

She is stubborn about her principles but willing to learn. Being surpassed by Ding unsettles her, yet she responds with harder training rather than resentment. She increasingly asks him for advice, tests his methods, and combines deception and redirected force in her own swordsmanship 91 159 162.

Her confidence coexists with concern about deserving her reputation. She protects Ding’s secrets even when doing so places uncomfortable expectations on her, and insists that her conduct toward others remain sincere 90 101 111.

Abilities and Skills

Illuminating the Long Night Scripture and Candleheart

Zheng’s temperament is exceptionally well suited to the Illuminating the Long Night Scripture. Her Candleheart lets her understand herself and find her path without first roaming the martial world 95.

• True qi: Cultivates Illuminating Candle True Qi, which she circulates to stabilize implanted organs 137.
• Rapid cultivation: Her spiritual stability reduces the danger normally associated with frequent aperture creation 95.
• Resistance to darkness: Candleheart illuminates her Sea of Consciousness and drives away or excludes shadows 162.
• Limits: She remains physically vulnerable to disease and injury; Lu Guangqing’s plague attack leaves her seriously weakened despite her mental resolve 107.

Candlelight Sword Intent

Zheng is among the few Xiaoming Sect practitioners able to develop Candlelight Sword Intent while still in the Dayan Realm 74.

• Protection from compulsion: Can place a strand in another person’s Middle Dantian. The strand lasts three days and can block one forced influence, including moth-related control, witchcraft, or gu arts 44.
• Exorcism: Uses her sword intent against an entity possessing an inn attendant 75.
• Dream resistance: Dispels He Luo’s nightmares, breaks free of Ding’s Nightmare Sword, and counters a later dream intrusion 101 113 127.
• Waking others: Sends its light into a sleepwalking attendant’s Sea of Consciousness to awaken him 125.
• Anti-corruption: Repels the Two-Faced Clan’s polluting black qi during her fight with Fu Yangquan 162.
• Limits: Resistance is not instantaneous in every case; during the Nightmare Sword test, Ding’s blade is already before her when she awakens 113.

Swordsmanship and Footwork

Her initially upright sword style develops through teaching Ding, taking his advice, and fighting real opponents 83 91 162.

• Passing on the Candle Flame / Passing the Torch: A Seven Night-Illuminating Swords technique that builds momentum through swift attacks, then links lingering candle-flame sparks into a powerful finishing strike. Zheng uses it to penetrate He Luo’s calamity ward 101 148.
• Southern Dipper Calamity-Transcending Steps: Uses this footwork during the confrontation with He Luo 101.
• Star-Shift: Borrows and redirects an opponent’s force; against Fu Yangquan, she incorporates it into her own follow-up rather than simply returning it 162.
• Flying Star Breaks Dawn: Uses the borrowed force to drive a decisive attack against Fu, deliberately changing its angle to capture him alive 162.
• Stars Fall on the Long Night: Performs a descending sword attack after springing upward from Fu’s cane strike 162.
• Concealed movement: Approaches Shen Wanli through woodland with a figure resembling scattered starlight, keeping Autumn Water sheathed to avoid reflections 106.
• Coordinated combat: Responds to Ding’s star-name signals while feverish and being carried, allowing them to fight through darkness and heavy rain 108.
• Sparring results: Decisively defeats Xie Fengchao in a cramped courtyard and later narrowly defeats Xing Chang 139 160.

Candle Eyes and Star Pupils

Zheng uses the Xiaoming Sect’s perceptive eye technique during investigations and ambushes 106 129.

• Detects unnaturally moving vegetation while approaching Shen Wanli, whose abilities can extend through plants 106.
• Knows the technique can be used to inspect suspected Two-Faced Clan members 129.
• Recognizes that an encounter taking place inside a dream prevents her from checking Chen Jindong as she would in waking reality 129.

Supplementary Cultivation and Martial Research

Zheng practices Ding’s supplementary methods and provides feedback for his developing martial system 91 179.

• Nine Primal Arts and Positive and Reverse Circulation Chapter: Practices both and contributes observations from her training 91.
• Great Change Has the Dao Diagram: Stimulates her apertures without conflicting with her existing qi 91.
• Lesser Limitless Method: Receives it as a possible safeguard for a future Celestial-Human breakthrough and later perfects its Mortal Realm portion 137 176.
• Passing the Torch development: Tests Ding’s revisions and reports their effectiveness, helping him refine the technique 179.
• Compatibility limit: Ding explains that her primary cultivation art cannot be combined with the Mirror Lake Divine Mirror 164.
• Further adaptation: Ding designs a Dayan-stage version requiring fewer new organs, apertures, and alterations than the standard Lesser Limitless Method; the passage documents the design, not her completion of it 165.

Investigation and Leadership

Zheng combines official cooperation, practical planning, and attention to evidence 87 104 127.

• Proposes checking County and Prefectural Yamen records when supernatural traces at Fengshui Bridge have disappeared 87.
• Leads formal questioning while Ding handles subtler observations and deductions 99.
• Sets supplies, responsibilities, and retreat conditions for the northern pursuit 104.
• Accepts that suspicion alone cannot justify accusing Chen Jindong 127 130.
• Takes Fu Yangquan alive to preserve an opportunity for questioning, but admits she knows no interrogation techniques 162.

Equipment and Items

• Autumn Water Sword — A gift from her father. After four years of use, she senses that it may be beginning to develop spiritual awareness; this is not yet confirmed as fully awakened 81.
• Gold-and-Red Scabbard — Carries the sword she draws when lending Ding protective sword intent 44.
• Glass Palace Lantern — Its candlelight appears to weaken the supernatural restrictions affecting Ding during their first conversation 44.
• Xun Grass Pill — Chooses this reward after the Three Fiends expedition. It improves appearance and adds five years of lifespan; she offers to trade it to Ding 111.
• Lesser Limitless Method manuscript — Receives a written copy from Ding during her Vermilion Bird recovery 137.
• Pine Longevity Stones — Gives these to Ding during their southern travels 127.

Relationships

• Ding Songyan — Junior sect brother, former pupil, adviser, traveling partner, and close confidant. Their relationship develops from protection and instruction into mutual care, technical collaboration, and affectionate companionship. She begins questioning whether she is in love with him, but no declared romantic relationship is documented 44 74 137 164 179 206.
• Tao Wenshu — Mother and sect leader. Guides her moral judgment and cultivation, shares the burdens of leadership with her, and takes pride in her growth. Tao’s death leaves Zheng deeply bereaved 48 79 120 167 168.
• Zheng Ziming — Father, Imperial Court chancellor, and first-rank Martial Grandmaster of Spirit Communion. Gives her Autumn Water; she misses him during their separation and later offers Ding access to principles from his hereditary scripture 81 83 140 171.
• Xue Xian — Senior sect sister and friend. Holds Zheng during her initial grief and helps care for her after Organ Dressing 159 167 171.
• Yi Qincang — Trusted official whom she calls “Uncle Yi.” Supports her expedition, accepts her testimony, and reinforces her commitment to integrity 103 111.
• Xie Fengchao — Friend, expedition companion, sparring partner, and collaborator in the Rescue Association. Zheng values his selfless work and defeats him before his departure for the Flame Capital 104 138 139.
• Xing Chang — Expedition companion and martial associate. Fights beside her during the Golden-Rain Flower pursuit; she later narrowly defeats him in a spar 107 160.
• Pan Yunzhou — Sect associate and traveling companion. She respects his experience and considers his feelings when offering him a way to withdraw from the northern pursuit 104 106.
• Liang Gan — Investigative contact. His respect for her reputation aids their inquiries; she later helps protect him from the impostor posing as Fu Yangquan 99 161 162.
• Zheng-family cousins — Become close companions during her mourning stay in Changhua. Their discussion of love prompts her to reconsider her feelings for Ding 206.

Notable Quotes

“If you trust me, open your body and mind. I'll lend you a strand of sword intent.” 44

“If I don't dare do this or that, how will I ever roam the martial world?” 103

“I can bluff and deceive villains, but with everyone else, I must remain open and sincere, my word worth a thousand pieces of gold!”
— Her private resolve after Yi Qincang accepts her testimony 111

“Be careful in everything... Go quickly, and come back quickly.” 171