Yu Xiaogang

Biodata

Background and History

Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong were once romantically involved. After she ended their relationship, he blamed Qian Xunji for separating them and continued to believe that Bibi Dong loved him. Bibi Dong, who remembers Yu betraying and using her across repeated lives, regards him with disgust 4 35 39.

While at Northeast Academy, Yu read Spirit Hall's report of its victory over the Clear Sky Sect and dismissed it as false. He maintained that only exceptionally talented students deserved to become his disciples, despite his published claim that there are no useless martial souls 35.

Yu received an official invitation to a high-level meeting at Spirit Hall but imagined it was a personal overture from Bibi Dong. He arrived late intending to impress the delegates, could not produce his invitation, and wagered with the guards over his right to enter. Qian Xunji had deliberately taken and discarded the letter. When Bibi Dong told Yu to honor the wager, he knelt and barked like a dog, interpreting her demand as a test of his courage 36 38 41.

Qian Xunji subsequently confirmed the invitation and encouraged Yu to speak at the Continental Conference of High-Ranking Soul Masters. Yu presented his theories there, but the audience found much of the material obvious or flawed. He angrily rejected his father Yu Yuanzhen's qualified assessment and point-by-point criticism. To protect the clan's reputation, Yu Yuanzhen publicly announced Yu's expulsion and severed their father–son ties 45 47 48 49 50.

Yu fled toward his lodgings but was abducted and woke in a chamber outside Spirit City. Qian Xunji later received a report of his ordeal and intended to leave him there for years 50 51.

Appearance

Yu is a middle-aged man with a short, flat crew cut and otherwise decent features. Injuries sustained during his visit to Spirit Hall left his face badly swollen 41 47 50.

• Distinguishing feature — His crew cut is conspicuous enough to figure in descriptions of him at the conference 41 47.
• Conference appearance — He presents himself with the bearing of a grandmaster despite his battered face 47.

Personality

Yu prizes recognition for his theories and reacts angrily to criticism. He dismisses children with low innate Soul Power as unworthy disciples and insists that his work is beyond refutation even after Yu Yuanzhen challenges it 35 48 49.

He repeatedly interprets Bibi Dong's rejection, Qian Xunji's calculated courtesy, and his own public humiliation as signs that he is destined to win Bibi Dong back and gain authority over Spirit Hall and his former clan 41 43 45 47.

Abilities & Skills

Martial-Soul Theory

Yu published and presented the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, a set of claims about soul-master cultivation 47 48.

• Subjects covered — Innate Soul Power, martial-soul categories, Spirit Rings and their age limits, cultivation paths, mutations, fusion, and Spirit Bones 48.
• Central claim — “There are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters” 35 48.
• Reception — Conference delegates considered much of the work common knowledge, outdated, or contradicted by Bibi Dong's Spirit Rings. Yu Yuanzhen also argued that its proposed Spirit Ring age limits were too rigid 47 48 49.

Relationships

• Bibi Dong — Former romantic partner. Yu believes she still loves him; she is repulsed by him and recalls betrayals across repeated lives 4 35 39 41.
• Yu Yuanzhen — Father and former clan leader. He publicly disowns Yu after their dispute over his theories 48 49 50.
• Yu Luomian — Uncle. He helps search for Yu after Yu Yuanzhen orders him brought back to the clan 41 50.
• Qian Xunji — Yu blames him for his separation from Bibi Dong. Qian engineers Yu's embarrassment at Spirit Hall and makes arrangements concerning him afterward 35 38 48 50.
• Er Long — Yu's cousin and a former romantic interest, whom he recalls while fantasizing about reconciling with Bibi Dong 36.
• Tang San — Bibi Dong and Qian Xunji discuss how Yu might still become his teacher; no such teaching relationship is shown here 50.