Xu Qingshan

Biodata

Background / History

Xu Qingshan joined the Demon Suppression Division to distinguish himself from the Xu Family’s overlooked collateral line. After five years, he had earned little Merit: fearing death, he generally chose low-risk missions. He had reached the Liquid Condensation Realm, Early Stage, but had never found a regular partner 40.

He met Yang Xiao in the Division’s manual archive and recommended the Foundation-Solidifying Qi-Condensing Art when Yang sought a way to improve his cultivation. Yang later invited him to form a team. Xu disclosed his modest record before accepting, while Yang valued his knowledge of the Division’s rules and missions 39 40.

His collateral status made it difficult to oppose the Xu Family’s direct-line youths, who mocked his limited combat contributions. Although angered by their accusations, he restrained himself because Xu Mingting could worsen his position within the family 48.

By the time he conveyed the Xu Family’s marriage proposal to Yang, Xu described himself as being stuck at Liquid Condensation Mid Stage. He remained at that stage and held the rank of Demon Suppression Guard when Yang became a Demon Suppression General roughly a year after joining the Division 135 201.

Power Progression

Abilities & Skills

Cultivation and Swordsmanship

• At Liquid Condensation Early Stage, Xu fought with a sword and could channel spiritual power into Sword Qi. During the Painted-Skin case, he severed an attacker’s wrist and fought a demon clone 40 44.
• He has focused more on internal cultivation than martial techniques; his combat techniques are mostly at a beginner’s level 44.
• Despite his higher cultivation realm, he struggled against a Qi Gathering Realm Painted-Skin Ghost Clone because its unusual movements evaded his powerful but poorly applied sword attacks. Yang Xiao intervened to kill it 44.
• During the final confrontation in the County Yamen, he cut down the maid clone attacking Chen Bonian and stood in front of the magistrate with his sword to protect him from the surrounding Painted-Skin Ghosts 46.
• He later reaches Liquid Condensation Mid Stage, though no corresponding improvement in swordsmanship is specified 135 201.

Institutional and Investigative Knowledge

• He knows the Division’s rules and manual archive well, and explains how recruits obtain breakthrough arts through Merit 39 40.
• He understands the Painted-Skin Demon’s ability to imitate a victim’s appearance, voice, posture, and gait while concealing its Demonic Qi. Drawing on Division records, he explains that it cannot conceal that qi while changing skins and warns Yang not to trust unverified identities 41.
• In Heishui County, he reviewed case files and missing-person records, helped gather evidence, and submitted the completed dossier 43 47.
• His analysis of the missing-person register revealed that the Painted-Skin Demon’s targets had progressed from young women to men, local guards, and finally Demon Suppression Guards as it grew stronger 43.
• After the Painted-Skin case, he ordered the demon corpses burned to prevent others from using them to practice evil arts 47.
• When Yang sought a top-tier Liquid Condensation Body-Tempering Art, Xu introduced the Vajra Hell-Prison Body and warned that its demon-based tempering could cause the practitioner to lose control of its Killing Intent 70.
• He recognized that the Seven Demons of She Mountain acting together in Division territory was unusual and warned Yang that their attack might have a hidden purpose or backer 98.

Relationships

• Yang Xiao — Former mission partner and continuing friend. They resolved the Painted-Skin case together; after Yang’s promotion to deputy general, Xu still offered him advice and warnings 40 47 70 98.
  • Xu initially approached Yang after witnessing his impressive Captain examination. After advising him in the archive, he privately judged the eighteen-year-old cultivator worth getting to know better 38 39.
  • Xu initially hesitated to approach Yang after the promotion, fearing that he would appear to be currying favor. He nevertheless remembered that Yang had treated him as a genuine partner rather than looking down on or exploiting him. Yang’s renewed request for help choosing a manual reassured him 70.
  • Despite the widening gulf in their strength and status, Xu continued to care about Yang’s well-being. On learning that Yang had become a Demon Suppression General, he felt both pride in their association and disbelief at his former partner’s rapid ascent 200 201.
  • Yang continued to remember Xu’s support after reaching the Dao-Infant Realm. When confronting Master Xuanzhen, Yang counted Xu among the people who had helped him along his path in Qingzhou 245.
• Xu Mingting — A direct-line Xu Family member who belittles Xu’s contributions and later uses him to convey a marriage proposal to Yang 48 84 135. After Yang’s achievements at Sword-Hiding Mountain, Mingting reconsidered the family’s approach to Yang and decided that he should treat Qingshan better because of their connection 132.
  • When Yang became a Demon Suppression General, Mingting regretted failing to maintain closer ties with him and began considering how to report the development to the Xu Family, now regarding Yang as capable of supporting the entire clan 201.
• Xu Qinglan — A prominent direct-line Xu Family member whom Xu names to test whether Mingting’s proposed marriage offer genuinely includes the family’s most valued candidates 84.

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Painted-Skin case: Xu selects the Heishui County investigation for his first mission with Yang. Yang leads the fighting, while Xu assists and handles the case evidence. Xu receives 400 Merit points; direct-line Xu youths subsequently accuse him of riding Yang’s coattails 41 47 48.
  • Xu stays at the County Yamen to investigate records while Yang examines the river. The two later arrange for Xu to wait alone as bait for the suspected infiltrator. A clone posing as Yamen Runner Liu attacks him, and Yang rescues him; Yang subsequently stops another clone, disguised as Assistant Magistrate Wang, from striking Xu in the back 42 43 44 45.
  • When the true demon reveals itself, Xu kills its maid clone and protects Chen Bonian while Yang fights the encircling ghosts and destroys the demon 46.
  • After discovering the missing victims’ skins, Xu recognizes those of Zhou An and another Demon Suppression Captain and carefully gathers them to return to the Division 47.
  • Xu openly acknowledges that Yang handled the fighting and deserves the lead contribution. His 400 Merit reward is substantially more than the roughly 100 points he previously earned from a typical mission, and Yang agrees that they can cooperate again 47.
  • Yang intervenes when Xu Mingting and the other Xu youths insult Xu, rejects their attempt to recruit him as an Attendant, and leaves with his former partner 48.
• Guanlan River operation: Xu brings Yang news that River Inspection Envoy Jiang Chen has conspired with the Flood Dragon Lord and warns that the Qingzhou Division may send them as reinforcements. Xu is later assigned to guard a relatively quiet river mouth 50 51 70.
  • His post is an inconspicuous upstream river mouth where he encounters little danger and no noteworthy demons. After returning, he learns of Yang’s promotion and reunites with him in the manual archive, where he helps him select the Vajra Hell-Prison Body 69 70.
• Xu Family marriage proposal: Mingting asks Xu to approach Yang about a marriage alliance. Xu eventually presents the offer over a meal; Yang refuses because he does not want family obligations to constrain his path 84 134 135.
  • Mingting first raises the proposal while Xu waits at Riverwatch Tower for news of Yang’s Golden Buddha Temple mission. Before making the offer, Mingting and the accompanying direct-line youths mock Xu for no longer being useful as Yang’s mission partner 83 84.
  • The original offer includes a marriageable woman from the collateral or main branches and three Qingzhou properties, with several major Merits promised to Xu if he succeeds. Xu exposes the offer’s limits by asking about Xu Qinglan, whom Mingting refuses to include 84.
  • When presenting the proposal, Xu frankly explains that the elders value Yang’s cultivation talent and Pei Xuance’s regard for him. After Yang refuses, Xu accepts the decision with a wry remark that the elders will probably call him useless again 135.
• Azure Mist City warning: Before Yang departs to confront the Seven Demons of She Mountain, Xu seeks him out and cautions that the demons’ coordinated attack may conceal another objective or powerful backing 98.
• Yang Xiao’s appointment as Demon Suppression General: Xu attends the Division gathering and is stunned to hear Yang named as a Demon Suppression General. Still a Liquid Condensation Mid Stage guard himself, he reflects on how the man who once investigated the Painted-Skin case beside him has risen to command an entire region 200 201.
• Confrontation with Master Xuanzhen: Although Xu is not depicted taking part in the confrontation, Yang recalls him among the companions and benefactors who supported his rise in Qingzhou as he prepares to oppose Xuanzhen 245.