Xu Lu

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Xu Lu (徐录)
Alias(es)	Mr. Xu; Practitioner Xu 796 886
Species/Race	Human practitioner; later survives in disembodied soul form 796 1735 1758
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Former member of the Talisman Arts Lineage within Heaven Origin Earth Aspect; accepts a spirit-medium training arrangement with Sawu Mountain 962 1177 1230
Occupation/Role	Yin-Yang Practitioner and Talisman Arts inheritor; formerly holds the Sixth Elder’s Jade Talisman; practices scripture chanting as an Umze at Daren Lama Temple 1121 1230
Cultivation	Emergence from Darkness 1209
Family	Bai Xian — wife; Xu Shanding — great-grandfather; two unborn children 1207 1580 1768
Status	Survives as a soul after apparent bodily death. Luo Bin arranges to preserve his body while seeking a suitable Corpse Core; Xu Lu later reunites with Bai Xian 1580 1735 1757 1768

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Spirit-medium training opportunity	962	Sawu Mountain recognizes his aptitude through his ability to draw Spirit-Inviting Talismans. He is permitted to join a suitable spirit hall and choose one Immortal Creature, in exchange for producing talismans.
Direct spirit invitation	1121	Repeated practice enables him to invite Second Madam Hu to possess him without first using a Spirit-Inviting Talisman.
Living-soul reunification	1207	Uses the Five Elements Soul-Suppressing Hundred Aspects Unification Talisman to recall scattered soul fragments, recovering lost memories and experiences retained by those fragments.
Emergence from Darkness	1209	Breaks through during the Talisman Arts Lineage crisis. The talisman he draws to restore his soul is identified as the threshold required by his inheritance 1274.

Appearance

• Exceptionally pale skin: After escaping Kong An, he is several shades paler than Bai Xian, with a face resembling powdered skin. Years without sunlight and poor skin condition account for his appearance 792.
• Middle-aged appearance, youthful manner: His behavior does not resemble that of a middle-aged man; his initial decade-long imprisonment has not extinguished his lively personality 796.
• Monastic clothing: Wears thick monk’s robes while practicing at Daren Lama Temple, though he usually removes them eagerly afterward 1141.
• Later soul manifestation: Appears with faint black vapor threaded with green, slightly sunken eyes, heavy blue-black eye bags, and a sinister smile while his body remains incapacitated 1559.

Personality

Xu Lu is talkative, irreverent, and openly expressive. He believes in laughing when happy and venting anger when angry rather than suppressing his nature and risking attachment or cultivation deviation. His casual manner does not prevent him from exercising caution when the stakes demand it 1039 1177.

His confidence frequently becomes boasting. He enjoys displaying his techniques, imagines returning home with accomplishments that will impress his elders, and sometimes underestimates unfamiliar dangers. He nevertheless accepts correction: when Luo Bin points out the possibility of an ambush, Xu Lu immediately acknowledges his greater experience 886 1147 1237.

His loyalty is most evident when others cannot protect themselves. He carries the unconscious Luo Bin away from Divine Firmament Mountain despite a shattered kneecap, watches over Bai Xian during her instability, and later refuses to surrender his body to practitioners who intend to use him against his own lineage 846 867 1200.

His attachment to Bai Xian can cloud his judgment. She recognizes his kindness and the priority he gives her, but also sees how his inability to let go has helped trap them in danger. Under captivity, however, he counters her despair and insists that an opportunity to escape must be used to survive rather than die 1050 1542.

Xu Lu’s optimism survives repeated betrayals, but not without scars. He leaves his Mountain Gate after concluding that the elders he trusted will not help him confront his pursuers. Later suffering at Kong An’s hands drives him toward a desperate attempt to become a Corpse-Ghost, which Luo Bin stops 1230 1735.

Abilities & Skills

Talisman Arts

• River Chief Corpse-Slaying Talisman: Repays Luo Bin’s rescue by carving incomplete strokes into a table. Luo must understand those strokes himself to learn the complete talisman 795.
• Five Sacred Mountains Life-Suppressing Talisman: Counters a soul-summoning talisman placed on the sleeping Luo Bin, waking him before his soul can be taken 830.
• Soul-calming talismans: Produces a string of more than a dozen protective talismans for Luo Bin after the summoning attempt, exhausting himself in the process 830.
• Heaven Origin Soul-Sealing Talisman: Captures He Dongsheng’s ghost, then retrieves the souls of He Qin and Feng Jun. The capture becomes possible after the Main Corpse leaves and the souls lose their feng-shui protection 1160.
• Human-Face Talisman: Immobilizes Bai Xian when her controlled behavior threatens to cause harm 865.

Soul Reunification

• Five Elements Soul-Suppressing Hundred Aspects Unification Talisman: Recalls fragments of his living soul scattered across distant locations, including one carried away on the Ghost Ferryman’s boat 1207.
• Memory recovery: Restores forgotten experiences and reveals events witnessed by his separated fragments, including the suffering involved in learning Talisman Arts and his father’s horrific death 1207.
• Cultivation threshold: Drawing this talisman is the requirement associated with his Emergence from Darkness 1209 1274.
• Limitation: Before reunification, Soul-Splitting leaves him without much of his former drive and conviction, making the required talisman seem beyond his ability 1197.

Feng Shui and Mountain Talismans

• Landscape alteration: Uses Talisman Arts to alter Jin’an Lake’s feng shui; Luo Bin regards the feat as something a brief verbal account cannot adequately convey 813.
• Formation analysis: Identifies and dismantles a weak rock-based formation, triggering its arrows and green smoke from a safe distance 1237.
• Twenty-Four Mountains Dragon-Suppressing Talisman: Stabilizes chaotic mountain qi and redirects rampaging life force into four streams 1767.
• Blood Talisman enhancement: Explains that these talismans work especially well when his life force shares the same source as the mountain’s 1767.
• Controlled collapse: Links Blood Talismans to a Master Talisman, allowing him to trigger the mountain’s collapse by tearing the master apart 1767.

Divination and Physiognomy

• Navigation: Uses a compass, finger calculations, and cast copper coins to determine routes 1235 1237.
• Bone-reading: Recognizes an omen on Luo Bin’s nose bridge indicating possible death far from home, prompting his escape from the Medicine King Hall 846.
• Fate examination: Uses talismans to identify Bai Xian’s twin pregnancy and the children’s promising destinies. He determines that the twins are not Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi 1768.
• Relative specialty: His Yin-Yang Arts are less refined than his Talisman Arts 1235.

Spirit Mediumship

• Spirit-Inviting Talismans: Can draw these difficult talismans readily, demonstrating the aptitude that earns him Sawu Mountain’s training offer 962.
• Second Madam Hu: Progresses from talisman-assisted invitation to inviting her possession directly 1121.
• Charm application: Summons Second Madam Hu during his homecoming; her influence causes a disciple to jump into a river 1177.
• Limitations: Second Madam Hu admits that her powers are of little use against the powerful beings guarding Xu Lu at his home grounds 1184.

Tibetan Scripture Chanting

• Training: Practices chanting as an Umze at Daren Lama Temple 1121.
• Immobilization: Uses Tibetan scripture to leave most of the welcoming crowd motionless and unfocused 1177.
• Resistance: Xu Changzhi, who has achieved Emergence from Darkness, withstands that display 1177.
• Defensive confidence: Offers to hold out against the Mountain of Blades Prison with scripture chanting and a Prayer Wheel while his companions move to safety 1163.

Jade Ruler Formation

• Human formation: Uses people to establish hexagram positions rather than rearranging mountains or waterways 1263.
• Protection: Repels evil spirits and transforms fiendish aura, preventing spirits from advancing on the Feng Family 1263.
• Borrowed inheritance: The Ruler Arts and Jade Ruler stolen by Second Madam Hu and Fourth Master Gray let him use the formation despite lacking knowledge of Heaven Origin’s Human Hexagram inheritance 1263.

Calamity Slaying

• Death-divination technique: Activates a dangerous Calamity Slaying talisman inside the Bright Consort Palace 1542.
• Aura counterfeiting: Uses concealed yin talismans and Bai Xian’s hair to imitate her spiritual aura and lure the Bright Consort and Black Rakshasa deities into a male–female pairing 1542.
• Intended result: Plans to become male yang force while turning the Bright Consort into female yang force, creating a Yang Spirit and disrupting Kong An’s control. The plan is not evidence of a completed Yang Spirit breakthrough 1542.
• Mutual destruction: The palace becomes his haunted house, while Kong An is forced to keep his physical body alive rather than kill him 1559.

Equipment / Items

• Talisman Inkstone — An item he handles with deep familiarity and nostalgia; uses it to retrieve the soul wisp lodged in Luo Bin’s chest. Its return is treated as a loan because of the practitioners’ concern with cause and effect 795 811.
• Mountain-Piercing Earth-Penetrating Fourfold Compass — Checks directions while dismantling a feng-shui formation 1237.
• Copper coins — Used for divination and route-finding 1235.
• Prayer Wheel — Supports his scripture-chanting practice and defensive efforts 1163.
• Sixth Elder’s Jade Talisman — Surrenders it when declaring his own expulsion from the Mountain Gate 1230.
• Jade Ruler and Ruler Arts — Enable his use of the Jade Ruler Formation 1263.
• Fate Talisman — Marriage token containing his and Bai Xian’s intertwined hair. Its destruction indicates bodily death, while the surviving hair suggests his soul remains 1580.
• Two jade talismans from Xu Shanding — Contain suppressed Little Earth Aspect Yin Spirits and are entrusted to Xu Lu before Xu Shanding returns to the Golden Well 1204.
• Blood Talismans and Master Talisman — Stabilize mountain life force and provide a mechanism for triggering collapse 1767.

History

Captivity and Escape from Kong An

Xu Lu leaves his secluded lineage to gain worldly experience, as practitioners must find their own insight into Emergence from Darkness. Kong An imprisons him for more than a decade and attempts to make him a Chief Seat, a position Xu Lu refuses 872 1196.

After escaping, he remains uneasy until he is well away from the Old Temple. His years without sunlight have left him extraordinarily pale, and he asks Luo Bin for a room partly because he has not bathed in over a decade 792 796.

Alliance with Luo Bin

Xu Lu retrieves the soul wisp lodged in Luo Bin’s chest and repays his rescue with instruction toward the River Chief Corpse-Slaying Talisman. He also offers to mediate Luo Bin’s conflict with Six Yin Mountain, arguing that individual renegades and misunderstandings may have caused the violence rather than a sect-wide policy 795 796.

His refusal to yield to Kong An and his emphasis on solving problems through feng shui influence Luo Bin’s understanding of what a proper Yin-Yang Practitioner should be. Later, Xu Lu protects Luo Bin from a soul-summoning attack, prompting Luo to reconsider his doubts about him 797 830.

At Divine Firmament Mountain, Xu Lu reads a fatal omen on the unconscious Luo Bin and carries him out of the Medicine King Hall. Pursuers shatter his kneecap with repeated pebble strikes, but he continues until he can go no farther 846.

Spirit-Medium and Tibetan Training

Sawu Mountain recognizes Xu Lu’s spirit-medium aptitude and offers training in exchange for Spirit-Inviting Talismans. He later practices as an Umze in the Tibetan lands and learns to invite Second Madam Hu without a talisman 962 1121.

When Little Gray Spirit disappears, Xu Lu searches for him every day after chanting. He eventually seeks guidance from the Tulku despite his concern about the karmic consequences 1121 1141.

Homecoming and Soul-Splitting

Xu Lu returns to his Mountain Gate without having achieved the expected Emergence from Darkness. He answers scrutiny with a display of spirit mediumship and Tibetan chanting, then introduces Bai Xian and Luo Bin to his astonished peers 1177.

His ambition to unite the Horse-Riding, Taoist, and Black-Robed Man paths conflicts with his elders’ concerns for the lineage. He is pressured toward an enshrined position, forbidden from marrying Bai Xian, and placed under guard. Part of his soul is subsequently severed, damaging his memories, confidence, and disposition 1182 1184 1194 1197 1200.

During the Blood Moon crisis, Little Earth Aspect practitioners attack. He Huangdao kills Xu Sangang, and two patriarchs compete to possess Xu Lu. Xu Lu attempts to draw a lethal talisman rather than become their instrument against the Talisman Arts Lineage 1200.

Rescue, Breakthrough, and Departure

Luo Bin casts a dangerous hexagram to alter Xu Lu’s fate, with Mao Yousan’s support. The changed divination leads Xu Shanding to abandon the Golden Well temporarily and intervene against the possessing Yin Spirits 1202 1203.

Xu Lu recalls his scattered soul fragments through the Five Elements Soul-Suppressing Hundred Aspects Unification Talisman and recovers his memories. After learning that Xu Shanding has entered the burial shaft to contain the ghosts, he rushes to help Luo Bin. He achieves Emergence from Darkness during the crisis 1207 1209.

The three lineages subsequently reject his proposal as too dangerous, citing ominous divinations and threats connected to Bai Xian and their deities. Feeling abandoned, Xu Lu surrenders his Sixth Elder’s Jade Talisman and expels himself from the Mountain Gate, vowing not to bring disaster upon the northern branch dry dragon 1229 1230.

Marriage and the Bright Consort Palace

Xu Lu and Bai Xian’s relationship becomes mutual after repeated rescues and shared brushes with death. They eventually marry and carry Fate Talismans containing their intertwined hair 1231 1580.

At Black City Monastery, Xu Lu counters Bai Xian’s suicidal despair and sends her away before activating his Calamity Slaying scheme. His subsequent soul manifestation occupies the Bright Consort Palace as a haunted house while Kong An maintains his body 1542 1559.

Bai Xian later seeks help when their Fate Talisman mostly shatters. Attempts to restore Xu Lu by dispelling his accumulated yin energy fail: the Wood-Striking Thunder sword cannot withstand it, the supplied Yin Talismans are destroyed, and the monastery lacks sufficient life force to nourish his soul 1580 1723.

Survival as a Soul and Family Reunion

Consumed by resentment, Xu Lu tries to return to his body and become a Corpse-Ghost. Luo Bin stops him with the Primordial White Flower Lantern and persuades him to endure. Wei Youming is tasked with preserving his body using Blood-Human Medicine until a suitable Corpse Core can be found 1735.

Xu Lu continues accompanying Luo Bin in soul form. At Golden Altar Mountain, he stabilizes the mountain’s life force and engineers its collapse during the group’s escape 1757 1758 1767.

After returning to Four-Rules Mountain, he reunites with Bai Xian and discovers she is carrying twins. His talisman examination identifies a Taoist destiny for one child and an exceptionally fortunate fate for the other, reassuring the group that the children are not Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi 1768.

Relationships

• Luo Bin — Closest friend and repeated rescuer. Xu Lu protects him from soul summoning and carries him out of Divine Firmament Mountain; Luo later risks his life to alter Xu Lu’s fate and prevents his transformation into a Corpse-Ghost 830 846 1202 1519 1735.
• Bai Xian — Wife. His initially unrequited affection becomes mutual through shared danger and sacrifice. They exchange hair-bound Fate Talismans and later expect twins 1201 1231 1580 1768.
• Xu Shanding — Great-grandfather and lineage elder. His attempts to preserve Xu Lu and the family inheritance become restrictive, but he ultimately intervenes to save Xu Lu and sacrifices himself to contain the ghosts 1184 1200 1203 1207.
• Xu Sangang — Protector during Xu Lu’s soul-damaged state. Frees him from restraints and wards the room against intruders before He Huangdao kills him; his reanimated remains subsequently attack the killer 1196 1197 1200 1203.
• Second Madam Hu — Two-tailed white fox and spirit companion who calls herself his “second mother.” Helps him with possession and advises him through the lineage crisis; Xu Lu later says she escaped the Tibetan lands’ danger, but he does not know her whereabouts 1121 1184 1207 1775.
• Fourth Master Gray — Fellow traveler and frequent critic of his boasting. Initially bites Xu Lu for seeking the Gray Immortal Spirit-Inviting Talisman, but later helps obtain the Ruler Arts and Jade Ruler he uses 829 1237 1263.
• Xu Jiuqu — Venue Master of the Talisman Arts Lineage. Seeks a remedy for Xu Lu’s treatment and admits that the Third Consecrator dealt with him too harshly 1194 1195 1196.
• Xu Changzhi — Lineage peer who initially welcomes him warmly, then blames his actions for bringing danger to the grounds. Xu Lu nevertheless objects when the elders consider taking Changzhi’s life over a mistake 1177 1195 1209.
• Kong An — Captor and persistent enemy. Imprisons him for over a decade, seeks to make him Chief Seat, and remains the focus of Xu Lu’s retaliatory schemes and resentment 1196 1542 1735.
• He Huangdao — Vengeful enemy who accuses Xu Lu of killing his son and harming his daughter. Attempts to use possession to turn Xu Lu against his lineage and taunts him during the struggle 1197 1200.
• Wei Youming — Entrusted with preserving Xu Lu’s body after Luo Bin prevents his Corpse-Ghost transformation 1735.

Notable Quotes

“Brother, trust me. You saved my life. Would I harm you?” 795

“Since the Grand Master refuses to expel me, I’ll expel myself today.” 1230

“People can’t lose hope, but they can’t place all their hope in one person either. Standing still gets you nowhere. Trouble will always come, one thing after another. Facing it head-on is the only truth.” 1230