Ying Ruomu

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Ying Ruomu (嬴若木)
Gender	Male 15
Affiliation	Five Lotus Sect, Hanging Moon Peak; collateral branch of the Gaotao Ying Clan of the Yan Kingdom 15
Occupation/Role	Outer disciple; pearl harvester; participant in his lineage’s political schemes 15 19 34
Highest Cultivation	Tenth layer of Qi Refinement 34
Status	Deceased; killed by Li Yu 35 36
First Appearance	Chapter 15, “Sun God Stone”—introduced in Li Yu’s recollection and encountered at the port outside Hao City 15

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Qi Refinement — layer unspecified	15	Ten years before Li Yu’s departure, Ruomu was a more formidable cultivator than Li Yu and a leading contender for Hanging Moon Peak’s outer-sect senior-brother position.
Tenth layer of Qi Refinement	34	Broke through his bottleneck after choosing to support his lineage’s plans. Received spirit stones, pills, other resources, and access to texts reserved for the clan’s main branch. Called himself a “Golden Core Dao seed.”

Background / History

Ying Ruomu belonged to a collateral branch of the Gaotao Ying Clan and was Xu Ying’s grandnephew. On Hanging Moon Peak, his strength initially led Li Yu to consider yielding the senior-brother position for a term. Instead, Ge Jin publicly appointed Li Yu. Ruomu visibly resented the decision but did not challenge her 15.

Soon afterward, Xu Ying entered seclusion to attempt Core Formation, and Ge Jin assumed her general-affairs duties. Ruomu took a long-term assignment away from the sect and did not return to Hanging Moon Peak. Li Yu suspected that his own appointment had drawn him into the rivalry between Ge Jin and Xu Ying 15.

When his lineage’s political plans required him to choose a side, Ruomu chose the clan. Its increased support enabled his tenth-layer breakthrough and encouraged ambitions of eventually reaching the Primordial Spirit realm. He subsequently followed his lineage’s arrangements and the Yan Kingdom’s plans to embroil Five Lotus Sect external-affairs personnel and the Mount Lao Sword Sect in the conflict 34.

Personality

Ruomu’s resentment toward Li Yu endured for years. He regarded the senior-brother appointment as a position stolen through Ge Jin’s backing, rather than earned through superior strength. Eventually, he described Li Yu as a knot in his heart that could become an inner demon unless he personally killed him 15 34.

He was ambitious and vindictive: clan support made higher cultivation seem attainable, while news of Li Yu’s failed Foundation Establishment gave him satisfaction. During their duel, he expected fear and submission; Li Yu’s calm response instead provoked increasingly violent threats 34.

His confidence rested partly on knowing Li Yu’s old techniques and possessing a powerful Spirit Artifact. Although he badly underestimated Li Yu’s spiritual sense, he retained enough judgment to sever their spiritual connection before the backlash destroyed his mind 35.

Abilities & Skills

Pure Heart Lotus Combat

Ruomu used the Pure Heart Lotus as both an offensive weapon and a defensive artifact 33 35.

• Vine attacks: Converted a petal into azure vines capable of lashing through the sea 34.
• Restraint: Redirected missed vine strikes into a contracting net, sealing off the spaces Li Yu could use to evade 34.
• Defense: Used petals to block Yi Xiao Thunder Talismans. Lightning damaged the vine-producing petal enough to prevent its immediate reuse 35.
• Combat advantage: Suppressed the ninth-layer Xu Wei. Li Yu later acknowledged that a straightforward spell exchange might not have overcome the lotus 33 36 55.

Spiritual-Sense Attack

By feeding a lotus petal with heart’s blood and pressing it to his forehead, Ruomu projected an attack through his eyes into Li Yu’s body 35.

• Locked onto the target after their gazes met, making Wandering Yi Void Steps ineffective as an evasive response 35.
• Intended to disrupt Li Yu’s thoughts, cultivation method, and control of true essence 35.
• Depended on superior spiritual sense; Li Yu’s purer, more resilient divine sense instead forced it backward 35 36.
• Severing the connection prevented catastrophic mental backlash but left Ruomu bleeding from all seven facial orifices 35.

Wooden Spike

• Produced a long wooden spike from his palm and fired it toward Li Yu’s heart 35.
• The attack dissolved against Li Yu’s Su Yi Essence Shield before reaching him 35.

Heart’s-Blood Activation

• Had condensed two drops of heart’s blood by the tenth layer of Qi Refinement 35.
• Spent one to activate his spiritual-sense attack and the other to power a lotus defense after losing control of his true essence 35.
• Exhausting both severely damaged his vitality: his hair turned gray, and his face aged by decades 35.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Pure Heart Lotus — Azure Spirit Artifact purchased at great expense by his lineage from the Five Lotus Sect’s main peak. Combined offense and defense and could disguise itself as a Mystic Heart Lotus to intercept Locator Talisman signals. After Ruomu’s death, Li Yu took it, then surrendered it to Zhao Qian as evidence 33 36 41.
• Supreme-grade Spirit Pearl — Harvested in a deep-sea canyon. Ruomu refused to sell it despite interest from merchants and Mount Lao cultivators; his clan’s standing protected his refusal. Li Yu later found it in his storage pouch 18 19 30 44.
• Storage pouch — Taken by Li Yu after his death. Zhao Qian confiscated suspicious written records but left the possessions he deemed unimportant 36 41.

Relationships

• Li Yu — Fellow Hanging Moon Peak disciple and longstanding rival. Their dispute over the senior-brother position culminated in Ruomu’s attempt to kill him and Li Yu’s fatal counterattack 15 34 35.
• Ying Feiyun — Elder brother and accomplice. Allowed Ruomu to confront Li Yu personally while occupying Qin Jian and Xu Wei; sought revenge after Ruomu’s death 33 34 36.
• Xu Ying — Grandaunt. Ruomu met her outside Hao City; she disparaged Li Yu as an unworthy replacement for him 15.
• Xu Yao — Spread news of Li Yu’s failed Foundation Establishment on Hanging Moon Peak at Ruomu’s instruction 34.
• Ge Jin — Elder whose appointment of Li Yu denied Ruomu the senior-brother position he expected to obtain 15.
• Luo Guan — Negotiated to buy Ruomu’s Spirit Pearl, then became the target of accusations that he had hired rogue cultivators to steal it 32 33 36.
• Yuan Hao — Suspected collaborator in the plot against the two sects. Huang Shu exposed Yuan Hao’s false testimony and named him the prime suspect, without yet proving that he had directed Ruomu 41 53.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Pursuit in Hao City

Ruomu greeted Xu Ying and Xu Yao at the port and gave Li Yu an icy smile before leaving with them. He subsequently searched the Five Lotus Sect office using Li Yu’s portrait, asking staff to notify him if they saw his supposedly close fellow disciple. Li Yu’s mask prevented the reception staff from recognizing him 15 17 18.

Ruomu then chartered a ship and hired fellow disciples for another pearl-gathering voyage. News that he was searching for Li Yu prompted the latter to avoid further visits to the office 19.

Thunderclap Domain Plot

Six disciples’ Soul Lamps went out simultaneously. Five were confirmed to have sailed with Ruomu; the sixth disciple’s connection to the voyage remained uncertain. The deaths triggered a sect investigation, and the ship’s destination in Mount Lao waters helped place that sect under suspicion 29 30.

At Flowing Wave Mountain, Ruomu reported to Ying Feiyun that the search parties had arrived as expected. During the ensuing confrontation, he intercepted Li Yu’s Locator Talisman signal and called for help, presenting himself as the victim of a robbery arranged by Luo Guan 32 33.

Ying Feiyun later revealed the intended cover story: after killing the Mount Lao disciples, someone in Hao City would produce evidence blaming Luo Guan for hiring rogue cultivators to seize Ruomu’s pearl 36.

Duel and Death

Ruomu obtained his brother’s permission to kill Li Yu, trapped him in vines, and attempted to pierce his heart. Li Yu blocked the spike and redirected a thunder talisman to destroy the vine net 34 35.

Ruomu’s subsequent spiritual-sense attack backfired. Gravely injured and forced to expend his remaining heart’s blood on defense, he could no longer prevent Li Yu from appearing beside him and killing him with an exhaled strand of sword-like energy 35 36.

Investigation After His Death

The confiscated Pure Heart Lotus became important evidence. Zhao Qian verified its legitimate sect provenance; Huang Shu later identified its maker as Zheng Shu, a Sun-Spitting Peak disciple missing for three years 41 53.

Huang Shu’s questioning exposed Yuan Hao’s lies and led to his detention for further investigation. The affair threatened to provoke a major war between the Five Lotus Sect and Mount Lao Sword Sect, a result avoided through Li Yu’s intervention 53 57.

Notable Quotes

“Elder Brother, this man is a knot in my heart. If I don't kill him myself, I fear he'll become an inner demon on my future cultivation path.” 34

“I know you inside and out, but you know nothing about who I am now!” 34

“Impossible! You're at the Qi Refinement Tenth Layer too!” 35