Liu Xiaowen

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Liu Xiaowen (刘霄闻)
Alias(es)	Wen’er — his grandfather’s affectionate name for him 6
Species/Race	Human 1 6
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Great Red Abbey 1 2
Occupation/Role	Xu Xuan’s True Disciple; sword cultivator, demon hunter, and overseer of the Eastern Secret border formation 2 35 39
Origin	White Ridge Village 1 6
Age	Eighteen at his breakthrough to Qi Refining 35
Residence	Frostreturn Peak, Green Luo 35 39
Cultivation	Qi Refining; practices the Heavenly Fire Eternal Radiance Scripture 35
Spiritual Root	Originally seven inches; increased to nine inches through resonance with Sun-Flint Descent of Fire 1 16
Status	Alive; active in the sect and temporarily instructing Liu Xingfang 41
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “Choosing a Disciple” 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Seven-inch spiritual root identified	1	Xu Xuan’s Profound Mirror of Bone Illumination confirms his exceptional aptitude; the ancient jade stele responds to him.
Middle-stage Fetal Breath	2	Reached after three years of cultivation, largely guided by Wang Qiyun. Reports a leakless sea of qi and spiritual energy entering his body.
Spiritual root increased to nine inches	16	Resonance with Sun-Flint Descent of Fire adds two inches, making him a promising Foundation Establishment candidate.
Perfected middle-stage Fetal Breath	24	Xu Xuan postpones a pill-assisted breakthrough to preserve the benefits of the approaching spirit-spring purification. Xiaowen also condenses a usable thread of starlight.
Sword momentum mastered	26	Achieved through demon hunting across the sect’s three mountains. Light of the Upper Heavens also begins taking shape; his progress slightly strengthens Xu Xuan’s sword cultivation through their connection.
Foundation purified; middle-stage perfection consolidated	30	The Heaven-Bestowed Fortune Spring removes impurities, repairs weaknesses in his foundation, and expands his starlight from a thread into a wisp. He does not advance to late Fetal Breath during the purification.
Late-stage Fetal Breath	32	Breaks through after returning to the mountain for secluded cultivation.
Perfected late-stage Fetal Breath	35	Reached by age eighteen, immediately before his attempt to enter Qi Refining.
Qi Refining	35	Successfully begins the Heavenly Fire Eternal Radiance Scripture, aided by a prepared strand of celestial fire qi. His breakthrough brings the sect’s number of Qi Refining cultivators to five.
Sun-Flint Descent of Fire formally inherited	35	Xu Xuan transfers the seal script into his Consciousness Sea, granting flame affinity, sunlight-assisted cultivation, and the life-bound Great Sun Radiant Flame.

Background / History

Liu Xiaowen lost his parents when he was little and grew up with his grandfather, Liu Shengshui, in White Ridge Village. An elderly immortal fortune-teller gave him his name. When Xu Xuan came to recruit a disciple, Xiaowen initially resisted leaving because he wanted to care for his grandfather and their ox. Liu Shengshui and village head Liu Fanhe persuaded him to accept the opportunity 1 6.

Xu Xuan taught him for several months, brought him to the ancestral hall, and passed down the True Origin Breathing Method, the abbey’s highest-grade Fetal Breath method. During Xu Xuan’s subsequent three-year seclusion, Wang Qiyun became Xiaowen’s principal guide and closest fellow disciple 2.

After three years without visiting home, Xiaowen obtained permission for a three-day stay in White Ridge. He offered incense to his parents, changed out of his Daoist robes, and helped his grandfather prepare a meal. Their reunion was cut short when his jade pendant signaled danger near Everbright Mountain, prompting him to return to Green Luo 4 6.

A later inspection of White Stone Mountain’s mines exposed him to the exhausting lives of outer disciples. Recognizing how much his own opportunities depended on talent and his master’s attention, he resolved to cherish his position and contribute to the sect. Jiang Chiyu supported that future by giving him the Spirit-Devouring Token and revealing the hidden treasure tree beneath the mountain 12.

Appearance

Xiaowen is described as handsome, vigorous, and agile, with a mountain-born wildness in his manner. Spiritual medicines accelerate his physical development; during his first homecoming, he already looks as tall as a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old village boy 1 2 6.

• Clothing: Black Great Red Abbey Daoist robes embroidered with flowing fiery clouds 2 6.
• Build: Grows as tall as Xu Xuan by age eighteen 35.
• Bearing: Develops a distinctive swordsman’s presence after mastering sword momentum 26.

Personality

Xiaowen’s attachment to his grandfather remains strong despite his cultivation. His reluctance to leave White Ridge comes from responsibility rather than fear, and returning to ordinary village clothes gives him an ease he does not find in his immortal’s robes 1 6.

As a child, he is lively, somewhat unruly, and fascinated by storybook sword immortals. His delight in naming Fire Tiger Fang and his innocent questions after Wang Qiyun’s wedding preserve that youthful enthusiasm. Stern elders make him restrain himself, but prolonged secluded practice leaves him restless 2 15 24.

Demon hunting gradually makes him steadier and more confident. He learns to remain calm under attack, withdraw rather than investigate a suspicious threat recklessly, and search for an enemy’s weakness when direct force fails. He remains humble about the resources invested in him and deeply grateful to his fellow disciples 25 26 28.

Abilities & Skills

Cultivation Methods

Xiaowen begins with the third-grade True Origin Breathing Method and enters Qi Refining through the fourth-grade Heavenly Fire Eternal Radiance Scripture 2 35.

• True Origin Breathing Method: Rectifies vital essence, wards off evil, and strengthens foundations; restricted to True Disciples 2.
• Heavenly Fire Eternal Radiance Scripture: A powerful Bing Fire inheritance containing one fourth-grade spell and two third-grade spells 16.
• Compatibility: His fate and fortune allow him to compensate for the scripture’s omissions, which would otherwise leave practitioners stalled at the first or second level of Qi Refining 4 16 21.
• Potential, not attainment: The seal-linked inheritance gives him a path toward Foundation Establishment; no such breakthrough is documented 21 35.

Sun-Flint Descent of Fire

The ancient seal script first improves Xiaowen through resonance, then becomes a concave bronze mirror engraved with a golden sun inside his Consciousness Sea when formally bestowed 16 35.

• Grants affinity with all kinds of flames and the ability to gather and control fire 35.
• Accelerates cultivation through exposure to sunlight; Xiaowen subsequently cultivates beneath the sun and advances much faster 35 39.
• Produces the Great Sun Radiant Flame, a life-bound golden spirit flame that burns wickedness, refines evil, and grows with his cultivation 35.
• At Qi Refining, the flame already surpasses earth baleful fire. Its projected Foundation Establishment power is compared to the finest artifacts of that realm 35.
• Must remain secret: Xu Xuan warns that revealing it could bring death. The stele’s protection also prevents Xiaowen from disclosing or even thinking of the secret under soul-searching 35.

Swordsmanship

Xiaowen practices the Congming One-Qi Sword Art, progressing through repeated training and live combat rather than study alone 24 26.

• Masters sword momentum, the first of the sword path’s four stated realms 20 26.
• Kills an unnatural human-limbed spider with a single stroke of Fire Tiger Fang 25.
• Combines evasive movement, observation, and attacks against vulnerable anatomy when confronting stronger monsters 28.
• His documented sword attainment is sword momentum; sword essence, Sword Qi, and sword intent are not established for him 26 39.

Starlight Upper-Heavens Illumination

Also called Light of the Upper Heavens, this secret art is taught to prepare him for the spirit-spring competition 23 26.

• Condenses a usable thread of starlight while he is still at Fetal Breath 24.
• Develops into a wisp after purification in the Heaven-Bestowed Fortune Spring 30.
• Turns crimson after he reaches Qi Refining; can disrupt the mind and strengthen weapon edges 39.
• Offers limited direct offensive power compared with the combat arts he later begins studying 39.

Cruel Tiger Flame Aspect

Xiaowen begins cultivating this secret art from the Heavenly Fire Eternal Radiance Scripture after settling on Frostreturn Peak 39.

• Forms the aspect of a cruel tiger capable of devouring vital essence and qi 39.
• Can break magical light and disrupt the flow of qi, creating openings for sword attacks and Great Sun Radiant Flame 39.
• His training is documented, but completed mastery is not 39.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Fire Tiger Fang — An upper-grade Fetal Breath sword forged by Wang Qiyun from bloodfire essence iron. The Layered Weapon Method combines nine sword embryos over ninety-nine days; a tiger monster killed by Xiaowen supplies the essence blood used to finish it. Xiaowen chooses its name himself 2.
• Fire Prayer — A scarlet-blood-stone formation token made by Wang Qiyun. Lets a Fetal Breath cultivator command earth baleful fire and coat a sword with it. It can ignite magical power for greater strength, but consumes power heavily; Xiaowen exhausts its final measure to kill the palace’s scorpion-serpent 25 26 28.
• Spirit-Devouring Token — A valuable cultivation aid given by Jiang Chiyu, who sacrifices a resource he had relied on for his own progress 12.
• Mother-and-Son Jade pendant — A disciple’s “son jade” that responds when Xu Xuan activates the mother jade. Its response becomes slower over greater distances 6.
• Red Fruit — Before the spirit-spring trial, Xu Xuan helps him refine half a fruit from the Earthflame Noon-Origin Tree; fully refining it at Fetal Breath is beyond their available means 26.

Relationships

• Xu Xuan — Master and sect leader. Recruits Xiaowen, guides his cultivation, secretly saves him from the palace poison, and entrusts him with Sun-Flint Descent of Fire. Xiaowen accepts the inheritance’s secrecy without pressing for an explanation 1 29 35.
• Liu Shengshui — Grandfather and childhood guardian. Their bond motivates Xiaowen’s initial reluctance to cultivate and remains central to his visits home 1 6.
• Wang Qiyun — Closest senior brother and early cultivation mentor; makes both Fire Tiger Fang and Fire Prayer. Xiaowen later spends his savings on a root-bone-nurturing jade pendant to celebrate the birth of Qiyun’s child 2 6 26 39.
• Wen Si’an — Martial aunt. Regularly gives him pills, which he likens to sweets from an immortal maiden 6.
• Wang Xiwei — Martial uncle. His stern manner and frequent cultivation tests make the young Xiaowen somewhat afraid of him 6.
• Jiang Chiyu — Senior brother and mine overseer. Gives him the Spirit-Devouring Token and later helps prepare Frostreturn Peak for his residence 12 39.
• Liu Fanhe — White Ridge village head. Helps persuade him to accept Xu Xuan’s discipleship, assists his grandfather during his absence, and escorts him home upon his return 1 6.
• Liu Baiyuan — Spirit-spring trial ally, two years his senior. Their elders arrange mutual support, although the palace separates them upon entry 27.
• Zhang Gaoxia — Senior sister. Shares responsibility for accommodating displaced mortals and joins him in welcoming Liu Xingfang 32 41.
• Liu Xingfang — Junior fellow disciple temporarily studying under him on Frostreturn Peak. Xiaowen helps him settle into the sect and takes him to visit Longbright 41.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Preparation for the Spirit Spring

• Chosen to represent Great Red Abbey in the Heaven-Bestowed Fortune Spring trial 23.
• Trains in swordsmanship by day and starlight techniques by night; Xu Xuan deliberately delays his next realm breakthrough 24.
• Patrols the mountains during the autumn harvest, discovers unnatural spiders near Eastern Secret, and masters sword momentum through demon hunting 25 26.
• Receives Fire Prayer shortly before the trial to improve his combat options despite his Fetal Breath cultivation 26.

Underground Palace Trial

• Separated from Liu Baiyuan upon entry; proceeds alone through fire, a massive stone gate, insect swarms, and further tests 27 28.
• Suffers broken bones and nearly exhausts his magical power against a giant scorpion-serpent. Wins by cutting into its vulnerable belly and releasing earth baleful fire inside the wound 28.
• Becomes afflicted with hallucinations, violent impulses, and Black Curse Script. Memories of his sect briefly restore his awareness; Xu Xuan secretly intervenes, and the blood-colored flower in his Qi Sea draws away the corruption 29.
• Reaches the spring alongside Liu Baiyuan, Qi Wen, and Duan Pingdu. Purification restores his foundation and spiritual clarity 30.
• Leaves with Xu Xuan after the elders resist Longevity Monastery’s attempt to take away the surviving youths 31.

Sect Defender and Fire Inheritor

• Reports increasingly powerful unnatural demons and helps Gao Xia arrange shelter for displaced mortals 32.
• By eighteen, handles sect affairs on Xu Xuan’s behalf and kills most monsters coming from Eastern Secret 35.
• Reaches Qi Refining and receives Sun-Flint Descent of Fire in the Founders’ Hall 35.
• Chooses Frostreturn Peak, formerly the disciplinary elder’s residence. Xu Xuan suggests that he may eventually inherit that office 35.
• Oversees the border formation, studies Cruel Tiger Flame Aspect, and assumes an instructional role toward Liu Xingfang 39 41.

Notable Quotes

“Grandpa, I’m home.” 6

“Thank you, Senior Brother. You helped forge every magical artifact I have.” 26

Trivia

• His birth falls at noon on the bingwu day of the fifth month, matching the ritual timing associated with Sun-Flint Descent of Fire 21.
• Childhood stories of monsters once made him hide beneath his covers; after becoming a cultivator, he no longer fears them 25.
• Xu Xuan retains a grudge against Longevity Monastery for nearly harming Xiaowen and later refuses to hold back when confronting Daoist Xi Ming 46.