Gu Yu

Biodata

Power Progression

• Gu Yu’s current cultivation realm is not named in the supplied passages. His established path is the Sword Dao, expressed through the Startled Swan Sword 2 32.

Appearance

• Red robes: His recurring visual signature, worn at the Riverboat Pavilion, the Academy, and the West City courtyard 4 7 27 31.
• Otherworldly bearing: Su Mo initially describes him as a fairy-like beauty with an immortal air 4 9.
• Fragrant arrival: A fragrant breeze accompanies his descent into the West City courtyard 27.

Personality

Gu Yu is outspoken, impulsive, and impatient with verbal maneuvering. His straightforward sword path reflects his preference for settling matters directly: when Liu Feng challenges Su Mo’s ownership of a painting, Gu Yu nearly draws his sword rather than continue arguing. The Dean explicitly considers him less steady than Luo Yin 9 30.

He is also playful and protective. He repeatedly teases Luo Yin about romance, invents affectionate nicknames for Su Mo, and asks for a painting in return for his care. Despite his boasting, he patiently explains cultivation to a mortal and later gives Su Mo a cultivation method before his formal admission to the Academy 2 5 8 31.

His pride makes Su Mo’s rapid progress difficult to acknowledge openly. After boasting about his own one-day initiation, he watches Su Mo enter a trance almost immediately. He is delighted by his junior brother’s talent but privately feels inferior, then offers restrained reassurance rather than admit how extraordinary Su Mo is 32 33.

Abilities & Skills

Startled Swan Sword

Gu Yu cultivates the Sword Dao through the Startled Swan Sword, whose drawn blade carries decisive, deadly intent 2.

• Uses the sword to comprehend the freedom of repaying kindness and settling grudges 5.
• His spiritual power carries a domineering, pure, keen aura associated with his sword path 32.
• His direct approach leaves him impatient with argument and indirect provocation 9.

Spiritual Power Manipulation

Gu Yu can condense, direct, and use spiritual power to examine others 5 28 32.

• Heart Sword: Condenses a drop of spirit liquid into a small golden sword and places it inside Su Mo as a cultivation “seed” 5 30 32.
• Cultivation aid: The seed becomes attuned to Su Mo, allowing him to sense spiritual power and use it as a guide to the power of heaven and earth 32.
• Artifact recall: Summons the Heart Flute from Su Mo’s hand into his own 5.
• Spiritual examination: Checks Su Mo after hearing of his possession by the Great Calamity; detects severe weakness but nothing unusual 28.
• Aerial movement: Floats into the West City courtyard and travels back to the Academy with Luo Yin and Su Mo 27 28.

Cultivation Instruction

Gu Yu introduces Su Mo to both the philosophy and practical methods of cultivation 5 31 32.

• Explains cultivation as cultivating the heart through insight into life 5.
• Distinguishes cultivation methods, personal Dao insight, and Dao Arts 31.
• Teaches meditation, spiritual-power sensing, drawing power into the body, and circulation 32.
• Warns Su Mo to seek spiritual power itself rather than deliberately pursue the Sword Dao aura carried by the Heart Sword 32.

Musical Knowledge

Gu Yu understands music, though Luo Yin regards him as a dabbler rather than a profound Music Dao practitioner 2 4.

• Intended to accompany Luo Yin’s zither with the Heart Flute to help her break through 2.
• Recognizes the Heart Flute from its sound alone 3.
• Appreciates Su Mo’s melody but cannot discern its emotions as sensitively as Luo Yin 4.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Sword — His personal weapon; he nearly draws it against Liu Feng before Luo Yin intervenes 9.
• Storage Ring — Used to store the painting borrowed from Luo Yin 10.
• Heart Flute — temporarily held — An intelligent spirit artifact belonging to his teacher. Gu Yu steals it to help Luo Yin, recovers it from Su Mo, and returns to the Academy intending to replace it secretly 2 5 7.
• Cultivation booklet — given to Su Mo — Provides the method used during Su Mo’s first guided cultivation session 31 32.

Relationships

• Mo Shangao — Teacher and Academy Dean. Assigns Gu Yu errands, orders him to retrieve the prospective seventh disciple, and entrusts him with Su Mo’s cultivation instruction 7 12 29 30.
• Luo Yin — Close friend and frequent target of his teasing. He steals the Heart Flute for her breakthrough and later joins her in bringing Su Mo to safety 2 28.
• Su Mo / Su Jingyan — Prospective junior brother and cultivation student. Gu Yu calls him “Little Su” and “Little Susu,” defends him publicly, and takes pride in his talent 8 9 31 32.
• Su Mo’s little girl — Helps care for her during Su Mo’s unconsciousness. She becomes familiar with him but protests when he interrupts or strikes her young master 31.
• Liu Feng — Opponent during the painting dispute. Gu Yu dislikes his insinuations and warns Su Mo that his hostility may be deliberate 8 9 10.
• Zhixuan and Mude — Cultivators he questions at the West City courtyard. They recognize his Academy standing and agree to keep the Blood Pill and Great Calamity discoveries quiet 27 28.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Heart Flute and First Meeting

Gu Yu visits Luo Yin with the stolen Heart Flute, hoping a duet will help her overcome her stalled cultivation. The flute disappears from his possession and reaches Su Mo. After Su Mo’s playing enables Luo Yin’s breakthrough, Gu Yu finds the unexpected mortal musician and asks why he studies 2 3 4.

Their conversation becomes Su Mo’s first introduction to cultivation. As thanks for helping Luo Yin, Gu Yu plants a spiritual-power seed in him before reclaiming the flute 5.

The Painting Dispute

The Dean sends Gu Yu to obtain a painting, using his theft of the Heart Flute as leverage. Gu Yu discovers that the desired work is Su Mo’s Lotus Pond Skiff and intervenes when Liu Feng challenges the artist 7 8 9.

After Luo Yin buys the painting, Gu Yu borrows it for the Dean in exchange for revealing the previous night’s flute player. He names Su Mo, also called Su Jingyan, and immediately flees while Luo Yin is distracted 10.

West City Retrieval

The Dean orders Gu Yu to collect a new junior brother from the western woods at midnight, explicitly forbidding other interference. Gu Yu initially does not know whom he is meant to retrieve 12 27.

At the blood-pill courtyard, Luo Yin’s search for Su Mo lets him identify the prospective disciple. After hearing Zhixuan and Mude’s account and examining the unconscious Su Mo, Gu Yu helps take him to the Academy and asks the witnesses to avoid causing a panic 27 28.

Gu Yu subsequently investigates the missing blood pills and finds signs of official involvement. The Dean orders him to leave the matter alone 30.

Su Mo’s Initiation

Before departing, the Dean instructs Gu Yu to convey Su Mo’s entrance trial—first place in the Spring Examination—and help him enter the Dao. Gu Yu supplies a cultivation method and supervises his first session 30 31 32.

Su Mo’s swift trance, spiritual circulation, and gathering spirit tide repeatedly astonish him. Gu Yu recognizes exceptional talent, although his guarded praise leaves Su Mo mistakenly believing his aptitude is poor 32 33.

Notable Quotes

“Cultivation is really about cultivating the heart.” 5

“You can attain the Dao through studying, too!” 4

Trivia

• Despite being male, Gu Yu is addressed as “Fairy Gu” by Su Mo and later as “Senior Sister Gu” or “Third Senior Sister.” Gu Yu himself adopts “Third Senior Sister” when speaking to Su Mo 10 31.
• Gu Yu considers himself the Academy’s only normal member; Luo Yin privately questions that assessment 2.