Chun Xiaobai

Biodata

Power Progression

Chun Xiaobai initially measures his strength against Qi Refining levels, but his own cultivation method subsequently uses Blood Refining terminology 27 29 33. His later major realms are Treasure-Building, also described as treasury tempering, and Divine-Opening. These belong to the Martial God Art rather than ordinary spiritual-root cultivation, so comparisons with Foundation Establishment or Golden Core describe combat capability rather than identical cultivation stages 209 214 459 470.

• Fifth-level breakthrough attempt: He sets aside five thousand spirit stones to pursue fifth-level Blood Refining, but that initial passage does not confirm success. He is still at the fourth level after refining another fifty thousand spirit stones; the fifth level is confirmed in the following chapter 36 58 59.
• Golden Core deadline: The woman in red requires him to reach Golden Core within ten years, on pain of death; this is a demand, not an attained realm 6.
• Realm advancement versus strength: He discovers that resources can continue increasing his strength even when a realm breakthrough stalls, which he interprets as evidence of potentially limitless growth. His estimates of fighting Golden Core cultivators initially apply specifically to close combat 208 211.
• Treasure-Building structure: Its five stages establish the skin, bone, sinew, abdomen, and divine treasuries. Completing them lays the foundations for greater power; Divine-Opening begins releasing the treasuries’ power rather than merely constructing them 214 459.

Background / History

Chun Xiaobai is the sole heir of Black Wind Stronghold’s bandit-chief line for three generations. He begins martial training at three and inherits command at six after his father is killed during a raid. His father’s final instructions are to accumulate money, eventually overthrow Great Liang’s dynasty, and expand the Chun family through an imperial household 1 11 25.

Born with memories of Blue Star, Chun Xiaobai initially believes his new world resembles an ancient historical setting. After seeing an immortal pass overhead on a flying sword, he abandons the plan to seize the throne and decides to pursue immortality instead 1.

His attempt to rob an injured woman in red brings him directly into the cultivation world. The Martial God Tower she carries merges with his sea of consciousness, prompting her to recognize his martial lineage. When she offers him death or human slavery, he bargains for survival by promising to cultivate and capture handsome immortals for her 2 4 5.

Before she takes him away, he orders his eight subordinate leaders to divide the stronghold’s treasure, help the villagers leave, and flee. He also shields them when the woman punishes their threats against her. She subsequently leaves him at the Eastern Realm Flying Immortal Platform with a purple-gold token and a ten-year Golden Core deadline 5 6.

After multiple sects find no spiritual root in him, Bai Jin’er recruits him as a servant disciple, believing his offhand claim that he has mixed spiritual roots. His refusal to bribe Steward Wang Fan earns him toilet-cleaning duties; he cripples Wang, defeats the attacking servant disciples, and attempts to leave the sect 7 8 10 11.

His original stronghold occupies a lawless backwater in northwestern Great Liang and controls an eight-hundred-li territory. Under his leadership it imposes payment requirements on passage, while its relationship with local villagers includes paying for supplies rather than simply seizing them 3 11.

Within the cultivation world, he returns to banditry to fund a physique and cultivation art that consume increasingly vast quantities of resources. His operations grow from individual robberies and ranking wagers to coordinated ambushes, hostage ransoms, recruitment, and extortion of major sects. He eventually declares an intention to seize Azure Cloud Sect and make it his stronghold, while rebuilding Black Wind Stronghold around cultivator subordinates 111 142 207 248 393 424.

Appearance

• Build and complexion: A dark-skinned youth, approximately fifteen or sixteen 1.
• Early clothing: Coarse hemp garments washed nearly white 1.
• Hair: Described as resembling a tangled bird’s nest when Bai Jin’er recruits him 8.
• Expression: Frequently noted for shifty, appraising eyes; his broad grin exposes conspicuously white teeth 5 9 26.
• Disguises: Uses a black burlap hood for robbery and stolen Outer Sect clothing to support his impersonation 11 12.
• Later physique: Described as powerfully built, with exceptionally thick meridians and overwhelming blood vitality when Leng Suxin examines him 59 267.
• Cultivation-related changes: His blood turns golden during Blood Refining and evolves toward purple-gold during his advance into Treasure-Building 207 212.
• Night-Walking Garment: Adjusts this garment to prevent his aura from leaking during a stealth operation 120.

Personality

Chun Xiaobai treats banditry as a profession and carries its habits into sect life. He appraises people as potential sources of loot, demands wagers before fighting, and regards ranking challenges primarily as opportunities to acquire cultivation resources. He deliberately appears frightened or weak so opponents believe they can beat him and continue accepting his stakes 2 30 32 34 49.

His proclaimed code is selective rather than merciful. He insists that bandits should seek money rather than women and refuses to rob Bai Jin’er after she guides and feeds him. Nevertheless, he considers amputating the unconscious red-clad woman’s hand to steal her bracelet and later threatens to implicate Bai Jin’er in his crimes if she exposes him 2 4 9 24.

Boastful and fiercely resistant to humiliation, he repeatedly declares himself a genius even after failing spiritual-root tests and conventional meditation. His resourcefulness is more practical than scholarly: when he cannot absorb spirit stones normally, he crushes and drinks them, then adapts his Divine Eye into a substitute for sensing qi 7 25 26 29.

Despite his swagger, he recognizes genuine danger. He fears immortal spells, seeks escape routes and protective backing, and understands that mortal combat experience alone cannot reliably overcome supernatural attacks 12 19 41.

He places considerable importance on loyalty and expects followers to share both danger and profit. After Zhao Gang and other subordinates attempt to kill him, he responds with lethal violence and becomes more willing to secure recruits’ loyalty through leverage. He nevertheless states that loyal people of decent character will be treated well and that he wants brave brothers rather than wholly cold-blooded profiteers 81 100 108.

His idealized image of banditry develops into an ambition to make Black Wind Stronghold a band of Greenwood Heroes who rob the rich to help the poor. He distinguishes sacrificing his reputation from abandoning his humanity, and argues that his ransom demands target powerful sects’ ill-gotten wealth rather than their junior disciples’ personal resources. These principles coexist with coercion, humiliation, and the killing of would-be murderers 100 142 168 169 255.

As a leader, he values ambition, decisiveness, and practical judgment over conventional dignity. He regards Bai Yutang’s willingness to accept a sufficiently lucrative offer as clear-eyed pursuit of cultivation resources, not simply cowardice. He also recognizes the need to restrain followers’ greed before it consumes them and later enforces strict marching and formation discipline among thousands of recruits 110 251 424.

His confidence extends to romantic matters: he repeatedly interprets powerful women’s attention as attraction and imagines settling conflicts by making a beautiful sect leader his Stronghold Madam. By his latest appearance, he recognizes Bai Jin’er’s interest in him but misreads Mu Qinglan’s actions, provoking her to punch him 394 445 476.

Abilities & Skills

Treasure-Seeing Divine Eye

An innate ability that reveals treasures through colored light; some passages call it Treasure-Seeing Dharma Eye 2 32 36.

• Identifies valuable belongings, including concealed objects and Storage Bags 2 11.
• Assesses prospective challengers’ wealth before committing to a wager 34 41.
• Detects energy inside his abdomen after he consumes powdered spirit stones 26.
• Locks onto source or origin qi, allowing the Martial God Art to channel and refine it directly 29 32.
• Reveals the origin power and spirituality within magical artifacts, including damaged weapons that still retain absorbable essence 210 211 212.
• Shows that a damaged Rare Treasure contains origin spirit far stronger than that of a heaven-tier magical treasure 445.
• Allows him to compare Rare Treasures and Supreme Treasures with the Black Flame Blade, whose level exceeds the treasures he currently understands 458.

Martial God Art

Also rendered as the Martial God Manual, this technique tempers the body and unlocks its internal divine treasuries rather than following ordinary spiritual-root cultivation 29 37.

• Uses the Divine Eye to replace the sensing function his cultivation otherwise lacks 29.
• Refines origin energy from spirit herbs and crushed spirit stones; he eventually no longer needs to drink the stones 29 32 33.
• Produces invisible fist projections with no detectable spiritual qi fluctuations; one destroys a rockery more than five meters tall 27.
• Allows expended cultivated strength to recover naturally through rest 27.
• Can nourish the sea of consciousness as one of the body’s divine treasuries 37.
• Requires enormous resources: his initial cultivation costs over a hundred times as many spirit stones as ordinary disciples’ cultivation 27.
• Develops an instinctive perception of origin qi as his cultivation rises, allowing him to absorb spirit stones without activating the Divine Eye. At higher levels, an invisible vortex draws their energy directly into his body 207 209.
• Can drain magical artifacts of origin power and accumulated spirituality, leaving them dull or reduced to scrap. Yield depends on their actual spirituality rather than grade alone, and cultivator-nurtured spirituality can be more compatible with the art than spirit stones’ innate origin qi 210 211 334.
• Can refine the exceptionally pure source power remaining in ancient demonic weapons and draw vast quantities of origin qi from the Black Flame Blade 212 214.
• Opens the Martial God Tower’s Bronze Giant Gate when circulated 221.
• In Treasure-Building, establishes five bodily treasuries. The bone treasury increases skeletal hardness and speed; the abdomen treasury develops a dantian that he previously lacked; completing the divine treasury reforges his body to withstand greater output 214 302 411 458 459.
• Is received as a legacy of mysteries rather than learned solely from a written manual. His understanding of its current and subsequent realms deepens as he completes each realm 459.

Mortal Martial Arts and Blade Soul

His ancestral saber techniques and extensive life-or-death fighting experience form the foundation of his combat ability 19 20.

• Reads opponents’ footwork and exploits openings in elaborate sword techniques 21.
• Uses swords with saber-like grips and killing techniques, confusing conventional sword practitioners 19.
• Possesses instinctive danger recognition developed through at least a thousand life-or-death battles 20 21.
• Can restrain killing intent even when his attacks appear vicious; Gu Changfeng recognizes this distinction 20.
• His Blade Soul is recognized by Gu Changfeng, who deliberately limits his public explanation to protect him from factional pressure 22.
• Uses Gale Saber Technique and Whirlwind Slash with a golden staff to knock down all eighteen bronze men in an early second-floor trial 325.
• Later channels his strength through the Black Flame Blade, producing a three-zhang black blade shadow and overpowering more than forty bronze men in two strikes 461 462.

Rampage

A concentration-triggered state that sharply improves his senses, strength, and speed 25 26.

• Initially perceives his surroundings with exceptional clarity over approximately one hundred meters 25.
• Can be activated intentionally once he learns its trigger 26.
• Initially lasts about thirty seconds and causes dizziness, weakness, and ravenous hunger 25 26.
• Requires substantial replenishment; an entire bottle of Qi-Restoring Pills restores him after an early activation 26.
• Remains a potential force multiplier as his base strength increases. At fifty thousand jin of raw strength, he estimates that multiplying it several times through Rampage would threaten middle Foundation Establishment cultivators 92.

Heaven-Rending Hand

The tower teaches him its first level, Rending People, through an eagle-claw-like diagram 38.

• Provides techniques for dismantling bodies and locating nodes in mechanisms and formations 38.
• Uses Sinew-Severing to flick Lu Mang’s core supporting meridian, causing him to lose balance and fall from the arena 47.
• Later levels are not supplied by the first-floor diagram 38.
• Strikes meridians in Xu Wei’s thighs, progressively numbing her legs during their ranking match 55.
• Breaks the seal placed on Bai Jin’er, waking her 142.
• Silently tears a person-sized opening in the Elixir Cauldron Sect’s fifth-tier Sect-Guardian Formation without raising an alarm, at the cost of nearly half his spiritual power 387.
• By his Divine-Opening breakthrough, fully masters the Thirty-Six Forms of Heaven-Splitting Hand. The later account describes his dismantling ability as limited by his cultivation rather than by a barrier or formation’s intrinsic immunity; he opens a rift into a concealed world in the sky 470.

Heaven-Treading Steps

A tower-derived movement art whose first three moves serve different purposes 38.

• Growth with cultivation: A single use of Shrinking Land to Inches carries him nearly five hundred meters during a stealth raid. At the second level of Treasure-Building, each step still covers less than half a kilometer, but he can sustain its use for at least another two hours during a pursuit 120 329.
• Combat application: Combines sudden repositioning with meridian strikes and ranged invisible force. His footwork is sufficiently elusive that Qin Ruoxue’s Void Insight True Eye cannot fully track it 55 100 131.

Divine Sense

• Extends approximately five thousand meters during his early experiments 37.
• Enables him to inspect his sea of consciousness and identify the little tower within it 37.
• Can provoke dangerous backlash when directed toward powerful cultivators; one such incident nearly threatens his soul 37.
• Detects an approaching force from thirty li away during his robbery operation 110.
• Erases Xiao Zhang’s divine sense imprint from a War Puppet’s Formation Disc and binds the puppet to himself, causing backlash to its previous owner 103.
• Expands to one hundred li at Blood Refining’s eleventh layer and subsequently reaches two hundred li. His associated sensory precision allows him to detect earthworms moving underground within one hundred li 209 210.
• Makes communication with the Martial God Tower increasingly easy as his cultivation and spiritual awareness rise 116.

Heaven-Sealing Finger

• Listed alongside Heaven-Rending Hand and Heaven-Treading Steps among his established techniques before acquiring a dedicated offensive palm art 87 116.
• Supports sneak attacks against stronger Foundation Establishment opponents 87.
• A finger strike during his confrontation with Qin Ruoxue is assessed as rivaling late Foundation Establishment force, though the clash leaves his finger swollen and reddened 131.

Great Might Heavenly Dragon Palm

A nine-move offensive inheritance obtained through the Martial God Tower. Receiving its first three strikes takes nearly two hours and drains him so heavily that he consumes hundreds of second-tier spirit herbs to recover 117.

The technique supplies the direct offensive capability he felt his movement and grappling arts lacked. It remains part of his later combat repertoire in Treasure-Building 116 410.

Golden Bell Shield

A defensive martial technique whose protective power scales with Chun Xiaobai’s strength 410.

• At the fourth level of Treasure-Building, its defense is assessed as sufficient to withstand Nascent Soul attacks, even though he is not considered capable of defeating Nascent Soul cultivators outright 410.
• Repels and reflects much of the force of Mu Qinglan’s spear thrust, but the exchange consumes two-thirds of his strength 462.
• The tower’s earlier bronze-man trial reveals bell-based martial diagrams after he defeats eighteen opponents 325.

Dragon-Slaying Saber Technique

A nine-strike inheritance transmitted by a bronze stele after he overcomes the Martial God Tower’s bronze men with the Black Flame Blade 461 462.

• First strike — Slay Humans: Designed specifically to cut down people. It can increase his strength more than tenfold and triggers true damage when it lands 462.
• Progressive unlocking: Possessing the complete inheritance does not let him immediately use every strike. He must master the first before the second emerges, with later strikes revealing themselves as his mastery deepens 462.
• Ultimate potential: Each strike is stronger than the preceding one; the inheritance describes the strongest as capable of cleaving the heavens. This is the art’s stated potential, not a feat he has performed 462.

Bandit Leadership and Deception

• Organizes coordinated ambushes, disguises, and hostage operations, using subordinates to lure targets and carry ransom messages 107 111 142.
• Exploits rumors of powerful backing, particularly his supposed relationship with Yun Huoyue, to intimidate sect disciples and disciplinary personnel 65 77 81.
• Devises a scheme to mark wealthy criminals with demonic qi and impersonate Emperor Pavilion emissaries demanding payment 303.
• Uses wealth-sharing and high salaries to recruit ambitious cultivators, while maintaining leverage over those whose loyalty he doubts 108 248 251 393.
• Designs a military appearance for his organization and drills more than two thousand followers in formations, posture, and marching 424.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Martial God Tower — Merged with his sea of consciousness; contains the Martial God Art and martial diagrams. An invisible barrier repels the red-clad woman’s attempted soul-power intrusion 4 27 37 38. Later identified as a six-story tower; its second floor contains bronze martial figures and inheritance trials. He can physically disappear into it to evade attacks and shelter while enemies guard its exit 116 221 325 366 368 462.
• Purple-gold token — Given by the woman in red; weighs two hundred jin. He considers using it as a heavy striking weapon and later hangs it around his neck, mistakenly suspecting it contains the mysterious space 6 13 28.
• Black iron club — His early weapon, used against the injured woman in red 2.
• Stolen identity token and Outer Sect uniform — Taken from Wu Liang and used to enter Green Bamboo Peak under a false identity 12 13.
• Storage Bags — Acquired through robbery and wagers; carry his pills, weapons, manuals, herbs, and spirit stones 12 32 36. His later operations gather hundreds at a time; one haul with Xiao Zhang yields two hundred and ten bags and eight thousand Identity Tokens 111.
• Formation Talisman — Opens his cave abode’s defensive array, though he repeatedly struggles to operate it and delegates the task 14 15 29 35.
• Talismans — Uses Lu Mang’s captured stockpile to overwhelm Wang Shan, then bluffs with low-grade Fireball Talismans presented as supreme-grade Lightning Talismans 49 50.
• Enchanted weapon stockpile — Uses swords and broadswords as thrown projectiles against Xu Wei when talisman use is unavailable, launching more than twenty long swords in a few breaths 55.
• Black Flame Blade — Ancient saber surrounded by black mist or demonic qi. On acquisition, its blade energy gouges a cave wall ten feet deep and it increases his strength at least threefold. A few wisps of its origin power later supply the equivalent of fifty million spirit stones, completing his Treasure-Building breakthrough. He preserves it as a stronghold-anchoring treasure, uses its demonic qi in extortion schemes, and wields it against the tower’s bronze men 98 212 214 303 461 462. He eventually judges it superior to the Rare Treasures and Supreme Treasures available to him, but its exact grade and origin remain unknown 458.
• War Puppet and Formation Disc — Seized from Xiao Zhang. Chun Xiaobai breaks out of its locked cockpit, forces Xiao Zhang to explain its operation, erases the previous owner’s divine sense imprint, and binds the puppet to himself 103.
• Night-Walking Garment — Used to conceal his aura during stealth infiltration 120.
• Image Recording Stones — Used as leverage and to record hostage ransom demands 142 157.
• Storage Rings — By his return from the Mountain of Ten Thousand Spirits operation, his treasures fill four rings 206.
• Black Jade Token — Given by Mu Qinglan as a reward when he offers to disclose an earth-shattering secret; associated with the Heaven Contention Tournament 291.
• Golden staff — Used like a saber against eighteen bronze men during the tower’s second-floor trial 325.
• Demonic Artifacts — Used as planted evidence and intimidation tools during his impersonation of Emperor Pavilion forces. He later distributes them to Incense Masters to seed rumors of Demon Cultivators across the Eastern Region 303 387 395 424.
• Rare Treasures and Supreme Treasures — Accumulates more than two hundred Rare Treasures and over a dozen Supreme Treasures for cultivation and his future stronghold. Ultimately sacrifices sixteen Supreme Treasures in his attempt to reach Divine-Opening 458 459.

Relationships

• Father — Previous chief of Black Wind Stronghold; leaves Chun Xiaobai his position and plans for future rebellion 1.
• Woman in red — Robbery victim turned coercive overseer. Recognizes his bloodline, imposes the Golden Core deadline, and continues speaking to him after departing. He wants to escape her control and become strong enough to resist her 4 6 7 37.
• Black Wind Stronghold leaders — His eight subordinate chiefs. He orders them to disperse and intervenes to spare them from the red-clad woman 3 5.
• Bai Jin’er — Recruiter, benefactor, and cultivation instructor. Receives a stolen Foundation Establishment Pill from him, learns his true identity, and becomes involved in maintaining his cover and guarding his abode 8 9 18 24 39. Becomes a close accomplice in his expeditions and extortion schemes. He breaks her seal, destroys an Inner Sect Direct Access Token offered by another man while declaring that she belongs to him, and urges her to purchase the best resources to improve her strength 142 206 303. Her attachment becomes increasingly overt: she fears for his life during his absence, confronts Mu Qinglan after he is struck, and competes with Yun Huoyue for his attention. By his latest appearance, he recognizes her romantic interest 331 445 476.
• Fang Yuan — Initially knocked unconscious by Chun Xiaobai; subsequently becomes an admiring associate who helps with sect procedures, wagers, and ranking information. Receives twenty looted cultivation manuals as a reward 14 15 30 31 35. Later serves as Black Wind Stronghold’s Second Boss and participates in ransom deliveries and the demonic-qi business 142 303 331.
• Gu Changfeng — Elder who recognizes his exceptional martial foundation and Blade Soul. Intervenes in dangerous exchanges and withholds the full extent of his talent from public discussion 19 21 22.
• Wu Liang and Lin Yue — Early robbery victims whose belongings supply his infiltration and cultivation. Wu Liang later views association with him as worth the loss 11 12 16 22. Both join his expedition entourage, and Wu Liang helps secure cabin access by spreading the supposed affair with Yun Huoyue 77. Their association deteriorates amid Lin Yue’s scheming; Lin Yue later returns with Wu Liang’s Storage Bag after his reported death 205 206.
• Yun Huoyue — Green Bamboo Peak’s Peak Master. Suspects his gifted soul may be significant; he interprets her interest as attraction and hopes to use her as protective backing 39 41. Early claims of an affair are fabricated or unsubstantiated, but still intimidate other disciples 65 77. Later, her master encourages her to pursue him, she approaches him bashfully, and she openly sides against Mu Qinglan after the latter punches him 445 476.
• Zhao Wuyuan — Combat rival who resorts to spiritual energy during their sword exchange and later condemns his challenge tactics as cheating 21 31.
• Xiao Zhang — Heavenly Baleful Valley disciple whose War Puppet Chun Xiaobai seizes. Initially coerced into becoming Black Wind Stronghold’s acting Fourth Boss, he becomes enthusiastic after receiving substantial profits and works with Chun Xiaobai to lure and rob other disciples 103 107 108 111. Also carries ransom pleas alongside Fang Yuan 142.
• Zhao Gang — Subordinate who attempts to murder Chun Xiaobai for wealth. His betrayal provokes a lethal response and deeply damages Chun Xiaobai’s willingness to trust cultivator recruits without leverage 100 108.
• Qin Ruoxue — Powerful captive with ties to the Emperor Pavilion. Chun Xiaobai fights her, coerces her into reading a ransom demand, and uses recordings and threats against her reputation as leverage 131 141 142 157.
• Gu Shuangshuang — Captive who proves to share his appetite for treasure. Proposes inflating her own ransom and splitting the proceeds, then helps him exploit Qin Ruoxue’s value as an Emperor Pavilion affiliate 156 157.
• Lu Qingshan — Azure Cloud Sect elder named as the bandit culprit and punished after confessing. Chun Xiaobai initially suspects that he accepted payment to take the blame, then ties him to his own operations and regards him as useful protective backing 187 190 205. Resents the elder taking most of the earlier spoils, but later accepts his intelligence register of more than three hundred sects as a basis for new jobs 206 334.
• Bai Yutang — Recruited into Black Wind Stronghold after rejecting lower offers and accepting ten million spirit stones with uncapped monthly profit sharing. Chun Xiaobai values his judgment, ambition, and decisiveness, despite recognizing that his character requires supervision 248 251. Becomes part of his close operational group 331 334.
• Leng Suxin — Azure Cloud Sect Saintess who examines his persistent nosebleed and discovers immense blood vitality and potent yang herbs in his body. Misinterprets his condition and the proposed payment for treatment as an unorthodox cultivation scheme. Chun Xiaobai later confronts her about a suspected demonic identity 267 271.
• Mu Qinglan — Azure Cloud Sect Sect Master who intercepts him during an attempted escape and gives him a Heaven Contention Tournament token after he offers a secret 291. Later tests or attacks him with her spear, which his Golden Bell Shield repels 462. He mistakes her actions for attraction and offers her the position of Stronghold Madam; she punches him and denies wanting him, triggering a confrontation with Bai Jin’er and Yun Huoyue 476.
• Li Qingfeng, Zhang Xuanhe, and the Grand Supreme Elders — Senior cultivators drawn into his profitable major-sect extortion operations. He leads more than eighty Grand Supreme Elders through the Elixir Cauldron Sect’s defenses, while Li Qingfeng accompanies him directly against the Joywater Sect 375 387 393 395. Their shared financial interests later help restrain conflict among his associates 476.
• Cangshan Daoist — Yun Huoyue’s master, whose cultivation Chun Xiaobai finds difficult to gauge. Joins his circle in pursuit of profit, reluctantly addresses him as Great King, and encourages Yun Huoyue’s romantic pursuit. Later proposes dividing Chun Xiaobai’s time among Bai Jin’er, Yun Huoyue, and Mu Qinglan 429 431 445 476.
• Crow Daoist — A fellow schemer whom Chun Xiaobai recognizes as likely belonging to the same trade. Later becomes entangled in a dangerous pursuit from which Chun Xiaobai escapes 226 331.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Outer Sect Infiltration and Cultivation Breakthrough

• Robs Wu Liang and Lin Yue while searching for supplies to leave the sect; their possessions provide Storage Bags, spirit stones, pills, clothing, and an identity token 11 12.
• Enters Green Bamboo Peak and exploits its challenge system to obtain access to a cultivation abode 13 14 15.
• Gains unwanted attention through Gu Changfeng’s lecture and training-ground demonstrations while still lacking spiritual energy 18 19 21 22.
• Fails Bai Jin’er’s conventional meditation lessons, then develops his own route through powdered spirit stones, Treasure-Seeing Divine Eye, and the Martial God Art 24 26 29.
• Investigates the tower in his sea of consciousness and acquires techniques suited to disabling opponents and escaping stronger enemies 37 38.
• Continues funding cultivation through spoils, reaches fifth-level Blood Refining, and learns that even tens of thousands of spirit stones may increase his strength without advancing his realm 58 59 73.
• Gains an intimidating reputation through both his challenge tactics and rumors of Yun Huoyue’s backing, which he exploits when dealing with other sect personnel 58 65 77.

Ranking Challenges

Chun Xiaobai turns sect-sanctioned matches into a source of cultivation funding, usually insisting that both sides stake all their possessions 30 32 45 49.

By the time news of the Xu Wei match spreads, he has joined the sect less than half a month earlier and is reported to have defeated five ranked senior disciples. Public accounts increasingly portray him as a wealthy, shameless challenger whose victories depend on treasures, ambushes, and alleged poison 58.

Demon-Slaying Expedition and Mountain of Ten Thousand Spirits

• Leads Fang Yuan, Bai Jin’er, and seven other disciples into a compulsory demon-slaying expedition. Forces access to the flying ship’s Inner Sect cabins, with Lei Xiao’s deference and Wu Liang’s affair rumor helping admit his companions 77.
• Converts the expedition into a robbery venture, pressuring hesitant followers to participate and assessing stronger Foundation Establishment opponents before attacking 85 87.
• Obtains the ancient black-mist saber that becomes his Black Flame Blade 98 458.
• Kills would-be murderers after Zhao Gang’s betrayal, then adopts stricter safeguards against disloyal recruits 100 108.
• Seizes Xiao Zhang’s War Puppet and recruits him as acting Fourth Boss. Their joint ambush operation collects hundreds of Storage Bags, numerous War Puppets, and thousands of Identity Tokens 103 107 111.
• Recognizes his disadvantage against core disciples and enters the tower to obtain Great Might Heavenly Dragon Palm before spending further resources on cultivation 116 117 118.
• Captures valuable heirs and reinforcements, coerces ransom recordings, frees Bai Jin’er from a seal, and dispatches Fang Yuan and Xiao Zhang with pleas for help 142.
• Finds an unexpected collaborator in Gu Shuangshuang, who proposes sharing inflated ransom proceeds and identifies Qin Ruoxue’s Emperor Pavilion connections 156 157.
• Uses Hidden Dragon Piercing the Abyss to collapse a cave entrance 171.
• Learns that Lu Qingshan has confessed as the bandit culprit, investigates, and eventually secures the elder’s involvement and backing. Returns with four Storage Rings of treasures while resenting the share lost to Lu Qingshan 187 190 205 206.

Treasury Cultivation and Expansion of Black Wind Stronghold

• Plans to rob and ultimately seize Azure Cloud Sect, prioritizing enough strength to escape if his bandit identity is exposed 207.
• Advances through the upper Blood Refining levels by spending tens of millions of spirit stones and thousands of bottles of pills 208 209 210.
• Discovers that magical artifacts are cultivation resources rather than useless resale goods, then drains their spirituality to perfect Blood Refining 210 211.
• Refines ancient weapon essence and draws power from the Black Flame Blade to enter Treasure-Building amid the onset of a heavenly tribulation 212 214.
• Opens the tower’s second floor and begins its bronze-man trials 221 325.
• Recruits Bai Yutang through a lavish salary and profit-sharing arrangement, valuing his practical understanding of cultivation’s resource demands 248 251.
• Develops a spiritual-qi admission business, selling tens of thousands of daily entry tickets while considering increased capacity and the experience provided to paying cultivators 255.
• Seeks treatment from Leng Suxin for a persistent nosebleed caused by the potent yang herbs detected in his body, becoming entangled in her suspicions about his cultivation and his own suspicions about her identity 267 271.
• Attempts to separate from Bai Jin’er and evade approaching sect leaders, but Mu Qinglan intercepts him and awards a tournament token after he offers to reveal a secret 291.
• Absorbs 1.5 billion spirit stones to open the bone treasury 302.

Emperor Pavilion Impersonation and Major-Sect Extortion

• Proposes selling demonic qi from the Black Flame Blade by marking wealthy criminals and posing as Emperor Pavilion emissaries who demand payment to settle their supposed offenses 303.
• Escapes pursuit associated with the Ten Thousand Flowers Sect and returns to his worried companions. Reflects afterward that his recklessness nearly cost him his life 329 331.
• Accepts Lu Qingshan’s register of more than three hundred Eastern Region sects, including their wealth and alleged misdeeds, as a guide for further operations. His followers urge him to exploit the fake Emperor Pavilion identity before it is exposed 334.
• Shelters inside the Martial God Tower when Heavenly Gang Sect elders attack, then returns to find his associates battered but alive after negotiations go wrong 366 368.
• Recognizes that possessing compromising demonic evidence is insufficient unless his group can also intimidate a target into submission 375.
• Tears through the Elixir Cauldron Sect’s fifth-tier formation and leads more than eighty Grand Supreme Elders into its forbidden rear mountain, using a demonic sword at a great hall’s entrance 387.
• Rewards participating elders, who increasingly admire the audacity and profitability of his major-sect extortion scheme 393.
• Infiltrates the Joywater Sect with Li Qingfeng after other elders become distracted and Bai Jin’er and the female elders are refused entry 395.
• Cultivates with more than two hundred heaven-tier magical artifacts and reaches the abdomen treasury 410 411.
• Expands the impersonation into an organized force: commissions three thousand sets of dark Emperor-style armor, plants Demonic Artifacts to generate rumors, and drills more than two thousand followers 424.
• Continues recruiting senior cultivators as Black Wind Stronghold’s Incense Masters while accumulating increasingly valuable treasures 445.

Divine-Opening and Competing Romantic Interests

• Refines more than two hundred Rare Treasures and additional Supreme Treasures to complete Treasure-Building’s divine treasury 458 459.
• Sacrifices sixteen Supreme Treasures originally reserved for establishing Black Wind Stronghold in order to pursue the Divine-Opening breakthrough, which is later confirmed successful 459 470.
• Defeats more than forty bronze men using the Black Flame Blade and receives Dragon-Slaying Saber Technique. On returning from seclusion, withstands Mu Qinglan’s spear through Golden Bell Shield at a substantial energy cost 461 462.
• Opens a barrier concealing a separate world in the sky through his fully mastered dismantling art and newly attained Divine-Opening strength 470.
• Becomes the focus of increasingly open rivalry between Bai Jin’er and Yun Huoyue. His proposal to make Mu Qinglan Stronghold Madam leads to a punch and a confrontation among the women, which shared financial interests help defuse 445 476.

Notable Quotes

“Even us bandits have to follow the rules of the trade! We're after money, not women!” 2

“I knew it! Getting back to my old trade is the right way to cultivate!” 12

“Fuck you. If I can't absorb you, surely I can eat you!” 26

“Under this Great King, there's no such thing as betrayal. There's only... sacrifice!” 81

“Bai Jin'er belongs to this Great King now! Tell him to get the hell out of here while he still can!” 206

“Facts prove that the best way to practice Immortal Cultivation is to return to my old trade!” 206