Zhao Wuyuan

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

Zhao Wuyuan is a young man with an icy bearing and a resolute expression 20.

• Tall, with a straight-backed posture 20.
• His face is compared to polished jade 20.
• In his later appearance alongside Li Qingfeng, his distinctive voice is described as drake-like; his startled exclamation makes nearby people jump 419.

Personality

Zhao Wuyuan is proud of his swordsmanship and sensitive to perceived disrespect. When Chun Xiaobai shows no spiritual energy during their spar, Zhao interprets it as contempt and insists that he can win through sword techniques alone 20.

His pride gives way to hostility after he is wounded. He breaks his promise not to use spiritual energy, launches a lethal attack, and then attempts another thrust while Chun is distracted by Gu Changfeng’s intervention 21.

Despite his own conduct during the spar, Zhao later condemns Chun’s sneak attack on Cheng Haoxuan as improper for a sword cultivator. He nevertheless recognizes the danger of being provoked into a wager and restrains his anger rather than risk losing his possessions 31.

In later chapters, the prospect of enormous commissions excites him. After Li Qingfeng tells him that commissions can reach three hundred million spirit stones per person, he reacts loudly and enthusiastically supports recruiting more participants 419 420.

He behaves conspicuously casually when distributing valuable rewards, tossing five Half-Step Heaven-Tier Magical Artifacts to his Direct Disciples as though they were insignificant. When returning to the Azure Cloud Sect, he puts away his Flying Boat before reaching the sect and approaches with an outwardly nonchalant manner 421.

Abilities & Skills

Sword Control

Zhao’s chief strength lies in precise, unpredictable control rather than raw physical force. Gu Changfeng specifically praises his steady control of Sword Momentum 21 22.

• Changes his blade’s direction through quick wrist movements, attacking from difficult angles 20 21.
• Forces Chun Xiaobai to crouch beneath his opening counterattack 21.
• Can retreat a full zhang while simultaneously directing a thrust toward his opponent’s face 20.

Star-Shattering Sword Art

The Star-Shattering Sword Art is the technique that established Zhao’s reputation. Its foundation lies in footwork and positioning 21.

• Combines a rapid advance with a high-speed spinning sword 21.
• Chun reads its footwork and strikes through a gap in its sword radiance, forcing Zhao to block and leaving him coughing blood 21.

Spiritual-Energy Enhancement

Zhao can gather spiritual energy directly onto his sword to greatly accelerate an attack 21.

• His enhanced thrust appears more than ten times faster than his earlier attacks to Chun Xiaobai 21.
• Chun initially cannot track the strike; only an unexplained change in his perception lets him counter it 21.
• Even after winning the spar, Chun believes that he cannot reliably defeat Zhao using spiritual energy in his then-current state 22.

Recruitment and Transport

In his later role, Zhao coordinates recruitment through his Direct Disciples. Their summons brings more than six hundred Azure Cloud Sect elders out of the sect, including all its Core Elders and many ordinary elders 421.

• Uses a Voice Transmission Talisman to summon his five Direct Disciples 421.
• Leads the recruited elders aboard a Half-Step Heaven-Tier Flying Boat and transports them toward Chun Xiaobai’s chosen meeting point 421.
• His Flying Boat travels fast enough to outdistance Mu Qinglan’s concealed pursuit, eventually disappearing beyond the range of her divine sense 421 422.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Longsword — His principal weapon, used for both technical swordplay and spiritual-energy-enhanced attacks 20 21.
• Half-Step Heaven-Tier Flying Boat — Used in his later appearances to return to the Azure Cloud Sect and transport more than six hundred recruited elders. Mu Qinglan cannot keep pace with it during her pursuit 421 422.
• Voice Transmission Talisman — Used to summon his Direct Disciples from a secluded location near the sect 421.
• Five Half-Step Heaven-Tier Magical Artifacts — Distributes these to his five Direct Disciples. Mu Qinglan estimates that the artifacts and Flying Boat together represent rewards worth at least four or five billion spirit stones 421.

Relationships

• Chun Xiaobai — Rival whom Zhao refuses to accept losing to. He later briefs Shi Lei on Chun’s temperament and reliance on sneak attacks 22 34. In much later chapters, Zhao participates in Chun’s business operations and brings more than six hundred Azure Cloud Sect elders to join him; the supplied context does not explain the intervening change in their relationship 420 421 423.
• Gu Changfeng — Sect elder who selects Zhao to test Chun’s techniques, shields him from a fatal counterstrike, and stops his subsequent throat thrust 20 21 22.
• Cheng Haoxuan — Described as Zhao’s “good brother.” Zhao supports his challenge against Chun, protests his defeat, and helps him down the mountain afterward 30 31.
• Shi Lei — Zhao provides an assessment of Chun before Shi Lei’s challenge. He considers warning Shi Lei during their encounter but holds back, confident in the senior disciple’s strength 34.
• Li Qingfeng — Described as Zhao’s friend in the later chapters. Li seeks him out after Chun refuses permission for Li to return to the sect, tells him about the lucrative commissions, and subsequently sends him to recruit more Azure Cloud Sect members 419 420.
• Five Direct Disciples — Unnamed disciples whom Zhao summons and rewards with Half-Step Heaven-Tier Magical Artifacts. They then help assemble more than six hundred elders for the journey to Chun’s meeting point 421.
• Mu Qinglan — Azure Cloud Sect leader who secretly follows Zhao while investigating the person drawing away her sect’s members. She nearly attacks him after seeing the scale of his recruitment but restrains herself to continue the pursuit. Zhao does not detect her, and his Flying Boat ultimately leaves her behind 421 422.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Training-Ground Defeat

Gu Changfeng summons Zhao to test Chun Xiaobai’s blade techniques. His arrival draws enthusiastic cheers, especially from female disciples, reflecting his reputation within the Outer Sect 20.

After agreeing to fight without spiritual energy, Zhao threatens Chun with his precise swordwork but is injured by a single decisive strike. His subsequent spiritual-energy attack prompts a counterstrike that Gu blocks with Sword Intent. Zhao then targets Chun’s throat, only for Gu to catch his sword and declare the match decided 21 22.

News of his defeat spreads through the Outer Sect. Zhao leaves with a vicious glare rather than accepting the result gracefully 22 30.

Challenges at Chun Xiaobai’s Cave Abode

Zhao accompanies Cheng Haoxuan to challenge Chun for his cave abode. Chun suspects Zhao helped bring about the challenge, though the passage presents this as Chun’s inference 29 30.

When Chun knocks Cheng unconscious through a distraction, Zhao accuses him of cheating. A Disciplinary Disciple confirms that sneak attacks are not prohibited. Zhao declines Chun’s offer of an all-or-nothing rematch, recognizing that he is being baited 31.

Zhao later accompanies Shi Lei and supplies information about Chun’s tactics. After Chun defeats Shi Lei by switching from swordplay to punches, Zhao and Cheng recognize the sword exchanges as another deliberate distraction 33 34 35.

Benchmark for Chun Xiaobai’s Growth

• Imagining Zhao attacking him helps Chun deliberately reproduce his heightened combat state 25.
• At third-level Blood Refining, Chun believes he can face Zhao with his fists; after reaching fourth level, he believes he could overwhelm him. These are Chun’s assessments, not the results of a rematch 33 36.

Recruitment for Black Wind Stronghold’s Operations

After learning how much the elders earn in commissions, Li Qingfeng asks Chun for permission to return to his sect. When Chun refuses, Li approaches his friend Zhao instead. Zhao’s loud reaction to the figure of three hundred million spirit stones draws attention from those nearby 419.

Li subsequently obtains permission to recruit additional people and sends Zhao back to the Azure Cloud Sect, initially intending to bring five hundred recruits into the Demonic Artifact business 420.

Identified at this point as a Grand Supreme Elder, Zhao returns in a Half-Step Heaven-Tier Flying Boat. He puts the vessel away a thousand li from the sect, summons his five Direct Disciples, and gives them five artifacts of the same tier. Through their efforts, more than six hundred elders gather, including every Core Elder and many ordinary elders 421.

Mu Qinglan secretly observes the recruitment while searching for the person poaching her sect’s members. The value of Zhao’s equipment convinces her that an exceptionally wealthy backer is involved. She follows his Flying Boat across several provinces but exhausts her resources and eventually loses it beyond her divine-sense range. Even after purchasing her own Half-Step Heaven-Tier Flying Boat for five billion spirit stones, she fails to find him again 421 422.

Zhao and the six hundred additional recruits join Chun’s group. Chun appoints ten more Incense Masters during this expansion, though Zhao is not specifically named as one of those appointees 423.

Notable Quotes

“Even without spiritual energy, my sword is more than enough to defeat you!” 20

“But... but you're a proper sword cultivator! How could you do something like launch a sneak attack?” 31

“What?! Three hundred million?!” 419

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