Run Tu

Biodata

Power Progression

History

Life with Li Ping'an and Old Ox

Run Tu spent two and a half years alongside Li Ping'an and Old Ox in Medicine Valley, helping them research medicinal baths. During that time, he began cultivating, acquired speech and literacy, and surprised both companions by reciting elaborate poetry during a hot-pot celebration 279.

Having learned some knowledge of medicinal herbs, Run Tu was entrusted with looking after Medicine Valley when Li Ping'an traveled. He readily adopted the role of “boss” in Li Ping'an's absence, lounging in his chair and inspecting milk powder with exaggerated authority 280 287.

Li Ping'an taught him cultivation cautiously and later sparred with him so frequently that Run Tu complained about being beaten every day. After Li Ping'an and Old Ox left Shushan, loneliness drove him to seek fights elsewhere. A serious injury led Qingfeng to summon the Turtle God Divine Doctor; Run Tu subsequently gained a minor breakthrough through quiet contemplation and returned to farming with a new appreciation for Li Ping'an's lifestyle 292 297 321.

Prison Defense and Xiao Ye

While helping Li Ping'an in the imperial prison, Run Tu operated a formation that turned an escape route into a killing zone. He then took responsibility for holding off Zhang Xu, a sixth-rank enemy, with interconnected poison formations. His mid-battle breakthrough did not prevent Zhang Xu from breaking through, and Li Ping'an and Old Ox intervened to treat and catch him 352 353.

During another of Li Ping'an's absences, Run Tu gathered fifty younger disciples as underlings and collected protection money. On returning, Li Ping'an refunded the Spirit Stones and apologized to the disciples while Old Ox punished Run Tu 383.

At Shushan's recruitment assembly, Run Tu brought Xiao Ye food at Li Ping'an's request. Xiao Ye later attacked him after being caught licking the empty bowl. Run Tu countered with wine techniques, poison, formations, and needles, finally knocking Xiao Ye unconscious with the Soul-Suppressing Brick 390.

Heavenly Tribulation

As Run Tu approached another breakthrough, Li Ping'an gave him cultivation resources and sought a divination from Liuyun. The result predicted lethal Tribulation Lightning with more than six thunderclouds. Run Tu's ordinary origins made his survival especially uncertain: progressing beyond the lower three realms had already been described as a miracle 410 413 414.

Li Ping'an and Old Ox spent a year preparing defenses. During the tribulation, three lightning rods absorbed the initial attacks before melting, and the remaining lightning struck the Faraday Cage and its defensive formations. Run Tu endured the portion that penetrated, swallowed the prepared medicines, and completed his breakthrough. The three celebrated afterward with barbecue 414 415.

Stewardship of Heaven-Reaching Peak

Before leaving Shushan, Li Ping'an subjected Run Tu to unusually strict training in medicinal ingredients and brewing. He prepared wine reserves, funds, medicines, and plans for the peak's future. Run Tu tearfully promised to look after their home 431 432.

With Qingfeng leaving the peak's affairs unmanaged, Run Tu became its effective administrator. He preserved letters addressed to Li Ping'an, copied them, and entrusted the copies to traveling disciples so they could reach him 495.

Run Tu expanded the businesses Li Ping'an had left behind and developed Heaven-Reaching Peak into a prosperous operation 520.

Conflict at Five-Crest Marketplace

After prospective business partners beat Heaven-Reaching Peak's negotiators, Run Tu personally led disciples to confront them, insisting that they were going to “reason” rather than fight. The confrontation at Five-Crest Marketplace instead escalated into a battle with the Octopus Swordsman 520 521.

Run Tu revealed a monstrous combat form and used poison and formations, but the Octopus Swordsman's speed and swordsmanship left him badly wounded. Yan Shisan's attempts to intervene also favored the Octopus Swordsman. Both demons were eventually exhausted and injured 522 523 524.

Li Ping'an ended the fight remotely through Fine Rain, which wrote a message explaining that they were all family and delivered Healing Pills. Only then did Run Tu and his opponent discover their shared connection to him 524.

Tengchong and Later Activities

At Tengchong City, Run Tu pledged Shushan reinforcements against the Demon Race. He survived with comparatively light injuries but lost nearly all the magical treasures he had brought. Before the Shushan disciples departed, Li Ping'an praised his achievements, prompting Run Tu to cling to his leg and cry 542 555 557.

By Li Ping'an's later return to Shushan, Heaven-Reaching Peak offered exceptionally generous disciple benefits, and its renovated Main Hall was second in scale only to Shushan's main hall. Elder Sun acknowledged that its businesses were legitimate but criticized its calculating commercial culture and bandit-like appearance 659 660.

Run Tu welcomed Li Ping'an and Old Ox home, showed them the transformed peak, and later tearfully urged them to visit again. He subsequently appeared on a battlefield against Demon Sage Qin Yuan, deploying a talisman-wrapped brick and a wall of talismans 660 664 810.

Appearance

Run Tu normally has a small, furred body with paws and short legs, often dressed in miniature Daoist robes 337 520.

• Eyes: Slender, lively eyes; his fur became more lustrous after surviving his tribulation 415.
• Clothing and accessories: Has worn blue robes, disciple robes, and a waist-hung Wine Gourd copied from Li Ping'an's style 316 335 390.
• Demon body dharma form: Enlarges into a black-scaled creature with bloodshot eyes, huge pincer-like hands, a faintly golden horn, and enormous wings 521 522 523.

Personality

Run Tu is restless, boastful, and eager to enjoy authority. He takes over Li Ping'an's chair when left alone, embellishes his exploits for younger disciples, and once declared himself “General Run Tu” before trying to appoint Old Ox as his mount. Boredom also contributed to his decision to collect protection money from fifty underlings 287 337 383.

He is highly sociable and can readily strike up conversations with strangers, as shown by his easy rapport with Princess Ruo Yun. He is also sensitive to disrespect: A Yu's dismissive treatment of his species and name quickly provoked him 419.

Despite his bluster, Run Tu is deeply attached to Li Ping'an and Old Ox. Separation leaves him lonely, their help frequently moves him to tears, and he takes pride in maintaining the home they entrusted to him. His later business ambition coexists with his enduring habit of seeking their reassurance and approval 321 410 414 432 557 664.

Abilities & Skills

Formation Arts

Run Tu learned formation techniques from Li Ping'an and can actively alter a formation during combat 352 522.

• Changes a formation's gate of life into a gate of death to eliminate escaping enemies 352.
• Operates an array combining the Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces to isolate and disorient opponents 353.
• Reinforces layered poison formations and deploys formations involving rapidly emerging trees 353 522.
• Limit: Zhang Xu, a sixth-rank opponent, broke through his formations and injured him despite Run Tu's mid-battle breakthrough 353.

Poison Arts

Run Tu thoroughly grasped the essence of Li Ping'an's poison arts and incorporates them into deceptive, mobile combat 390.

• Conceals his movements with poison mist and combines it with formations and Plague Umbrellas 390.
• Uses a poison developed by Li Ping'an that enters through the five senses; merely hearing its associated sound poisoned the Octopus Swordsman 522.
• Defends poison use as a legitimate fighting method rather than inherently sinister cultivation 522.

Physical Strength and Demon Form

Run Tu possesses tough flesh and can enlarge his body into a powerful demon form 316 521 522.

• Shatters a boulder with a palm strike 520.
• Enlarges a piece of rubble and launches it at an opponent 521.
• Wields a tree as thick as a well's mouth as a weapon 522.
• Limit: His transformed body could not overcome the Octopus Swordsman's mobility and was ultimately defeated 522 523.

Wine Techniques

Run Tu uses wine from his waist-hung gourd as a ranged weapon 390.

• Expels wine in surging, wave-like quantities.
• Converts portions of the wine into azure, sword-like projectiles.
• Xiao Ye's Fire Curtain blocked these wine arrows 390.

Talismans, Needles, and Magical Treasures

Run Tu combines several techniques rather than relying on a straightforward duel 390.

• Uses the Silver Needle Acupoint-Piercing Technique alongside poison and formations 390.
• Casts the Five Thunder Spell through a talisman; the Octopus Swordsman cut apart its lightning with Sword Qi 521.
• Deploys a talisman-wrapped brick that multiplies into a Minor World-like enclosure, briefly trapping Demon Sage Qin Yuan before she shatters it 810.
• Forms a great wall of talismans behind himself 810.

Medicine, Farming, and Brewing

Run Tu's practical training supports both the household and Heaven-Reaching Peak's operations 280 410 431.

• Learned enough medicinal-herb knowledge to be left in charge of Medicine Valley 280.
• Helps Li Ping'an refine pills and receives a share of the resulting resources 410.
• Works the fields and has practiced Li Ping'an's daily routine of one hundred push-ups, sit-ups, and squats, plus a ten-kilometer run 321 342.
• Receives intensive instruction in medicinal ingredients, wine brewing, and managing Qingfeng's wine supply 431.

Equipment & Items

• Soul-Suppressing Brick — Used to knock Xiao Ye unconscious with a surprise blow to the head 390.
• Wine Gourd — Worn at his waist in imitation of Li Ping'an; supplies wine for his combat techniques 390.
• Plague Umbrellas — Three deployed around a poison formation during the fight with Xiao Ye 390.
• Storage Ring — Holds supplies and equipment, including his leaf-shaped flying transport 410 520.
• Enlarging leaf transport — Expands after an incantation to carry approximately a dozen people 520.
• Tribulation defenses — A Faraday Cage, three lightning rods, and three sets of defensive formations prepared by Li Ping'an and Old Ox for his breakthrough 414 415.
• Qi-Replenishing Pills and Healing Pills — Prepared by Li Ping'an and consumed during the lightning tribulation 415.

Relationships

• Li Ping'an — Named Run Tu and serves as his teacher, protector, and “Big Brother” or “Boss.” Li Ping'an explicitly describes him as a companion rather than a kept spirit beast 279 413 419.
• Old Ox — His “Brother Ox,” fellow companion, playmate, and frequent sparring or quarrelling partner. Helped finance and prepare his tribulation defenses and also disciplines him for misconduct 316 383 410 414.
• Qingfeng — Elder of Heaven-Reaching Peak whom Run Tu addresses as “Master.” Run Tu cooks for Qingfeng and later handles the peak's affairs on Qingfeng's behalf 321 495 659.
• Heaven-Reaching Peak disciples — Regard him as a senior brother and, among newer disciples, a role model. He organizes their work, develops their opportunities, and confronts powers that harm them 519 520.
• Xiao Ye — Opponent at Shushan's recruitment assembly; defeated by Run Tu's combined tricks and Soul-Suppressing Brick 390.
• Princess Ruo Yun — Friendly traveling acquaintance who explains the restrictions of royal life to him 419.
• A Yu — Initially antagonistic traveling companion. Her insults provoke Run Tu, though Li Ping'an reminds him not to hold a child's behavior against her 419 421.
• Octopus Swordsman and Yan Shisan — Initially opponents in a disastrous marketplace dispute; their shared connection to Li Ping'an is revealed before the fight turns fatal 521 522 524.

Notable Quotes

“My fate is ruled by... by Heaven, not me! Heaven, protect me!!”
— During his Heavenly Tribulation 415

“Big Brother, Brother Ox, don't worry. I'll look after our home.”
— As Li Ping'an and Old Ox leave Shushan 432

“I never said we were going to fight. We're going to reason with them.”
— Before departing to confront the powers that beat his negotiators 520