Xiao Yu

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Previous Life and Rebirth

On Blue Star, Xiao Yu had a wife, a child, and healthy parents. While working on an urgent company project, he died suddenly after two consecutive all-nighters and was reborn with the same name 2.

His new father was a Giant Sword Sect disciple who had failed to reach Foundation Establishment despite cultivating past fifty. After abandoning his pursuit of immortality, his father married several mortal women in the hope of producing descendants with spiritual roots. Xiao Yu’s mother was one of those women 2.

Information about the Yue Kingdom and its seven cultivation sects allowed Xiao Yu to recognize the setting as the world of A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality. Tested at seven, he possessed three spiritual roots and began cultivating under his father’s instruction 2.

Search for the Heaven-Controlling Bottle

By sixteen, Xiao Yu had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining and mastered several spells. Hoping to secure the Heaven-Controlling Bottle, he searched between Divine Hand Valley and Redwater Peak at the Seven Mysteries Sect for over a month, but found nothing 2.

He subsequently visited Five Li Ravine, where he saw Han Li as an eight- or nine-year-old boy tending cattle and gathering firewood. Finding himself too early for the events he knew, Xiao Yu returned home and entered the Giant Sword Sect through his father’s connections 2.

Appearance

Xiao Yu is an ordinary-looking young man, approximately twenty years old when introduced. He normally wears black, consistent with Giant Sword Sect disciple attire 2 6.

• Great sword: Dislikes carrying the sect’s customary large sword on his back, finding the appearance theatrical. He nevertheless adopts it outside the sect to advertise his affiliation and discourage troublemakers 6 10.
• Physical disguise: Uses medicinal powders and gelatinous substances to turn his youthful face into that of a sallow, gloomy middle-aged man, then changes into coarse hemp clothing and a bamboo hat 11.
• Concealment headwear: Later purchases a jet-black bamboo-hat magical tool with black gauze for two hundred spirit stones 47.

Personality

Xiao Yu combines a strong desire for immortality with an acute awareness of the cultivation world’s dangers. His adult memories help him endure isolation and repetitive training; he spends most of his early sect life cultivating rather than socializing 2 17.

He is courteous without being trusting. He greets weaker cultivators without contempt, observes formalities around stronger ones, and answers probing questions with carefully chosen pleasantries. When traveling abroad, he studies local conversations to avoid revealing that he is an outsider 5 10 45.

His caution does not prevent calculated risks. He sells aged herbs when he urgently needs resources, enters the Blood Trial to obtain Foundation Establishment ingredients, and refuses threats aimed at making him surrender valuable purchases or his garden position 9 15 36 48.

In combat, he is pragmatic and ruthless. He attacks distracted opponents, rejects enemies’ pleas for mercy, and destroys bodies before leaving. Even when an opponent appears defeated, he keeps his defenses active against a final counterattack 12 20 22 32.

Abilities & Skills

Mysterious Space

A separate space exists within Xiao Yu’s sea of consciousness. He enters it as a projection of his soul rather than with his physical body; its initial contents include gray earth, an immovable open book, and a small gourd 3.

• Stores supplies and seldom-used possessions there, keeping his storage bag available for frequently needed items 11.
• Uses the space to gather and prepare spirit medicines and to optimize cultivation arts 37 44.
• Initially finds no spiritual energy within it 3.

Heavenly Book

Xiao Yu names the Mysterious Space’s book the Heavenly Book. It extrapolates stronger and weaker versions of cultivation methods and spells 4 9 14.

Purple Gourd

The Purple Gourd absorbs sunlight and produces purple liquid capable of rapidly aging plants. Xiao Yu regards it as an enhanced counterpart to the Heaven-Controlling Bottle 4.

• After five days in sunlight, its lid opens to reveal a purple droplet 4.
• Liquid applied to a young ginseng plant ages it to nearly one hundred years overnight 4.
• Provides medicinal ingredients for cultivation pills and Seven-Star Grass for talisman paper 6 13.
• Danger to animals: Two rabbits given diluted liquid swell and explode 4.

Azure Essence Sword Art

Xiao Yu initially finds an incomplete version covering cultivation through late Foundation Establishment. He later unlocks the Golden Page with Azure Essence Sword Aura, receiving all thirteen layers, which extend to the Deity Transformation Stage, and the auxiliary Three-Turn Heavy Origin Art 41 44.

• Azure Essence Sword Aura: Projects sharp azure energy. During testing, it penetrates a stone wall to a depth of approximately half a zhang 44.
• Body-Protecting Sword Shield: Forms an azure defensive barrier covered in spikes 44.
• Enhanced cultivation: Heavenly Book optimization doubles the purity of his magical power and strengthens his sword abilities 44.

Spellcasting and Concealment

Xiao Yu masters most beginner low-tier spells over his early cultivation years, then becomes proficient with mid-tier techniques including Fire Serpent Technique, Wooden Shield Art, Diamond Body Art, and Earth Spike Art 9.

• Aura Concealment Technique: Suppresses spiritual-energy fluctuations, countering detection through the Heavenly Eye Technique 20.
• Concealment Technique: Hides his presence and reduces detection by spiritual sense. Combined with Aura Concealment, it conceals him from elite Qi Refining disciples 20 32.
• Detection limit: The Triangular-Eyed Cultivator cannot personally detect his concealment but exposes him through a spirit creature 21.
• Enhanced Wind Riding Art: Doubles the normal speed enhancement, allowing short bursts that leave blurred afterimages 25.

Talisman Crafting

Xiao Yu studies the Complete Guide to Making Beginner Talismans and turns enhanced spells into talismans for combat and sale 13 46.

• Requires more than five hundred failed attempts before producing his first successful Fireball Talisman 13.
• Raises his Fireball Talisman success rate above forty percent after six months of more than thirty daily attempts, producing seven or eight hundred finished talismans 14.
• Develops a method of activating multiple talismans simultaneously 14.
• Enters the Blood Trial with approximately three hundred enhanced Fire Serpent Talismans and more than twenty enhanced Firecloud Talismans 17.
• Later sells seven hundred Fire Serpent Talismans for 4,500 spirit stones 46.

Alchemy

Xiao Yu begins with mortal martial medicines before progressing to pills used by cultivators 6 16.

• Early medicines: Refines Yellow Dragon Pills, Great Restoration Pills, and Golden Marrow Pills using ordinary fire and a mundane furnace 6.
• Spirit-Restoring Pills: Uses earthfire and the Silver Thread Cauldron; repeated failures consume more than half his ingredients before he succeeds and completes three batches 16.
• Foundation Establishment Pills: Force-ripens their principal ingredients, practices through many failures, and produces fourteen pills over more than two months 37.
• Blood Refining Secret Art: Learns and improves the art during his post-trial preparations; its specific effects are not described in the supplied passages 37.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords — Premium top-grade set comprising one mother sword and six son swords. Offers fast, sharp attacks and independent flanking strikes, but requires comparatively strong spiritual sense 11 12 25.
• Spirit Turtle Shield — Premium top-grade shield made from a tier-two spirit turtle’s shell. Can move around him to cover vital areas; ordinary top-grade weapons struggle to break it 11 12.
• Scarlet Cloud Sword Talisman Treasure — Purchased unused from the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. Its activation against Li consumes roughly one-third of Xiao Yu’s magical reserves and manifests a blade over ten feet long 11 34.
• Small Axe — Fine-quality top-grade artifact taken from the Triangular-Eyed Cultivator. Used against demon beasts, to hollow out hiding places, and to excavate his cave abode 23 27 30 44.
• Shadowless Needle — Nearly transparent needle suited to sneak attacks; used to kill Zhang He 23 32.
• Golden Brick Talisman Treasure — Collected after Zhang He’s death. Xiao Yu estimates that it retains at least two uses 32 33.
• Silver Thread Cauldron — Alchemy furnace made from Silverlight Iron, obtained alongside his principal weapons and shield 11 16.
• Meteor Boat — Top-grade flying magical tool crafted by Artifact Spirit Master. Purchased at auction for 1,150 spirit stones to replace his slow, low-grade flying tool 48.
• Simplified Eight-Gate Golden Lock Formation — Acquired for thousand-year-old Frankincense Grass; includes an array disk, thirty-six flags, and an instructional jade slip 50.

Relationships

• Father — His first cultivation teacher and source of sect connections, medicinal references, pill formulas, and an early high-grade flying sword 2 6 12.
• Mother — A mortal woman among his father’s wives and concubines 2.
• Han Li — A figure Xiao Yu recognizes through his knowledge of the original story. He observes Han Li as a child and later considers contacting him to obtain missing sword-treasure instructions 2 42.
• Uncle Zhao — His father’s old acquaintance and a middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Recommends Xiao Yu for sect admission and later registers him for the Blood Trial 15.
• Wang Yuan — Previous caretaker who transfers Herb Garden Bing Seven’s restriction token and explains its duties 6.
• Sect Leader Chu Yunfeng — Briefs him before the Blood Trial, registers his Foundation Establishment, and grants him a cave-abode site and initial formation supplies 17 40.
• Grandmaster Wang — Golden Core sect elder who transports the trial participants to the Forbidden Grounds and escorts the survivors home 17 36.
• He Liang — Attempts to take Xiao Yu’s garden position through payment and threats. Later arrives with a Foundation Establishment elder, only to discover that Xiao Yu has advanced to the same realm 36 39.
• Yan Kuan — Fellow disciple from the same intake. Trades his sword-controlling technique to Xiao Yu for pills, a top-grade defensive tool, and approximately seventy or eighty Fire Serpent Talismans 43.
• Zhang He — Spirit Beast Mountain disciple who initially attacks Xiao Yu, then stops after assessing his strength. Xiao Yu later ambushes and kills him in an underground cavern 24 25 32.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Obtaining Cultivation Resources

Blood Trial

Xiao Yu enters the Forbidden Grounds to obtain medicinal ingredients needed for Foundation Establishment Pills. He prioritizes immature herbs that his Purple Gourd can later mature, while collecting enough mature medicines to qualify for a sect-issued pill 5 7 26 32.

Foundation Establishment and Independence

After returning, Xiao Yu reclaims his garden position, inventories captured resources, and refines fourteen Foundation Establishment Pills. His successful advancement changes his standing: He Liang’s supporting elder immediately prevents his nephew from insulting a fellow Foundation Establishment cultivator 36 37 39.

Xiao Yu registers his advancement, trades with Yan Kuan, and builds a secluded cave abode. He switches to the Azure Essence Sword Art, unlocks its complete method, and enhances it through the Heavenly Book 40 43 44.

Taihao Market

Notable Quotes

“If I can’t avoid this, then I’ll fight!” 22

“So these are the powers of a Core Formation cultivator! One day, I’ll surely be able to do the same.” 17