Shenwu Marquis

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Shenwu Marquis (神武侯)
Alias(es)	Dugu Xin; Marquis Shenwu
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Great Gan; Shenwu Pass; Human Race
Occupation/Role	Commander of Shenwu Pass; Great Gan Martial Marquis
Status	Deceased; dissolved himself into the Nine Dragons Swallowing Heaven array after succumbing to Origin poison 318
First Appearance	Chapter 155

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Yang Shi Cave Heaven — pinnacle of the Cave Heaven Realm	258	His prime true form manifests and suppresses Lilith, Nether Spring Demon Lord, and the Lich Lord with his cave-heaven.
Law Mastery Realm — attempted breakthrough	316	Attempts to force open the Gate of Law Mastery by inscribing the Five Elements Law onto his blade intent, a method stated to risk his life.

Background / History

Dugu Xin was once known as “A Xin,” a reckless young man who traveled and fought alongside the astrologer Sikong Zhaixing. Sikong directed him toward a path of defying fate; over time, Dugu Xin became the silent and determined Shenwu Marquis, though his rise came at a heavy personal cost 282.

He became the only meritorious marquis known to have survived the War of Heavenly Change. By the time of the Demon Abyss arc, he had not returned to Qianjing for more than two centuries and held broad autonomy over Great Gan’s Demon Abyss affairs 152 200.

From Shenwu Pass, he commands the human frontier against the Demon Race. His command tent is deliberately austere: a weathered black tent marked by blood-threaded “Shenwu” banners, centered on a detailed battlefield sand table rather than luxuries 155.

Appearance

The Marquis normally presents himself as a frail, stooped old man in faded plain robes, with silver hair secured by a wooden hairpin, a deeply wrinkled face, and clouded eyes. This unassuming exterior conceals pressure so overwhelming that Lu Shaoyou compares himself to an ant looking up at an endless starry sky 155.

• Often carries a small carving knife and works on wooden figures or birds while receiving reports and visitors 155 166.
• His true form appears as a prime, imposing middle-aged man rather than the aged commander seen at Shenwu Pass 258.
• In battle, he manifests an ancient saber made of pure light; its brilliance overwhelms the surrounding world’s color 244.
• He can use Life-Replacing Clones that take the form of wooden carvings 257 266.

Personality

Shenwu Marquis is habitually calm, taciturn, and unreadable. He receives alarming reports, accusations, and battlefield crises with the same controlled manner, often continuing his woodcarving without interruption 166 187.

He is also ruthless and highly calculating. Lu Shaoyou’s assignment against Black Tooth Outpost is framed as a test with death as the consequence of failure; later, the Marquis engineers Lu Shaoyou’s transfer into the Demon Suppressing Prison to temper him through extreme danger 156 183 186. He views upheaval as useful, describing the Battle Supervisor as a stone thrown into stagnant water to enable “fishing in troubled waters” 182.

Despite this severity, his decisions are directed toward humanity’s survival. He cuts his battles away from Shenwu Pass to avoid harming its defenders, rejects a hundred-year ceasefire in pursuit of a permanent peace, and ultimately sacrifices himself to reinforce the human race’s grand array 248 265 318.

Abilities & Skills

Saber Arts

The Marquis wields an ancient light-forged saber with overwhelming precision and destructive power.

• A single casual slash freezes time, cleaves through a demonic tide, and creates a 99-li rift filled with demon corpses 244 245.
• Cuts apart the Abyssal Demon Dragon’s Dragon Breath and shatters its Dragon Ancestor’s Shield 247 248.
• Wounds the Abyssal Demon Dragon, heavily injures the Lich Lord, and later kills the dragon with a single saber strike 251 254.
• Uses a final unnamed strike that severs Prince You Ye’s Law of Thunder and extinguishes the life of his physical body 317.
• Names his final strike Sky Opener before his death 318.

Yang Shi Cave Heaven

His true form possesses a Yang Shi Cave Heaven, identified as the pinnacle of the Cave Heaven Realm 258.

• Manifests a vast cave-heaven world from the void to suppress Lilith, Nether Spring Demon Lord, and the Lich Lord 257.
• Captures Nether Spring and the Lich Lord alive after effortlessly overpowering them 258.
• Its existence is concealed from the Demon Lords until his true form is revealed 258.

Imperial World Scripture

A forbidden Divine Ability with devastating offensive and defensive applications.

• Produces a light blade capable of dealing a decisive killing blow to the Abyssal Demon Dragon 253 254.
• Its use causes severe strain, leaving the Marquis pale, bleeding, and with chaotic aura 254.
• Later employed in his final confrontation with Prince You Ye 315 316.

Five Elements Law

Dugu Xin reverse-engineers the mysteries of the Five Elements Law and attempts to inscribe Law talismans directly onto his blade intent rather than his Cave Heaven 316.

• Forms multicolored blade wings whose movements fracture the void 316.
• Condenses his cultivation, Laws, essence, qi, and spirit into a three-foot multicolored short saber for his decisive strike 316.
• The method is described as a shortcut to power and a path toward his death 316.

Wood Carvings and Life-Replacing Clones

Woodcarving is both a personal habit and a major component of the Marquis’s schemes.

• Carves a wooden likeness of Lu Shaoyou and gives it to him upon acknowledging the imperial decree 155.
• Animates a wooden eagle capable of surveillance, extraordinary flight, spatial teleportation, and forcibly transporting Lu Shaoyou 175 180 183.
• Uses a Life-Replacing Wood Carving as a decoy for Lilith’s assassination attempt 257 258.
• Maintains multiple Life-Replacing Clones, obscuring the location and identity of his true body 266.

Imprinted Will

An imprinted will of the Marquis remains within the Demon Suppressing Prison.

• Appears in a younger, armored form on the prison’s eighth level 223.
• Explains that the prison’s levels are trials and identifies the Thousand-Faced Inner Demon as the eighth level’s suppressor 223.
• Recognizes Lu Shaoyou as the first person in nearly a thousand years to reach the eighth level so quickly 223.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Ancient light saber — His primary weapon during the defense of Shenwu Pass and battles against the Demon Lords 244 247.
• Blade of Space — A weapon used during the clash with Prince You Ye; it shatters after the lightning prison bombardment 314.
• Light-forged golden armor — Protective treasure that absorbs most of a combined attack from Nether Spring Demon Lord and the Abyssal Demon Dragon 252.
• Wooden Eagle — Animated surveillance and teleportation construct 175 180 183.
• Life-Replacing Wood Carvings — Decoy clones used to mislead and trap enemies 257 266.

Relationships

• Lu Shaoyou — Receives the imperial Battle Supervisor from the Emperor, tests him through the Black Tooth Outpost mission, secretly observes his growth, and sends him into the Demon Suppressing Prison as a lethal trial 155 156 180 183 186. His imprinted will later approves of Lu Shaoyou’s progress 223.
• Sikong Zhaixing — Former mentor, traveling companion, and old friend; Sikong guided the young Dugu Xin toward defying fate 282.
• Prince You Ye — Longstanding enemy and acknowledged equal. The two share wine and address one another as “brothers” despite opposing races, then fight a decisive battle over their respective Dao 266 316 317.
• Nether Spring Demon Lord — Enemy with a history of humiliation at the Marquis’s hands; captured by Dugu Xin’s true form 246 258.
• Abyssal Demon Dragon Lord — Demon Lord wounded and ultimately killed by the Marquis’s saber 248 254.
• Lich Lord — Enemy targeted as the greatest threat among the three Demon Lords because of its sorcery; later captured 251 258.
• Lilith — Assailant who attempts to stab him from behind; Dugu Xin reveals that her ambush had been anticipated and baited with a Life-Replacing Clone 254 258.
• Xia Yuan — Crown Prince who shows profound distress and respect as the Marquis succumbs to Origin poison 318.
• Great Gan soldiers and generals — Their commander and symbolic guardian; his presence calms Shenwu Pass during the demonic tide, inspiring awe and fanatical devotion 244 245.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Battle Supervisor’s Arrival

The Marquis receives Lu Shaoyou at Shenwu Pass, tests him with the accumulated momentum of the pass and its fallen soldiers, then gives him a wooden likeness as acknowledgement of the Emperor’s decree 155. He assigns Lu Shaoyou one month to bring back Black Tooth’s head, declaring that failure means death in the wilderness 156.

Manipulation of the Demon Abyss Trial

After Black Tooth Outpost and Ghostly Swamp are destroyed, the Marquis investigates Lu Shaoyou through an animated wooden eagle 166 175 180. He later teleports Lu Shaoyou into the Demon Suppressing Prison, regarding the danger as necessary refinement for an exceptional talent 182 183.

When Liu Chengfeng accuses the Battle Supervisor of killing Liu Qing, Shenwu Marquis denies ever dispatching such a person or issuing the Black Tooth mission, neutralizing the evidence and shielding Lu Shaoyou 187 188.

Defense of Shenwu Pass

As war approaches, he orders all nine human passes to prepare for battle 237. During the first overwhelming demonic tide, he ascends Shenwu Pass’s central tower and annihilates billions of demons with a single slash, while warning that the true enemies have yet to emerge 244 245.

War Against the Demon Lords

The Marquis faces Nether Spring Demon Lord, Abyssal Demon Dragon Lord, and the Lich Lord alone. He strategically draws the battle away from Shenwu Pass, wounds the dragon, severely damages the Lich Lord, and kills the Abyssal Demon Dragon despite sustaining injuries himself 248 251 254.

Lilith’s apparent assassination succeeds only against a Life-Replacing Clone. His true form then manifests the Yang Shi Cave Heaven and traps the remaining Demon Lords 257 258.

Final Battle and Sacrifice

Rejecting Prince You Ye’s offer of three Demon Lord lives and a century of peace, Dugu Xin declares his goal is lasting peace rather than temporary respite 265. He eventually attempts to reach the Law Mastery Realm through the Five Elements Law and delivers a strike that destroys Prince You Ye’s physical body 316 317.

Origin poison then corrupts him into an Eight-Headed Demon Dragon born from his own body. Retaining his consciousness, he accepts that saving him would require killing the Demon Dragon, names his final blow Sky Opener, and dissolves into multicolored light that merges with the Nine Dragons Swallowing Heaven array 318.

Notable Quotes

“Return to me with its head.” 156

“What this Marquis wants is not a hundred years of peace.” 265

“You three are still not strong enough to kill me.” 247

“Guess.” 266