Tu Shan Ge

Biodata

Background / History

Tu Shan Ge spent more than ten years in the Vermilion Luminescence Sect as a spirit pet of an unnamed female disciple. His mistress obtained his divine cultivation method by killing an evil mountain deity, but died shortly after he received it, leaving him without anyone to explain its incomplete and obscure teachings. Following her death in a magical battle, her spirit pets were expelled from the sect; several were subsequently killed by her enemies 22 26.

Tu Shan Ge reached Blazing Mountain and supported his fox clan there. He fought Mount Yang Daoist, lost, and nearly died. His hidden Divine Domain allowed the clan to remain on the mountain without being discovered. He called it the Nine Sovereigns Everbright Golden Palace Grotto-Heaven, borrowing the name of the Vermilion Luminescence Sect sanctuary where his former mistress had always wished to cultivate 21 22.

Appearance

• Fox form: A white fox 21.
• Human appearance: Presents himself as a yellow-robed youth 21 22.
• Assumed identities: Uses illusions to appear as Mount Yang Daoist and is later ordered to impersonate Tong Jizhen 30 40.

Personality

Tu Shan Ge is shrewd, boastful, and strongly concerned with survival. When cornered, he first invokes the Vermilion Luminescence Sect’s authority, then begs for mercy when Chen Heng intensifies the threat. He is deeply distressed by losing control of his accumulated wealth and hopes his new master has a powerful sect or family behind him 21 22.

His concern for security is rooted in responsibility for his clan. He describes supporting its old and young members as difficult, mourns his former mistress, and recognizes how much protection her position once afforded them. Despite claiming to be the finest swordsman among the sect’s three thousand spirit pets, he accepts defeat without embarrassment and promptly praises Chen Heng’s skill 22 26 27.

His reluctant submission develops into admiration for Chen Heng’s talent. After witnessing the extraordinary phenomena of Chen Heng’s Qi Refining breakthrough, he resolves to prove his worth. Though visibly frightened, he intervenes in battle on his master’s behalf and later remains vigilant while Chen Heng recovers from Zhou Chuyu’s attack 31 33 49.

Abilities & Skills

Divine Power

Tu Shan Ge follows the divine path and can summon forces of heaven and earth 21 31.

• Conjures successive wind blades to keep Deng Zhongzhi away from Chen Heng 31.
• Creates layered barriers of rippling light, though Zhou Chuyu’s Flowing Firmament Ruler breaks through them within moments 49.
• His destroyed Divine Path Golden Body severely limits his combat strength; Deng Zhongzhi defeats him using mundane martial arts 31.
• His incomplete cultivation method leaves him unable to explain some properties of his own domain 26.

Divine Domain and Body Reconstruction

Tu Shan Ge opened a hidden, approximately ten-mu Divine Domain with divine power, originally using it to receive incense and prayer power 21.

• Shelters his clan within Blazing Mountain, concealed from Mount Yang Daoist 21.
• Entrance wards protect it, but the fleeing foxes leave them open and allow Chen Heng inside 21.
• Its climate remains springlike throughout the year; it is illuminated despite having no visible sun, moon, or stars 26 30.
• As long as his true body remains alive inside the domain, he can use divine power to reconstruct a body in the outside world. He does so immediately after Deng Zhongzhi kills his manifested body 31.

Illusions and Transformation

Tu Shan Ge can disguise his appearance through illusion 29 30.

• Successfully passes as Mount Yang Daoist when welcoming Tong Yi 30.
• Is tasked with assuming Tong Jizhen’s appearance to conceal Chen Heng’s activities after the latter’s death 40.
• Only Tu Shan Ge and Tu Shan Zhuang can transform their appearances among the foxes present; Tu Shan Zhuang is the more skilled practitioner 21 30.

Yang-Energy Absorption

His fox clan possesses an innate ability to absorb yang energy through physical contact 21.

• Plans to exploit this ability by sending Tu Shan Zhuang, disguised as a beautiful woman, to seduce Chen Heng 21.
• The attempt fails because Tu Shan Zhuang cannot get close enough to him 21.

Swordsmanship

Tu Shan Ge learned sword techniques by observing formidable cultivators in the Vermilion Luminescence Sect 26.

• Spars with a ritual sword against Chen Heng’s peach branch 25.
• Quickly concedes defeat against Chen Heng’s intermediate-mastery Little Scarlet Dragon Sword Manual 25 26.

Cultivation Knowledge and Interrogation

His years in a major sect make him a useful source of information about institutions and cultivation beyond the Rong Kingdom 26.

• Explains the Flower God Manor’s costly Flower-Gathering Banquets, where only the final three survivors can become disciples 26.
• Recounts the Divine House Pivot Splendor Dao Lord’s conquest in Lapis-Free Heaven, based on his former mistress’s account 27.
• Estimates that Primordial Beginning True Origin is upper-grade or supreme-grade ninth-rank true qi, while admitting he has never heard of it 27.
• Repeatedly interrogates Tong Yi, obtaining information about Tong Gaolu’s cultivation, resources, and history, as well as Tong Jizhen’s preferences 35 36 39.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Ritual sword — Used in his unsuccessful sparring match with Chen Heng 25 26.
• Spirit Contract — Binds him to Chen Heng through their names and blood essence. It gives Chen Heng control over his life and actions and permits direct mental communication 21 29.
• Collected Dao arts — Possesses the Qi Armor Technique, Blood Armor Technique, and Aurora Great Escape, inherited from his former mistress and subsequently acquired by Chen Heng. He warns that displaying Aurora Great Escape could attract the Huzhao Sect’s attention because she obtained it by killing one of its disciples 22.
• Heaven and Earth Bag — Receives Tong Yi’s bag from Chen Heng after its talisman coins have been removed 37.

Relationships

• Chen Heng — Master under a coercively imposed Spirit Contract. Their relationship develops from hostility and resentment into service, admiration, and battlefield cooperation 21 26 31 33.
• Former mistress — Unnamed Vermilion Luminescence Sect disciple whose protection he remembers fondly. He regrets that she never obtained Imperial Plain Jade Truth, believing it might have allowed her to survive her final battle 22 27.
• Tu Shan Zhuang — Clansman and transformation specialist whom he directs in the failed seduction scheme and later works alongside during impersonation operations 21 29 39 40.
• Tu Shan Ningning — Clanswoman whom he assigns to deliver meals to Chen Heng 26.
• Mount Yang Daoist — Former enemy who defeated him and occupied his holdings. Tu Shan Ge takes satisfaction in reclaiming the abandoned halls after the Daoist’s death 21 30.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Subjugation at Blazing Mountain

• Attempts to reclaim Blazing Mountain by having the foxes target Chen Heng. Chen Heng follows them into the domain, wounds Tu Shan Ge with arrows, and threatens him with the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead 20 21.
• Signs the Spirit Contract after resisting Chen Heng’s demand and being burned by the bead’s flames 21.
• Reads Chen Heng’s inherited scripture as the Compendium of the Blood River Cart Treasure Wheel’s Complete Formation, rather than a Qi Cultivation Art. The other foxes see the same sinister text, helping reveal that Chen Heng perceives different contents 27 28.

Conflict with the Tong Household

• Tries to avoid provoking Tong Gaolu by impersonating Mount Yang Daoist when Tong Yi visits 29 30.
• Holds off Deng Zhongzhi during the ensuing battle, loses his manifested body, and reconstructs it through divine power 31.
• Guards and interrogates Tong Yi while Chen Heng cultivates, then accompanies his master to Yuanjing aboard the Cloud-Piercing Flying Boat 32 35 36.
• Helps conceal Chen Heng’s movements by taking Tong Jizhen’s place after the assassination 40.

Zhou Chuyu’s Ambush

• Leaves with Chen Heng after Tong Gaolu’s defeat and is himself fooled by his master’s staged injuries. He attempts to intercept Zhou Chuyu’s surprise attack but is too late 48.
• Denounces Zhou Chuyu for attacking the man who freed her from Mount Yang Daoist. Chen Heng saves him when her Flowing Firmament Ruler overwhelms his defense 49.
• After Chen Heng wins, keeps watch, assists his exhausted master, and hands over Zhou Chuyu’s bag and talisman artifacts 49.