Liu Ziyan

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Taking Up the Yin-Yang Evil Demon Art

Liu Ziyan obtained the Yin-Yang Evil Demon Art from an ancient ruin and abandoned her previous cultivation method to practice it. Although she knew it required dual cultivation, she believed her talent and comprehension would allow her to remove its dependence on male yang energy. She failed, and the cost of changing methods eventually became more than she was willing to bear 3 12.

Her refusal to take a male partner stemmed from a deep contempt for men, attributed to unspecified unusual reasons. She had sworn to grow old and die alone rather than accept a cultivation partner. Looking back, she regretted her choice of technique and believed she would otherwise have reached a higher realm 12 24.

A Century with Lin Mo

After noticing Lin Mo’s diligent work, Liu Ziyan transferred him from the Maidservant Department to her residential palace. He performed menial duties there for approximately a century, during which she treated him as a servant to command and punish 1.

When his lifespan was nearly exhausted, she asked about his dying wishes. She mocked his request for a woman but promised to grant it, then remained in secluded cultivation without fulfilling the promise. She also ordered him to die outside her palace rather than dirty it 1 2.

Lin Mo subsequently discovered her suffering from the art’s yang-energy deprivation. Its interference prevented her from gathering spiritual power to kill him. He exploited that vulnerability and forced their first night of dual cultivation despite her objections and threats 3 4.

The encounter brought her into Void Refinement but also bound the technique to Lin Mo’s yang energy. Rather than kill him, she supplied its Yang Volume, cultivation resources, and a Life-Prolonging Pill so that he could remain useful as her long-term partner 5.

Consolidating Her Realm

Liu Ziyan initially estimated that stabilizing Void Refinement alone would take eight to ten years. She reluctantly accepted that further dual cultivation with Lin Mo offered a faster solution, but refused to reveal their relationship by intervening openly in his Enforcement Hall interrogation 12.

Her first attempt to summon him for cultivation ended when she detected another woman’s scent on him. She punished his false explanation, abandoned the planned session, and later instructed him to wash at the Jade Purity Pool 16 17.

After observing his rapid advancement to the eighth level of Qi Refining, she questioned him again and punished another lie. Nevertheless, she felt unexpected sympathy when he cleaned his own blood from her floor. She then paid him eight thousand spirit stones for resolving the Maidservant Department’s troubles 25.

During their next private meeting, she asked whether he hated her. Lin Mo credited his transfer to the palace with saving him from worse abuse in the Maidservant Department. Liu Ziyan voluntarily agreed to another cultivation session while insisting that he remember his subordinate position. Three days later, her realm was fully stabilized, prompting her to reassess his value and suspect that his extraordinary growth concealed a secret 26.

Departure from the Palace

Before leaving for an unspecified destination, Liu Ziyan ordered Lin Mo to clean the palace in one month and record everyone who visited or entered it. She also left him the Soul-Devouring Saber Art and instructed him to seek Grand Elder Hong Yue if he encountered trouble he could not handle 27.

Her absence later mattered when enforcement disciples arrested Lin Mo near the palace. Lin Mo and Shangguan Wuqing reasoned that knowledge of her departure had allowed Dugu Liuli to act without fearing the sect leader’s displeasure 44 47.

Appearance

Liu Ziyan is described as exceptionally beautiful, with a slender figure and a dignified, aloof bearing. Lin Mo considers her looks, figure, and bearing among the finest on the Heavenly Abyss Continent 2 4.

• Hair: Long, silky black hair, worn pinned up during her summons to Lin Mo 16.
• Clothing: Purple gauze dresses and robes; on one occasion, a white gauze robe draped over her purple dress 4 9 16.
• Distinguishing features: Fair skin, delicate shoulders, and long, slender legs 4 9 26.

Personality

Liu Ziyan is proud, domineering, and quick to threaten severe punishment. Her contempt for men and insistence on her own noble status shape both her rejection of cultivation partners and her treatment of Lin Mo. Even after accepting him as a partner, she insists that he remain conscious of his position as her servant 2 3 26.

Her pride does not entirely override practical judgment. She preserves Lin Mo’s life because her cultivation depends on him, and she recognizes that abandoning her technique could weaken both herself and the sect. As sect leader, she tolerates concealed corruption while departments remain functional, but orders an investigation once Lin Mo formally exposes Lü Mingtong’s misconduct 5 9 12.

Her attitude toward Lin Mo gradually becomes less dismissive. She notices his humor, questions whether she had ever treated him as a person, and feels sympathy that she cannot explain. She also finds him increasingly attractive, but neither understands the source of that attraction nor openly acknowledges a romantic attachment 16 17 25 26.

Abilities & Skills

Yin-Yang Evil Demon Art

A high-ranking demonic cultivation method that Liu Ziyan practices through its Yin Scroll 5 7 17.

• Yin-yang harmonization: Draws on a male partner’s yang energy to strengthen cultivation and overcome realm bottlenecks 4 5.
• Complementary scrolls: Produces substantially greater results when her partner also practices the Yang Scroll, allowing the two sides to replenish one another 17.
• Rapid consolidation: Stabilized her Void Refinement realm in three days; during that session, she judged the consolidation speed to be more than a hundred times faster than solitary cultivation 26.
• Partner restriction: Recognizes the first partner’s energy, leaving Liu Ziyan dependent on Lin Mo. Other men cannot provide equivalent cultivation benefits, and changing partners risks backlash 5 34.
• Yang deprivation: Without sufficient yang energy, the technique causes chaotic spiritual energy, overwhelming cravings, and the danger of cultivation deviation 2 3.

Spiritual Power and Control

• Remote manipulation: Opens the bathing chamber door with a gesture and later retrieves the Yang Scroll directly from Lin Mo’s storage ring 3 17.
• Sleeve-generated gusts: Throws Lin Mo across the hall as punishment; a later strike drives him into a wall and makes him cough blood 16 25.
• Voice transmission: Summons Lin Mo shortly after his return to the palace 15 16.
• Cultivation inspection: Recognizes his eighth-level Qi Refining cultivation and examines him for signs of reincarnation 25.
• Spatial distortion: After stabilizing Void Refinement, the spiritual power gathered in her palm visibly warps the surrounding space 26.

Sect Leadership and Instruction

• Orders the Enforcement Hall to investigate reported misconduct 9.
• Gives Hong Yue a three-year deadline to identify a high-ranking infiltrator with possible access to the sect’s core secrets 24.
• Directs Su Yu toward the Ten Thousand Blood Pagoda Art rather than allowing her to repeat Liu Ziyan’s mistakes with an unsuitable dual-cultivation method 24.
• Uses resources and promised rewards to push Lin Mo toward greater cultivation and independent problem-solving 5 17.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Yin-Yang Evil Demon Art scrolls — Obtained from an ancient ruin. She gives Lin Mo the Yang Volume, then retrieves its jade scroll after he masters it 5 12 17.
• Storage rings and cultivation resources — Supplies Lin Mo with spirit stones and pills, later giving him one thousand spirit stones and an eight-thousand-stone payment 5 7 17 25.
• Life-Prolonging Pill — Given to Lin Mo to extend his remaining lifespan by three to five years 5.
• Ten Thousand Blood Pagoda Art — An ancient blood-colored parchment scroll that she gives Su Yu as an alternative cultivation method 24.
• Message Jade Slip — Receives the sect’s accounts for the preceding ten years from Hong Yue 24.
• Soul-Devouring Saber Art — A tattered manual she leaves with Lin Mo before departing; she tells him to obtain a suitable weapon himself 27.

Relationships

• Lin Mo — Long-serving palace servant and cultivation partner. Their bond begins through coercion and becomes a cultivation dependency; she subsequently supports his advancement while maintaining authority over him 1 3 4 5 26.
• Su Yu — Disciple and the sect’s Holy Maiden. Liu Ziyan refuses to teach her the Yin-Yang Evil Demon Art without a suitable Dao companion, providing another advanced method instead. Lin Mo later suspects Su Yu of espionage, but the supplied chapters do not establish that Liu Ziyan shares his suspicion 9 24 34 35.
• Hong Yue — Grand Elder entrusted with sect accounts, counterespionage, and helping Lin Mo during Liu Ziyan’s absence. Their exchanges include teasing, though Hong Yue recalls being bedridden for years after Liu Ziyan struck her for an ill-timed remark 24 27.

Notable Quotes

“You have no right to refuse.” 5

“If I were merciful, there would be no evil people left in this world.” 26