Sword Slave

Biodata

Power Progression

Sword Slave’s documented growth concerns access to Tianxiu’s power rather than cultivation breakthroughs; he explicitly states that his cultivation has remained in the Third Realm 107.

Background

Lu Zhiyu cultivated under his first master at a Daoist temple in Dongxiang Commandery. His master died roughly forty years before his final journey; when asked the cause, Lu answered that poverty had killed him 125.

He voluntarily approached the Taihua Sect’s Immortal Sword because he wanted the power to change his fate and social standing. This choice went against his master’s wish that he remain an unaffiliated cultivator in the mountains and help ordinary people 129.

After fusing with Tianxiu, he became its seventy-first bearer. The fusion preserved his youthful appearance but eroded his memories and autonomy. By the time he met Lü Bufan, he could barely remember his surname and feared becoming a puppet 107 118 120 129.

Appearance

• Youthful face: Handsome and apparently ageless despite being over forty 107 121.
• Build and clothing: Somewhat thin; wears blue, gray, white, and moon-white robes at different appearances 107 117 121 127.
• Forehead mark: An Immortal Sword Mark flashes between his brows when Tianxiu reacts or releases its power 107 109.
• Sword aura: Five-Colored Rainbow Light Sword Qi coils around his body and identifies him to knowledgeable observers 109 127.
• Final deterioration: His sword-bearing arm withers first; his body subsequently dries out as his essence, energy, and spirit fade 129.

Personality

Sword Slave is cold, mocking, and notoriously temperamental. Other disciples fear that he may casually destroy and devour their weapons. He enjoys dangerous close combat and treats the terror surrounding an execution with unsettling amusement 119 123.

His cruelty coexists with resentment toward his own condition. He admits that he has killed countless people without knowing whether they deserved death, and he dislikes swallowing the resentment left in broken weapons. His repeated interest in Lü Bufan’s control of Heavy Sword Wuming is driven by a desperate wish to resist Tianxiu’s erosion of his will 118 120.

Lü Bufan’s companionship brings out warmth, teasing, and concern that are rarely visible elsewhere. As his memories return, Sword Slave uses his remaining freedom to avenge old humiliations, visit his master’s grave, and warn Lü Bufan against repeating his mistake 125 128 129.

Abilities & Skills

Innate Sword Body

Bai Ye describes Sword Slave as possessing an innate sword body whose aura resonates with Tianxiu 85.

• His compatibility allows him to nurture the Immortal Sword’s killing power.
• His innate vicious aura is said to bring misfortune to those close to him 85.

Immortal Sword Tianxiu

Sword Slave houses Tianxiu within his body and manifests it as a three-foot silver sword surrounded by Five-Colored Rainbow Light 107 110.

• Destructive sword qi: Cuts through buildings, stone walls, mountainsides, and powerful opponents 123 129.
• Flight and transport: Travels through the sky in sword light and carries Lü Bufan with him 121.
• Soul destruction: Tianxiu absorbs Granny Mei’s fleeing soul after cutting apart her black-smoke form 128.
• Large-scale attacks: His final release kills Youyun, divides a river, and splits a stone peak. He subsequently challenges the establishment’s Ninth-Realm owner, who withdraws without fighting 129.

Devouring and Sword Nurturing

Tianxiu sustains itself by consuming the spirituality and essence of other weapons. Sword Slave reports having swallowed more than eighty supreme-grade enchanted swords, Immortal Artifact fragments, and Ferocious Weapons 108 120.

• Tianxiu plunders artifacts and treasures that it severs or shatters 119.
• It can consume souls, vital blood, spiritual power, and cultivation—not merely weapons 121.
• Sword Slave extracts and swallows slain Martial Warriors’ blood-and-qi essence during combat 123 124.
• The Sword-Nurturing Platform provides an alternative source of nourishment, sparing him further artifact consumption 120.

Swordsmanship and Combat Perception

Sword Slave can fight with his own understanding of swordsmanship while sealing Tianxiu’s power 110.

• Detects Lü Bufan’s concealed sword cultivation from his passage through the Nine Palaces Sword Formation 108.
• Recognizes Heavy Sword Wuming as a Ferocious Weapon and identifies the Wandering Sword Dao 107 119.
• Kills concealed sentries at a distance with individual strands of sword qi 121.
• Fights several Martial Warriors at close quarters using sword-finger techniques. His body withstands blows from Qian Menghu and is described as tougher than an ordinary Spirit Artifact, though sustained attacks still injure him 123 124.

Knowledge of Weapons and Cultivation

• Explains that Immortal Artifacts lose their spirits under the Mortal Realm’s laws, leaving instinct and Dao resonance 120.
• Identifies Ferocious Weapons as Nether Weapons, formerly used by Netherworld deities or cultivators 120.
• Recognizes the danger in Lü Bufan’s Dao-Martial Dual Cultivation and observes that his martial cultivation exceeds his cultivator cultivation 108.

Costs and Vulnerabilities

• Loss of autonomy: Duchen can take over Sword Slave’s body. After one such incident, Sword Slave mistakes his missing time for possession by Tianxiu 118 119.
• Mental and sensory erosion: Suffers memory loss and cannot taste food or wine during his time in Sword Abyss 120.
• Unstable control: Tianxiu overrides his restraint during his first duel with Lü Bufan 110.
• Limited defense: The sword emphasizes attack and slaughter rather than protection; Sword Slave remains vulnerable to sufficiently powerful strikes 124.
• Fatal consumption: Tianxiu ultimately devours each bearer’s soul and blood essence. Sword Slave says that consuming seventy-two bearers may restore a trace of the sword spirit’s awareness 129.

Equipment & Items

• Immortal Sword Tianxiu — Taihua Sect’s sect-guarding Immortal Sword and the source of both his extraordinary combat power and fatal deterioration 128 129.
• Mirage Pearl — Given to him by Lü Bufan. He uses it to project an illusion that deceives the Sect Hall elders while he travels away from their supervision 125.
• Blood-written cloth message — Secretly passed to Lü Bufan before his death. Written using blood forced from his fingertip with sword qi, it states that the sect leader known as True Person Xuance is a false body 130.

Relationships

• Lü Bufan — Initially a suspect, rival, and potential source of nourishment for Tianxiu. Becomes his companion and supporter; Sword Slave protects him, shares knowledge with him, and ultimately urges him to escape the Taihua Sect 107 118 120 128 129.
• His first master — Raised him on the path of cultivation and named him Lu Zhiyu. Sword Slave regrets rejecting his advice and returns to die at his grave 125 129 130.
• Duchen — Taihua Sect leader and Sword Slave’s superior. Gives him orders and directly controls his body during the investigation of Lü Bufan 115 118 119.
• Immortal Master Yuan Cheng — An acquaintance from the period when candidates were tested for resonance with Tianxiu. Yuan Cheng unsuccessfully attempted the same opportunity that bound Lu Zhiyu to the sword 107.
• Youyun Jushi — A perfected Sixth-Realm sword cultivator who humiliated Sword Slave’s master forty-five years earlier. Sword Slave deliberately draws him into battle and kills him 129.
• The unnamed minor sect master’s daughter — A woman Sword Slave once admired. Her suffering at Immortal Breeze and Dao Moon becomes one reason for his final attack on the establishment 128.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Marsh Pearl Island

Sword Slave arrives under the sect master’s orders to secure the Sword-Nurturing Platform. He forces the Elder Hall’s Void Boats to withdraw despite Elder Dao Hu’s challenge to his authority, then notices that Lü Bufan and Heavy Sword Wuming are unusual 107.

Suspecting ties to Two Realms Village, he confronts Lü Bufan and challenges him for the platform. Although he promises to seal Tianxiu’s power, the sword becomes uncontrollable during their duel. Sword Slave and Tianxiu are sent flying from the cavern, and Luo Wuya takes the unconscious Lü Bufan away 109 110.

Sword Abyss

After the platform becomes sealed inside Lü Bufan, Sword Slave receives orders to keep him nearby and investigate it with Tianxiu. His interrogation reveals his private fear of becoming a puppet, but Duchen then takes control of his body to question Lü Bufan directly 115 118.

The two later clash using only their weapons. Once Lü Bufan learns to nourish Tianxiu through the platform, their relationship becomes less hostile: they share grilled fish and wine, and Sword Slave reveals his forgotten surname 119 120.

Golden Flower Sect Execution

The Taihua Sect sends Sword Slave to kill Qian Menghu for secretly supporting the Southern Borderlands rebellion. He enters the Golden Flower Sect’s manor openly under the name Tianxiu, kills Qian and his remaining defenders, and absorbs their blood-and-qi essence 121 123 124.

After departing, he secretly returns with Lü Bufan to watch former guests loot the ruined stronghold. He presents their behavior as a demonstration of human nature, then uses an illusion and the platform’s concealment to gain time away from Sect Hall supervision 124 125.

Final Revenge and Death

At Immortal Breeze and Dao Moon, Sword Slave seeks people responsible for tormenting a woman he once knew. He kills several attendants and defenders, absorbs Granny Mei’s soul, and confronts Youyun, whose past humiliation of his master is his concealed principal grievance 128 129.

After destroying Youyun, he returns to his abandoned home and master’s grave. He explains Tianxiu’s consumption of its bearers, warns that Lü Bufan may become his successor, and dies while urging him to flee the sect and discard the Sword-Nurturing Platform 129.

Legacy

• Lü Bufan buries Lu Zhiyu beside his master and preserves his secret message about the sect leader 130 140.
• Sword Slave’s final gift—his experience controlling Tianxiu, the flow of his sword intent, and his understanding of attack and slaughter—helps Lü Bufan break into the Fourth Realm 133.
• Tianxiu is sealed in Sword Abyss after his death; the sect leader does not immediately announce a replacement bearer 130.

Notable Quotes

“I’m nothing. I’m only a sword... a sword in the sect master’s hand!” 107

“Tell me! I don’t want to slowly turn into a puppet...” 118

“I wanted the power to change my fate... to change my station in life! I was wrong... I should have listened to Master and cultivated properly in the mountains as an unaffiliated cultivator who helped the common people!” 129