Li Xizhou

Biodata

Power Progression

Li Xizhou is explicitly described as having no cultivation during the palace investigation. Her documented advancement concerns bloodline access and supernatural abilities rather than cultivation realms 590.

Background / History

Childhood and Wei Qingju’s Legacy

Wei Qingju was pregnant with Li Xizhou when Yue Muzhou protected her during the crisis surrounding the Qilin Blood affair. After the Empress lost power, Yue stopped three further assassination attempts; she nevertheless died in Bright Moon Palace a month after the original attack 591 636.

As a small child, Xizhou encountered a gentle woman in the Spirit Realm surrounding Vermilion Mirror Hall. They played on a swing, wove flower garlands, and caught fish and shrimp. When her Qilin Blood awakened at six, those encounters ceased. She later understood that her growing bloodline—not the woman’s departure—had cut her off from the realm 631 640.

Xizhou studied the events surrounding her mother’s death from childhood. Remembering the past often left her sitting alone until dark; she eventually moved out of the palace and found life at the Cultivation Literature Academy easier 591 636.

Rise in the Divine Capital

Before becoming heir, Xizhou spent seven years building influence in the Divine Capital while trying to understand her distant father. Her strength grew as she learned which actions he would permit and where his resistance remained absolute 755.

Her faction employed newer figures at court and established officers in the army. Its Jianghu support included southern sects associated with the Immortal Platform and Dragon Lord Dongting, placing her in direct opposition to Li Zhi’s political camp 552.

Her identity as Xu Chuo became less useful after her elevation to Crown Prince. Imperial duties increasingly kept her at the Crown Prince’s offices, and ancestral custom required her to attend court with the emperor four days out of seven 806.

Appearance

• Golden half-mask: Frequently wears a Golden Mask during her meetings with Pei Ye 584 635.
• Eyes: Has pale, exquisite, almond-shaped eyes, repeatedly singled out as particularly captivating 692 763 765.
• Hair and clothing: Has long hair and is often depicted in red robes; she also wears jade boots and silk stockings 613 642 767.
• Public reputation: Xu Chuo describes her as Great Tang’s “national beauty” 552.
• Bearing: Usually graceful and composed; she describes her own face as languid when discussing Li Piaoqing’s makeup 596 731.

Personality

Xizhou is politically calculating, proud, and accustomed to authority. Even while investigating alongside Pei Ye, she corrects his phrasing when he makes decisions for her rather than requesting her approval. She later acknowledges that her high position has taught her to expect gratitude and admiration in return for small gestures of warmth 590 685.

Her composure conceals considerable loneliness. She admits that she habitually handles plans alone, shares little, and becomes overly attached and careless about boundaries with people close to her. Her confrontation with Pei Ye forces her to recognize that trust does not entitle her to decide his obligations without asking him 685.

Her ambitions are not simply a desire to escape her bloodline. Although she believes the Mirage-Qilin Knot could remove Qilin Blood, she refuses to abandon the throne’s struggle. She intends to become emperor and kill Qilin, which she regards as appropriating the fortune that should belong to the people 684.

In private, she is playful and affectionate: she teases Pei Ye, jokes through literary allusions, dances for him, and delights in the Mirage Realm’s creatures. She also asks him to cherish those creatures as innocent beings rather than treat the realm only as a source of resources 691 692 807.

Abilities & Skills

Mirage Blood and Spirit Realm Access

Her maternal bloodline gives her an affinity with the Spirit Realm, though Qilin Blood interferes with it 616 631.

• Can enter the restored Spirit Realm associated with Vermilion Mirror Hall and lead Pei Ye inside through a blood link 643.
• Experiences the underwater palace almost as though walking on level ground, despite being unable to swim 613.
• Describes an innate craving for cold environments as a consequence of her blood’s nature 643.
• Her blood, applied to Pei Ye’s sword, introduces a threat Yu Sicheng cannot safely disregard. The attempt nearly kills her through blood loss 615 616.

Water Manipulation and Merfolk Silk

• Maintains a water curtain against attacking Scale Demons; their continued attacks force her to replenish it 687.
• Draws water into fine threads and weaves them into Merfolk Silk 687.
• Uses strips of Merfolk Silk to dress an injured turtle’s wound 692.

Scholarship and Investigation

• Connects historical accounts of Haojing, King Mu of Zhou, Jiang Yan, and Lord Liu to possible encounters with the Spirit Realm 560.
• Analyzes Guo You’s reconstruction of Seeking the Crossing on the Luo River, distilling three underlying laws from the Guo clan’s accumulated research 597 598.
• Combines case files, testimony, and the history of the Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft to investigate Wei Qingju’s death 590 591.
• Identifies the significance of the approaching sixty-year mark by comparing it with her parents’ ages 618.

Political Strategy

• Commands influence over court maneuvering and military deployments; her faction was responsible for Pei Ye’s rescue from the High-Security Prison 552.
• Offers Jadeite Mountain court and Immortal Platform backing in return for accepting responsibility for regional defense and civilian protection 732.
• Publicly argues that Jianghu fighters should serve the people and country rather than become private retainers of powerful households 763.

Famous Sword Research

• Spends a year confirming that a Famous Sword is somewhere in Xilong, though she cannot determine its identity or exact location 808.
• Proposes detecting the distinctive Spirit Profound trails created by a Famous Sword in flight 808.
• Draws on knowledge of the swords of Ming Qitian, Li Tishui, and Li He, then has a Grand Artifact Master turn the method into a kingfisher-shaped device for Pei Ye 808.

Equipment / Items

• Golden Mask — Her characteristic half-mask during many palace encounters 584 635.
• Sleeve dagger — Carries a small dagger concealed in her sleeve 590.
• Qilin-suppressing elixirs — Used to recover access to her maternal bloodline’s memories and Spirit Realm; require three-day intervals between doses 635 638.
• Mirage-Qilin Knot — Wei Qingju’s legacy, developed through research into the conflict between Mirage Blood and Qilin Blood. Xizhou later binds it to Pei Ye without first obtaining his agreement 645 685.
• Mirage Dragon True Blood — Secures it in the Mirage Realm but initially refuses to use it because of the succession it entails 683.
• Spirit rhinoceros horn — Gives it to Pei Ye as an allusion to hearts being linked; she is astonished to discover that he ate it while trying to reach her 692.
• Sword-seeking kingfisher — Prepares it as a gift for Pei Ye’s western journey, using a Grand Artifact Master’s craftsmanship and her research into Famous Swords 807 808.

Relationships

• Pei Ye — Initially her subordinate and investigator; later her lover and sworn ally. He promises to prevent Qilin from controlling her, while she promises information and resources for killing the Supreme One True Dragon Immortal Lord 560 685 694.
• Wei Qingju — Her late mother. Finding her traces, understanding her death, and recovering her work on the two bloodlines drive Xizhou’s investigations 616 631 645.
• Li Yao — Her father and emperor. Their personal contact is remarkably limited across her first twenty-three years, despite her sustained efforts to understand his decisions. He eventually names her heir 755.
• Yue Muzhou — Her mother’s defender and a source of information about the past. His final message entrusts Pei Ye, his only family and beloved disciple, to her 636 694.
• Li Youlong — Younger sister whose marriage to Yong Ji Xizhou tries to prevent. Xizhou invokes her responsibility as eldest sister when demanding her father’s intervention, and later comforts Youlong before her departure 609 616 617 747.
• Li Zhi — Younger brother and political rival. She nevertheless considers cooperation with his faction possible when their interests align against Prince Yan’s marriage alliance 552 593.
• Li Piaoqing — A potential political partner and Pei Ye’s former sweetheart. Their teasing rivalry coexists with serious negotiations over Jadeite Mountain’s future in Longdi 731 732 765.
• Ming Qitian — Initially inspires hostility and fear because of her bond with Pei Ye. Their private conversation develops into frank sympathy, and Xizhou admits that she likes her 765.
• Yong Ji — A mortal political enemy. He attempts to use Xizhou’s predicament in the Mirage Realm to bargain for Pei Ye’s authority 677 678.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Investigation of the Late Empress

Xizhou brings Pei Ye into the investigation by giving him Yue Muzhou’s original file on the Bright Moon assassination. Their inquiries lead through Guo You, the Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft, the purge of twelve Artifact Masters, and the vanished evidence at Bright Moon Palace 560 590 591.

After Yu Sicheng enters the Goddess of the Luo River Palace, she accompanies Pei Ye in pursuit. She refuses Yu’s offer to withdraw once she learns how he used the wood-peach flower associated with the maid of Clear Thought Hall. Her blood helps turn the battle, and Pei Ye kills Yu Sicheng 611 615 616.

Xizhou then carries Yu’s head before the emperor, claims responsibility for killing him, and demands a written decree concerning Prince Yan’s marriage alliance and Li Youlong’s departure. The emperor writes a note after she insists on her duty as eldest sister 616 617.

Recovery of the Mirage-Qilin Knot

Her efforts to suppress Qilin Blood initially produce only childhood dreams. The breakthrough comes when she discovers that the swing itself is the entrance her mother left: there was no hidden test, only a path waiting for her to grow up 638 640.

She takes Pei Ye into the palace and retrieves the Mirage-Qilin Knot from Wei Qingju’s body. Knowing that she still needs Mirage Dragon True Blood, she opens a passage into the true Mirage Realm and leaves alone, asking him to conceal her departure 643 645.

Mirage Realm Crisis and Alliance

Pei Ye eventually finds her gravely wounded after conflict with Yong Ji and General Chan. She has obtained Mirage Dragon True Blood but withheld its use. Her purpose is not merely to escape Qilin Blood: she wants a means to oppose Qilin’s true-blood pact while preserving White Water for Pei Ye 683 684.

Their reunion exposes a breach of trust over her unilateral decision to bind the Knot to him. They resolve it by explicitly defining their obligations, reconcile, and begin an openly romantic relationship 685.

After Pei Ye becomes Water Lord, Xizhou guides him through the realm and helps him understand why it chose someone capable of connecting it to the mortal world 691 692.

Investiture and Crown Prince Duties

Following Qilin’s selection, Li Yao publicly proclaims his eldest daughter Crown Prince at Vermilion Bird Gate 755.

She uses a subsequent gathering of Jianghu figures to affirm the court’s need for independent martial talent and reject their reduction to great families’ private servants 763.

Her new responsibilities leave little time with Pei Ye. They sometimes meet only briefly between her court work and his sword practice. Before his western departure, she gives him the results of her year-long search for a Famous Sword 806 807 808.

Notable Quotes

“I just hope a fairy tale can grow on this land too.” 603

“But you said I could escape that fate... I’ve never considered it.” 684

“I’ll do everything I can to help you obtain any information about the Supreme One True Dragon Immortal Lord and any means of killing him. That includes the Famous Sword, the Extraordinary Arts Canon, and the Immortal Authority after Qilin’s death.” 685

“There is no need to become any household’s private hound.” 763