He Xiuyuan

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

He Xiuyuan grew up at the Great Sun Sacred Ground as the Holy Lord’s son. Despite possessing a supreme spiritual root, he endured repeated criticism from his father, who compared him unfavorably with other disciples and with his mother’s heavenly spiritual root. His father also insisted that he would amount to nothing without the sacred ground 37.

Determined to prove otherwise, He Xiuyuan destroyed his cultivation and joined the Divine Firmament Sword Sect at the bottom as an outer disciple. He brought nothing from the Great Sun Sacred Ground, relying instead on what he obtained in his new sect. He lived frugally for years after leaving home and later refused Xu Yaoyang’s offer of mission assistance because he did not want help from his former sacred ground 37.

He is the youngest of three children, following his eldest brother He Fangxu and older sister He Shurong. In his account of their childhood, He Fangxu bullied him, He Shurong set traps for him, and both took his cultivation resources while their father tacitly permitted it. Learning about the Divine Firmament Sword Sect gave him a destination outside the sacred ground and strengthened his determination to leave 292.

Later records place his isolation as early as age three, after his mother entered seclusion and his father became occupied with administrative affairs. A maid told him about the outside world and the sword sect when he was thirteen; he departed shortly before turning sixteen. Xu Yaoyang identifies the maid as one of He Xiuyuan's mother's personal attendants and interprets the circumstances of his departure as deliberately arranged 376.

The apparent family rejection is subsequently given a different explanation. Xu Yaoyang concludes that the Great Sun Saint Lord intentionally kept He Xiuyuan outside a dangerous family scheme, sent him to the protection of the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, and positioned Xu Yaoyang as a future ally and legacy for him. His later investigation connects this protective arrangement to the possibility that He Fangxu and He Shurong had ceased to be their original selves 330 376.

He Xiuyuan eventually recalls that his siblings had genuinely loved him when he was very young, before their behavior changed. Recognizing the entity inside his own sealed talent as a would-be usurper allows him to understand that the siblings who later tormented him were no longer the people he remembered. After overcoming his own inner threat, he addresses the Great Sun Saint Lord as his father again, but chooses to remain in the Divine Firmament Sword Sect rather than return home 481 483.

Appearance

• Exceptionally handsome, with the refined bearing of a gentleman 26.
• Delicate yet resolute facial features 26.
• Wears Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciple robes while traveling on its mission 28.
• Golden patterns appear on his arms during combat, strengthening his sword strikes; golden streaks across his body are identified as manifestations of attribute power 31 32.
• His forbidden-technique form initially stands over three meters tall, with blood-colored scale armor, a tail, a ferocious face, and a blood-colored ring resembling a crown above his head 291.
• Under the Third Restriction, he grows over ten meters tall. Golden light covers his body, and the crown between his horns burns with flames 336.

Personality

He Xiuyuan is straightforward, conscientious, and protective of fellow disciples. He dislikes unexplained killing and investigates the identities of Ying Huaixu’s victims before judging his actions. He initially attempts to reason with bandits, but acts decisively when their leader demands that Ye Ningshuang be left behind. He values a clear conscience more than his reputation 26 28 29.

His independence is rooted in his determination to escape his father’s judgment. Nevertheless, criticism still affects him deeply: Ying Huaixu’s disappointment and comparison to his father’s insults eventually push him to resume serious training. His resolve can coexist with complacency, as shown by the time he spends enjoying the inner sect instead of cultivating 37 50.

His companions repeatedly unsettle his confidence. Their rapid breakthroughs leave him envious and demoralized, while their enthusiasm for killing frightens and exasperates him. He nevertheless remains loyal: after suspecting that Ying Huaixu is responsible for his unusual cultivation gains, he resolves to keep the discovery secret to protect him 33 39 41 43 46.

He often alternates between exaggerated confidence and an eagerness to avoid additional responsibility. Fame after his commendation encourages him to show off, while later improvements tempt him to declare himself a genius. Conversely, he conceals his progress or tries to leave before a breakthrough because he expects Ying Huaixu to respond by assigning him stronger enemies 66 113 135 486.

His designation as the sect's “threshold” becomes a lasting obsession. He repeatedly aims to pass the title to Qin Erniu or Xu Yaoyang, and Qin Erniu's progress becomes a particularly effective incentive for him to train. Even after gaining Weapon Lord authority, one of his first celebrations is that he can finally abandon the benchmark title 191 270 330 336 340 481.

Despite his frequent fear and complaints, Ying Huaixu considers him a loyal friend who will genuinely step forward when needed. His later fighting style becomes exceptionally reckless: with Revival Pills available, he repeatedly self-destructs, revives, and resumes battle rather than retreating 292 332.

His decision to unlock his sealed talent reflects both a desire to prove himself and frustration at being unable to accompany Ying Huaixu on equal terms. He accepts the danger of death or possession, but has already anticipated the possibility of an inner usurper and prepared a means of seeking enlightenment. His apparent foolishness does not prevent him from identifying the old man's inability to attack independently or refusing a deceptive offer of merger 479 480 481.

Abilities & Skills

Metal Spiritual Root

• Originally possesses a supreme-grade metal spiritual root, contrasting with his companions’ apparently low-grade roots 33.
• Manifests golden attribute power that reinforces his sword strikes 31 32.
• Ying Huaixu considers his root and specialization sufficient grounds to aim for unrivaled combat strength among cultivators of the same level; this is initially an expectation, not an established achievement 50.
• His root later reaches immortal grade. Its concentrated metal attribute makes him an attractive tonic to a metal-attribute demonic bird 180.
• Metal's characteristics support not only offense and defense but also adaptability and growth through tempering. He uses these traits to acclimate to the destructive costs of his Forbidden Technique 301.

Swordsmanship and Rainbow Sword

• Can kill groups of bandits with sweeping sword light and slaughter pursuing elite wolves 28 31.
• His strongest documented sword technique during the wolf encounter is Rainbow Sword, trained to great accomplishment. Its execution makes his sword blaze with golden light 31.
• Rainbow Sword inflicts only superficial wounds on the Phantom Night Wolf, demonstrating the limits of his strength during that encounter 31.
• At Meridian Opening, he can release true qi as sword qi. His attack fails to damage the transformed city lord’s enlarged arm 47.
• Learns to remove unnecessary flourishes and pauses, combine footwork with swordplay, and maintain continuous pressure through skill rotation. These improvements allow him to exchange blows with Ying Huaixu rather than simply endure a beating 86.
• Can cover his sword in metal spiritual energy to form a giant sword projection 113.
• By the later demonic-beast hunts, he reports full mastery of his other techniques alongside minor mastery of Metal Intent 134.
• His Illusory Dream Trial version attacks with extremely short gaps, exploiting lengthy hand seals, unnecessary movements, and even a one-second pause in an opponent's casting 155.

Stunning Swan

• Uses Stunning Swan, a movement technique, to evade the city lord’s attempt to seize him and reposition for another attack 47.

Unnamed Secret Art

• Possesses a secret art associated with forcibly boosting his strength in the game’s scripted city lord encounter 47.
• In the actual battle, he begins activating it after the escape route is blocked, but its lengthy windup leaves him vulnerable. The city lord knocks him unconscious before activation is completed 47.
• He associates using the move in this desperate situation with the prospect of dying 47.
• Later chapters reveal his inherited forbidden weapons and the potentially fatal costs of using them. The early city-lord encounter does not name the attempted art 47 293.

Sect and Cultivation Knowledge

• Knows little-publicized information about Xu Yaoyang’s position as Holy Son and explains the blood feud between the Divine Firmament Sword Sect and Thousand Mechanisms Sect 29.
• Warns Ye Ningshuang not to expose her unusual advancement method to outsiders 33.
• Explains how the Questioning Heart Formation and Sin-Severing Formation prevent people burdened by karmic sins from leaving Falling Radiance City 43.
• Recognizes the need to prioritize intelligence gathering over destroying enemy outposts 41.
• Suspects that the Golden Goblet Small Secret Realm's appearance may be bait after observing the concentration of visiting geniuses 139.
• Discusses the Star-Devouring Clan's increasingly coordinated tactics with Ying Huaixu and warns that its soldiers are adapting rapidly to their abilities 294.

Unexplained Combat-Based Cultivation Gains

• Discovers that each kill during the Falling Radiance City purge produces a small, measurable cultivation increase 45.
• Notes that earlier killings had never caused this effect and suspects a connection to Ying Huaixu 46.
• Later identifies the same sensation when teaming up with Ying Huaixu to kill demonic beasts. Xu Yaoyang and Ye Ningshuang tell him they do not experience equivalent surges, briefly encouraging his belief that he has a hidden talent 101 103.
• His spiritual power grows rapidly while killing smaller spiders, and later beast hunts improve both his cultivation and technique proficiency 113 134.
• Eventually concludes that his gains probably depend on Ying Huaixu rather than proving that he is independently a peerless genius 135.
• During the Star Sea campaign, power gained from killing also replenishes him and repairs injuries. He deliberately directs his gains toward adapting to the Three Prohibitions instead of immediately raising his cultivation 294 301 340.

Metal Intent and Metal Laws

• Comprehends Metal Intent through sudden enlightenment during the giant-spider battle. Invisible sharpness cuts the surrounding ground and trees as his insight manifests 113.
• Can transform his sword into countless golden threads for piercing attacks and restraints. He uses them to kill Thousand Mechanisms Sect disciples and bind a female monster's limbs to surrounding rock walls 125 146.
• Produces rains of golden sword energy and reinforces his arms with golden power to withstand a monster's bone-blade strike 146.
• Deepens his understanding of Metal Intent on the Star-Gazing Platform, leaving ordinary challengers unable to contend with him even after they comprehend artistic conceptions 147.
• Masters both metal's sharpness and hardness, giving him offensive and defensive capabilities 270.
• Uses the Star Sea world's laws of gold as foundational knowledge to refine his own, more powerful but still incomplete path. This insight accompanies his breakthrough from Dao Seal's first layer to its third 298.

Dao Palace and Great Severing

• Forges a supreme-quality Dao Palace upon reaching the Dao Seal Realm 270.
• Masters the Great Severing Divine Ability at the same stage 270.

Myriad Forbidden Technique and Forbidden Weapons

• Inherits his forbidden arts from his mother. A forbidden weapon begins forming within the True Form from birth, with different individuals developing different weapons. Ordinary use is described as effectively a final act because of its overwhelming cost 293.
• His inheritance produces two forbidden swords, also called the Twin Swords. They can absorb the special power within a Dao Stone 293.
• In his transformed state, one sword's attacks carry rending power while the other carries incinerating power. Wounded Star-Devouring clansmen are annihilated rather than reviving, and his Bone Sword grows increasingly savage-looking with successive kills 291.
• Can combine the Twin Swords into a massive sword wreathed in golden-yellow flame. Higher cultivation unlocks additional power within the technique 301.
• The second layer rapidly consumes vital energy, blood, Divine Soul, body, and spirit sea. Healing Pills, Spirit-Replenishing Pills, combat gains, and Revival Pills allow him to prolong use and adapt 301 330.
• The Third Restriction, also described as the Three Prohibitions, grants a giant form with both metal and fire attributes. His golden sword qi cuts through defenses, while flaming sword qi explodes 336 340.
• Repeatedly surviving the aftereffects with Revival Pills allows him to grow stronger and wield more of the technique's power. Xu Yaoyang observes that his early Third Restriction performance represents less than a tenth of its potential 330 340.
• After defeating the entity within his sealed talent, he explicitly invokes the maternal inheritance as the Myriad Forbidden Technique, manifesting black chains that bind and burn the old man before destroying him 481.

Frenzied Demon Spirit Aspect

• Uses the Frenzied Demon Spirit Aspect during the White Chalk battles 417.
• Can make one of his Twin Swords vanish while directing cutting forces through the other sword, killing numerous bosses before their escalating defenses exceed his cutting power 417.
• Frenzied Demon Cut makes both swords vanish and channels blood energy from his body into the cutting swords 417.
• The technique has limits: enemies later reflect his Cutting Technique back at him, slicing him apart and forcing a Revival Pill to activate 420.

Weapon Lord Authority

• His innate talent is the supreme authority Weapon Lord, originally suppressed by the Great Sun Saint Lord's seal 422 481.
• Can unleash ten times the power of any weapon 481.
• Every weapon he catalogs increases his strength; a larger collection makes him stronger 481.
• Can create cataloged weapons for combat and give weapons physical forms 481.
• His updated Illusory Dream Trial version can disperse Ying Huaixu's condensed sword qi and nullify attacks from his spirit treasure 486.
• His Return to True world consists of mountains covered with weapons. He can suppress an opponent beneath a sword mountain, then release its flying swords to attack from multiple directions 486.
• Can use a weapon disguised as himself as a decoy. Destroying that decoy does not end his trial challenge 486.
• These abilities do not establish superiority over Ying Huaixu: Ying freezes his entire trial world and wins, despite acknowledging the substantial increase in difficulty 486.

Sword Flight and Survival Methods

• Travels by flying sword and explicitly uses Sword Flight to escape pursuing Thousand Mechanisms Sect disciples 66 125.
• Uses Defensive Talismans to survive powerful attacks, including being thrown out of a Frost Giant Bear's cave 174.
• Later treats self-destruction and revival as practical combat tools. During one city assault, he repeats the process seven or eight times before wiping out the defenders 332.
• His reliance on Revival Pills is finite: prolonged battles against Star-Devouring Behemoths nearly exhaust his supply 343.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Sword — Used for sword techniques, sword qi, and close combat; its early name and grade are not specified 28 31 47.
• Storage Bag — Received upon joining the Divine Firmament Sword Sect and used to carry travel provisions 29.
• Healing Pills — Allows him to recover after being injured by the Phantom Night Wolf; later uses healing pills to prolong his forbidden-technique state 32 301.
• Sect token — Receives mission communications, including an order to stand by during the Falling Radiance City operation. Later receives Ying Huaixu's requests for assistance through his Disciple Token 42 134.
• 100,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones — Gifted by Ying Huaixu upon reaching Falling Radiance City 37 38.
• Over 300 Qi-Gathering Pills — Given by Ying Huaixu to support his renewed cultivation effort 50.
• Commendation rewards — Receives cultivation resources after the sect formally commends his supposed contribution at Falling Radiance City. Offers Ying Huaixu half, but Ying declines 66.
• Miniature golden swords — Uses a tiny golden sword to pierce a female monster and release threads within her body. Subsequently draws another miniature sword from between his brows, radiating formidable pressure 146.
• Defensive Talismans — Carries protective talismans in anticipation of dangerous journeys and consumes them under heavy attacks 103 174 420.
• Puppet — Uses a puppet during secret-realm exploration; a strange beast swallows it, and He Xiuyuan escapes in his real body 174.
• Twin forbidden swords — Maternal inherited weapons formed within him. Their demonstrated forms include a Red Ancient Sword and a Bone Sword; they can combine into a larger blade 291 293 301.
• Revival Pills — Permit repeated resurrection and allow him to survive otherwise fatal forbidden-technique costs, self-destruction, and enemy attacks 291 330 332 343.
• Spirit-Replenishing Pills — Used alongside Healing Pills to extend the time available for adapting to the second layer of his Forbidden Technique 301.
• Portrait of Ying Huaixu — A painting that can induce enlightenment when viewed. He prepares it as a countermeasure to the danger within his sealed talent and uses it to regain control of his inner world 481.
• Qin Erniu's cultivation technique — An unnamed new technique supplied to raise his foundation and overcome the limitations of his previous method 271.

Relationships

• Ying Huaixu — Fellow disciple, close friend, and demanding training partner. He initially interprets Ying’s actions as evidence of a cold exterior concealing kindness, later trusts his judgment, and protects his suspected secret. Ying ultimately pressures him to stop slacking and improve his combat ability 29 39 46 50. Their relationship develops into a running quasi-parental joke, while He Xiuyuan continues to protect Ying's secrets even from Xu Yaoyang. His wish to remain useful to Ying helps motivate the dangerous decision to unlock his talent. After his awakening, he maintains that staying with Ying is the right path 86 103 479 480 483.
• Ye Ningshuang — Junior sister and initial romantic interest. He largely stops pursuing her after concluding that she loves Ying Huaixu. He advises her about concealing her cultivation method and later fights to protect her 27 29 33 45 47. They continue fighting together, including during their flight through Thousand Mechanisms Sect territory. She also uses defeating He Xiuyuan as a test of whether Xu Yaoyang is strong enough to join their group 125 191.
• Great Sun Holy Lord / Great Sun Saint Lord — Father. His repeated belittling drives He Xiuyuan to abandon the sacred ground and rebuild his cultivation independently; the resulting estrangement is acknowledged by both He Xiuyuan and Xu Yaoyang 37. Later evidence leads Xu Yaoyang to conclude that the rejection was staged to protect him from dangers within the family. His father also sealed his talent, whose release exposes him to an entity seeking merger or possession. After overcoming it, He Xiuyuan calls him “Dad” and receives permission to remain with the sword sect 330 376 480 481 483.
• Mother — Possesses a heavenly spiritual root, which his father uses as a comparison when criticizing his aptitude 37. His forbidden weapons and Myriad Forbidden Technique are inherited from her. She is moved to tears when Xu Yaoyang brings her images of He Xiuyuan's recent life 293 377 481.
• Xu Yaoyang — The Great Sun Holy Lord’s disciple and the sacred ground’s Holy Son. Recognizes him as “Senior Brother Xiuyuan,” shares news from home, and offers assistance that He Xiuyuan refuses 37. Later becomes a fellow adventurer and benchmark rival. Xu investigates his family history and concludes that He Xiuyuan is the Saint Lord's most protected and favored child. During a dangerous raid, Xu knocks him unconscious and has Tai Wangshu send him out rather than allow him to continue fighting 191 330 376 422.
• Qiu Shiyi — Senior sect cultivator who rescues the group and mistakenly awards He Xiuyuan the greatest credit for defeating the city lord 48. Later observes his improvement, guards his sudden enlightenment, and overwhelms him in a spar using a sphere of water. Following Weapon Lord's awakening, Qiu can no longer beat him and joins the others in seeking an end to his boasting 85 86 87 113 486.
• He Xixiang — Youngest paternal aunt and Ying Huaixu's master. He initially explains that she refuses to acknowledge her Great Sun Sacred Ground ties, but she later tells him that she acknowledges his father as her elder brother and that he need not be overly formal 86 118 137.
• He Fangxu — Eldest biological brother. He Xiuyuan recalls years of bullying and resource theft, followed by an attempt on his life in the Star Sea Secret Realm. He Fangxu steals an important inheritance, forcibly triggers his Forbidden Technique, and possesses a treasure capable of suppressing it. He Xiuyuan asks Ying Huaixu to help kill him. Later revelations distinguish this hostile figure from the affectionate brother He Xiuyuan remembers from early childhood 291 292 481.
• He Shurong — Older sister and the family's second child. Participates in depriving him of resources and setting traps during his childhood, later fights him, and comes to recover He Fangxu's corpse. He ultimately recalls that she loved him before the change in her identity 292 330 481.
• Cheng Wanshu — Cultivation partner and later identified as his wife. He first approaches her while she is operating a rice-dumpling stall, helps improve her business, and subsequently introduces her to his companions as his partner. She warns him against using the dangerous power within him, but ultimately helps open his seal after asking Lü Qingyi to intervene if necessary. She is briefly jealous of the extent to which he is willing to risk himself for Ying Huaixu 139 141 453 480.
• Qin Erniu — Fellow disciple, close rival, and the person He Xiuyuan most wants to inherit his benchmark title. Qin gives him a new cultivation technique but still defeats him through endlessly escalating Berserk. Qin's later accomplishments spur He Xiuyuan to improve his control over the Three Prohibitions 271 330 340.
• Huang Tianqi — Fellow adventurer and frequent source of competitive frustration. He Xiuyuan binds and beats him after comprehending Metal Intent, but Huang later reverses their dynamic by using Spatial Shackles and poison. Huang's abilities reinforce He Xiuyuan's frustration that even an alchemist can surpass him 113 146 147.
• Xue Si — Undercover enemy whom he saves as part of the sect's plan. He is attracted to her, and later knowingly participates in maintaining the appearance that her approach is succeeding 75 84.
• Tai Wangshu — Identifies the seal suppressing his potential and removes him from a dangerous instance after Xu Yaoyang incapacitates him 422.
• Lü Qingyi — Senior sect protector who agrees to intervene if opening his seal becomes dangerous. Witnesses his defeat of the inner usurper and questions him about Ying Huaixu's portrait afterward 480 481.
• Inner-world old man — Entity encountered after his seal is broken, offering merger or combat. He Xiuyuan identifies him as a would-be body-snatcher, rejects the offer, and destroys him with the Myriad Forbidden Technique after using the portrait to attain enlightenment 480 481.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Journey to Falling Radiance City

He Xiuyuan joins the mission as a ninth-layer peak Body Tempering cultivator whom Ying Huaixu remembers as its principal fighter. During the journey, he attempts to court Ye Ningshuang, fights bandits threatening the group, and independently suspects that their assignment may be a trap 26 27 28 30.

The wolf attack exposes a major departure from Ying Huaixu’s game knowledge. Although He Xiuyuan defeats elite wolves, the Phantom Night Wolf repeatedly overwhelms him, leaving Ying to win the battle. Witnessing Ying and Ye Ningshuang’s rapid advances pushes him into seclusion, where he reaches Meridian Opening earlier than Ying expected 31 32 33 35 36.

Blood Sacrifice Investigation

At Falling Radiance City, He Xiuyuan keeps the mission in focus while Ying Huaixu explores the city. He follows Ying and Ye Ningshuang into the Thousand Mechanisms Sect’s hideouts and helps report the discovered Blood Sacrifice Array plot 38 39 40.

When his companions begin destroying outposts wholesale, he persuades them to find their inside contact instead. He subsequently worries that Ying’s additions to their report could be exposed by the sect’s Truth-Testing Stone or provoke war between the sects 41 42.

City Purge and Underground Battle

Ordered by Ying Huaixu to protect Ye Ningshuang, He Xiuyuan joins the purge and discovers that killing enemies increases his cultivation. He becomes increasingly aggressive in pursuing targets, reaches Meridian Opening’s second level, and identifies the fleeing city lord to the sect 45 46.

Trapped underground with his companions, he interrupts the city lord’s advancement and offers to hold him off while Ye Ningshuang carries Ying to safety. The city lord blocks their escape and knocks him unconscious before his secret art can activate 47.

Ying defeats the city lord’s first phase, then places the recovering He Xiuyuan before the transformed enemy and pretends to be unconscious. Qiu Shiyi destroys the remaining threat and credits He Xiuyuan with the victory. He enters the inner sect but feels unworthy of the praise and planned commendation 48.

The sect master subsequently holds a special commendation ceremony. Combined with his later defeat of thirty inner disciples in one strike, the award gives him considerable fame within the inner sect. He offers to share the cultivation-resource rewards with Ying Huaixu, who refuses 66.

Inner-Sect Training

After nearly ten days without meaningful training, He Xiuyuan is confronted by Ying Huaixu. A sparring session exposes his predictable attack patterns, and Ying supplies over three hundred Qi-Gathering Pills while setting a goal of reaching Meridian Opening’s ninth level within two years. He Xiuyuan agrees to cultivate seriously; he later advances beyond Meridian Opening 50 270.

His initial fame does not eliminate his weaknesses. During the Giant Rock Lizard mission, the party instead encounters a Giant Rock Lizard King, which Ying Huaixu freezes. He Xiuyuan repeatedly attacks its head before finally killing it, prompting Ying to insist on further sparring and practical experience against powerful beast kings 66 67.

Continued training removes his flashy movements, pauses between techniques, and reliance on a single sequence of attacks. He learns to combine movement and swordplay and to deny an enemy time to recover. Qiu Shiyi is astonished by the change, although He Xiuyuan remains helpless against Qiu's water-sphere restraint 85 86 87.

Metal Intent and Demonic-Beast Hunts

While traveling with Ying Huaixu's group, He Xiuyuan notices renewed surges of power from combat and declines to reveal Ying's secrets to Xu Yaoyang. His companions' lack of similar sensations briefly makes him wonder whether he possesses a hidden genius-level talent 101 103.

Ying pushes him to fight a giant spider that is terrorizing fellow disciples. Killing its smaller spiders rapidly raises his spiritual power, while the battle with the giant spider leads to sudden enlightenment and comprehension of Metal Intent. His confidence immediately exceeds his actual standing: after restraining and beating Huang Tianqi, he challenges Ying and is promptly frozen and slapped 113 114.

He later fights alongside Ye Ningshuang through Thousand Mechanisms Sect territory. After three days, overwhelming enemy numbers force them to escape through a tunnel, only for them to discover that powerful Sea of Qi cultivators are pursuing Ying Huaixu and drawing the hunt away from them 125.

Further beast hunts with Ying raise him to Meridian Opening's eighth layer and improve his intent and techniques. Realizing that greater strength means greater responsibility in Ying's plans, he attempts to downplay his progress and returns to the sect to pursue a Sea of Qi breakthrough out of Ying's immediate sight 134 135.

Golden Goblet Small Secret Realm and Cheng Wanshu

He Xiuyuan discovers the Golden Goblet Small Secret Realm and asks Ying Huaixu for help exploring it. Once there, he suspects that the gathering of so many geniuses may indicate a trap, but also takes advantage of Ying's presence to explore more freely 137 139.

He meets Cheng Wanshu at her rice-dumpling stall, flirts with her, and helps prepare dumplings using fragrance-enhancing spirit herbs. Her business rapidly improves, and he accompanies her home afterward. He subsequently introduces her to his fellow disciples as his cultivation partner 139 141.

In the female-monster battle, he demonstrates thread restraints, reinforced defense, golden sword rain, and hidden miniature swords. His performance raises the standard represented by his benchmark title, but Ye Ningshuang reveals that the encounter has not tested even thirty percent of her own strength. Huang Tianqi then immobilizes him with spatial artistic conception, and subsequent challenges confirm that He Xiuyuan cannot overcome Spatial Shackles combined with poison 146 147.

Secret-Realm Survival and the Benchmark Role

During later secret-realm exploration, a strange beast swallows He Xiuyuan's puppet, forcing him to flee in his real body until Ying Huaixu finds him. The two gather treasures from an underwater air pocket and later cultivate innate qi in a frost cave, with He Xiuyuan absorbing innate metal qi after sealing the entrance 174.

His newly immortal-grade metal root attracts a huge metal-attribute bird as a potential tonic. After he survives being swallowed by it, Ying takes him to challenge elite wolves, only for a hill-sized Black Wolf King to swallow him before the intended fight can begin 180.

The benchmark joke becomes a practical measure of party strength: Ye Ningshuang requires Xu Yaoyang to defeat him before joining the Azure Fox Ladies expedition. Xu's Great Sun Across the Sky melts He Xiuyuan's attacks and renders his Metal Intent ineffective. Later, He Xiuyuan and Huang Tianqi fight a Nine-Tailed Fox, but the battle ends with their removal from the Secret Realm rather than victory 191 199.

Dao Seal Advancement and Qin Erniu's Technique

After intensive cultivation, He Xiuyuan reaches the Dao Seal Realm, masters metal's sharpness and hardness, forms a supreme-quality Dao Palace, and gains Great Severing. Confident that he has escaped his benchmark status, he returns to the Illusory Dream Trial and easily clears Azure Fox's challenge 270.

The sect's rapid progress again undermines his expectations. Qin Erniu explains that his old cultivation technique cannot currently raise his ceiling and supplies a new one to improve his foundation. He Xiuyuan perfects it within days and defeats almost all of the available trial opponents in the relevant bracket, but still fails against Qin's unlimited Berserk 271.

Star Sea Secret Realm and Family Conflict

Ying Huaixu finds He Xiuyuan slaughtering Star-Devouring clansmen in a transformed forbidden-technique state. He learns that He Fangxu stole an inheritance, brought enemies to surround He Xiuyuan, and forcibly triggered his dangerous technique. Unable to retaliate because his brother possesses a suppression treasure, He Xiuyuan asks Ying to help kill him 291 292.

Their discussion reveals the sibling abuse, the maternal origin of the forbidden weapons, and the swords' ability to consume Dao Stone power. Against increasingly coordinated Star-Devouring forces, He Xiuyuan suffers serious injuries and repeated deaths but continues fighting. Chen Zhiyuan's guidance then helps him refine his metal laws and advance from Dao Seal's first layer to its third 292 293 294 298.

He progressively unlocks the second and third layers of his Forbidden Technique. Revival Pills let him survive escalating aftereffects, while kills support recovery and adaptation. He wipes out a city by repeatedly self-destructing and reviving, later breaches another city's walls under enormous crossbow fire, and eventually learns to clear cities with increasing ease as rivalry with Qin Erniu drives him onward 301 330 332 335 336 340.

At the final city, his attempt to ram the wall costs him a life before Ying Huaixu breaches it. Ying is then trapped in a special space, leaving He Xiuyuan facing eight bosses. The Yin-Yang Reversal Formation supports him and Xu Yaoyang, but the enemy's later beast forms again overwhelm him and nearly exhaust his Revival Pills 341 342 343.

Family Scheme and Suppressed Potential

Xu Yaoyang's investigation reframes He Xiuyuan's estrangement as part of the Great Sun Saint Lord's protective planning. The timing of his departure, the maid who informed him about the outside world, and the changes in his siblings suggest that his father deliberately pushed him away before adulthood 330 376.

During the White Chalk battles, He Xiuyuan fights at the Spirit Aspect stage with flaming sword qi, the Frenzied Demon Spirit Aspect, and blood-powered cutting attacks. Escalating enemies eventually reflect his Cutting Technique and batter him in close combat 415 417 420.

Tai Wangshu detects the Great Sun Saint Lord's seal suppressing his potential. He insists on continuing to prove himself, but Xu Yaoyang knocks him unconscious and has him expelled from the instance. Later discussions emphasize that his hidden talent may have been sealed because its release could kill him, a danger his wife has also warned him about 422 453.

Unsealing Weapon Lord

Increasingly frustrated that he cannot accompany Ying Huaixu on equal terms, He Xiuyuan returns to Cheng Wanshu and insists on opening his talent. She warns that he could die or lose control to another Divine Soul, then obtains Lü Qingyi's promise to intervene before beginning the unsealing 479 480.

Within a dark inner world, the Great Sun Saint Lord's Divine Sense tests his resolve. He endures the destruction of his flesh as he tears apart the chains, enters Return to True, and encounters an old man beneath a golden tree. Rejecting the proposed merger as attempted body theft, he attacks with his Twin Swords but is repeatedly repelled 480.

He recognizes that the old man cannot attack independently and explains that his siblings' altered behavior had led him to anticipate a similar usurper within himself. He produces a portrait of Ying Huaixu, whose light induces enlightenment and destabilizes the old man's world. With the Myriad Forbidden Technique, he binds and destroys the entity, gains complete control of Weapon Lord, and advances to Return to True's seventh layer 481.

He reassures his father and fellow disciples that he remains himself, explains the portrait's function, and chooses to stay in the Divine Firmament Sword Sect. His father accepts the decision 481 483.

Ridiculous Difficulty and Later Simulations

After his awakening, He Xiuyuan's Illusory Dream Trial stage becomes Ridiculous Difficulty. His contemptuous dialogue and claims that Ying Huaixu is no longer his match infuriate the other disciples. Ying tests the updated challenge, encountering weapon suppression, a weapon-covered world, sword mountains, and a decoy before freezing the entire world to win 486.

The real He Xiuyuan attempts to escape but is blocked by Qiu Shiyi, Huang Tianqi, and Qin Erniu. Ying does not beat him; instead, he proposes taking him out to farm monsters. He Xiuyuan immediately agrees, while the others remain frustrated that they can no longer defeat him 486.

Later, He Xiuyuan again challenges Ying Huaixu's Illusory Dream version and is slapped into a battered state. His attempts to reproduce Ying's life through simulations repeatedly end in death at Falling Radiance City; he eventually uses Ice Lord mode to reach Return to True within a simulation. Even with his memories retained, he cannot reproduce Ying's mass production of pills and talismans or locate the Illusory Dream Tree, recognizing that the simulated course differs greatly from their actual history 516.

Original Game Fate

• In Primordial Immortal Cultivation Record, He Xiuyuan is remembered as an upright, exceptionally gifted senior brother destined to die during the mission 26 27.
• The scripted city lord battle has him forcibly boost his strength with a secret art and drive back the boss during its second phase 47.
• Players commemorate him with “Rest in peace, Senior Brother He.” His family background is never disclosed in the game storyline Ying Huaixu remembers 26 37.
• His survival in the actual world is a significant change that leads Ying Huaixu to question whether smaller events can change without preventing later world missions 33 48.
• Ying Huaixu later recalls that the Great Sun Saint Lord personally attacked the Thousand Mechanisms Sect after He Xiuyuan's game-story death and ordered the sacred ground's disciples to kill its members on sight. This memory makes the apparent indifference toward his son seem increasingly inconsistent 292.

Notable Quotes

“I don't actually care about my reputation. Whatever I do, all I ask is that my conscience is clear!” 29

“I'll hold him off. Take Old Ying and get out of here. Find a chance to send word to Senior Brother Qiu!” 47

“I'm weak, not stupid~” 146

“I really was pretty bad at this before, but I'm not an idiot.” 481

“Ahahahaha! From today onward, I'm saying goodbye to thresholds for good!” 481

“I'll stay in the Divine Firmament Sword Sect. With you and Xu Yaoyang at home, there's not much point in my going back. Most importantly, sticking with Ying Huaixu is the right path.” 483