Xie Yichu

Biodata

Background / History

Xie Yichu was his master’s final disciple and was largely raised by his senior martial brother, Xiao Fansheng. His master described his Cultivation Saint Body as granting cultivation speed beyond that of ordinary cultivators, regardless of his spiritual root falling short of a Heavenly Spiritual Root. He also warned that Xie Yichu had shallow affinities with family and kin 26.

As a young cultivator, Xie Yichu explored multiple secret realms. In one, he obtained a bamboo slip recording Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Treasures, including the Life-and-Death Snake. He also adventured with Ming Yi, the future head of the Ming Household 148 161.

His exceptional Wood Spiritual Root made him a prospective successor to either Spirit Medicine Peak or Spirit Plant Peak. Instead, he disappeared and returned carrying an entire mountain. After placing it within Yuanji Sect, he declared himself the peak master of Green Bamboo Peak. He lived there alone, without even a menial disciple, and habitually meditated on a smooth black stone rather than in a residence 26 27 30.

Concerned that his cultivation-centered life would leave him without emotional attachments, Xiao Fansheng repeatedly tried to find him a disciple. Xie Yichu finally agreed to accept Xue Fuyao, whose apparent wood-element Heavenly Spiritual Root suited his instruction, on the condition that she would be both his first and last disciple 26 27.

Appearance

• Features: A handsome face and ink-black eyes 143.
• Bearing: Xue Fuyao likens him to an immortal descended into the mortal world, with transcendent grace and exceptional poise 182.
• Embarrassment: His face and ears redden when Xiao Fansheng teases him about his gentleness toward Fuyao 139 140.
• During the barrier crisis: His usual immaculate appearance deteriorates into disheveled hair, facial stubble, and dark circles beneath his eyes 398.

Personality

Initially, Xie Yichu is aloof, intensely focused on cultivation, and uninterested in most other affairs. His austere living arrangements reflect indifference to comfort rather than a carefully maintained image. Despite his elevated bearing, the sect’s elders know him as a troublemaker whose strength makes challenging him dangerous 26 27.

Accepting Fuyao gradually reveals a warmer side. Her activities on Green Bamboo Peak do not disturb him as he expects; instead, he appreciates the sheltering tree she plants beside his meditation spot and begins to enjoy having a disciple. He encourages her to explore the sect rather than cultivate constantly, later becoming openly gentle and generous with her 29 30 50 139.

His affection does not exclude discipline. Repeated pill-furnace explosions exhaust his patience, and he sends Fuyao to study under Changqingzi. He also imposes cultivation deadlines and threatens confinement when he believes she is neglecting her potential or concealing important matters 143 225 480.

Xie Yichu is pragmatic about kindness and uncompromising toward threats. He teaches that excessive selflessness can breed entitlement rather than gratitude, and later criticizes Fuyao for leaving enemies alive. Although he supports her right to retaliate, he worries that fixation on revenge could produce a heart demon and cultivation deviation 163 184 484.

Abilities & Skills

Cultivation and Spiritual Power

• His Cultivation Saint Body gives him extraordinary cultivation aptitude, while his Wood Spiritual Root has 99% purity 26 30.
• He carries a mountain into Yuanji Sect to establish Green Bamboo Peak 30.
• He manipulates blue-green Spiritual Power like a rope, retrieving Fuyao from the mountainside without leaving the summit 143.
• His precise realm remains unrevealed. During the Emperor’s Tomb expedition, the narration notes that more than a century has passed since his last known action 108.

Sword Attacks and Combat

• Protective phantom: A phantom of Xie Yichu appears when Lin Ye attacks Fuyao and gravely wounds her with sword light 88.
• Weaponless Sword Qi: He kills a cultivator about to attack Gu Nian by flicking Sword Qi from two fingers 114.
• Invisible force: He dismembers a giant venomous python whose scales Fuyao cannot pierce with Shattered Star 172.
• Divine Beast battle: A dragon and phoenix fighting together can only barely match him. He later reports victory, although the beasts’ flesh and essence blood must be shared, with the essence blood assigned to the sect 174 175.

Movement, Detection, and Protection

• Uses Divine Sense to monitor activity on Green Bamboo Peak while cultivating 29.
• Flies while carrying Fuyao under one arm, explaining that this is faster than her Flying Spiritual Artifact and lets him evacuate her immediately if danger arises 171.
• Protects her from the disorienting influence of the Emperor’s Tomb’s beast carvings 108.
• Examines her condition after her disappearance in the Qiming Secret Realm and recognizes that she has gained an opportunity 175.
• Sends her back to the Cultivation Realm with a sweep of his sleeve during the barrier crisis 399.

Formations

• Seals Green Bamboo Peak with a golden formation after expelling Fuyao and her repeatedly exploding pill furnace 143.
• Gives her a formation disc intended to teleport her to a fixed safe location. Its displacement elsewhere leaves him searching for several days 172 175.
• Encloses the entire peak in a formation and increases its Spiritual Power severalfold to support her emergency seclusion 480.

Treasure, Beast, and Curse Knowledge

• Identifies the Earth Demon Bull’s dependence on contact with the ground and explains how to deprive it of that advantage 108.
• Recognizes cold flame grass as evidence of unusually dense water and fire Spiritual Power, and identifies a python’s mutation as the result of consuming dragon blood 171 172.
• Diagnoses the Crimson Feather Imperial Household’s inherited affliction as a curse caused by a perished Life-and-Death Snake. He explains both a pill-based treatment and the additional measures required for complete eradication 161 162.
• Explains how vengeful souls can generate netherfire for forging artifacts capable of harming an opponent’s soul 225.
• Recognizes the Imperial Jade Seal as the Kongtong Seal’s sealed physical form and uses Fuyao’s blood to reveal its original appearance 399.
• Cannot decipher Fuyao’s ancient inscription, but infers its body-tempering function and suggests consulting exceptionally old powers 175.

Teaching

• Directs Fuyao to reach the Twelfth Layer of Qi Refining before attempting Perfect Foundation Establishment 27.
• Provides cultivation resources, medicinal-bath guidance, and the Longevity Formula 27 35.
• Emphasizes a stable foundation, practical experience, and a state of mind suited to one’s talent rather than advancement alone 30 209 339.
• Encourages continued cultivation of Haoran Righteous Qi after recognizing Fuyao’s rare aptitude for it 225.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Silver Spirit Tree — A gift from Fuyao that converts surrounding spiritual energy into pure wood-aspected energy, producing an immediate beneficial response in him 50.
• Bamboo slip on Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Treasures — Obtained during his youthful secret-realm explorations; the source of his knowledge of the Life-and-Death Snake 161.
• Folding fan — Uses one while discussing the imperial household’s curse; no combat function is established 162.
• Poison-Repelling Pills — Supplies these to Fuyao before entering Black Nether Forest’s death miasma 172.
• Black token — Entrusts this plain-looking item to Fuyao for secret, personal delivery to Jimo Yunqi; its intended use concerns the Jimo Household’s struggle against the Demon Race 424.
• Imperial Jade Seal / Kongtong Seal — Identifies and unseals its physical form, then later gives the Imperial Jade Seal to Fuyao before her recruitment journey 399 412.

Relationships

• Xue Fuyao — His first and only disciple. He promises never to accept another, provides extensive protection and resources, and increasingly treats her with parental affection. She reciprocates with gifts, including the Silver Spirit Tree, fruit preparations, and tea 26 50 139 340.
• Xiao Fansheng — His senior martial brother and the person who largely raised him. Xiao Fansheng arranges Fuyao’s apprenticeship out of concern for his emotional isolation and later teases him about his changed demeanor 26 139 140.
• His master — Recognized his exceptional physique and protected him against an attempted coerced marriage. After Dong Chanyi pressured Yuanji Sect through Piaomiao Holy Land, his master attacked the holy land, which lost five Spirit Transformation elders and one-third of its wealth 26 496.
• Changqingzi — A close friend who entered Yuanji Sect at the same time under a different master. Xie Yichu entrusts Fuyao’s pill-refinement education to him 143.
• Ming Yi — One of his few friends and a former adventuring companion. They once repaired the Ming residence together, though Xie Yichu avoids explaining why it needed repairs 148 153 161.
• Dong Chanyi — An enemy and former Saintess of Piaomiao Holy Land. She tried to make him fall in love with her so she could kill him to perfect her ruthless Dao. When courtship failed, she attempted to force a marriage through her holy land; Xie Yichu maintains that he never reciprocated her feelings 496.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Notable Quotes

“This is both my first disciple and my last disciple, and I ask senior martial brother to grant this.” 26

“You dare hurt my disciple? You're courting death!” 88

“Remember, in this world, you can be kind, but you must not be too kind. A cup of rice earns gratitude; a bushel earns enmity.” 163

“For cultivators, even the most powerful weapon is merely an external force. Only strength of your own is true strength.” 175