Zhao Layue

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Selection Before Birth

Jingyang chose Zhao Layue as a future Sword-Inheriting Disciple while she was still in her mother’s womb. Green Mountain sent senior cultivators to protect her before birth, although the identity of the peak responsible remained a mystery within the sect for years 18 35 49.

She regarded that selection as a blessing: it freed her from the marriage alliances, poetry gatherings, and possible palace selection expected of a noble young woman. The Zhongzhou Sect nevertheless spent ten years trying to persuade the Zhao Household to change her intended affiliation 49 87.

Early Cultivation

Exceptionally intelligent, Zhao Layue read three thousand books while young and began reading the Daoist Canon at six. Her upbringing centered on preparing for cultivation rather than social accomplishments such as the zither or painting 43 568 577.

After entering Green Mountain at twelve, she rapidly became an inner disciple and gained an ancient sword’s recognition within roughly three months. She then undertook the dangerous practice of Sword Intent Tempering Body on Sword Peak, remaining isolated among its sword intent and cultivating without slackening 14 27 33 43.

Appearance

Zhao Layue has delicate features, thick short eyebrows resembling dark brushstrokes, and eyes with sharply distinct black and white 87.

• Hair: Usually associated with a tousled short black cut, though she grows it long at several points 33 199 429.
• Cultivation-worn appearance: Her early Sword Peak training leaves her dusty, disheveled, and liable to forget to wash her hair 33 43.
• Travel disguise: Uses a bamboo hat to conceal her face 67 87 118.
• Repeated haircuts: Cuts off her braid after waiting for Jing Jiu in White City, and later severs her loose hair with sword intent during the pursuit of Yin San 199 429.

Personality

Zhao Layue is reserved, proud, and intensely devoted to cultivation. Other disciples initially regard her as an unreachable immortal maiden: she speaks little, keeps her distance, and shows no interest in joining Twofold Forgetting Peak despite its efforts to recruit her 32 51.

Her courage does not prevent clear judgment. During the Emerald-Cry Valley ambush, she immediately recognizes that she cannot defeat her attacker and prioritizes defense, deception, and buying time rather than a futile direct assault 159 160.

She is willing to kill decisively and exploit an opening without hesitation. Her attack on Bai Rujing shocks Green Mountain disciples less because of its result than because of its cold timing. Yet her severity coexists with compassion: she rescues and bandages a wounded eaglet, comforts Bai Zao, and reassures Jing Jiu after visiting the place where Lian Sanyue departed 28 570 574 646.

Although deeply attached to Jing Jiu, she does not regard his judgment as infallible. She pursues dangerous battles he would prefer her to avoid and explicitly insists that she is her own person. Their shared cultivation does not erase the difference between their paths 647 953.

Abilities & Skills

Nine Deaths Sword Art

Divine End Peak’s sword art suits Zhao Layue’s innate nature and temperament exceptionally well. After Jingyang, she is the only person identified as knowing it during her confrontation with Yin San 68 430.

• Emphasizes an unyielding commitment expressed as “even through nine deaths, no regrets” 430.
• Contributes to her unusually rapid breakthrough into Wuzhang 65 68.
• Includes an exceptionally dangerous strike that she prepares against Fang Jingtian while driving her Formless Sword Body to its limit 565.
• Her relatively narrow repertoire remains a weakness against Taiping’s millennium of sword experience, despite her higher cultivation realm during their pursuit 430.

Acquired Formless Sword Body

Years of Sword Intent Tempering Body produce a body capable of manifesting and resisting sword intent beyond the normal expectations for her realm 160 297.

• Physical combat: Her precise Introductory Fist Art injures the Wuzhang expert Zuo even while she is gravely wounded 29.
• Concealed defense: Keeps her sword body hidden until a critical moment during the assassination attempt, using it to prolong her survival 160.
• Sword ghost formation: Makes forming a sword ghost easier than it is for ordinary sword cultivators 297.
• Formless sword intent: Manifests sword intent through her body, hair, and clothing; can also direct it internally to suppress hostile sword intent 565 631 1007.
• Limits: Does not eliminate realm disparities or make her invulnerable to powerful law treasures and flying swords 160 630.

Flying Sword Control

Zhao Layue combines the Unthought Sword’s exceptional speed with precise long-range attacks and close-range swordsmanship 159 358 428.

• At Wandering the Wilds’ initial stage, can match a Sea-Breaking cultivator riding an ordinary flying sword by driving the Unthought Sword at full strength 428.
• Practices lethal remote attacks at seventeen miles, the stated limit for the initial stage of Wandering the Wilds 358.
• Destroys all incoming sword images rather than identifying the real weapons, shattering the Three Capitals Sect disciples’ flying swords 73.
• Uses person-and-sword union to close on opponents while holding the Unthought Sword, reducing their ability to interfere with it remotely 81 159.

Defensive Sword Barrier

Jing Jiu teaches her a defensive technique created by Jingyang from a Water-Moon Convent Daoist method associated with the Heavenly Silkworm 159.

• The Unthought Sword traces densely packed lines around her, forming a protective barrier 159.
• At her cultivation level during the assassination attempt, she can sustain it for only a few dozen breaths 159.
• Keeping the sword committed to defense prevents her from simultaneously using it to send a Sword Letter for help 159.

Sword Sense, Calculation, and Tactics

Zhao Layue possesses a clear sword heart and excels at deduction and calculation 159.

• Navigates Divine End Peak’s formation with closed eyes, relying on Sword Sense when ordinary sight and hearing cannot reveal its structure 45.
• Uses apparent weakness to conceal her remaining options during an assassination attempt 160.
• Arranges a trap against Luo Huainan that leaves his sect without evidence against her 212.
• Deliberately increases the noise of her sword attacks against Yin San to attract assistance 430.
• Can still be deceived by a formation that blends into the landscape without murderous intent 159.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Unthought Sword — Jingyang’s former personal sword and Divine End Peak’s principal sword. Although ranked last among the nine principal swords, it is the fastest. It can take bracelet form and perform Sword Journey 239 428.
• Green Sword — Ancient, relatively ordinary-material sword that acknowledged her shortly after she entered the inner sect. Its speed and agility form a defensive screen against Zuo 29 43.
• Sword Restraint / Sword Bracelet — Worn as a bracelet and transformed into a binding weapon. She restrains Zuo with it and attempts to pull it through his neck 29.
• Azure Sky Mirror — Carries the mirror in the Galaxy Alliance and investigates its ability to preserve souls and deceased people as a possible refuge for Jing Jiu 912.
• First Child Sword — Accepts it through Jin Mingcheng; later described as having sharpened it with blood 205 1007.
• Duke of Lu’s wooden token — Given to her by Jing Jiu as a means of contacting the duke if trouble arises in Chaoge City 118.

Relationships

• Jing Jiu / True Person Jingyang — Chosen teacher, cultivation companion, and the person most important to her. She knows his identity years before the other disciples openly discuss it. She later describes their bond as going beyond relations between man and woman, likening it to comrades-in-arms 49 134 574 905.
• Liu S sui — Fellow early follower of Jing Jiu and trusted combat partner. They coordinate without words in killing Luo Huainan and pursuing Taiping 275 664.
• Yuan Qu — Her disciple; addresses her as “Master” 622.
• Gu Qing — Divine End Peak junior who handles much of the peak’s communication and practical work, including maintaining contact with Liu S sui 416.
• Zhuo Rusui — Rival and fellow cultivator. Defeats her after leaving seclusion, later discusses sword-body cultivation with her, and joins her search for a breakthrough catalyst 362 531 539.
• Bai Zao — Fellow cultivator with whom she discusses affection, responsibility, and traveling the Great Dao. Invites her to consider Green Mountain and later comforts her over the obligations preventing her from following Jing Jiu 279 574.
• Lian Sanyue / Guo Dong — Potential teacher who once considered Zhao Layue as a successor but abandoned the idea after Zhao Layue joined Jingyang’s lineage. Zhao Layue explicitly refuses to model her own path on Lian Sanyue’s 610 628.
• True Person Taiping / Yin San — Enemy who threatens Jing Jiu and repeatedly wounds her. She nevertheless recognizes useful sword instruction from him and formally thanks him for it 430.
• Su Ziye — Ally who recognizes her as Jingyang’s true chief disciple and addresses her as “Young Miss.” She seeks his expertise when Jing Jiu cannot awaken 720.
• Zhong Lizi — Host and companion at Star Gate Base, helping her learn about Galaxy Alliance life 894.
• Big One / Liu A’da — White-cat companion who travels with her and frequently rests in her arms 622 894 899.
• Zuo Yi — Jade Lake Peak cultivator who attempts to kill her over her investigation; his death cuts off that investigative trail 286.
• Luo Huainan — Target of her retaliation for his attempt on Jing Jiu’s life 212.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Sword Peak Investigation

Zhao Layue investigates the circumstances surrounding Jingyang’s apparent failed ascension. Her inquiries through the Curtain Rollers reach Jade Lake Peak and provoke Zuo Yi into attempting to kill her. Despite restraining and injuring him, she cannot overcome the realm gap; Jing Jiu’s intervention saves her 28 29 40 286.

Restoring Divine End Peak

At the Sword Inheritance Assembly, she refuses offers from both Yuan Qijing and the Sect Master, choosing Divine End Peak to preserve Jingyang’s lineage. She declares that Jingyang selected her before birth and insists that she does not want the peak replaced with a new branch 43.

She enters the peak’s dangerous sword formations with Jing Jiu, enduring wounds and exhaustion while relying on Sword Sense. After successfully inheriting its sword, she continues to reject recruitment by Twofold Forgetting Peak and becomes Divine End Peak Master 45 46 51 87.

Travels and the Four Seas Banquet

Her first extended journey with Jing Jiu exposes their lack of experience with ordinary travel customs, including their failure to obtain permits before reaching Shangzhou. Over the following two years, she becomes known for killing evil cultivators, monsters, and demons regardless of their patrons 67 91.

At the Four Seas Banquet, revealing her identity transforms the confrontation: her position as a Green Mountain Peak Master forces the Western Prince to receive her personally. Shi Fengchen nevertheless challenges whether that status entitles her to kill freely 87.

Plum Gathering and Emerald-Cry Valley

Zhao Layue intends to enter the Plum Gathering’s Dao Battle despite warnings that Luo Huainan is beyond her strength. A meeting arranged in Guodong’s name instead leads her into an assassination trap at Emerald-Cry Valley 123 156 159.

She survives through layered defensive tactics and her concealed sword body, but her injuries prevent her from competing. Jing Jiu enters in her place and subsequently disappears in the Snowfield 160 203.

Waiting for Jing Jiu and Retaliating Against Luo Huainan

Zhao Layue remains in White City after the other sects leave, refusing to believe Jing Jiu has died. When winter passes without his return, she cuts off her braid and departs 199.

She later organizes Luo Huainan’s death in retaliation for his attempt to kill Jing Jiu. When questioned by the Sect Master, she says she waited three years for the sect’s leaders to act before taking matters into her own hands 212 275.

Pursuing Taiping

Zhao Layue continues investigating the forces behind Jingyang’s failed ascension even when Jing Jiu discourages her. Her suspicions encompass Fang Jingtian and possible concealment within Green Mountain’s leadership 285 286 295.

During her pursuit of Yin San, she attempts a breakthrough in flight, survives his attack, and reaches Wandering the Wilds’ middle stage. Liu S sui joins her after learning that Yin San intends to kill Jing Jiu; their pursuit continues through repeated battles over several days 429 430 431.

Leaving Green Mountain and Choosing Her Own Path

During the dispute over Jing Jiu’s identity, Zhao Layue seizes an opening to sever Bai Rujing’s arms. She then remains with Jing Jiu after he leaves Green Mountain and settles near Yunji Town 570 574.

Later, while Jing Jiu lies unconscious, she enters the Snowfield to nurture her sword through dangerous combat. She kills Snow Enchantresses but is severely wounded in He Wei’s ambush. Afterward, she affirms that risking herself is part of her own path, not something Jing Jiu can decide for her 628 630 631 647.

Protecting and Reviving Jing Jiu

Zhao Layue helps create an opening for Jing Jiu against Taiping during the crisis of the Green Mountain Sword Formation, accepting potentially fatal wounds in the process 684.

When Jing Jiu later becomes unresponsive, she carries him to the Snow Nation Queen, then seeks Su Ziye’s help. Neither provides a satisfactory means of awakening him. After his recovery, she accompanies his farewell journey and asks him not to postpone ascension until she reaches Heaven-Connecting 720 730 739.

Galaxy Alliance

At Star Gate Base, Zhao Layue pieces together information about Jing Jiu’s situation with Ran Handong’s help. She lives with Zhong Lizi, learns about the Galaxy Alliance, and decides to seek Cao Yuan, True Person Tan, and Xilai. Military electromagnetic gunfire fails to penetrate her sword formation when officers attempt to stop her 894.

She asks Cao Yuan whether the Azure Sky Mirror could allow Jing Jiu to survive as a soul apart from his failing, weapon-like body. Later, she confronts the Galaxy Alliance leadership, demonstrates that warships have become potentially lethal enclosures, and states that she will become the new god if Jing Jiu cannot 912 971.

Confrontation with the Founding Patriarch

Zhao Layue transports the weakened Jing Jiu toward the Ancestral Star after learning that the Founding Patriarch has transformed its surrounding star system into a sword formation 989.

During the Solar System Sword Formation crisis, she frees Flower Creek from ice and restrains her with sword intent. She subsequently threatens to kill Flower Creek if the Patriarch acts, refusing to let the prospect of another person’s death override her own killing intent 999 1004.

Notable Quotes

“I want to continue Divine End's lineage.” 43

“Who you are doesn't matter. I only know you're someone very important to me.” 134

“There may be many more things like this in the future. After all, I am my own person.” 647

“If Jing Jiu can't become the new god, then I'll do it.” 971

Trivia

• Name origin: “Layue” refers to the twelfth lunar month, when she was born 433.
• Food: On her first day traveling from Divine End Peak, she eats seven plates of crispy pork and drinks three jars of fruit wine at a hotpot meal 67.
• Cultivation over convenience: Initially refuses to use sword essence to dry her hair, insisting that it is meant for killing 33.
• New Year custom: Privately salutes Jing Jiu as his disciple and then embraces him; the others do not witness such an embrace until much later 577 730.
• Reputation: Her early travels make her famous for killing, but a later account notes that years with Jing Jiu have also made her considerably lazier 630.