Xue Hen

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Xue Hen belonged to the Xingyi Sect before becoming one of its most feared traitors. Reports credited him with a vow to slaughter every member of the sect, and merely claiming an acquaintance with him was enough to provoke murderous hostility from Xingyi fighters 10 42 108.

His martial background includes two separately described connections. Li Da identifies his master as a former Xingyi grandmaster surnamed Xue, who gravely wounded Li Da’s senior martial brother in a battle that left both combatants badly injured. Gong Wuer later reveals that Martial Uncle Hao raised Xue Hen personally and had no successor other than him 100 576.

His nickname, Crazy Ape, arose from his obsessive training. To understand Monkey-Form Fist, he spent two years living with a troop of monkeys and secretly learned related methods from several other schools 131.

Appearance

Xue Hen is generally depicted as tall and lean, with broad shoulders, a sallow or bronze-colored complexion, and an unnervingly wooden expression 16 82.

• Eyes: Constantly shifting, revealing vitality, malice, ferocity, and madness despite his otherwise expressionless face 82.
• Smile: Transforms his ordinary-looking features into a savage, almost demonic expression 16.
• Movement and posture: Often crouches like an ape or leans forward with his hands behind his back, suggesting a beast preparing to pounce 83 194.
• Clothing: Frequently wears a Zhongshan suit; also appears in a blue-green padded coat and, at the Hanging Temple, bare-chested in heavy snow 16 82 194 305.
• At Mount Lu: Has disheveled short hair and newly sprouting stubble 248.

Personality

Xue Hen’s defining obsession is the pursuit of the Martial Way. He regrets having been born after an age of flourishing martial heroes and seeks opponents, secrets, and inheritances that might let him rival those predecessors. He rejects the idea that government service leaves someone a purely independent martial artist and initially regards personal attachments as restraints on martial achievement 16 194.

His brutality coexists with a deliberate interest in cultivating worthy rivals. He has killed, crippled, and spared talented disciples, sometimes allowing promising opponents to mature so they can challenge him later. He initially treats Lian Youming as one such prospect, then becomes exhilarated when that supposedly unremarkable fighter develops into a genuine equal 83 249.

Pain and danger often intensify his enthusiasm rather than discourage him. He laughs and demands another exchange after being badly injured, yet he is capable of reflection and attachment: Lian Youming’s argument about family gives him pause, the Eyeless Monk receives a solemn promise, and Senior Hao’s death visibly affects him 194 196 305 576.

Abilities & Skills

Xingyi Fist

Xue Hen’s core offense combines penetrating Inner Strength with rapid, tightly linked punches 21 83.

• Half-Step Crushing Fist: A close-range killing method that shortens both footwork and the distance over which force is released, making the strike exceptionally fast 259.
• Pounding Fist: Delivers cannon-like force in direct exchanges 197.
• Crossing Fist: Used during turning counters and attacks beneath an opponent’s ribs 262 573.
• Focused bombardment: Repeatedly attacks a single location to batter an opening into an opponent’s defenses; applies this approach against Lian Youming and the God of Tai Sui 260 493.

Monkey Form and Movement Arts

His movement alternates between low crouches, sudden leaps, contractions, and extensions, making his approaches difficult to follow 83 249 263.

• Uses brick gaps and building corners to descend with exceptional agility 83.
• Employs Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada, covering four or five meters in a single step during his ascent of Five Old Men Peak 248.
• Uses a swaying evasive method identified by Wu Jiu as Xue Dian’s Imitative Form Art, slipping through openings in Lian Youming’s sword attacks 260.
• Can sustain a high-speed journey from Guangzhou into Hunan while being pursued by Lian Youming 469.

Lion’s Roar

A forceful vocal technique that disrupts an opponent’s breathing rhythm and unsettles blood and qi 197.

• Breaks apart surrounding droplets and makes puddles leap upward during the Walled City battle 197.
• Interferes with Lian Youming’s Inner Strength during their Mount Lu duel 258 260.
• Enables the opening in which he catches Lian Youming’s sword tip between his teeth and follows with a crippling counterattack 260.

Dantian Qi Strike

Xue Hen produces a localized bulge of air at the point of impact to neutralize incoming force 259.

• Cultivated over decades and closely bound to his body and life 264.
• Later displays bulges moving from his Dantian and Qi Sea throughout his body 454.
• Limit: Lian Youming’s final Mount Lu punch bursts the defensive bulge, caves in his chest, and triggers his accumulated injuries 264.

Enthrone Me as King

His personal synthesis of the true teachings of numerous martial schools, created specifically to challenge Yang Cuo 263.

• Incorporates Flower Fist, Yanqing Fist, Eagle Claw Kung Fu, Mantis Fist, Tongbei Fist, Springing Leg, Hung Fist, Pigua Fist, Great Sage Fist, Bagua Palm, and weapon methods 263.
• Retains the spirit and intent of techniques rather than reproducing their outward forms 263.
• Unifies animal-form variations into a single fighting system 437.

Martial Recognition

Xue Hen can identify unfamiliar opponents’ methods during combat 305 454.

• Recognizes the Hanging Temple attackers’ techniques, including a hard-training external art resembling one he encountered in the Walled City 305.
• Identifies Heart Demon’s Thirteen Guardians Hardening Skill and Snake Method as Shaolin secret arts 454.

Equipment & Important Possessions

• Tokens and secret letter: Retrieves a token and letter from Tan Fei’s boots, then defeats Lian Youming and takes his token as well. He connects Mount Lu with clues to the Land-Road Immortal realm 82 83.
• Eyeless Monk’s legacy: Receives an earth-shattering secret that includes part of the truth behind the Demon-Slaying Battle. Heart Demon pursues him for what the monk left behind 454 470.
• Golden needle: Conceals one between his fingers during the battle against the God of Tai Sui 494.

Relationships

• Lian Youming — Rival, initially spared as a promising future challenger. Their Mount Lu duel ends in Xue Hen’s defeat, but they later cooperate against the God of Tai Sui and Old Monster Huang 83 249 264 494 574.
• Gong Wuer — Early opponent whom he nearly kills at Mount Lu; later recruits her as a helper and fights alongside her 16 258 469 574.
• Martial Uncle Hao / Senior Hao — Raised Xue Hen and regarded him as his sole successor. Xue Hen silently watches his corpse with visible tension 576.
• Master surnamed Xue — Former Xingyi grandmaster who fought Li Da’s senior martial brother, leaving both severely wounded 100.
• Yang Cuo — Intended opponent for whom Xue Hen developed Enthrone Me as King 263.
• Eyeless Monk — Credited with saving him after Mount Lu. Although aware that the monk intended to use him, Xue Hen promises to challenge the summit again on his behalf 305.
• Situ Wudi — Battlefield ally against the God of Tai Sui and Old Monster Huang 494 574.
• Heart Demon — Member of the Ten Demons who pursues the Eyeless Monk’s legacy and clashes with Xue Hen 454.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Early Challenges and the Hidden Chamber

Xue Hen first appears challenging a successor to the Xingyi Sect’s Tiger inheritance. At the hidden chamber, he discovers an inscription referring to Lü Dongbin and Mount Lu before fighting Gong Wuer. Lian Youming strikes an existing palm injury on his back with Coiling Silk Force, disrupting his suppressed wounds and allowing Gong Wuer to counterattack. Xue Hen escapes, newly interested in Lian Youming’s rapid development 3 16 19.

Cangzhou and the Tokens

Returning to Cangzhou, Xue Hen takes a token and letter from Tan Fei’s corpse in front of the assembled martial artists. He subsequently abducts a Baji Sect child to draw out Lian Youming, whom he leads to a department-store roof. After explaining the importance of Mount Lu, he wins their Inner Strength contest and departs with both tokens, leaving Lian Youming injured and chastened 82 83.

Hong Kong and the Walled City

Zhu Wu reports that Xue Hen has reached Hong Kong and beaten three Grand Boxers to death. When Xue Hen meets the wounded Lian Youming, he offers to postpone their duel for half a year; Lian instead requests a fight at Mount Lu. The two then join Boss Chen and the White Lotus Sect Master beneath the Walled City, where they examine an ancestral-hall stele and fight the old monster together. Xue Hen eventually flees the aftermath 170 194 195 197 199.

Five Old Men Peak

Xue Hen ascends Mount Lu while defeating enemies who try to bar his way, openly accepting all challengers. The confrontation develops into a four-way battle involving Lian Youming, Gong Wuer, and Gu Chan. He defeats Gong Wuer, but Lian intervenes before his finishing strike 248 253 258.

Their ensuing duel pushes Lian Youming close to death before thunder and Heavenly Dipper Strength enable him to fight back. Xue Hen unveils Enthrone Me as King, but Lian’s final punch breaks through his Dantian Qi Strike. Xue Hen acknowledges defeat and falls from the cliff, apparently dying; spectators descend to search for his body 260 262 263 264.

Survival and the Eyeless Monk’s Secret

Xue Hen reappears alive at the Hengshan Hanging Temple beside the Eyeless Monk’s corpse. He declares that his contest with Lian Youming is unfinished and promises to challenge the summit again for the monk. When three agents connected to the forces behind Gu Chan attempt to recruit him, he answers with a challenge rather than submission 305.

After traveling west, he fights Heart Demon over the monk’s legacy. He later tells Lian Youming that he killed a Tomb Guardian after a running battle lasting three days and two nights. At the One-Eyed Elder’s tomb, he proposes using Lian as bait for a Mystic Connection expert and reveals Gong Wuer as another participant 454 469 470.

Alliances Against Senior Experts

Xue Hen joins Lian Youming, Gong Wuer, and Situ Wudi against the God of Tai Sui. Dragged over a cliff with the others, he helps weaken their opponent and escapes 493 494.

During the battle against Old Monster Huang, he continues fighting despite injury and tears open the old monster’s skull with Ape Palm during the final coordinated assault. He later stands before Senior Hao’s corpse, revealing a personal connection previously unknown to Lian Youming 574 576.

When a Mystic Connection old monster demands to inspect what Lian Youming has hidden, Xue Hen openly defies him and prepares to fight 610.

Notable Quotes

“What a pity I came decades too late. Fortunately... heh heh... the Martial Way hasn't died, and the martial world isn't far away.” 16

“Don't worry. Until you've fully grown, I couldn't bear to kill you.” 83

“There have never been invincible training methods in this world, only invincible martial men!” 259