Xiong Ba

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Early Martial Career

Xiong Ba claimed that he began practicing martial arts at five, started killing at eight, and entered the First Rank at twelve. At fifteen, he went into the mountains alone with a saber. His account of what happened by seventeen was interrupted by Lin Yuan 17.

Trapping Shen Qing

As chief of Black Wind Stronghold, Xiong Ba commanded several hundred bandits. The stronghold also housed Zhao Meng’s private soldiers and stockpiles of provisions and refined iron connected to the Zhao Clan’s rebellion. After Shen Qing infiltrated the stronghold and discovered these preparations, the bandits and military crossbowmen prevented her escape 16.

Xiong Ba attacked Shen Qing while she was exhausted from a full day and night without sleep. When Uncle Fu arrived with Dragon Guards, he ordered the crossbowmen to shoot them. Several guards were killed, and the wounded Uncle Fu reached Shen Qing only for the pair to be driven to the cliff’s edge 16.

Breakthrough at Death’s Door

When Shen Qing appeared ready to jump from the cliff, Xiong Ba ordered his men back and offered to release her and Uncle Fu if she defeated him. Shen Qing distrusted the offer but attacked, hoping to draw the fighting into the bandits and create an escape route for Uncle Fu. Xiong Ba intercepted her and struck her back 17.

Shen Qing then burned her lifespan to unleash the Moon-Destroying Slash, grievously wounding him. Rather than dying, Xiong Ba broke through into the Second Rank. He celebrated his survival and began boasting about his martial career, only to be interrupted by Lin Yuan’s arrival 17.

Defeat by Lin Yuan

Xiong Ba initially dismissed Lin Yuan as a mere First Rank martial artist and ordered his bandits to kill him. After Lin Yuan cut down successive waves with the Heaven-Questioning Saber, Xiong Ba intervened personally. His first clash shattered Lin Yuan’s thirty-foot Saber Qi, forcing the youth back seven steps while he retreated only half a step 18.

Convinced that Lin Yuan had exhausted his strength, Xiong Ba attacked again. Lin Yuan detonated three illusory internal organs to empower a thirty-meter slash of blood-red Saber Qi. The attack broke Xiong Ba’s refined-iron club in two and severed his body through the chest, then continued through the bandits and private soldiers behind him 18 19.

Appearance

• Build: Burly and eight chi tall, with a face described as full of brutish flesh 16.
• Hands: Enormous, likened to palm-leaf fans 16 17.
• Battle injury: Sustained a hideous chest wound from the Moon-Destroying Slash; its bleeding stopped during his breakthrough 17.

Personality

Xiong Ba was sexually predatory and cruel toward Shen Qing, demanding that she submit to him and contemplating ways to torment her. His desire to capture her alive prompted him to halt his men when she seemed ready to jump from the cliff 16 17.

He was boastful about his martial achievements and resentful of opponents with superior techniques. Although he envied Lin Yuan’s high-grade saber art, winning their first exchange convinced him that overwhelming strength could crush sophisticated martial arts. He became enraged when Lin Yuan and Shen Qing appeared to ignore him during their conversation 17 18.

Abilities & Skills

Physical Strength and Club Technique

• Wielded a two-hundred-jin spiked club one-handed, although four bandits strained to carry it to him 16.
• Smashed a large crater into bluestone and knocked the exhausted Shen Qing backward three zhang 16 17.
• Used a commonplace Mortal Grade club technique, lacking the high-tier martial arts possessed by his opponents 18.
• After reaching the Second Rank, overwhelmed Lin Yuan’s ordinary full-power saber strike, but could not block his organ-sacrificing attack 18 19.

Disruptive Roar

• Released a thunderous shout that made Shen Qing’s mind buzz, blurred her vision, and disrupted her footing 16.
• Attempted to exploit the opening by grabbing her, but Uncle Fu’s arrival distracted him 16.

Battlefield Command

• Directed bandits and military crossbowmen to contain Shen Qing and block escape routes 16.
• Ordered coordinated crossbow fire against the Dragon Guards on the narrow mountain path 16.
• Withdrew his surviving bandits from Lin Yuan’s path before engaging personally 18.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Refined-iron spiked club: Also described as a spiked mace; weighed two hundred jin. Lin Yuan’s final saber strike snapped it in two 16 19.

Relationships

• Zhao Meng — Rebel collaborator. Zhao Meng’s private soldiers operated at Xiong Ba’s stronghold, and the stronghold reported that Shen Qing had been surrounded there 16 21.
• Shen Qing — Captive opponent and target of his sexual threats. Her Moon-Destroying Slash nearly killed him but instead triggered his breakthrough 16 17.
• Uncle Fu — Enemy rescuer. Xiong Ba ordered the crossbow attack that wounded him and killed several accompanying Dragon Guards 16.
• Lin Yuan — Final opponent and killer. Xiong Ba underestimated his First Rank cultivation and died attempting to block his empowered Heaven-Questioning Saber strike 18 19.