Xu Household

Biodata

Background / History

Rise in Canglan City

The Xu Household rose to prominence only a few decades before the story, making it newly established nobility beside Canglan City’s other great lineages. It had fewer members and shallower foundations than its rivals. Xu Yilin built his reputation through artifact refining, while the household’s affordable, high-quality weapons secured approximately seventy percent of the city’s weapons market 2 6 14.

Liu Wuxie’s father had previously saved the household from destruction. Xu Yilin remained deeply grateful and adopted Liu Wuxie after the boy’s parents disappeared when he was five. He later honored the families’ prenatal marriage agreement by marrying his daughter, Xu Lingxue, to Liu Wuxie, despite the latter’s reputation as a wastrel and a proposed marriage alliance from the Tian Household 1 2 11.

Weapons Business Crisis

The Tian Household undermined the Xu Household by poaching its trained master artificers and obtaining its distinctive forging methods. Replacement smiths produced defective weapons, damaging customer confidence and threatening the household’s main source of income. As finances deteriorated, some guards resigned to join rival households 6 9 28.

Scarred Tiger then brought a broken saber bearing the Xu Household’s mark to one of its workshops, claiming that faulty weapons had caused two deaths. Liu Wuxie exposed the saber as a counterfeit made with Tian Household materials. His intervention prevented a major compensation claim and further reputational damage; afterward, the household’s servants began treating him with newfound respect 11 12 13.

To restore production, Liu Wuxie secretly taught Hu Shi advanced forging techniques. Hu Shi presented ten weapons containing traces of spirituality, earning appointment as chief artifact refiner. Their improved quality, offered without a price increase, attracted overwhelming orders from Canglan City and neighboring cities, leaving the Tian Household’s competing weapons neglected 11 28 29.

Hundred Demon Gathering

At the Wan Household’s Hundred Demon Gathering, Liu Wuxie and Xu Lingxue faced hostility from the Tian, Wan, and Xue households. Xu Lingxue revealed her status as Baili Qing’s disciple at the Imperial Academy, but Xue Yu subsequently threatened to destroy the Xu Household unless Liu Wuxie entered a dangerous beast-taming contest 15 16 17 22.

After the confrontation escalated into violence, Master Huo secured a month-long reprieve for Liu Wuxie. Xu Yilin ordered preparations for a likely joint assault by the Tian and Wan households. Liu Wuxie also gave Xu Yilin and Xu Lingxue fifty spirit stones each, hoping to strengthen the household before the deadline 24.

Ore Supply and Mining Camp Attacks

The Tian and Wan households next targeted the Xu Household’s purple-gold ore supply. Repeated robberies injured transport guards and deprived the workshops of raw materials. Liu Wuxie recognized that sending Xu Yilin to investigate would leave the household’s city holdings vulnerable, so he went in his place 33.

At Phoenix Roosting Gorge, Liu Wuxie defeated a Stone-Breaking Army detachment attacking the convoy. Its commander, Zhou Hu, revealed the involvement of the Tian Household, Wan Household, and City Lord Qi Enshi. The rival households had offered ten million gold coins for the operation; Qi Enshi sought to manipulate the conflict to eliminate Zhou Hu and conceal his own past crimes. The rescued convoy delivered ten carts of ore to Canglan City 35 37 38.

A further attack struck the mining camp, where Tian and Wan forces joined the Langya Hired Mercenary Corps. Xu Yishan initially dismissed Liu Wuxie’s warning, leaving the camp unprepared. Liu Wuxie ultimately killed the attackers and installed the Surging Waves Earth Essence Formation to protect the mine 41 42 45.

Imperial Investigation

The Stone-Breaking Army’s disappearance brought an imperial investigation to Canglan City. Xue Chunyu, acting at Xue Yu’s request, attempted to implicate Liu Wuxie and the Xu Household. Evidence of fighting at Phoenix Roosting Gorge nearly resulted in the convoy guards being taken to the imperial capital for questioning 47 48 49.

Bi Gongyu intervened to defend Liu Wuxie, while Qi Enshi supplied testimony clearing the household. Elder Kong ended the investigation against it, and the official conclusion blamed Langya and his mercenaries. By this point, the household was united behind Liu Wuxie, though only ten days remained before the protection period expired 49 50.

Organization and Members

Holdings and Resources

Capabilities and Defenses

Artifact Refining

The household’s original forging methods were developed and taught by Xu Yilin. Liu Wuxie’s instruction later enabled Hu Shi to produce weapons containing spirituality, giving the workshops a decisive quality advantage 6 11 29.

• Craftsman’s mark: Every household-made weapon bears a distinctive mark normally engravable only by its master craftsmen. Defecting artificers allowed this mark to be exploited in the counterfeit-saber scheme 12.
• Material identification: A genuine Xu saber melted purple-gold during Liu Wuxie’s demonstration, while the counterfeit melted blue 12.
• Acoustic signature: Traditional Xu weapons produce a deep, resonant ring with a trace resembling a dragon’s cry; the counterfeit’s crisp ring exposed a subtle difference 13.
• Expanded training: Trustworthy personnel were selected to learn artifact refining under Hu Shi after his promotion 29.

Formations

• Surging Waves Earth Essence Formation: Built around the mine using fifteen formation nodes and fifteen flags. It conceals the camp and establishes lethal defenses around its nodes 45.
• Formation expertise: Steward Lan received Liu Wuxie’s formation knowledge through Essence Blood and a soul contract 45.
• Spirit Gathering Formation: Liu Wuxie installed a simplified formation in his courtyard using thirty spirit stones. It concentrated surrounding Spiritual Qi but had a limited lifespan as its stones depleted 24 50.

Strategic Limitations

• Limited manpower: The household lacked enough available experts to protect both its city businesses and distant ore supply without dividing its strength 33.
• Industrial dependence: Losing the purple-gold mine would deprive the workshops of their established raw materials; enemies expected this to collapse the household within three months 40.
• Restricted cultivation resources: Even before the crisis, it could purchase only a limited number of spirit stones each month 14.
• Weak political backing: Unlike its local rivals, it lacked established ties to a powerful imperial-capital household, making it an attractive scapegoat during the investigation 47.

Relationships

• Liu Household — Bound by Xu Yilin’s life-and-death friendship with Liu Wuxie’s father, an earlier debt of survival, and the marriage agreement between their children 1 2.
• Song Household — Friendly neighboring lineage. Song Tianhao warned of the ore-vein plot, secretly shared investigators’ questions, and advised strengthening the household through powerful backing or its own cultivation 17 33 47 50.
• Tian Household — Principal commercial rival. Poached artificers, orchestrated weapons-related provocations, and joined attacks on the household’s supply lines and mining camp 6 13 37 42.
• Wan Household — Allied with the Tian Household against the Xu Household; participated in attempts to kill Liu Wuxie and seize or destroy its economic foundations 24 33 40 42.
• Xue Household — Powerful imperial-capital enemy. Xue Yu threatened the household’s destruction, while Xue Chunyu attempted to use the imperial investigation against it 22 48.
• Pill Treasure Pavilion — Support came through Liu Wuxie’s personal Heavenly Spirit Pill partnership. Master Huo secured temporary protection, and Pavilion Master Bi Gongyu intervened during the investigation 6 24 49.
• Baili Qing and the Imperial Academy — Xu Lingxue’s discipleship discouraged direct retaliation, but did not provide unconditional protection for the entire household 16 22 28 50.
• Qi Enshi and the City Lord’s Estate — Covert enemies involved in the convoy conspiracy. Qi Enshi’s later testimony cleared the household without resolving his feud with Liu Wuxie 37 38 49 50.