Ling Jiuxiao

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Ling Jiuxiao (凌九霄)
Alias(es)	Nine Heavens Immortal Venerable
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Founder of the Heavenly Path; master of Nine Heavens Gate Sect Master Jun Ling Yuan; master of the Nine Heavens Limitless Palace 816 856
Occupation/Role	Great Luo Immortal Venerable; cultivator of the Dao of Transcendence; strategist pursuing the Dao of Creation 816 909 872
Status	Deceased; slain by Shen Yun 1052
First Appearance	Mentioned on the Nine Tribulation Tower's historical ranking 530; appears in person 816

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Great Luo Immortal Venerable	816	Had already ascended from the Lower Realm and stood among the Immortal Realm's peak figures after killing Yuhua Immortal Venerable and taking his foundation.
Late Zenith Heaven cultivation	890	Returned from the Underworld with reported late Zenith Heaven cultivation.
Late-stage Daluo	913	Jun Ling Yuan reports that Ling Jiuxiao had recently entered late-stage Daluo and further advanced his divine arts.
Near the Peering into Truth threshold	941	Eternal Night Devil Venerable judges that Ling Jiuxiao has the potential to reach Peering into Truth, a state beyond ordinary Daluo perfection.
Daluo perfection	1046	Had advanced to the perfected realm by the time he sought the Fate Scale's power in the Great Sun Immortal Palace.
Peak Daluo; nearly Peering into Truth	1048	During his final confrontation with Shen Yun, he displayed power at the Peak of Daluo and stood only a step from the Peering into Truth realm.
Cultivation crippled; killed	1052	Shen Yun shattered his physical body and destroyed his remnant soul with Sword Nine, Sever Dao.

Background

Ling Jiuxiao was born into an ordinary Lower Realm family with unremarkable aptitude. In his youth, he worked in the fields with his father, an experience he later used to teach Jun Ling Yuan the value of advancing through apparent retreat. 816 857

He rose from this background through cultivation, founded the Heavenly Path, ascended to the Immortal Realm, and eventually became known as the Nine Heavens Immortal Venerable. At the height of his rise, he killed Yuhua Immortal Venerable and devoured her foundation, claiming Yuhua's former Daoist temple—the Nine Heavens Limitless Palace—as his own. 816 856 909

Ling Jiuxiao's legacy predates the main story by ages. His name occupies the highest position on the Nine Tribulation Tower's historical stele: he completed the Thousandfold Heavenly Stairs in four breaths, surpassing Fang Tianyi's five-breath record. 530

He once ventured into the Immortal Ancient Battlefield and obtained a torn page of the Destiny Heavenly Book. He later created replicas of that page whose artistic conception was considered nearly comparable to the original, though Jun Ling Yuan considered these copies mere diversions made long before Ling Jiuxiao exerted his full ability. 857

Thirty thousand years before the present story, Ling Jiuxiao personally entered the Emperor Tomb and acquired an Immortal Soldier retaining Great Venerable Bai Ze's aura. He later used this knowledge as leverage while attempting to negotiate with Old Turtle for information concerning Bai Ze. 865

The Undying Divine Phoenix later revealed that Great Yan Divine Venerable had brought about Ling Jiuxiao's existence as part of a plan to borrow the Transcendence Chapter's power, defy fate, and reshape Empress Siming's soul. Ling Jiuxiao struggled through the currents of fate for ages and recovered a wisp of an undying True Spirit, but the Divine Venerable's subsequent disappearance left the mission unfinished. 1054

To escape the obligation of continually sustaining Empress Siming's vitality through the Transcendence Chapter, Ling Jiuxiao severed his main body and reincarnated into the Yun Cang Realm in an attempt to shake off fate's restraints. This failed to completely free him from Great Yan Divine Venerable's influence. 1054

Appearance

Ling Jiuxiao initially appears as an inconspicuous plain-robed man, deliberately lacking the outward splendor expected of an Immortal Venerable. 816

• Plain appearance and neat, simple robes without ornaments. 816
• Clear eyes described as capable of reflecting the human heart. 816
• When acting openly, wears a Fate Battle Robe and radiates oppressive killing intent that overwhelms weaker cultivators. 1040
• His body was ultimately shattered by Shen Yun; his remaining soul was annihilated together with his newly born Heaven-Intercepting Dao. 1052

Personality

Ling Jiuxiao is patient, calculating, and exceptionally difficult to provoke into acting without certainty. He considers long-term positioning more valuable than impulsive victory, comparing strategic retreat to planting rice: every backward step establishes another row. 857

He recognizes talent and potential with unusual clarity, praising Azure Dragon as “peerless in this age” while also treating him as a threat that must be removed before he grows further. 816 872 His methods are ruthless when necessary; he is willing to use disciples, allies, arrays, inherited treasures, and political authority to construct layered traps. 872 880 922

Despite his ambition to break free from fate, Ling Jiuxiao remains deeply entangled with it. Shen Yun identifies his reliance on the Great Yan Divine Venerable's lingering protection as a critical weakness, shaking but not breaking Ling Jiuxiao's Dao Heart. 932

His fixation on severing the Divine Venerable's influence eventually became a fundamental contradiction in his Dao. Shen Yun observed that the shadow of the God Venerable remained embedded in every one of Ling Jiuxiao's Dao arts, leaving him unable to cross into Peering into Truth despite his immense foundation. 1049

When Shen Yun's strength exposed the limits of his schemes, Ling Jiuxiao abandoned his usual restraint and fought with increasingly direct, desperate aggression. His declaration that his fate belonged to himself reflected both his resistance to destiny and the obsession that drove his final defeat. 1047 1048

At the end of his life, Ling Jiuxiao broke through his inner demons and chose to face Shen Yun in battle rather than flee. Though defeated, he accepted the result without malice and regarded having fought Shen Yun as a magnificent conclusion to his life. 1052

Abilities & Skills

Dao of Transcendence

Ling Jiuxiao's fundamental path is the Dao of Transcendence, refined from the laws of the Heaven-Intercepting Dao. It focuses on seizing spiritual essence, refining it for oneself, and breaking the shackles of other Dao paths. 909

• Performs rapid fate calculations and divinations. 857 966
• Seeks to transcend causality and the limitations imposed by fate. 909 941
• His mastery of this Dao is tied to the Destiny Heavenly Book's Transcendence Chapter. 1010
• His efforts to sever fate remain incomplete; his dependence on outside protection can become a psychological vulnerability. 932
• Can reverse causality in combat, attempting to turn an opponent's attack and its consequences back upon its origin. 1047 1094
• Its core principle includes transferring his own injuries onto causal threads from the past, though Shen Yun's Sword Qi of Creation surpassed this defense. 1047 1094
• Can draw in and refine the essence of the eight directions to restore and elevate his combat strength once external suppression is removed. 932
• His Transcendence manifestation could halt and redirect Shen Yun's sword attacks, though it was ultimately pierced by Sword Qi of Creation standing beyond ordinary causality and fate. 931 1047

Destiny Heavenly Book

Ling Jiuxiao is the final page—the Transcendence Chapter—of the Destiny Heavenly Book, making his existence inseparable from the divine artifact's complete inheritance. 1010

• Uses Destiny Power to deduce the future and track karmic threads. 857
• Could not locate Azure Dragon in the River of Destiny, forcing him to revise his plans. 857
• His knowledge of the book allows him to recognize the danger posed by Shen Yun's own mastery of it. 941
• The book's final inheritance cannot be completed without him. 1010
• Sought to reclaim and employ the Transcendence Chapter's power in the Great Sun Immortal Palace, but the Undying Divine Phoenix refused to permit its use because of its importance to Empress Siming's soul. 1046
• Had previously obtained a torn page of the Destiny Heavenly Book from the Immortal Ancient Battlefield and produced highly prized replicas of it. 857

Heaven-Intercepting Dao

Ling Jiuxiao can employ the Heaven-Intercepting Dao in direct combat and defense. 927

• Manifested a massive Divine Sense hand capable of tearing open the firmament. 927
• Formed an Immortal Heavenly Gate before the Nine Heavens Limitless Palace to resist heavenly tribulation. 927
• Could not fully withstand Shen Yun's triggered Sea of Annihilation Thunder; the backlash destroyed his palace and heavily wounded him. 927
• Manifested a mysterious divine-list-shaped phenomenon linked to karmic threads of the past, present, and future, temporarily freezing the Sea of Annihilation Thunder and dispersing attacks that struck it. 928
• His Immortal Ranking dharma image was torn apart during his battle against Shen Yun. 929
• In his final struggle, he cast aside his lingering obsessions and pushed his Heaven-Intercepting mysteries to their peak while confronting Shen Yun's final sword. 1052
• His newly born Heaven-Intercepting Dao was destroyed alongside his remnant soul in his final defeat. 1052

Fate-Severing Techniques

During his battle with Shen Yun, Ling Jiuxiao used the Severing Fate and Cutting Life technique, destabilizing time and space in an attempt to reverse the situation. 929

• Attacks through fate rather than relying solely on raw magical power. 929
• Can interfere with the opponent's life and karmic trajectory. 929
• Failed to secure victory against Shen Yun, whose techniques and heavenly-tribulation control continually disrupted Ling Jiuxiao's defenses. 929 932

Fate Scale and Fate Judgment

Ling Jiuxiao temporarily gained the assistance of the Fate Scale's Artifact Spirit, Siming Scale, to reinforce his control over fate and prepare a final confrontation with Shen Yun. 1046

• Negotiated ten days of the Fate Scale's aid in exchange for reinforcing Empress Siming's True Spirit afterward. 1046
• Used the Fate Scale's suppression together with his Life Artifact, Blood Abyss, during his duel with Shen Yun. 1047
• Siming Scale manifested a vast Causality Chessboard and reshuffled surrounding causality to raise Ling Jiuxiao's fortune, allowing him to evade an otherwise fatal strike. 1046 1047
• Siming Scale used the forbidden Scripture of the Sixty-Four Chapters and the Emperor Tomb's formation to release Ling Jiuxiao from the Dao of Fate's suppression. 1048
• Employed Fate Judgment, an Immortal King forbidden art combining the Laws of Time and Fate to draw out and kill an opponent's future self. 1050
• Fate Judgment instead revealed Ling Jiuxiao's own future self; Shen Yun destroyed it, inflicting catastrophic injuries upon Ling Jiuxiao in the present. 1050 1051
• Siming Scale's Karmic Reincarnation once intervened to save him from immediate death, but its eventual defeat left him without that protection. 1047 1051
• Siming Scale was left crippled after Shen Yun destroyed her Sea of Qi during the battle's conclusion. 1052

Combat Arts

• Used a Dragon Clan secret art in the final duel, combining it with his Daluo-level cultivation to pressure Xuming Candle Dragon and continue fighting Shen Yun. 1048
• Wielded Blood Abyss in a direct assault after his causal defenses and calculated positioning failed to stop Shen Yun. 1047 1048
• Could sustain a prolonged confrontation against Shen Yun despite repeated injuries, relying on his perfected Daluo foundation, fate assistance, and Transcendence Dao arts. 1047 1048

Strategic Planning

Ling Jiuxiao treats cultivation conflicts as long-term campaigns rather than duels. 872 880

• Uses Jun Ling Yuan's spies and hidden arrangements to gather intelligence. 880
• Recruited Wan Jinsheng to delay Azure Dragon and supplied him with the Sun Key. 872 922
• Invited the Fourth Array Emperor to forge the Sumeru Killing Realm, intending to trap Azure Dragon for three days before intervening personally. 922
• Used the Jiemie Ancient Token to gain authority to enter the Immortal Ancient Battlefield. 1040
• Exploited the crisis in the Immortal Ancient Battlefield by presenting his intervention as an effort to suppress the Demonic Calamity, while his actual objective was Shen Yun's elimination. 1040 1041
• Formed alliances and maneuvered with the Wusheng Realm after recovering from his earlier injuries, ensuring support for his entry into the battlefield. 1041
• Intended to use Shen Yun as bait to lure Azure Dragon, while Jun Ling Yuan prepared further contingencies in the Sea of Buried Bones and Tianwu Hall's legacy treasures. 880
• Attempted to exploit Mu Hanyu's suspected connection to Yuhua Immortal Venerable in order to disrupt Shen Yun's position before the Immortal Realm Grand Competition. 966 967

Equipment & Treasures

• Destiny Heavenly Book — Transcendence Chapter — Ling Jiuxiao himself is identified as the final page required to complete the book's inheritance. 1010
• Destiny Heavenly Book fragment and replicas — Ling Jiuxiao once seized a torn page in the Immortal Ancient Battlefield and created replicas considered nearly equal to the original in artistic conception. 857
• Jiemie Ancient Token — An ancient token representing the Jiemie Immortal King's authority; it can bypass the Immortal Ancient Battlefield's sealing formation. 1040
• Immortal Soldier of the Emperor Tomb — An Immortal Soldier acquired by Ling Jiuxiao thirty thousand years earlier that retained Great Venerable Bai Ze's aura. 865
• Seven-Colored Immortal Pagoda — A Daluo Golden Immortal-level magic tool used against Shen Yun; Shen Yun destroyed it with a single palm strike. 929
• Fate Battle Robe — His battle garment when descending before the Immortal Ancient Battlefield. 1040
• Heavenly Heart Saint Orchid — Ling Jiuxiao successfully plucked one stalk from Eternal Night Devil Venerable's possession while seeking recovery and further advancement. 940
• Fate Scale — An Immortal King-level fate treasure temporarily lent to Ling Jiuxiao by its Artifact Spirit, Siming Scale, for ten days. 1046
• Blood Abyss — Ling Jiuxiao's Life Artifact, a demonic spear used alongside the Fate Scale in his final duel against Shen Yun. 1047

Relationships

• Jun Ling Yuan — Direct disciple and Sect Master of Nine Heavens Gate. Ling Jiuxiao mentors him in strategy but frequently rebukes his impatience and overconfidence. 816 857 880 Jun Ling Yuan later betrayed him by arranging a formation that trapped Ling Jiuxiao and Eternal Night Devil Venerable during their escape from Sky Devil Mountain. 945
• Shen Yun / Azure Dragon — Principal opponent. Ling Jiuxiao initially investigated Azure Dragon's identity, later devoted extensive resources to eliminating him and seizing the Dao of Creation. 816 817 872 941 Shen Yun ultimately defeated and killed Ling Jiuxiao. 1052
• Yuhua Immortal Venerable — Former Immortal Venerable slain by Ling Jiuxiao, whose foundation he absorbed during his ascent. 816 909 Ling Jiuxiao later concluded that Mu Hanyu was likely Yuhua's reincarnation and regarded her as a potential instrument in his conflict with Shen Yun. 966
• Eternal Night Devil Venerable — Powerful ally of convenience. The two cooperate against Azure Dragon while recognizing each other's status and strength. 940 941 They later fought together to escape Jun Ling Yuan's trap at Sky Devil Mountain. 945
• Wan Jinsheng — Recruited as a delaying piece against Azure Dragon; Ling Jiuxiao guides him through a breakthrough and entrusts him with the Sun Key. 872 922
• Old Turtle — Ling Jiuxiao attempted to bargain with it for clues to Great Venerable Bai Ze's whereabouts, offering immortal arts in exchange. 857 865
• Ancestor God Wudao — Opposing force who ordered the Five Prisons War Gods to locate and kill Ling Jiuxiao after discovering him observing the conflict. 886 Ling Jiuxiao later fought the Five Prisons War Gods in the Underworld, suffering injury to his divine soul. 909
• Great Yan Divine Venerable — The Divine Venerable whose lingering protection shielded Ling Jiuxiao and whose plan brought about Ling Jiuxiao's existence to restore Empress Siming's soul. Ling Jiuxiao sought to escape this influence but could never fully sever it from his Dao. 932 1054
• Empress Siming — The intended beneficiary of the ancient plan involving Ling Jiuxiao and the Transcendence Chapter; Ling Jiuxiao was meant to help reshape her soul through the power of fate. 1054
• Undying Divine Phoenix — Guardian of the Great Sun Immortal Palace and Empress Siming's legacy. It prevented Ling Jiuxiao from tampering with the Transcendence Chapter, though it acknowledged the Divine Venerable's favor toward him and later regretted his fall. 1046 1052
• Siming Scale — The red-clad Artifact Spirit of the Fate Scale. She temporarily allied with Ling Jiuxiao, saved him through Karmic Reincarnation, and demanded that he reinforce Empress Siming's True Spirit in return for her aid. 1046 1047 She remained loyal to their agreement during the final battle but was ultimately crippled by Shen Yun. 1052
• Mu Hanyu — A woman Ling Jiuxiao suspected to be Yuhua Immortal Venerable's reincarnation. Her reappearance forced him and Jun Ling Yuan to reconsider their plans and presented a potential threat to his schemes against Shen Yun. 966 967
• Xuming Candle Dragon — A Daluo-level divine beast that joined Shen Yun's side during Ling Jiuxiao's final duel and attacked Ling Jiuxiao out of gratitude to Shen Yun. 1047 1048

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Nine Tribulation Tower legacy — His four-breath record establishes the historical standard that Shen Yun later surpasses. 530 531
• Investigation of Azure Dragon — Appears after Shen Yun's departure, questions Jun Ling Yuan about Azure Dragon's background, and evaluates Azure Dragon as a peerless talent. 816
• Misidentification of Shen Yun — Accepts Jun Ling Yuan's conclusion that Shen Yun and Azure Dragon are different people because of Shen Yun's public use of a puppet. 817
• Campaign for the Dao of Creation — Builds a network of spies, recruits Wan Jinsheng, and develops plans to trap and kill Azure Dragon rather than confront him recklessly. 872 880 922
• Underworld conflict — Enters the Underworld in response to Jade Void Immortal Venerable's actions, clashes with the Five Prisons War Gods, and suffers a divine-soul injury that forces Jun Ling Yuan to seek spiritual medicine. 880 909
• Battle at Nine Heavens Limitless Palace — Shen Yun brings heavenly tribulation to Ling Jiuxiao's Daoist temple, destroys the palace, and forces Ling Jiuxiao into a desperate battle. 927 929
• Defeat and recovery — Ling Jiuxiao survives Shen Yun's assault, loses the Seven-Colored Immortal Pagoda, and later seeks cooperation with Eternal Night Devil Venerable. 929 932 940
• Sky Devil Mountain betrayal — Cooperates with Eternal Night Devil Venerable to escape the chaos at Sky Devil Mountain, only for Jun Ling Yuan to trap them both in a formation during his betrayal. 945
• Immortal Ancient Battlefield intervention — Descends with the Jiemie Ancient Token under the stated purpose of suppressing a Demonic Calamity; Turtle Elder identifies Shen Yun's elimination as Ling Jiuxiao's actual objective. 1039 1040 1041
• Fate Scale scheme — Travels to the Great Sun Immortal Palace to reclaim the Transcendence Chapter and, when refused, obtains ten days of assistance from the Fate Scale to execute his plan against Shen Yun. 1046
• Peak duel and Fate Judgment — Battles Shen Yun using the Dao of Transcendence, Blood Abyss, and Fate Judgment, only for his future self to be exposed and destroyed. 1047 1050 1051
• Final fall — After his physical body and cultivation are crippled, Ling Jiuxiao triggers a final heavenly tribulation and dies fighting Shen Yun, who annihilates his remnant soul with Sword Nine, Sever Dao. 1052
• Revelation of his purpose — The Undying Divine Phoenix reveals after his death that Ling Jiuxiao had been created as part of Great Yan Divine Venerable's plan to use the Transcendence Chapter to reshape Empress Siming's soul. 1054
• Reincarnation revelation — It is further revealed that Ling Jiuxiao severed his main body and reincarnated into the Yun Cang Realm in an attempt to escape the fate imposed by the unfinished mission. 1054

Notable Quotes

“The Dao of Creation will, in the end, be something in This Seat's pocket.” 872

“With every step I take backward, another row of seedlings is planted.” 857

“When a lion fights a rabbit, it still uses its full strength.” 872

“If the heavens do not allow it, I shall intercept the heavens! If the Dao does not tolerate it, I shall conquer the Dao!” 1052

“To be able to clash with a person like you... this life of mine can be considered magnificent!” 1052

Trivia

• Ling Jiuxiao's four-breath completion of the Thousandfold Heavenly Stairs remained the Nine Tribulation Tower's top historical record until Shen Yun surpassed it. 530 531
• He deliberately presents himself in plain robes and avoids outward displays of status when observing events covertly. 816
• Though he seeks to transcend fate, he repeatedly relies on fate calculation and the Destiny Heavenly Book in his plans. 857 1010
• His pursuit of freedom from fate was ultimately undermined by the fact that Great Yan Divine Venerable's influence remained woven into his Dao arts. 1049
• The famous replicas of the Destiny Heavenly Book fragment that he created were regarded by Jun Ling Yuan as insignificant works from hundreds of thousands of years earlier. 857
• Despite his lifelong hostility toward Shen Yun, Ling Jiuxiao died without resentment after giving his all in their final battle. 1052