Bai Fu

Biodata

Power Progression

Bai Fu’s documented development concerns sword mastery and changes in his Sword Dao rather than named cultivation-realm breakthroughs.

Background

Bai Fu was the old sect master’s preferred candidate to lead the foremost peak, but chose Ethereal Peak instead. Yue Su consequently became Moonlight Peak’s master, and Bai Fu’s title became a sore point for him 24.

He brought Qiaoqiao to Ethereal Peak when she was five. Before then, she had lived as a beggar in a ruined temple, surviving on discarded food. Bai Fu remembered her clinging to his robe as they climbed the mountain together 107 170.

Previous Timeline

In the previous timeline, Bai Fu failed to save his disciples and Ethereal Peak. His memories include maintaining the world’s strongest protective sword formation for forty-nine days, exhausting his blood and meridians, and seeing Qiaoqiao’s cold body carried away 35.

The past later appears to Qiaoqiao through visions and illusions. Cultivators first pressured Bai Fu into protecting Heavenly Secrets City, then besieged Ethereal Peak to demand that he surrender Qiaoqiao as the divine maiden. Still depleted from defending the city, he maintained another formation by consuming his true spirit and lifespan 138 139 169.

During the siege, Bai Fu and Qiaoqiao grew close while living together on the peak. When the formation finally disappeared after forty-nine days, his hair turned white and his remaining strength was nearly exhausted. He shielded her from the advancing cultivators and placed a silver protective light within her before she lost consciousness 170 171 172.

After returning to an earlier point in time, Bai Fu recognized that his disciples were still well and Ethereal Peak had not yet declined. He resolved to use this opportunity to prevent the same losses 10 35.

Appearance

• Face and bearing: Renowned throughout the cultivation world for peerlessly exquisite looks as well as swordsmanship; ordinarily carries a cold, refined, ethereal air 9.
• Hair: Long and black, sometimes pinned with a blue-green hairpin and sometimes worn loose 9 18.
• Clothing: Usually wears spotless white robes with broad, cloudlike sleeves; silver patterns appear along his sleeves 9 10.
• Hands: Long, slender fingers repeatedly compared to white jade 41 84.
• Scent: Associated with a cool plum-blossom fragrance 108 180.
• Later appearance: Wears black after leaving the Stargazing Platform; his eyes take on a bloody hue when his killing intent surges 176 178 180.

Personality

Bai Fu is reserved, sparing with words, and ordinarily so unsmiling that Shen Ji is astonished to see him smile. He can be stern with his disciples, sentencing Shen Ji to twenty lashes over his involvement with Ziling 10.

His treatment of Qiaoqiao reveals a gentler, indulgent side. He offers to obtain any sword she names, uses precious healing medicine on her tiny cut, and expresses confidence that she can win the sect tournament when others expect her merely to gain experience 10 35 99.

His protectiveness extends beyond Qiaoqiao. He enters the Demon Realm to rescue Xiao Tingyu despite the potential political consequences, and teaches Shen Ji not to abandon his Sword Dao merely because he encounters a trial 156 184.

Even as slaughter intent threatens his self-control, Bai Fu continues resisting it. He walks away from two vulnerable siblings rather than surrendering to the urge to kill, and ultimately accepts death to protect both Qiaoqiao and the world 180 192.

Abilities & Skills

Guardian Sword Intent

Bai Fu cultivates a protective Sword Dao whose purpose encompasses both the world and the people he personally wishes to safeguard 139.

• Can leave sword intent inside another person’s meridians, where it nourishes them and improves their perception of sword intent 10 109.
• His protection can activate automatically in a crisis 10 117.
• A recipient can assimilate his sword intent and eventually make it their own through advancing swordsmanship 117.

Protective Sword Formation

His sword intent can take tangible form as a defensive formation, described as the strongest of its kind in the world 169.

• Creates a protected domain within Qiaoqiao’s State of Mind, excluding the darkness and resentment threatening her 117 173.
• Can defend an entire peak against tens of thousands of cultivators 169.
• Consumes the user’s true spirit; prolonged use also drains Bai Fu’s lifespan 169 171.
• Spirit Stones cannot replenish his innate true-spirit power. Recovery requires time, making continuous deployment especially dangerous 171.

Slaughter Sword Intent

Bai Fu enters the Slaughter Sword Dao through his Guardian Sword Dao, obtaining ultimate slaughter sword intent 134.

• Can completely destroy the Devil Creatures associated with the Immortality Pills; Radiant Dragon Flame is the other identified means of doing so 133.
• Kills Commandant Feng and Protector Cheng with a single strike when they ambush Qiaoqiao 161 162.
• Shreds the Devil Qi released from Song Wuya’s corpse and overwhelms Mahayana-level opponents 176.
• Repeated use intensifies murderous thoughts. Swordsmen following this path risk madness, indiscriminate killing, and eventual demonic degeneration 134 176.

Sword Mastery

Bai Fu’s mastery allows him to fight without a physical sword; Shen Ji describes him as the sharpest sword in the world 109.

• Defeats the Devil Master after their battle above Flowing Cloud Peak 50 51.
• Kills three attacking Devil Cultivators without spilling a drop of the wonton broth on the table 55 56.
• Demonstrates sufficiently precise Sword Qi control to leave a peach-blossom petal intact 136.

Soul Division

Bai Fu leaves half his soul within Qiaoqiao’s State of Mind to protect her 181.

• The guardian presence there can converse with her and disperse surrounding resentment 117 173.
• Splitting a living soul causes the portion remaining in his body to endure continuous, agonizing pain 181.

Other Skills

• Mind reading: Can hear Qiaoqiao’s inner thoughts and respond to information she has not spoken aloud 10 56 107.
• Spiritual manifestation: Creates a lantern that changes from a snow rabbit into a snow lotus and then releases a fiery dragon 57.
• Conjured shelter: Manifests a cave abode resembling the Wanghan Immortal Abode 180.
• Domestic and leisure skills: Plays the zither and chess. Learned basic cooking from Changyun; during the remembered siege, his cooking improves through daily practice 170 171.

Equipment & Items

• Remnant Snow — A slender white sword Bai Fu used before attaining mastery in the Sword Dao. He gives it to Qiaoqiao for the sect tournament and personally guides her through its use 108 109.
• Nine Fragrance Jade Dew — Supreme healing medicine capable of restoring flesh to bone. Bai Fu uses it on Qiaoqiao’s small cut despite its extraordinary value 35.
• Saint Pill — Recovers one from a skeletal hand at the Heaven-Melting Cauldron and later gives a Saint Pill to Qiaoqiao 84 181.
• Jade comb — Originally belonged to his master, whose wife had given it as a love token. Qiaoqiao uses it to comb Bai Fu’s hair in the remembered timeline and later gives him its present-timeline counterpart. It falls from his sleeve when he dies 172 182 192.

Relationships

• Qiaoqiao — Youngest disciple and romantic partner. His efforts to protect her include dividing his soul, absorbing the divine maiden’s resentment, and ultimately sacrificing himself 107 181 191 192.
• Shen Ji — Eldest disciple. Bai Fu disciplines him over Ziling but also provides enduring guidance about remaining true to his Sword Dao 10 184.
• Xiao Tingyu — Disciple whom Bai Fu personally helps rescue from the Demon Realm. His arrival overturns her belief that she matters little to him 156.
• Wen Zhi — Disciple who identifies a possible means of reviving him after his death 84 192.
• Fu Fengyuan — Fourth disciple. Bai Fu examines his blocked meridians, tells him to await a turning point, and sends him into the duel that triggers his recovery 41 44 49.
• A Xue — Ethereal Peak’s immortal crane. Freely calls him “Bai Fu,” unlike the other residents of the peak early in the story 5.
• Mu Liuyun — Flowing Cloud Sect master. Familiar enough to tease his cold manner; she supports him when other cultivators pressure him in Qiaoqiao’s vision of the disastrous future 17 138.
• Immortal Venerable Changyun — Close friend who worries about his Slaughter Sword Heart and teaches him basic cooking. Bai Fu wounds him during his loss of control at the Stargazing Platform, but the injury is survivable 133 134 170 176.
• Song Wuya — An object of deep suspicion and hostility. Bai Fu warns Mu Liuyun to be wary of him and later kills him before the Devil Qi inside his corpse is exposed 55 153 176.
• Devil Master — Enemy who seeks revenge against Qiaoqiao for Ziling’s death. Bai Fu defeats him and forces his retreat 50 51.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Return and Protection of Ethereal Peak

After emerging from seclusion, Bai Fu conceals his knowledge of the previous timeline while treating Qiaoqiao with unusual warmth. He reassures her about the sect trial and later rewards her first-place finish by allowing her to present Ethereal Peak’s gift at Mu Liuyun’s birthday banquet 10 18 35.

At the banquet, he sends Fu Fengyuan to fight Mu Ye. Fu Fengyuan’s determination awakens his bloodline and clears his blocked meridians. Bai Fu subsequently attributes his knowledge of the condition to a dream encounter with Qingshuang’s soul 44 49.

When the Devil Master attacks Qiaoqiao, Bai Fu intervenes and defeats him. He then rejects attempts to blame Qiaoqiao for the invasion, pointing out the Devil Sect’s longstanding interest in the Flowing Cloud Divine Lamp and the apparent sabotage of the sect’s protective formation 50 51.

Saint Pills and Heavenly Secrets City

Bai Fu obtains a Saint Pill despite an enemy’s warning that Qiaoqiao is destined to die. In Heavenly Secrets City, he helps her deceive Aqi into spreading accusations about Ning Xuan’s counterfeit pills, gives her Remnant Snow, and kills Elder Wen, whose written confession is subsequently discovered 84 101 108 118.

His actions against the Immortality Pill threat require slaughter sword intent, worsening the strain on his self-control 133 134.

Demon Realm Rescue

Bai Fu accompanies his disciples into the Demon Realm and intervenes when Zi Rong overwhelms the Xiao Household elders. He later kills two attackers targeting Qiaoqiao, revealing his slaughter sword intent to his astonished disciples 140 156 161 162.

After Qiaoqiao obtains the Divine Sword, a formation transports the group beneath the Divine Pillar. There, the Zhaowu Mirror shows black Qi nearly engulfing Bai Fu 164.

Stargazing Platform and Separation

Bai Fu goes to stop Song Wuya’s ritual. After Song Wuya’s death exposes the Devil Qi inside him, Bai Fu destroys it, kills the elders who attack him, and loses control of his killing urge. He wounds Changyun, abandons his title, and leaves 174 176.

Qiaoqiao later finds him in the Devil Realm and realizes that he has left half his soul within her. They affirm their feelings, and she promises to find a way to save him. Bai Fu absorbs the resentment affecting her and gives her a Saint Pill before they separate 180 181.

Final Sacrifice

Bai Fu’s actions gather slaughter karma and the divine maiden’s resentment into himself, making him the prospective replacement for the Demon God. Rather than allowing that return, he guides Qiaoqiao’s sword toward his heart, then drives it into his own heart meridians when she hesitates. The Divine Sword destroys the newly formed Devil Seed, dispersing the accumulated resentment, Devil Qi, and goddess’s obsession 191 192.

He dies after reassuring Qiaoqiao. Wen Zhi identifies a possible resurrection method requiring two identical Saint Pills and numerous rare spiritual treasures. The pills become available, but some of the additional treasures may no longer exist 192.

Notable Quotes

“If you want to touch her, you must get past this venerable one first.” 50

“As long as you wish it, I’ll be here.” 118

“If the sword in my hand cannot protect those I love, then I shall walk the path of slaughter.” 176