Qu Hongxiao

Biodata

Power Progression

History

Camel Bell Mountain

Qu Hongxiao became Camel Bell Mountain’s Human World Walker and reached Peak Nascent Soul at twenty-four. Despite her reputation and aptitude, her master believed her learning remained incomplete and that she lacked groundedness. Before dying, the master hoped she would meet someone capable of guiding her further 36 37 43.

She entered Black Stone City as a tree cutter seeking the Ancestral Tree. Under the Great Curtain’s rules, tree cutters who recognized one another before its opening had to fight until only one remained 37 40 45.

Enrollment at the Three Flavors Study

After her State of Mind collapsed, Qu Hongxiao returned to admire the pear blossoms at Ye Fu’s school and asked to become his student. She initially wanted to recover “the heart of a child.” When Ye Fu explained that studying could not restore it, she chose instead to pursue both the meaning of studying and the meaning of books 25 29.

Ye Fu accepted her tuition but refused her request to stay overnight. He allowed her to remain during the day on three conditions: meals were not included, she must not disturb him by shouting, and she must not interfere with his life. Cultivating beneath the pear tree healed her internal backlash injuries and clarified her soul 30.

Her first assignment was seven days of contemplation beneath the tree. Ye Fu challenged her belief that an undistracted mind was enough: she had never considered how her supposedly clear mirror should respond when exposed to dust and distractions 35.

Ambush and the New Sage Rumor

A conical-hatted tree cutter ambushed Qu Hongxiao while her cultivation was sealed. Unable to locate him or escape, she suffered severe wounds and exhausted herself attempting to use Spirit Rhinoceros 37.

A short-haired, book-bearing Golden Body Dharma Idol then appeared behind her and killed the attacker with the command “Slay.” His fleeing Nascent Soul also perished. Although the manifestation appeared to belong to Qu Hongxiao, Ye Fu’s later reflections establish that he intervened and killed the man 38 39.

The observing Forest Guardian mistook the manifestation for evidence that Qu Hongxiao possessed a sage’s form before becoming a sage—an aptitude associated with the founding patriarchs of the three great sects. He concealed the battle to protect the Forest Guardians. Ye Fu accepted that she would bear the title in his place and privately promised to make her worthy of it 38.

Qu Hongxiao awoke with her wounds healed but no memory of the rescue. She considered Ye Fu the likeliest person responsible, then steadied herself by recalling his instruction that, even with her clear-mirror heart shattered, her upright bones must not bend 38 39.

Five Days with *Clear Breeze*

To prepare her for Black Stone City’s approaching event, Ye Fu sent Qu Hongxiao into a secluded valley within his little world. Her assignment was to read his rewritten Clear Breeze over five days. He chose this painful reconstruction rather than a direct infusion of power that might undermine her foundation 40.

Qu Hongxiao persevered even when the reading nearly shattered her body. The final page asked where she stood amid the countless affairs of the mortal world, causing her body and consciousness to collapse. With her divine soul protected by the pear branch, she revived before Ye Fu could carry out his planned restoration 42 43.

The ordeal helped her understand her shattered State of Mind, her stalled progress toward Spirit Severing, and her late master’s criticism. When she returned, Ye Fu declined a formal account of her accomplishments, telling her that her safe return was enough 43 44.

After the Great Curtain Opened

With everyone’s spiritual power restricted, Qu Hongxiao walked openly through Black Stone City rather than conceal her identity. Other tree cutters recognized her and made way, remaining wary of her even under the shared restrictions 45.

At the Three Flavors Study, an injured white-haired tree cutter panicked upon recognizing her. She later warned him to stay away. He interpreted this as humiliation, but she intended both to protect him from provoking Ye Fu and to keep opportunity-seeking cultivators from disturbing her teacher’s peaceful life 48 49.

Appearance

• Hair: Long and black; cut unevenly during the conical-hatted man’s ambush 30 37 39.
• Clothing: Usually wears white robes, repeatedly described as whiter than snow 33 35 36.
• Face and expression: Delicate features, clear eyes, and an ordinarily impassive expression that Ye Fu privately calls a “poker face” 29 30.
• Bearing: Sits upright while cultivating and generally keeps her head raised when walking. Qin Sanyue regards her as beautiful but unapproachable 30 36 37.

Personality

Qu Hongxiao is earnest, disciplined, and stubborn. She considers questions carefully and treats her responsibilities as a student seriously. Ye Fu initially identifies the temperament she takes pride in as her greatest weakness: her calm depends on avoiding disturbance rather than withstanding it 29 31 35.

Her pride does not prevent her from accepting correction. She acknowledges that her ambitions exceed her abilities and eventually stops trying to uncover Ye Fu’s identity, deciding that her duty is to study diligently and live up to his teaching 29 36 40.

She is exceptionally persistent and dislikes depending on protection. During her final reading trial, she fears death but does not want to force Ye Fu to intervene. Her reserve also conceals affection: her gaze softens around Qin Sanyue, whose pure bearing puts her at ease 42 45.

Abilities & Skills

Spirit Rhinoceros

Her trump-card Divine Ability manifests through the space between her brows 37.

• Uses a one-handed seal and releases bright yellow light capable of breaking an incoming attack 37.
• Under the Great Curtain and her personal cultivation seal, she could produce only an incomplete manifestation that exhausted her strength 37.
• Has no healing effect; Qu Hongxiao explicitly rules it out as the cause of her recovery 38.

Mind of a Clear Mirror

A cultivated State of Mind that Qu Hongxiao understood as freedom from dust and distraction, allowing her to pursue what her heart desired 35.

• Shattered despite her confidence in it 29 35.
• Ye Fu identifies its weakness as her failure to consider how it should endure disturbance 35.
• Her later studies reveal why this mental foundation failed and why her cultivation had stalled 43.

Vast Righteous Qi

Qu Hongxiao gains access to Vast Righteous Qi through Ye Fu’s rewritten Clear Breeze 40 41 43.

• The book’s Qi cleanses and reconstructs her meridians rather than merely replenishing her strength 40 42.
• Majestic righteous Qi pours from her body when she awakens from the final trial 43.
• A faint current remains active after the Great Curtain suppresses Spiritual Qi. She does not understand why her cultivated Qi behaves differently under its rules 45.

Apparent Golden Body Dharma Idol

A giant, short-haired humanoid of light holding a book appears behind Qu Hongxiao during her rescue 38.

• Kills the conical-hatted attacker with a single spoken command 38.
• Resembles the sage’s form previously seen above Black Stone City, prompting the Forest Guardian’s mistaken identification 38.
• Not established as an independently usable ability: Ye Fu is responsible for the intervention, and Qu Hongxiao remembers neither the manifestation nor the killing 38 39.

Equipment & Items

• Rewritten Clear Breeze — Ye Fu’s modified version of a common book, infused with Vast Righteous Qi and a final question tailored to her circumstances 40 42.
• Pear-tree branch — Supplied by Ye Fu as a safeguard for her soul. Carries his divine sense, warns her against distraction, and preserves her divine soul during her fatal collapse 40 41 43.
• Qin Sanyue’s borrowed clothes — Made by Ye Fu; accelerate cultivation and Divine Ability deduction while clearing the mind and guarding against Qi Deviation. Qu Hongxiao later folds and boxes them after changing back into white robes 43 45.
• Oilpaper umbrella — Used during the rain after the Great Curtain opens; she shares its shelter with Qin Sanyue 45.

Relationships

• Ye Fu — Teacher and rescuer. He reshapes her education around mental resilience and self-defense; she trusts his guidance and protects his quiet life from intrusive tree cutters 35 39 40 49.
• Her late master — Former mentor from Camel Bell Mountain. Recognized the gaps in her learning and hoped she would find further guidance 36 43.
• Qin Sanyue — Friend at the Three Flavors Study. Sanyue calls her “Sister Hongxiao”; Qu Hongxiao feels comfortable in her company and shows her a gentler side 30 45.
• Hu Lan — Junior schoolmate who greets her as “eldest senior sister” after learning that she is Ye Fu’s first student 34.
• The pear tree — Provides a restorative cultivation environment. Its blossoms repeatedly help clear her thoughts, and one of its branches safeguards her soul 30 35 36 43.
• The conical-hatted tree cutter — Rival who ambushes and nearly kills her; slain by Ye Fu’s intervention 37 38 39.
• The white-haired tree cutter — Fears confronting her while injured and mistakes her protective warning for a declaration of superiority 48 49.

Notable Quotes

“For nothing else but to study books. … The emphasis is on both words. I want to grasp both the true meaning of studying and the true meaning of books.” 29

“I see, therefore I am. I hear, therefore I am. I speak, therefore I am. My body moves, therefore I am. My heart stirs, therefore I am. I think, therefore I am.” 43

Trivia

• She had gone ten years without mortal food before Ye Fu’s cooking made her crave hot and sour shredded potatoes. To avoid breaking the school’s no-meals rule, she began leaving during mealtimes and returning afterward 31 33.
• After deciding that she did not need to understand all of Ye Fu’s secrets, she struggled to find an ordinary question to ask him and finally asked why he kept his hair short 44.