Xu Qinghou

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Scholar and rejected cultivation prospect

Xu Qinghou originally intended to pass the imperial examinations, become a court official, and revitalize his lineage. He became a scholar at fifteen and missed qualifying as a provincial graduate by only two places the following year. Although his family was described as poor, it had employed a cook and maids before he pursued cultivation 4 5 30.

Zhou Ning first met him in Yongyang Commandery, where Xu considered himself above the other prospective cultivators. On their journey to the Azure Mystic Sect, he largely brushed off Gu Xiangning’s requests for advice. The selection overturned his expectations: people he had dismissed possessed Earth Spirit Roots and became True Disciples, while he tested as having only a Low-Grade Spirit Root and was rejected 3 4 30.

Life at Cuiwei Lake

Xu became a Su Household retainer on Bamboo Creek Island, earning cultivation resources by hunting Fuluo Eels. He joined Yuan Dahu’s cooperative net-fishing venture with four jin of his own spirit rice and another jin borrowed from Zhou Ning. Within two months, the group’s improved catches had greatly increased its earnings 5 6.

The business eventually benefited from Yuan Dahu’s Spirit Planting technique, which let the fishermen track selected male eels and net the females gathering around them during mating season. Xu used his share of the profits to buy cultivation pills and a green-leaf flying Law Artifact 9 19 29.

His efforts to secure favor were less successful. After seeing Su Yunjin reward Zhou Ning, he extravagantly praised Su Wen’s beauty. She dismissed him as an unsuitable suitor, and the surrounding retainers laughed at his humiliation 4.

Investigation of the Azure Mystic selection

Unable to accept his rejection, Xu spent three years collecting records of Azure Mystic Sect applicants. His comparisons showed that candidates inferior to Zhou Ning in age, aptitude, and temperament had been admitted, despite Zhou Ning’s rejection 5.

Xu proposed that Su Yanghao, the Su Household member overseeing admissions, had deliberately kept Zhou Ning outside the sect. He believed the household wanted to retain Zhou Ning as a connection to Jiang Xiaohua, whose Earth Spirit Root gave her considerable prospects. This was Xu’s theory rather than an established finding; Zhou Ning warned him not to repeat it and risk retaliation 5.

Seven-year reunion

After reaching Middle Qi Refining, Xu arranged a rented flying artifact for Zhou Ning so they could attend their old companions’ reunion in Yongyang. Warfare forced them to take a detour and complete part of the journey on rented spirit steeds 29 30.

Only Gu Xiangning attended. Xu’s pride in reaching the Fourth Layer was punctured when she revealed her Sixth Layer cultivation. Nevertheless, he welcomed her advice to prioritize breakthrough pills over short-term cultivation speed and readily agreed to meet again seven years later 30.

When Gu delivered Jiang Xiaohua’s request to sever her connection with Zhou Ning, Xu nearly disclosed his theory about Zhou’s rejection, but Zhou stopped him. On the return journey, Zhou’s precautions helped them avoid a battle between cultivators, leaving Xu shaken by the risks of travel 30 31.

Declining prospects

Xu initially doubted that Zhou Ning could become an alchemist, but still supported his attempts with a substantial gift of talismans. When Zhou’s alchemical ability became public, Xu struggled to reconcile his friend’s sudden prominence with their former life as neighboring fishermen 23 31 34.

During the Guo Household attack on Bamboo Creek Island, Xu warned Zhou about Steward Su’s attack but lacked the fighting experience to intervene. He fled and later sheltered in Old Jia’s protected courtyard 40 41.

Years of slow advancement and social humiliation wore down his confidence. After a later gathering with Gu Xiangning, an Azure Mystic Sect woman mocked his appearance, prospects, and a former admirer’s taste. By then, Xu was drinking to drown his disappointment while remaining near the end of the Fifth Layer 75.

Conscription and flight

At a banquet hosted by Yuan Dahu, the Su Household ordered the retainers to bring their resources and Law Artifacts to South Qian Mountain to defend against the Bai Household. Refusal meant expulsion from Cuiwei Lake 80.

More than half the group died within a year of fighting, and Xu narrowly escaped death several times. He eventually deserted with Yuan Dahu, Li Ji, and five others. Three more died during their flight, and two became separated, leaving only Xu, Yuan, and Li together. The Su Household continued posting wanted notices for them near Cuiwei Lake 93 100.

At thirty-seven, Xu was living as a fugitive in Longxi Commandery. In a Lanling City tavern, he learned that Zhou Ning had reached Foundation Establishment and killed three Su Household Foundation Establishment cultivators. He celebrated his friend’s success, though it also reminded him how far his former companions had advanced beyond him. Yuan Dahu then raised the possibility that he himself had an opportunity to reach Foundation Establishment 100.

Appearance

Xu was considered handsome in his youth, but years of fishing and flight visibly aged him. By thirty-seven, he looked much like a mortal of the same age 4 100.

• Early clothing: A blue robe; later, a short blue-green padded jacket 4 26.
• Weathered features: Already noticed his own worn appearance at the first seven-year reunion 30.
• Untidy beard: Gu Xiangning remarked that he no longer groomed himself and scarcely resembled the youth in blue she remembered 72.
• Later appearance: Wore a green robe and had become a weather-beaten, middle-aged scholar 100.

Personality

Xu’s early confidence rested on genuine scholarly talent, but it often became arrogance. He looked down on fellow cultivation prospects and expected to distinguish himself. Even after discovering his poor aptitude, he refused to accept fate and imagined eventually attaining Foundation Establishment 3 6 9 30.

Hardship made him more pragmatic without entirely extinguishing his pride. He joined a fishing partnership, sought favor through flattery, and depended on personal connections for resources. Humiliations remained painful to him years afterward, especially when they exposed the gulf between ordinary retainers and sect disciples 4 75 100.

His competitiveness with Zhou Ning coexisted with real generosity. He defended Zhou before Su Wen, offered supplies for learning a craft, and gave him valuable talismans despite doubting his alchemical prospects. Later, he worried about Zhou’s safety and regretted not having been able to include him in the escape from the Su Household 6 7 31 79 100.

Abilities & Skills

Scholarship and memory

• Passed the scholar examination at fifteen and narrowly missed provincial-graduate status at sixteen 4.
• Could recite applicants’ ages, qualifications, and selection results after briefly looking at their names 5.
• Taught Yuan Dahu a poem to recite at a banquet 80.

Cooperative fishing

• Worked with nets and boats in Yuan Dahu’s Fuluo Eel-hunting group 6 7.
• Earned enough from the venture to purchase cultivation pills and flying equipment 9 29.
• Supplied Zhou Ning with fish blood, which Zhou used for Meridian Opening 6 9.

Combat limitations

• At the Fourth Layer, his practical skills were directed almost entirely toward catching eels; he was nearly incapable of fighting other cultivators 40.
• Survived repeated close calls during the Bai Household war, but no specific combat technique is documented 100.

Equipment / Items

• Fishing spear, boat, and cooperative nets — Tools of his livelihood at Cuiwei Lake 3 4 7.
• Green-leaf flying Law Artifact — Purchased with fishing profits and used for the Yongyang journey 29 31.
• Storage Bag — Along with his flying artifact, made him a more valuable target than impoverished traveling cultivators 31.
• Cultivation pills — Regularly used Spirit Essence Pills; obtained a Three Flowers Pill for his Middle Stage breakthrough 18 29.
• Scent-Smelling Insect — Gave it to Zhou Ning before his departure for Little Willow Marsh; it could detect killing or malicious intent 79.

Relationships

• Zhou Ning — Neighbor, close friend, and cultivation benchmark. Zhou lent him spirit rice and shared meals; Xu reciprocated with supplies, talismans, and warnings 5 6 18 31 79.
• Yuan Dahu — Fishing leader, benefactor, and fellow fugitive. Helped Xu earn cultivation resources and lent him money for his breakthrough pill 9 29 100.
• Old Jia — Neighbor, board-game companion, adviser, and intermediary for purchasing pills. Xu frequently relied on his experience and market connections 9 18 29.
• Gu Xiangning — Former traveling companion and reunion partner. She teased him about his youthful arrogance but offered practical cultivation advice 30.
• Li Ji — Fellow fisherman and one of the two companions still with him after years of flight 75 100.
• Su Wen — Former superior. His attempt to flatter her ended in public humiliation; he later defended Zhou Ning when she questioned his diligence 4 7.
• Su Household — Former employer and eventual pursuer. Its wartime conscription led to the losses that prompted his desertion 80 93 100.

Notable Quotes

“Ever since I was a child, I swore I would pass the examinations, become an official at court, and revitalize my lineage...” 30

“Why stand on ceremony between us? Take them!”
— Giving Zhou Ning talismans to support his alchemy 31