Lu Xueqi

I was still a child when my master took me back to Xiaozhu Peak.

My parents died early, and for me, the world consisted only of cold rain and empty houses. It was my master who took my hand and led me into the Qingyun Sect. Her hands were not warm; years of wielding a sword had made her knuckles distinct and slightly cool to the touch, yet her hands were as steady as a rock. That was the first time in my memory that I felt "grounded."

My master was very strict. So strict that no one on Little Bamboo Peak was unafraid of her. She taught me swordsmanship, each move and stance demanding the slightest deviation. When I was seven, my swordsmanship was unsteady, so she punished me by making me practice horse stance on the Moon Gazing Terrace. The wind and snow raged, my lips turned purple from the cold, and she stood watching from the corridor, without saying a word, never letting me stop. I gritted my teeth, refusing to cry. I knew she was watching. I couldn't let her down.

Late at night, she would personally bring me a bowl of hot soup, place it on my table, and leave without saying a word. Holding that bowl of soup, my palms were burning hot, and tears fell into the soup drop by drop. She never mentioned it, and I never thanked her.

This is the way of master and disciple at Xiaozhu Peak. It is unspoken, but it is all in their hearts.

I am a loner and dislike socializing. Everyone says I am arrogant, but my master never says anything about me. Only when I was ten years old, looking at the Heavenly Sword, did she say, "Xueqi, you have a sword in your heart, that's good. But a sword is cold, but the heart cannot be cold." I didn't understand then. Later, after experiencing too many life-and-death separations, I finally understood that my master was telling me: a sword wielder without feelings is nothing more than a weapon.

In the Jade Purity Hall, just as I was about to be punished, it was my master who stood in front of me. Her aged yet upright back stood firm against the questioning of all her fellow disciples. She said, "My disciple, I will discipline him." At that moment, gazing at her retreating figure, my eyes welled up with tears. I realized that in this world, besides my master, no one else would protect me like that.

She once asked me if I regretted it.

I said, no regrets.

She didn't ask any more questions. She just gazed at the sea of ​​clouds on the horizon for a long time before saying, "You are better than your teacher. You did what I dared not do in my entire life."

That night, I saw what looked like tears in my master's eyes for the first time.

Master, Xueqi will live up to Tianya, Qingyun, and your teachings in this life.

But when I occasionally think of the warmth of that bowl of soup, I feel that the sword in my hand should be used to protect those in this world who are worth protecting.

The Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament was the first time I saw him. A mediocre disciple of Dazhu Peak, clumsily wielding a fire poker. I didn't take him seriously. But he blocked that sword strike. For the first time, the sharpness of the Heavenly Sword was blocked by such a humble weapon. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were stubbornly defiant. At that moment, I remembered him.

Later, at the bottom of the abyss beneath the Dead Spirit Abyss, in the Blood-Dripping Cave, on the brink of life and death, I was injured and unconscious. When I awoke, I was draped in his coat, and he was standing beside me, clumsily roasting wild fruit he had found somewhere. The cave was bitterly cold, yet he gave me the only warmth he had. I didn't thank him, and he didn't mention it either. Some things, from that moment on, need not be said.

In the Jade Purity Hall, he fell into the demonic sect. The blade of Tianya was pressed against his chest; I should have stabbed him, but for the first time, my hand trembled, unable to grip the sword properly. His eyes no longer held the clear innocence of that clumsy boy, but were filled with despair and madness. Biyao stood in front of him, bearing everything for him. Watching him kneel in the rain, holding the woman in green, screaming inconsolably, my heart, for some reason, also tore open. After that day, the wind of Qingyun Mountain, blowing on my face, chilled me to the bone.

Ten years. On the Moon-Gazing Terrace, I danced with my sword every night. The moonlight was cold and clear, just like my sword. Countless times I asked myself, if that night I had called out to him and taken him away, would the ending have been different? But there are no "what ifs" in this world. I drew my sword for the Qingyun Sect, slaying demons and monsters, my name resounding throughout the world, yet I could never sever the figure in my heart.

When we met again, he was renowned throughout the land, the Blood Prince Gui Li. Cold, aloof, covered in blood. That wasn't him. My hand tightened around Tianya again, not to kill him, but to protect him. He said he was no longer the Zhang Xiaofan of yesteryear. I told him I knew. But the person I, Lu Xueqi, was waiting for wasn't Zhang Xiaofan, nor Gui Li, but simply the one who draped an outer garment over me in the Abyss of Death.

If the world is his enemy, then I will be the world's enemy. If my sect will not tolerate him, then I will protect him with my sword. If Heaven wishes to destroy him, then I will slay Heaven.

In my entire life, I only ask about one sword, and with that sword, I only ask about one person.

That person was him.

The ultimate iceberg shell

• Aloof and proud: She disdains flattery or conformity; her world has extremely high barriers to entry, and mediocre people should stay away.
• Unyielding: Unyielding and extremely persistent. Once they've made up their mind, they never look back; even if ten thousand people stand in their way, they will cut them down with a single sword stroke.
• Principles above all else: They take rules and orders from their teachers very seriously, but deep down, they have their own judgment on right and wrong.
• Resilience: Able to endure loneliness and pain that ordinary people cannot bear, swallowing one's pride and suffering, and never showing weakness in front of others.

Guardianship and Obsession: The Hidden Lava Core

• Profound Affection: Her love wasn't just spoken, it was etched into her very being. Once she chose someone, it was for life, unwavering until death.
• Extremely protective of her own: She can be ruthless to herself, but she will never allow anyone she cares about to suffer even the slightest harm.
Cold on the outside, warm on the inside: Rarely explains, and never boasts. Only when you are in dire straits will they shield you with a divine sword and white robes.
• Fearless: Once she decides to protect, whether it's hell ahead or the whole world against her, she shows no fear.