Hou Xiaomei

Hou Xiaomei is a Hou Clan cultivator who enters the Spirit Stream Sect by buying one of the last places in its entrance trial, becomes one of Bai Xiaochun's earliest and most persistent companions, survives the suppression of her soul by Ghostmother's soulclone, and later develops into a late-Deva cultivator, imperial consort, administrator, and mother of Bai Xiaobao. Her story is shaped both by her determination to remain part of Bai Xiaochun's life and by periods in which separation, unequal power, or direct possession deny her that choice. (Chapters 11–14, 946–952, 1179–1270)

Biography

Buying a Place in the Spirit Stream Sect

Hou Xiaomei first appears during the Spirit Stream Sect's entrance trial as a young cultivator from a wealthy clan. When Bai Xiaochun and the Ovens disciples auction the final places in the Outer Sect, she does not hesitate or wait for someone else to secure her future: she loudly announces her name and resources, outbids her competitors, and proudly claims the opportunity. The episode establishes both her social advantage and her willingness to use it decisively. Her brother, Hou Yunfei, later thanks Bai Xiaochun for looking after her, giving Bai a personal connection to the Hou family as well as to Xiaomei herself. (Chapters 11–14)

As an Outer Sect disciple, Xiaomei becomes captivated by the mysterious “Lord Turtle,” the anonymous first-place holder on the sect's stone steles. Because Bai Xiaochun encourages the legend without revealing that he is its subject, she enthusiastically repeats his claims, spends heavily on a pill bearing the little turtle's mark, and helps turn the hidden figure into an object of sect-wide admiration. Her loyalty to Bai develops alongside that fascination. She visits him often, calls him “Sect Uncle,” and becomes the person whose promotion of Lord Turtle most directly feeds his concealed reputation. (Chapters 21–22, 36, 68, 78–79)

Her affection soon has practical consequences beyond teasing or admiration. Xiaomei and Hou Yunfei persuade the Hou Clan to support Bai during his conflict with Qian Dajin; their patriarch recognizes her feelings and asks Hou Yunfei to serve as matchmaker. She also pushes through a crowd of other admirers to reach Bai and is prepared to defend him when his medicine-making provokes an angry mob, although Hou Yunfei stops her from taking an unsafe stand. When Bai is transferred to the north bank, she is among the small group who sincerely regret his departure. By then, an auctioned trial place has grown into a lasting personal and clan alliance. (Chapters 69–72, 79, 108, 117)

Choosing Loyalty Through War and Separation

When Du Lingfei disappears, Xiaomei tries to pull the grieving Bai Xiaochun back toward the friends who remain. Later, while Bai is missing inside the Blood Stream Sect, she dismisses the rising Nightcrypt as inferior to him and worries that Bai may be in danger. That uncertainty prompts a choice about her own future: she resolves to cultivate seriously because she believes that otherwise she will have no hope of building a life with him. Her goal is romantic, but the consequence is personal discipline rather than passive waiting. (Chapters 173, 207)

Bai's return draws Xiaomei out of seclusion, and their impulsive embrace confirms that the attachment is mutual even if neither yet defines it. She then joins the Spirit Stream Sect's war mobilization. Although she is visibly more frightened than many companions, she remains with the army and close to Bai; Hou Yunfei and Bai deliberately place her in a relatively protected central position during teleportation, while Bai seeks her out afterward to make sure she has recovered. Her participation therefore demonstrates courage without pretending that she is fearless or one of the campaign's leading combatants. (Chapters 267–276)

The revelation that Bai Xiaochun and the feared Nightcrypt are the same person forces Xiaomei to reconcile her idealized image of him with choices made inside an enemy sect. She is shocked, but she does not abandon him. Instead, she refuses to be pushed aside by Song Junwan, presents herself as Bai's childhood friend and natural match, and openly competes for his attention. The rivalry produces jealousy and sometimes controlling behavior, yet it also shows that Xiaomei will state what she wants rather than surrender it to someone with greater age, status, or cultivation. (Chapters 279–289)

After the sects unite, Xiaomei carries those loyalties into the River-Defying Sect. She returns from the campaign but recognizes that Bai needs seclusion and chooses not to interrupt him. During the new sect's journey to the Middle Reaches she is afraid, holds his arm for reassurance, and keeps watch on Song Junwan; later, she and Song Junwan cooperate long enough to deter other admirers. The richer spiritual energy of the Middle Reaches aids her cultivation, but Bai's selection for the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect creates another separation. He bids her farewell personally, and she joins the crowd that watches him leave in open sadness. (Chapters 317–378)

Selection, Possession, and the Deadmire

Years later, Xiaomei is selected through the ordinary Heavenspan Island recruitment process after an island elder identifies something unusual in her suitability for its divine abilities. When Bai reunites with her there, she is happy to see him, describes the competition that brought her to the island, and still displays the mixture of warmth toward him and hostility toward Song Junwan that marked their earlier relationship. This meeting matters because Bai later concludes that she had not yet been possessed when he first saw her; the sinister aura appeared only on the following day. Her actions during their reunion therefore remain Xiaomei's own rather than those of the intruding soul. (Chapters 877, 900, 923, 947)

The later figure moving through the Deadmire in Xiaomei's body is not Xiaomei. The soulclone that had previously occupied Gongsun Wan'er uses Xiaomei as a vessel whose physical suitability can hide its aura from the true Ghostmother. Bai sees dual pupils and senses two souls: the soulclone is active, while Xiaomei's real soul is sealed and suppressed. Her body speaks, plans, and fights for the soulclone, but the corpus gives Xiaomei no agency over those acts. This distinction prevents the possession from being mistaken for a sudden betrayal or for a ghost technique she voluntarily performs. (Chapters 943–947)

When Ghostmother begins absorbing her estranged soulclone, Xiaomei's own soul is also drawn out of the occupied body and toward destruction. Bai responds by swearing that he will kill Ghostmother if she harms Xiaomei, even though he is far weaker. Ghostmother takes the threat seriously, returns Xiaomei's soul to her body, and decides that the body's qualities and its connection to Bai make Xiaomei a promising apprentice. Xiaomei survives unconscious, but Ghostmother carries her away aboard the bone galleon with Big Fatty Zhang, leaving Bai unable to prevent yet another separation. (Chapters 951–953)

Learning the Ghost Dao and Returning Changed

In the Eternal Immortal Domains, Ghostmother follows through on the decision to make Xiaomei an apprentice. Later information establishes that Xiaomei is safe, possesses a particular talent for the Dao of ghosts, and is being prepared to inherit her master's unique Daoist magic. By the time Bai receives this news, she is cultivating in seclusion in Vile-Emperor City and preparing to enter the Deva Realm. This apprenticeship is a recovery and development after the possession, not evidence that Xiaomei controlled the soulclone: the teacher preserves her life, recognizes her compatibility, and provides a path that turns a vulnerability exploited by others into her own cultivated strength. (Chapters 1036–1051)

When Xiaomei finally reunites with Bai, she has reached the Deva Realm. Her cultivation technique gives her some of her master's frigid aura, but her warmth toward Bai remains immediately recognizable. More importantly, her judgment has matured. Ghostmother has explained the dangers and political pressures surrounding him, and Xiaomei understands that someone close to him can become leverage or hold him back. Although she wants to remain, she accepts another temporary departure rather than create that weakness. The choice marks a change from the younger disciple who tried to guard his every interaction. (Chapter 1179)

After Bai establishes security for the Heavenspan survivors, Ghostmother brings Xiaomei into the new Arch-Emperor domain. The reunion also confronts her with a family structure that developed while she was absent: Song Junwan and Zhou Zimo are both pregnant. Xiaomei reacts with anger, and the Grand Heavenmaster's decision to treat her as an official imperial concubine gives her status but less personal freedom than she had with her master. At the dynasty's founding, however, she occupies one of the three Phoenix Chairs beside Bai and bows with the other leaders when he accepts the title of Arch-Emperor. (Chapters 1212–1213)

Forcing a Place in the Imperial Family

Xiaomei's fear of being left behind leads to one of her most consequential and ethically fraught decisions. She secretly asks Li Qinghou for help, obtains two Aphrodisiac Pills, and crushes them in a private chamber with Bai before he understands what is happening. The resulting mist compels an encounter that lasts for days. The narrative explains her motive as an attempt to “even things out” because she knew Bai first while Song Junwan and Zhou Zimo were already carrying his children, but that motive does not change the fact that she acts without first obtaining his consent. (Chapters 1214–1215)

Afterward, Xiaomei worries intensely about whether she is pregnant and pressures Bai to behave like the emperor he has become. She joins Song Junwan and Zhou Zimo in monitoring him, tells him not to neglect cultivation, and offers to help handle lesser responsibilities. At the same time, she resumes training with Ghostmother. In two years she moves from the mid Deva Realm to the late Deva Realm, faster than the other women named in the comparison. The text predicts that she may soon become a demigod, but it never confirms that breakthrough; late Deva is her latest explicit cultivation level. (Chapters 1217, 1222)

Her position expands from consort to public responsibility. When Bai is absent, Xiaomei joins Song Junwan, Zhou Zimo, Ghostmother, the Grand Heavenmaster, the Giant Ghost King, and Li Qinghou in handling affairs of national concern. The corpus does not assign her a particular portfolio or describe an individual policy, so her administrative authority should not be overstated. It does establish that she is part of the governing group trusted to keep the Arch-Emperor Dynasty functioning, a substantial change from the young disciple once protected in the center of a battle formation. (Chapter 1251)

By Bai's return, Xiaomei is visibly pregnant. She and Song Junwan set aside their own reunion to direct his attention toward the distressed Zhou Zimo, showing a measure of solidarity that their earlier rivalry rarely allowed. Xiaomei later decides that admitting her master into Bai's family circle will benefit her, and her support helps move Song Junwan and Zhou Zimo toward accepting Ghostmother as another partner. After giving birth to Bai Xiaobao, she worries about Bai's proposed name but ultimately accepts it and strokes her son's cheek, establishing a family whose creation had been one of her longest-held goals. (Chapters 1253, 1270–1271)

Family Solidarity Through the Final Catastrophe

When the Mortal Renegade's approach threatens all existence, Xiaomei refuses Bai's proposal that the family shelter aboard the treasured fan. She shares the others' conclusion that survival on a temporary refuge would mean little if their world and all other life were destroyed. Rather than separate again for an illusory safety, she and Zhou Zimo help bring Bai to a reconstructed Heavenspan Realm where the family can spend what may be their last days together. At the recreated Spirit Stream Sect staircase, Xiaomei and Bai remember their first meeting and the choice that began their shared history. (Chapters 1280–1282)

During Bai's long seclusion, Xiaomei helps raise Xiaobao, whose mischievous behavior and fear of death strongly resemble his father. She remains with the family as the final crisis intensifies and, after the battle has lasted sixty years, still appears youthful while her eyes carry an ancient gleam. Her warm voice is among those Bai hears when loss nearly overwhelms him. The source does not give her an individual combat role against the Mortal Renegade; her contribution is endurance, family continuity, and the emotional bond that helps define what Bai is trying to preserve. (Chapters 1283–1306)

The final restored course of events leaves Xiaomei alive when the Mortal Renegade is defeated and the Eternal Immortal Domains survive. She shares the peace that follows with Bai, their children, and his other partners. The epilogue records that Bai eventually takes his family and friends away from the Eternal Spirit World; much later, Xiaomei, Song Junwan, Zhou Zimo, and Ghostmother remain united enough to impose strict limits on his wandering, medicine concocting, and pursuit of other women. Her final state is therefore not another abandonment, but an enduring and assertive place within the family she fought to join. (Chapters 1313–1314 and the epilogue)

Appearance and personality

Xiaomei is introduced as a pretty, fair-skinned young woman with a slim, small frame. The narration repeatedly presents her as cute or charming, and she has long black hair by the time of her Heavenspan Island reunion. After studying the ghost Dao, her appearance becomes more striking and is paired with a cold, frigid aura resembling her master's. More than sixty years later she remains beautiful and outwardly youthful, although the ancient quality in her eyes reflects the time and crises she has endured. (Chapters 11, 72, 923, 1179, 1303)

Her temperament is built from strong contrasts. Around competitors she is proud, possessive, moody, and “fiery as a hot pepper”; around Bai she often blushes or becomes openly affectionate. Those traits can make her brave and direct, as when she buys her sect place, secures clan support, goes to war despite fear, and insists on being acknowledged. They can also become controlling or harmful, most seriously when jealousy drives her to drug Bai. Her affection is therefore persistent but not uniformly benign. (Chapters 11, 31, 69–72, 267–289, 1214–1215)

Experience makes her more self-aware without erasing that fire. After her apprenticeship, she can accept separation because she understands how political enemies exploit vulnerable companions. She later takes part in national administration, recognizes Zhou Zimo's greater need for comfort during her father's abduction, and helps incorporate her own master into a previously hostile family circle. Her late characterization joins the early Xiaomei's forceful attachment to patience, institutional responsibility, and a willingness to share the family she once tried to guard exclusively. (Chapters 1179, 1217, 1251–1270)

Abilities and cultivation

Xiaomei begins as an ordinary sect cultivator whose early progress is rarely described in technical terms. Her distinctive development comes after Ghostmother recognizes her compatibility with ghost cultivation. The corpus confirms her rapid advancement and latest named realm, but gives no named personal technique, no clear activation mechanics, and few direct combat demonstrations; those absences limit how specifically her powers can be described.

Spirit Stream foundation and battlefield service

The source never states Xiaomei's original cultivation method, spiritual aptitude, or exact level when she enters the Outer Sect. She later trains in seclusion, joins the Spirit Stream army, participates in its formations, and benefits from the stronger spiritual energy of the River-Defying Sect's Middle Reaches. This establishes sustained cultivation and enough operational ability for campaign service, but not a signature attack or independent battlefield victory. Her fear during deployment and the protective placement arranged by Bai and Hou Yunfei also show that she is not yet treated as one of the force's dominant experts. (Chapters 207, 268–280, 354)

Ghost-compatible constitution and legacy

Xiaomei's body can conceal the aura of Ghostmother's soulclone well enough to evade the true Ghostmother's notice, which is why the Celestial brings her to Heavenspan Island. That concealment is a passive suitability exploited by others, not an ability Xiaomei knowingly activates. Ghostmother later calls the body promising and recognizes in Xiaomei a particular talent for the Dao of ghosts. She takes Xiaomei as an apprentice and prepares her to inherit a unique Daoist magic, but the corpus does not name that legacy, explain its power source, or show Xiaomei using its individual techniques. (Chapters 947, 952, 1050)

Her survival during possession should likewise be treated as an ordeal rather than a supernatural feat attributed to her. The soulclone seals and suppresses Xiaomei's true soul while directing her body. Ghostmother then returns that soul rather than consuming it. Nothing in the scene indicates that Xiaomei breaks the seal, resists the possessor through a technique, or participates in the soulclone's attacks. Her later ghost cultivation begins after control of her body and soul has been restored. (Chapters 946–952)

Deva Realm progression

Under Ghostmother's instruction, Xiaomei prepares for and achieves the Deva Realm before her reunion with Bai. Her altered aura resembles her master's and is tentatively associated by the narration with the technique she cultivates, but no further mechanism is given. Later she advances from mid Deva to late Deva in only two years with Ghostmother's help. That is the clearest evidence of both her talent and her master's effectiveness, although the particular training, resources, and combat applications behind the increase remain unstated. (Chapters 1050, 1179, 1222)

The narrative says that Xiaomei may soon catch Zhou Zimo and become a demigod, but this is a forecast, not a completed advancement. No later chapter names a higher level, displays a demigod ability, or confirms mastery of Ghostmother's full legacy. Her latest source-grounded cultivation is therefore late Deva. Her preserved youth after the passage of many decades is consistent with her status as a high-level cultivator, but the corpus does not attribute it to a specific ghost technique or establish it as a separate power. (Chapters 1222, 1303)

Judgment and administrative responsibility

Xiaomei's demonstrated non-combat competence develops from personal resolve into political responsibility. She recognizes when Bai's circumstances make her presence a liability, accepts protection under her master, and later joins the senior group that handles affairs of state during the Arch-Emperor's absences. These scenes establish judgment, reliability, and recognized authority, but not sole command: policy is collective, and the narrative never identifies an office, department, military unit, or individual decree belonging to her. (Chapters 1179, 1213, 1251)

Power progression

Relationships

• Bai Xiaochun: Xiaomei meets Bai at the Spirit Stream Sect entrance trial and grows from admirer and clan ally into one of his closest companions. She cultivates partly to close the distance between them, joins his extended family after repeated separations, and bears their son Bai Xiaobao. Their relationship includes genuine loyalty, mutual affection, and mature solidarity, but also jealousy and her nonconsensual use of Aphrodisiac Pills against him.
• Hou Yunfei: Her older brother connects Bai to the Hou family, supports Xiaomei's feelings, and repeatedly looks after her safety. He helps place her in a protected formation during the war and wishes her and Bai well rather than obstructing the relationship.
• Ghostmother: Ghostmother's soulclone first uses Xiaomei's body as a concealing vessel and suppresses her soul. The restored Ghostmother spares Xiaomei, returns that soul, and takes her as an apprentice. Their later bond becomes genuinely protective and productive: Ghostmother teaches her the ghost Dao, helps her reach late Deva, shelters her during political danger, and is eventually admitted into Bai's family circle with Xiaomei's support.
• Song Junwan: Xiaomei initially sees Song Junwan as her principal rival for Bai and repeatedly contests her attention and status. Their rivalry remains sharp, but it develops into cooperation: they share imperial standing, help govern the dynasty, care for their children, and sometimes put another family member's needs ahead of their own.
• Zhou Zimo: Zhou Zimo's pregnancy initially intensifies Xiaomei's fear that she has been left behind. Later they become fellow consorts and administrators. Xiaomei and Song Junwan recognize Zhou Zimo's distress after the Giant Ghost King's abduction and direct Bai to comfort her, demonstrating a more cooperative family relationship.
• Big Fatty Zhang: He is one of Xiaomei and Bai's earliest Spirit Stream companions and one of the few people who sincerely mourns Bai's north-bank transfer. Ghostmother carries him and Xiaomei away on the same bone galleon, making both of their disappearances a shared source of grief and uncertainty for Bai.
• Li Qinghou: As Fragrant Cloud Peak's leader, Li Qinghou watches Xiaomei and Bai grow up and later regards her favorably among Bai's partners. He helps her obtain the pills she uses to force an intimate encounter with Bai, making him an enabler of one of her most troubling decisions as well as a senior figure in the government she later helps administer.
• Bai Xiaobao: Xiaomei and Bai Xiaochun's son. She gives birth to him during the looming Mortal Renegade crisis, accepts Bai's contested choice of name, and helps raise a child whose mischievousness and fear of death strongly resemble his father.

Items

• Aphrodisiac Pill: Xiaomei temporarily obtains two pills from Li Qinghou and crushes both in a private chamber with Bai. The resulting mist compels their prolonged encounter; both pills are consumed, and the corpus does not establish that she later possesses any more. (Chapters 1214–1215)