Zhao Rou

Zhao Rou is a vicious Pill Stream Sect chosen whose illusion forms, poison-puppet claim, and struggle for earthstring energy make her one of the Fallen Sword Abyss' prominent competitors. (Chapters 142–160)

Biography

Rivalry and Foundation Establishment

Zhao Rou enters the Fallen Sword Abyss with a reputation for defeating three peers simultaneously and watches the other sects' chosen with alert interest. Her central conflict is a repeated, lethal rivalry with Gongsun Wan'er. After seven battles, both possess half-filled Dao bottles, and Zhao insists that only one will leave alive with a complete bottle. She subsequently calls Gongsun her first poison puppet and threatens to make her brother the second, although the corpus does not fully explain how or when that condition was imposed. Zhao begins Earthstring Foundation Establishment in the second wave, completes four Tideflows, and abandons the fifth as the available energy dwindles. She then joins an attack on the cultivating Bai Xiaochun, repeatedly reaching for his forehead with killing intent. Bai awakens, closes the distance, and kills her. Her death removes one of the Pill Stream Sect's leading chosen and is later used as the benchmark that Chen Manyao's illusion skill surpasses. (Chapters 142–160, 167–169, and 290)

Appearance and personality

Zhao Rou is a young woman described as an exquisite beauty. During her final attack, that beauty is distorted by venomous rage. She is vigilant, fiercely competitive, and openly murderous, treating the earthstring contest and her feud with Gongsun Wan'er as struggles in which only one participant should survive. No clothing or more detailed physical traits are supplied. (Chapters 142, 153, and 159–160)

Abilities and cultivation

Zhao Rou is adept with illusion forms, reportedly capable of fighting and killing three cultivators at her own stage; the specific forms and their mechanics are not described. She also claims to have made Gongsun Wan'er a poison puppet, but the creation method, degree of control, and relationship between this art and her illusions remain unknown. In the Abyss she reaches Earthstring Foundation Establishment after four completed Tideflows and withdraws during the fifth. Her close-range attempt to touch Bai's forehead never demonstrates a clearly named effect before he kills her. (Chapters 142–160 and 290)

Relationships

• Bai Xiaochun: Zhao joins the chosen attacking him during his breakthrough; he awakens and kills her before her close-range strike succeeds.
• Gongsun Wan'er: Zhao's recurring rival in illusion combat and the person she calls her first poison puppet. Their precise final encounter is not fully narrated in Zhao's evidence.
• Fang Lin: A fellow Pill Stream chosen who attacks Bai in the same crisis and is also killed, causing their names to become paired in later reports of the sect's losses.