Xiao Hei

Xiao Hei is the sentient black bird companion of Xu Ke, later revered as the Heavenly Fate Black Bird of the Beast Realm. Li Fan temporarily experiences the Fallen Immortal Realm through the bird, but that possession does not make Xiao Hei merely another name for Li Fan.

Biography

Fate Follows Changes

Xiao Hei begins as a young black bird traveling with Xu Ke during the Beast Taming Sect era. Xu Ke gives the bird the plain nickname “Little Black,” provoking an indignant insistence on the grander identity of a Heavenly Fate Divine Bird and the compromise name Xiao Xuan. Li Fan's consciousness temporarily occupies the avian body, allowing speech through telepathy and observation of Xu Ke's journey, while the continuing bond between Xu Ke and the bird remains the important in-world relationship. Over the following history, Xiao Hei integrates the fortune of an entire Beast Realm and becomes its worshipped Black Bird deity. By the later investigation the bird has fallen for unknown reasons, scattering that fortune; Li Fan follows a feather and divine traces while searching unsuccessfully for the actual remains. (Chapters 346–451, 479–558, and 655–669)

Appearance and personality

Xiao Hei is a small black bird rather than a human cultivator. The early bird is proud, irritable about undignified naming, and physically affectionate or aggressive enough to peck and claw Xu Ke's head. Later worship emphasizes a majestic Black Bird divine image, but the corpus does not safely establish a fixed humanoid form, exact size, or ornamental plumage for that later state. (Chapters 346, 451, and 558)

Abilities and cultivation

Heavenly Fate Black Bird authority

Xiao Hei eventually refines and integrates the Beast Realm's worldly fortune. Residual divine authority in a statue lets beast clans manipulate local fate, while scattered fortune can be gathered after the bird's fall. The exact breakthrough, limits outside that small world, and cause of death are not narrated. (Chapters 558 and 663–669)

Telepathic companionship

The bird communicates mentally with Xu Ke and carries a connection strong enough that Xu Ke's call reaches it during danger. Some early speech and strategic knowledge occur while Li Fan is possessing the body, so they are not attributed to Xiao Hei's unaided intellect without qualification. (Chapters 346, 451, and 479)

Relationships

• Xu Ke: Xu Ke names, protects, and travels with Xiao Hei. Their bond persists strongly enough to define the bird's earliest scenes and later historical identity.
• Li Fan: Li Fan temporarily inhabits Xiao Hei in the Fallen Immortal Realm and later investigates the bird's fall. Possessor and host remain distinct identities.

Items

• Black Bird Feather: A feather associated with Xiao Hei later guides Li Fan through the Beast Realm and helps gather scattered worldly fortune. It is a remnant or token of the bird, not evidence that Li Fan owns Xiao Hei or controls the missing remains. (Chapters 655–669)