Xu Tao

Xu Tao is a mortal court retainer whose purchase of one of Wang Lin's wood carvings begins a sixteen-year connection between the hidden cultivator and Zhao's royal family. His steady patronage and loyalty help carry his prince to the throne, while Wang's eventual intervention allows Xu Tao to survive a cultivator's attack and become chancellor. (Chapters 254–265)

Biography

The carving and royal patronage

As a young royal retainer, Xu Tao notices a wood carving in Wang Lin's shop and understands that it may appeal to the king, who collects such works. He brings it to court and is rewarded when the carving impresses the royal family. From then on, Xu Tao repeatedly returns on his prince's behalf with gold and gifts, especially during holidays, while also attempting to recruit Wang into the prince's service. Wang refuses political employment but remembers the consistency of the visits. (Chapters 254–255 and 257)

The arrangement continues for sixteen years. What begins as a useful purchase becomes a durable line of respect between a mortal official and a shopkeeper Xu Tao cannot properly identify. Xu Tao does not gain cultivation from this contact, and Wang does not become a court servant; their connection remains an exchange of patronage and regard until a crisis forces Wang to reveal a fraction of his power. (Chapters 257 and 261–263)

Attack, rescue, and rise to chancellor

When a Foundation Establishment cultivator attacks during a royal struggle, Xu Tao flees toward Wang's shop despite suffering a wound severe enough to make him cough up pieces of his organs. He begs Wang for help. Wang destroys the immediate threat and saves Xu Tao with a pill, explaining that the rescue repays sixteen years of sincere attention. After waking, Xu Tao remains present through a terrifying meeting with Zhou Wutai and accepts the duty of carrying Zhou's demand to the king. (Chapters 261–263)

Xu Tao then brings the king and prince to Wang, where they bow and offer spirit stones. The favored prince eventually becomes king, and Xu Tao rises with him. By the final glimpse of this mortal era, Xu Tao is a white-haired old chancellor, the royal tributes to Wang have increased, and the king himself visits annually. His later fate is not recorded. (Chapters 264–265)

Appearance and personality

Xu Tao is introduced as a young man and later appears as a white-haired elder after a mortal lifetime in court. He is observant enough to recognize the carving's value, persistent without turning Wang's refusals into hostility, and loyal to his prince. He also has a mortal's understandable fear of cultivators, yet continues to relay dangerous messages and fulfill his responsibilities after surviving their violence. (Chapters 254–265)

Abilities and cultivation

Mortal status

Xu Tao is not a cultivator and displays no spell, bloodline, supernatural body, or spiritual domain. His proximity to Wang Lin, receipt of a healing pill, and transport of spirit stones do not give him a cultivation realm in the supplied corpus. The pill saves him from otherwise fatal bodily injuries; it is emergency aid, not evidence of an enduring power. (Chapters 261–264)

Courtcraft and service

Xu Tao's effective abilities are mundane: judging what will interest the royal household, maintaining a long patronage relationship, surviving factional court politics, and carrying sensitive messages between rulers and cultivators. Those competencies help his prince become king and help Xu Tao become chancellor, but they should not be converted into invented combat or cultivation mechanics. (Chapters 254–265)

Relationships

• Wang Lin: Xu Tao becomes the royal court's link to Wang through repeated gifts and recruitment attempts. Wang later saves him specifically because that sixteen-year commitment created a debt of respect. (Chapters 254–265)
• Da Niu: Da Niu belongs to the same period of Wang's mortal life in the capital, but the supplied chapters do not establish a substantial direct relationship with Xu Tao. (Chapters 254–265)
• Hunchback Meng: Xu Tao sees material associated with Wang's carvings, including an unfinished carving based on Hunchback Meng, but never meets the cultivator himself. Their connection is representational, not personal. (Chapter 254)

Items

No notable item is documented for Xu Tao.