Cao Shuiqin

Cao Shuiqin, nicknamed Heartstrings, is an unaffiliated Eastern sound Adept in the Great Adept Tournament. Her guqin music attacks through both physical acoustics and the spirit, making her listed Ninth Level sixth rank an incomplete measure of her danger.

Biography

Heartstrings in the quarter-finals

Cao enters the tournament’s third quarter-final group with Driver, Yan Ningya, and Jun Yongye. She defeats the Driver by allowing his restrained opening attack to make contact, planting her Heartstrings influence, and then drawing him into a renewing dreamland while the music works directly on his body and emotions. Against Jun Yongye, she plays for ten minutes before conceding when her song cannot move him; she recognizes that her attention has remained affected by the Driver and therefore is not fully in the contest. (Chapters 432–457)

Tea after the tournament

The Driver continues to watch Cao after both have been eliminated from advancement. He asks her out for a drink, adjusts the invitation to tea when she says she does not drink alcohol, and she agrees. Cao’s last direct appearance leaves her alive, carrying her guqin as the two depart the waiting area. (Chapters 453–460)

Appearance and personality

Cao wears a yellow dress and carries a guqin. She has a pale face, delicate fingers, and a gentle, soft-feminine presence described as almost hypnotic; embarrassment readily brings color to her cheeks. Her calm posture while playing contrasts with the frightening effects of the music. (Chapters 447–460)

She is composed, perceptive, and tactically willing to exploit an opponent’s assumptions. Cao apologizes for using the Driver’s kindness but does not pretend that a tournament permits her to ignore an advantage. She is also honest enough to concede once she realizes her heart is not in the later performance. (Chapters 448–460)

Disciplines and abilities

Sound, spirit, and dreamland

Cao’s Discipline uses music to command physical acoustics and affect the spirit. Guqin tones can repel contact, alter heartbeat and fear, draw a target into a vast illusory battlefield, and continually rebuild that dreamland after broad attacks damage it. Her Heartstrings technique can be planted through close contact and later manipulated even when no audible sound emerges. (Chapters 434 and 447–448)

Limits

Her recorded energy stores are smaller than those of some peers, and sustaining a song and dreamland is draining. The Discipline also needs either time or a successful opening condition; an immediate full-force blitz could have defeated her before Heartstrings took hold. A sufficiently unmoved consciousness such as Jun Yongye’s can remain outside the music’s emotional influence, especially when Cao herself is distracted. (Chapters 434, 448, and 457)

Relationships

• Driver: Cao defeats him by exploiting his hesitation, but the exchange affects them both. She later accepts his invitation to tea.
• Jun Yongye: The swordsman who listens to her full performance without being ensnared and receives her concession.
• Lan Jue: An observer who recognizes Cao’s strength and the Driver’s developing interest in her.

Items

No separately cataloged notable items are associated with Cao Shuiqin.