Black Stick

The Black Stick is Hou Fei's original signature staff, a minimally worked branch of the Ancient Ironwood Tree given to him by Jiang Lan. Its exceptional hardness and cultivation-assisting affinity matter more than any innate amplification of attack power.

History

Jiang Lan's gift and Hou Fei's signature weapon

Hou Fei first displays the stick while travelling with Qin Yu, making it appear and lengthen to smash a rock. He later explains that Jiang Lan gave it to him when he was young and that he has carried it ever since. Although its plain black appearance does not reveal a conventional grade, it withstands attacks that should damage top-grade holy weapons, can be fused into Hou Fei's body, and changes size with his needs and transformed body. (Chapters 116, 137, 155, and 177)

The stick remains Hou Fei's principal weapon through the mortal and ascendant realms. It can shatter a low-grade immortal weapon, while even Qin Yu's middle-grade immortal sword cannot mark it. Its hardness does not make every strike successful: formations and stronger wielders can stop or knock the weapon away, and the sealed rock in the Wilderness resists Hou Fei's blow. The destructive force of his attacks still depends on Hou Fei's strength and stick techniques rather than on an unlimited power inherent in the staff. (Chapters 178, 249, 266, and 390)

Cultivation aid, reforging, and replacement

Hou Fei discovers that holding the Black Stick makes him feel closer to the cosmic natural order and accelerates the growth of his soul realm. It later helps him comprehend spatial laws, though training and battle remain part of that progress. The source ultimately reveals why its physical properties are so unusual: Jiang Lan had merely sharpened an Ancient Ironwood branch into shape, so the original weapon possesses tremendous toughness but no attack-amplifying special effect. (Chapters 391, 416, 499, and 547)

After Luo Fan learns what Hou Fei is using, he takes the Black Stick and additional materials to Light Lens City for a grandmaster craftsman to turn it into a stronger gold-and-black weapon. Qin Yu later creates a separate cyan-black staff from precious Bewitching God Temple materials, gives it the auxiliary effects Burst and Extreme Weight, and immerses it in Dark and Yellow Energy. Hou Fei names this new replacement the Dark Cyan Single Aura Stick. The original Black Stick therefore does not remain unchanged as Hou Fei's final weapon. (Chapters 585–586 and 591–592)

Abilities and properties

• The original stick can appear from or fuse into Hou Fei's body and can freely change its length and thickness. (Chapters 116, 137, and 177)
• Its defining physical trait is hardness: it survives Old Freak Three-Eyed's critical ray undamaged, breaks a low-grade immortal weapon, and cannot be marked by Qin Yu's middle-grade immortal sword. (Chapters 155, 249, and 266)
• The weapon does not itself amplify attacks. Sealed formations and more powerful opponents can resist its blows or knock it away, so its effectiveness depends on Hou Fei's cultivation and technique. (Chapters 178, 390, and 547)
• Holding it improves Hou Fei's affinity with the cosmic natural order, assisting soul-realm advancement and later spatial-law comprehension. The corpus presents this as assistance, not instant mastery independent of training. (Chapters 391, 416, and 499)
• It is formed from a branch of the Ancient Ironwood Tree and was originally only shaped, not fully refined, tempered, and awakened as a divine artifact. (Chapter 586)
• Burst, Extreme Weight, and Dark and Yellow Energy belong to Qin Yu's later replacement staff, not to the original Black Stick. (Chapters 591–592)

Ownership and custody