Rui Qiongcuo

Rui Qiongcuo is the elderly head of a small mining family near Moongaze Lake. Submission to the Li family gives his impoverished clan access to better cultivation land, while the later transfer of its mountain forces him to balance compensation against the loss of his home. (Chapters 391–392,441–444)

Biography

Submission and relocation

Rui Qiongcuo initially invokes his ancestors’ connection to the Xiao family while seeking protection from the Lis. His attempted hospitality backfires when he offers rice meat and blood slices made from humans: Li Qiuyang orders him to abandon the practice. Qiongcuo privately resents the restriction because the land surrounding the spirit-jade mine is too barren to sustain his family properly. Li Xicheng’s offer of cultivation and study at Yuting Peak, with a twenty-percent tax and spirit-spring water as tribute, instead astonishes him. Accepting Li authority therefore brings an alternative to the harsh conditions under which his family had survived. (Chapters 391–392)

After the Lis clear nearby devil cultivators, Qiongcuo receives Li Xijun and the elders inspecting his mountain for relocation. He agrees to consider an exchange involving fields, a place on the Li peak and schooling for his children, judging the chance to gain favor worth the imperfect compensation. The mountain’s transfer leaves his family temporarily without a home in Yuting Town. Arrangements with the Xiao family settle the mining rights; Qiongcuo remains associated with the Lis and later stands respectfully behind Li Qinghong, privately enjoying the misfortune of former competitors. His family’s comfortable new position makes its modest tribute seem insignificant to him. (Chapters 427,441–444)

Appearance and personality

He is an elderly man whose submissive manner conceals a shrewd concern for his family’s survival. He shifts from defensive flattery to disbelief at generous terms, then takes satisfaction in his clan’s improved standing. (Chapters 391–392,444)

Abilities and cultivation

Qiongcuo belongs to an Embryonic Breathing family and has not developed spiritual sense when he receives the Li envoys. He can open his mountain’s protective formation for visiting cultivators. His practical influence comes chiefly from managing the family’s land, mining interests and negotiations with stronger clans. (Chapters 391,441)

Relationships

• Li Xicheng: Explains the tribute arrangement and access to cultivation land and study. (Chapter 392)
• Li Qiuyang: Enforces the ban on using humans as cultivation materials. (Chapter 391)
• Li Xijun: Offers compensation while inspecting the Rui mountain. (Chapter 441)
• Li Qinghong: His patron within the family’s improved circumstances. (Chapter 444)

Items

The Rui mountain contains a spirit spring affected by Green Essence Copper; its freezing water is unsuitable for irrigating spirit fields. These are family resources involved in the relocation, rather than personal weapons of Qiongcuo. (Chapter 441)