Xu Gongming

Xu Gongming is the sole cultivator in a poor Xu household who chooses military service as a way to restore his family’s standing, then earns a long career in the Li family’s forces despite limited talent and a severe battlefield injury. (Chapters 190, 440, 654)

Biography

A military path for the Xu Family

When the Li family recruits soldiers to fight Mount Yue, Gongming urges his parents to let him enlist because the Xu Family is poorer and less influential than its neighbors, and military service seems its only path forward. His uncle Old Master Xu warns him that this service will require loyalty, impartiality, and composure rather than self-promotion. Gongming follows that counsel when he meets Li Yuanxiu, accepts a squadron-leader post without bargaining, and takes the vanguard into battle. When an enemy commander mistakes the troops for a wedding delegation, Gongming invites him to talk inside the formation, then strikes first and leads his hundred soldiers into the unprepared force. The battle gives him a practical place in Li service, but his family’s future remains his responsibility: after Old Master Xu dies, he takes over the family and is its only cultivator. (Chapters 190, 193, 248)

Injury, recovery, and command

Gongming’s military career brings advancement but also a lasting cost. After reaching the Qi Cultivation Realm, he serves during the devil plague. Seeing the wounded Qiu Ji retreat past him, Gongming tries to intercept the enemy because he hopes the risk will earn credit; Qiu Ji shatters his Embryonic Breathing Realm Ebony Saber and tears away half his face. Gongming survives, and the Li family later appoints him Peak Guardian of Mount Yuting. He continues as a Qi Cultivator, later carrying short halberds and serving as a commander; despite average talent that makes further cultivation difficult, he trains Li Zhouwei in halberd use and maintains a reputation for conscientious service to the Xu Family. (Chapters 347, 423–424, 440, 482, 654)

Appearance and personality

Gongming is introduced as an earnest, straightforward young man, and his uncle’s advice shapes a restrained, dutiful manner in Li service. The devil cultivator attack leaves half his face severely damaged; years later he wears a mask over it, with charred, dark-red skin visible on his neck. He remains humble and careful in his dealings even as a seasoned commander. (Chapters 190, 193, 654)

Abilities and cultivation

Gongming begins as an Embryonic Breathing Realm cultivator and eventually reaches the Qi Cultivation Realm. By the time he teaches Li Zhouwei, he has advanced to the middle stage, though average talent makes further progress increasingly difficult. He has years of experience with long and short halberds, but describes his own understanding as still limited; no named personal technique is established. (Chapters 190, 347, 482, 654)

Relationships

• Li Yuanxiu: The Li officer who recruits him into military service and assigns his first command. Gongming follows the family’s expectations of loyalty and restraint. (Chapter 190)
• Tian Zhongqing: His childhood friend. Their later conversation about the Li family’s advancement alarms them both when they suspect it may have been overheard. (Chapters 248–249)
• Li Zhouwei: The heir he instructs in halberd practice, praising the boy’s rapid skill while remaining modest about his own mastery. (Chapter 654)

Items

• Ebony Saber: Gongming’s Embryonic Breathing Realm dharma artifact. Qiu Ji shattered it when Gongming tried to delay his retreat. (Chapter 423)
• Gongming later wields a pair of short halberds in battle; no individual names are given for them. (Chapter 482)