Xue Xingchuan

Xue Xingchuan is the second-ranked Divine General of the Great Zhou, commander of the Imperial Guard, and one of the Tianhai Divine Empress's most trusted military servants. His cold professionalism protects the capital for years, but his loyalty is destroyed from within when his twin brother Zhou Tong chooses survival over their bond. (Chapters 31, 98, 624, 647, and 681)

Biography

Guardian of the Capital

Transferred from the northern front to command the Imperial Guard, Xue Xingchuan accepts responsibility for the capital's safety and acts with the efficiency of a veteran soldier. He arrives after the demon Yeshi Tanlu attacks Luoluo, takes the assassin alive for interrogation about Black Robe, and recognizes that the Heavenly Net had already been torn before his arrival. At the Orthodox Academy's later confrontation, he respects Jin Yulu's right to defend the gate but deploys his soldiers between the academy and the crowd, choosing containment over a politically convenient attack on either side. (Chapters 31, 96, 98, and 186–187)

His reserve is not indifference to rank or service. Xue addresses the much older Jin Yulu as senior and bows to Fei Dian, while remaining expressionless toward juniors and political spectators. The distinction shows a professional hierarchy rooted in battlefield experience rather than court fashion. Because the Divine Empress trusts him with the Forbidden Army and palace defense, even rival Tianhai officials treat his position as the standard of imperial confidence; his authority consequently deters unrest without requiring constant violence. (Chapters 61, 90, 96, 98, and 102)

Observer of the Grand Examination

During the Grand Examination, Xue serves as a military representative and interprets unfamiliar techniques through his accumulated combat experience. He recognizes that Chen Changsheng's movement contains part of the Discerning Steps, explains the strengths displayed in the matches, and is openly startled when Chen exceeds the limits expected of him. His judgments do not alter the competition, but they develop his role from enforcer to expert witness: he can distinguish battlefield substance from resemblance, while admitting perplexity when the young cultivator's performance escapes his knowledge. (Chapters 144, 151, 157, and 167)

The examination also closes the earlier assassination case. Information extracted from the demon Xue captured exposes an intelligence line controlled by Black Robe and leads the Zhou government toward the Garden of Zhou. This outcome explains why he had insisted on taking Yeshi Tanlu alive rather than simply killing him at the academy. His combination of force and investigative patience turns one failed assassination into strategic intelligence, although the actual interrogation is performed through Zhou Tong's department rather than by Xue himself. (Chapters 31 and 186–187)

Betrayal at the Imperial Palace

On the night of the coup, the Divine Empress entrusts Xue with the Imperial Design's palace pivot and the Frost God Spear. His massive stores of Qi and blood, combined with that weapon and the palace's Heavenly Slaughter Array, make him effectively unbeatable by cultivators below the Divine Domain. He proves the assessment by crushing Xiao Zhang's assault and forcing the spear-wielding expert to his knees. Xue's purpose is simple and unwavering: hold the Imperial City so the Empress retains control of the capital while the Saints gather at the Mausoleum of Books. (Chapters 636, 643, and 647)

The defense fails through trust rather than combat. Xue has spent half a year guarding against poison in food, bathing, clothing, and cultivation, but takes a test sip from Zhou Tong's medicinal soup while coaxing his frightened brother to drink. The formless Peacock Plume destroys his meridians and vents his true essence just as he prepares to finish the battle. He understands the betrayal, lowers the spear, and dies without falling. The new government then exposes his corpse and persecutes his household and subordinates; Chen later gives him burial, while the injustice becomes part of the moral case against Zhou Tong. (Chapters 623–624, 647, 681, 688, 695, and 1050)

Appearance and personality

Xue Xingchuan is a solemn middle-aged man first seen in dark-red armor on a Red Cloud Qilin. His expression is normally cold or impassive, and his battle presence carries heat, blood, and the disciplined pressure of command. At the coup, his prime body is described as holding enormous reserves of Qi and blood; only the Peacock Plume's green corruption visibly breaks that controlled appearance. (Chapters 31, 96, 636, and 647)

He is disciplined, taciturn, observant, and respectful toward proven seniors. Xue does not indulge public disputes when containment will restore order, but he is ruthless when an enemy threatens the capital or possesses useful intelligence. His private loyalty is deeper than his outward severity suggests: he keeps watch beside the grievously injured Zhou Tong and treats him as his only true friend, never imagining that this devotion creates the opening through which his brother can kill him. (Chapters 31, 96, 623–624, and 647)

Abilities and cultivation

Xue Xingchuan stands at the summit of cultivators below the Divine Domain. His body contains exceptional Qi and blood, his true essence can overwhelm other experts of the Proclamation of Liberation, and decades of northern warfare give him precise judgment of techniques and force. The corpus does not name his cultivation method or exact Star Condensation stage, so his standing is established through rank, comparisons, and demonstrated combat rather than a stated realm. (Chapters 31, 144, 636, and 647)

Mounted speed and battlefield force

With the Red Cloud Qilin, Xue can cross the capital fast enough to be the first imperial expert at a sudden crisis. The mount's hoof shatters Yeshi Tanlu's chest while Xue's bloodlit blade severs the demon's arm, breaking the assassination without killing the source of intelligence. This mobility depends on the living mount rather than Xue alone; he later sends the qilin away before holding the palace steps, and it survives him rather than functioning as equipment. (Chapter 31)

Spear mastery and imperial defense

Xue's ordinary spear skill is treated as a benchmark among the Great Zhou's generals, but the clearest demonstration comes when he temporarily wields the Frost God Spear. A single collision launches Xiao Zhang into the Imperial City wall; a second strike bends Xiao Zhang's weapon, shatters his wrists and knees, and pins him beneath imperial pressure. The legendary spear raises Xue's combat power close enough to the Divine Domain that only a Saint or a comparable expert with a supreme weapon is expected to contest him. That enhancement is item-derived, bounded by his ability to circulate true essence, and rendered useless once Peacock Plume empties his meridians. (Chapters 636 and 647)

Command and tactical judgment

As commander of the Imperial Guard, Xue coordinates palace security, controls access to the capital's military force, and can turn thousands of divine crossbows toward a threat. He also knows when not to escalate: at the Orthodox Academy, he holds troops in reserve so neither the rioters nor the students can widen the confrontation. His knowledge lets him identify partial Discerning Steps and evaluate unfamiliar combat during the Grand Examination. These skills cannot protect him from betrayal inside his trusted circle, which bypasses the external dangers his discipline is designed to control. (Chapters 96, 98, 144, 157, and 647)

Power progression

Relationships

• Tianhai Divine Empress: Xue is one of the Empress's two foremost military subordinates and remains loyal during the coup. She entrusts him with the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Design's pivot, and the Frost God Spear, making his death a decisive breach in her control of the palace. (Chapters 98, 599, 636, 643, and 681)
• Zhou Tong: Zhou Tong is Xue's twin brother and only true friend. Xue guards him after Chen's attack and urges him to recover, but Zhou accepts Shang Xingzhou's promise of survival and administers the poison that kills Xue, turning their hidden kinship into the coup's central betrayal. (Chapters 623–624 and 647)
• Jin Yulu: Xue sincerely addresses Jin Yulu as senior because of the demi-human general's age and service in the earlier war. Their academy confrontation remains controlled: Xue questions his severity, understands his duty, and chooses to keep the peace rather than challenge him. (Chapter 96)
• Chen Changsheng: Xue first encounters Chen while rescuing Luoluo and admires the apparently ordinary student's courage. They later stand on opposing institutional sides, but Chen rejects the posthumous disgrace imposed on Xue, buries his body, protects his family, and helps restore his military legacy. (Chapters 31, 144–167, 681–695, 1050, and 1132–1133)
• Xue He: Xue Xingchuan's younger brother serves on the northern frontier and inherits the burden of his fall. The new government imprisons Xue He after the coup, but Chen's care for the family eventually helps him return to service and take command at the Cong Province headquarters where his elder brother began his rise. (Chapters 714–722 and 1132–1133)

Items

• Frost God Spear: The Divine Empress temporarily entrusts Emperor Taizong's supreme weapon to Xue during the coup. It lets him suppress Xiao Zhang and makes his strength approach the Divine Domain, but Peacock Plume stops his true essence and forces him to release it. (Chapters 636 and 647)
• Bloodlit divine blade: Xue wields this unnamed blade from the back of the Red Cloud Qilin when capturing Yeshi Tanlu. Its strike severs the demon's arm after the mount breaks the Heavenly Net and pins the target. (Chapter 31)