NovelPantheon

Clear Sky Old Forefather

Jindan sword xiuruler of Little Mountain JieClear Sky Sect

Biography

Rule over Little Mountain Jie

Clear Sky Old Forefather first appears as Clear Sky Sect's sole remaining jindan and the effective ruler of Little Mountain Jie. After the jie's ling energy withers, he uses control of imported ling grain to buy materials, recruit an Outer Hall, trade in xiu slaves, and tighten the sect's political dominance while planning a second home in another jie for its most promising disciples. (Chapter 236)

His personal power makes that economic system credible: the trapped xiuzhe fear that defying Clear Sky Sect will bring an unbeatable jindan against them. While he spends several months in seclusion, however, Zuo Mo and Gongsun Cha attack the sect's Outer Hall, remove its grain leverage, and kill his favored disciple Huang Zhuo Guang, forcing the Old Forefather to confront Golden Crow City himself. (Chapters 248–280 and 296–297)

Battle of Golden Crow City

Clear Sky Old Forefather arrives after warning his disciples to flee if he does not return within ten days. He initially dominates the battle through speed and control of sword essence, dodging hard-lightning volleys and crushing one bolt between his fingers. Zuo Mo uses the Skyring Moon Chime Formation to interrupt him, then draws him closer by hiding Golden Crow City beneath Guard Camp's black cloud. (Chapters 297–299)

When the greater formation locks him in place, Zuo Mo detonates more than ten Golden Thread Lightning Walnuts around him. Clear Sky Old Forefather survives only by sacrificing three-tenths of his cultivation; the blast destroys his flying sword and left arm and leaves his cultivation unstable. Rather than retreat, he returns immediately and pushes the Clear Sky Sword Scripture to its limit. (Chapters 299–300)

Clear Sky Old Forefather's final Blood Sky attack uses his own body as the guide for a collapsing field of sword essence intended to kill everyone in Golden Crow City. His body explodes into bloody mist within the uncontrolled technique, but the city's great formation and A Gui prevent the attack from accomplishing its purpose. His death breaks the Outer Hall's will and ends Clear Sky Sect's rule over Little Mountain Jie. (Chapters 300–303)

Appearance and personality

Clear Sky Old Forefather appears about forty years old despite his title, with loose hair, infant-smooth skin, and a casually tied snow-white robe. He is calculating and self-aware enough to cultivate alliances and acknowledge that his power would be less remarkable in larger jies, but he is also proud, authoritarian, vengeful, and willing to enslave others. The destruction of his sect and favored disciple drives him into a suicidal final attack. (Chapters 236, 271–280, and 297–300)

Abilities and cultivation

  • Jindan speed and control: His movement is initially too fast for Zuo Mo's consciousness or the formation's hard lightning to track. He can stop and crush a lightning bolt by hand, and conventional ningmai numbers cannot safely contain him without prepared formations. (Chapters 297–298)
  • Clear Sky Sword Scripture: His fifth-grade sword scripture manipulates sky-like sword essence. It can rain sword light across a city shield, divide a large strike into many smaller energies, and create Shattering Sky, a crystal-like sword-essence storm. (Chapters 299–300, 339, and 401)
  • Blood Sky: In his final technique, he uses his body as a guide and collapses the surrounding sky into uncontrolled, blood-stained sword essence over a fifty-li area. The move is a fatal last attack rather than a sustainable combat method. (Chapter 300)
  • Sect strategy: He links grain distribution, resource extraction, an Outer Hall, external alliances, and a planned second base into a system for controlling Little Mountain Jie. The plan depends on his personal deterrence and fails once the grain monopoly and his presence are removed. (Chapters 236 and 278–280)
  • Limits: He cannot immediately penetrate Golden Crow City's combined shield and Guard Camp formation, and the Moon Chime Sound Storm can briefly disrupt his movement. The great formation then restrains him long enough for the walnut explosions to maim him; escaping costs cultivation and leaves him unable to survive his final escalation. (Chapters 298–300)

Relationships

  • Huang Zhuo Guang: His most favored disciple and Clear Sky Sect's leading younger cultivator. The Old Forefather enhances Huang's armor and supports his position, and Huang's death is the immediate personal grievance he raises at Golden Crow City. (Chapters 271–275 and 298)
  • Clear Sky Sect: He is its sole remaining jindan, strategic authority, and final military deterrent. Before leaving for battle, he recognizes that its succession may end with him and orders the disciples to scatter if he does not return. (Chapters 236 and 297)
  • Zuo Mo: Zuo Mo builds Golden Crow City and its surrounding formation specifically to survive the Old Forefather. Their battle ends with the Old Forefather's death, after which Zuo Mo's forces inherit and study the Clear Sky Sword Scripture. (Chapters 248–263 and 297–304)
  • A Gui: She joins the defense during his final attack and helps stop Blood Sky from destroying the city. Their direct interaction is confined to the climax of Chapters 300–301. (Chapters 300–301 and 554)

Items

  • Sky-blue flying sword: Clear Sky Old Forefather's only explicitly carried battle talisman is a flying sword described as blue as the sky. It channels his famed killing move but is destroyed in the Golden Thread Lightning Walnut explosions. (Chapters 299–300)
  • Clear Sky Sword Scripture: The fifth-grade scripture is the source of his sky sword essence. It becomes spoil after his death and is later cultivated by multiple members of Vermillion Bird Camp, most prominently Ma Fan. (Chapters 300, 339, and 401)
  • Nine Turn Sky Soil Disk: He is said to have used this high-grade talisman to copy formations into Huang Zhuo Guang's Dusty Sky Ling Armor. The corpus does not state whether he carried it to Golden Crow City or what became of it after his death. (Chapter 275)
  • Begonia Lantern: The Hundred Flower Alliance offers a sixth-grade Begonia Lantern as tribute during trade negotiations, but the text does not confirm that the Old Forefather ever receives it. (Chapter 236)