NovelPantheon

Dai Tao

Fanxu elderformer roaming xiuzheXuan Kong Temple

Dai Tao is a Xuan Kong Temple elder whose long reliance on sect resources and teaching leaves him unprepared for a ruthless field pursuit. His Five Element Manifestation Wheel gives him formidable control over space and energy, but a direct counter and his partner's death turn the hunt for shen power into a humiliating defeat.

Biography

Great Peace City and Mo Cloud Sea

Dai Tao begins as a roaming xiuzhe, enters an outer branch of Xuan Kong Temple, and uses the sect's resources and records to reach fanxu before becoming an elder who normally teaches disciples. He accompanies Ji Zheng in pursuit of Zuo Mo, A Gui, and Ceng Lian'er because a pure shen-power inheritance might reveal a route to dasheng. Although slightly more worldly than Ji Zheng, Dai Tao is repeatedly misled during the pursuit. In the ensuing clashes, his Wheel is countered and his right arm and shoulder are devastated; Ji Zheng's Nirvana Shout pulls him back from a mental demon. Dai Tao later begins to understand A Gui's power and gains an advantage, but Ji Zheng's death destroys his courage. He flees, survives, and reports the trio's danger to Xuan Kong Temple. (Chapters 665–668, 673–676, 678, and 683–684)

Shen-Power Ruins and the Great-Sect War

The much later account of Xuan Kong Temple's losses recalls Ji Zheng as having gone on the mission together with Dai Tao, preserving Dai Tao's connection to the failed pursuit but adding no new action, office, or confirmed death for him. The corpus therefore leaves his post-report fate unstated rather than placing him in the later fighting. (Chapter 807)

Appearance and personality

Dai Tao dresses like an ordinary xiuzhe, and nothing in his clothing readily reveals his position as a Xuan Kong Temple elder. The severe damage from the Little Mo Treasure Cup destroys his right arm and burns the same shoulder, but the corpus does not describe a later replacement or recovery. (Chapters 665 and 673–674)

He is more experienced in worldly matters than the secluded Ji Zheng, yet decades spent teaching rather than fighting have blunted his field instincts. Pride and rage almost produce a mental demon after his injury. He can still learn in combat and proposes repeated exchanges to comprehend shen power, but fear ultimately overrides loyalty when Ji Zheng dies. (Chapters 666–668, 674, and 678)

Abilities and cultivation

Dai Tao is a fanxu xiuzhe whose principal talisman is the eighth-grade Five Element Manifestation Wheel. It produces differently colored Buddha manifestations and a pillar of light, twists the surrounding space, separates or dissolves energies, and drags a target into a bog-like restraint. During the final exchange, repeated observation lets him begin adapting to A Gui's unfamiliar shen power. (Chapters 665, 673–676, and 678)

His power has explicit limits. Long absence from real combat makes even the first counterattack startling to him, and the Wheel's five-element operation is naturally countered by the yinyang and five-element reversal of the Black-heart Treasure Coin and Little Mo Treasure Cup. Injury, anger, and the loss of his companion also expose serious psychological weaknesses. (Chapters 668 and 673–674, 678)

Relationships

  • Ji Zheng: Dai Tao's fellow Xuan Kong Temple elder and partner in the pursuit. Ji Zheng heals Dai Tao's destabilized mind, but Dai Tao flees after Ceng Lian'er kills Ji Zheng. (Chapters 665, 674, 676, and 678)
  • Zuo Mo, A Gui, and Ceng Lian'er: Dai Tao hunts the trio for their shen-power inheritance. Their deception, specialized counters, and coordinated attacks defeat the two elders, after which Dai Tao reports their threat to his sect. (Chapters 665–668, 673–676, 678, and 683–684)
  • Hui Bao: Dai Tao and Ji Zheng hire this local guide to track their targets. Hui Bao supplies expertise and equipment for the search but is not presented as Dai Tao's disciple or subordinate. (Chapters 666–667)
  • Xuan Kong Temple: The temple's resources enable Dai Tao's rise to fanxu and make him an elder. His survival allows its leaders to learn what happened during the failed pursuit. (Chapters 665–666 and 683–684)

Items

  • Five Element Manifestation Wheel: Dai Tao's eighth-grade main talisman. It remains in his use through the pursuit, and because he escapes with it, the corpus gives no later transfer of custody. (Chapters 673–676 and 678)
  • Little Mo Treasure Cup and Black-heart Treasure Coin: These countering treasures are wielded by Zuo Mo's side, not owned by Dai Tao. The Cup is responsible for his crippling injury. (Chapters 673–674 and 676)