Old Black

Old Black is Wu Kong Sword Sect's oldest outer disciple, a poor but devoted ling-grain farmer whose friendship helps anchor Zuo Mo's early life. He is not the black-smoke yao later nicknamed “Old Black” in Great Peace City; those Chapter 591–621 scenes concern a different person and are not part of this profile.

Biography

Documented arc

Old Black has spent twenty years at Wu Kong Sword Sect without progressing beyond fifth-level lianqi, renting two hundred mu and giving most of his harvest to rent and expenses. He supports a family and pays the substantial cultivation costs of a talented son studying at another small sword sect. His hope for a good harvest therefore carries immediate stakes. When a strange crop disease strikes, his despair reflects the risk of losing both his livelihood and his son's chance to break through. (Chapters 1–15)

The damaged harvest earns enough to cover sect rent only because market prices rise, and Old Black continues farming rather than abandoning the fields. He introduces Wei Sheng to Zuo Mo, moves into Zuo Mo's former yard, cares for the injured Guo Lu, and lends all the jingshi he has when Zuo Mo seeks support. When Ling Ying Sect disciples threaten the fields, Old Black physically resists and is wounded; his refusal to let them ruin the crops triggers Zuo Mo's confrontation with the visitors. (Chapters 19–90)

Appearance and personality

Old Black is an older man with a dark face that can turn bloodlessly pale under shock. Later he is described as wind-blown and, after being struck, withered with blood at the corner of his mouth. The source gives no stable account of his hair, height, build, or usual clothes. (Chapters 1, 13, 19, 81)

He is hardworking, down-to-earth, flattering in a friendly way, devoted to ling fields, and willing to help friends despite poverty. His attachment to cultivated land is practical and emotional: he admires healthy grain, regrets wasted fields, and accepts injury rather than watch outsiders destroy them. (Chapters 1–81)

Abilities and cultivation

Old Black is an experienced ling-grain farmer able to manage a large rented acreage and judge crop conditions. His fifth-level lianqi cultivation remains unchanged over decades because farming and family needs consume his time and resources. The crop disease exceeds his ability to treat it, and he has no demonstrated combat method capable of stopping better-equipped sect disciples. (Chapters 3–19, 81)

His value lies in persistence, agricultural knowledge, and social trust. Improved rain from Zuo Mo raises his expected harvest, but this is Zuo Mo's spell rather than Old Black's ability; likewise, later recovery from the crop disaster depends on broader treatment and market conditions. (Chapters 1–19, 40)

Relationships

Zuo Mo

Zuo Mo first contracts rain-making for Old Black's fields and later becomes a close friend. Old Black introduces him to Wei Sheng, receives his old yard, lends him savings, and trusts him when the Ling Ying Sect conflict turns violent. (Chapters 1–90)

Wei Sheng and Guo Lu

Wei Sheng is the unfamiliar man Old Black brings to Zuo Mo before Wei Sheng's dangerous zhuji attempt. Guo Lu is injured while trying to help with the diseased grain, after which Old Black cares for him and develops a strong friendship with him. (Chapters 13–40)

The black-smoke yao

The black-smoke yao who admires Shi Zi Ming is also called “Old Black” by companions in Chapters 591–621. He is a yao traveler with an orange-haired friend, not Wu Kong's human ling-grain farmer. The shared nickname does not establish identity, travel, or a late-life reunion. (Chapters 591–621)

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