Xu Zhu (虛竹) is the leader of the Carefree (逍遙) Sect. He was the 2nd sworn brother together with the 1st, Xiao Feng, and the 3rd, Duan Yu. His martial arts include the 'Plum Picking Hands of Heavenly Mountain' (天山折梅手) and 'Six Solar Palms of Heavenly Mountain' (天山六陽掌). After breaking an intricate chess formation through luck and aid, he gained 70 years of inner force (qi) passed on to him by WuYa Zi, the leader of the Carefree Sect. WuYa Zi then passed on the leadership of the Carefree Sect to Xu Zhu with instructions to kill his renegade disciple Ding Chunqiu. After a senior monk and WuYa Zi's first disciple are killed by Ding Chunqiu, Xu Zhu tries to find him but ends up rescuing a young girl from a gathering determined to kill her. Unbeknownst to him, the young girl is actually Tianshan Tonglao, the elder martial sister of WuYa Zi. She has lost her power temporarily and employs Xu Zhu as a bodyguard, teaching him martial arts in the process. Frustrated with his inflexibility, she pushes Xu Zhu to sleep with the Xixia Princess. During a climatic battle between her and Li Qiushui, another martial sister of WuYa Zi, Xu Zhu unwittingly gains both their inner energies and is named as their heir before they die. Xu Zhu then takes control of Tianshan Tonglao's mountain and swears brotherhood with Duan Yu, before defeating Ding Chunqiu at Shaolin and implanting the 'Life and Death Talisman' (生死符) in him. Xiao Feng accepts him as a sworn brother and they set off to help Duan Yu wed the Xixia Princess. Xu Zhu ends up getting married to her and participated in freeing Xiao Feng.
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