Wu Tianxi is the lord of Tuoluo Stockade and a kinsman of Wu Yunzhao in Sui-Tang Romance. The novel counts him as the sixth great warrior and gives him a Mixed-Gold tang polearm weighing more than two hundred jin. On hearing that the Wu family has been destroyed and Nanyang is under attack, he sets out to help Wu Yunzhao. The rescue is delayed when he clashes with Xiong Kuohai: they fight for scores of bouts, resume the next day for hundreds more, and continue their rivalry until Wu Yunzhao reconciles them.
The former rivals then become comrades. Alongside Wu Yunzhao, Wu Tianxi joins Xiong Kuohai in the famous three-against-one battle with Yuwen Chengdu. Later he guards Tianchang Pass, requiring travelers to withstand three exchanges before being allowed through. When Wu Yunzhao’s party arrives, the test gives way to reunion and kinship. These episodes show a fierce keeper of territory whose personal quarrels can be redirected by family loyalty and respect for equal courage.
At the Yangzhou gathering, Wu Tianxi strikes down Liang Shitai with three blows of the tang. Liang’s master Li Yuanba arrives in fury. Against the novel’s unmatched hammer fighter, Wu’s enormous weapon and strength no longer protect him: Li Yuanba lifts him from the saddle, casts him down, and tears him in two. His death fixes the limits of the sixth-ranked hero. He can hold Xiong Kuohai for days and challenge Yuwen Chengdu with allies, but killing Li Yuanba’s attendant brings him before an opponent beyond his measure.
