Zhang Kui is the defender who turns the small city of Mianchi into one of the Zhou army’s costliest obstacles in Investiture of the Gods. He fights with a saber, rides the One-Horned Black-Smoke Beast, and travels beneath the earth with greater speed than Tuxingsun. His wife Gao Lanying shares the command, advises his plans, and brings the Sun Needles that make the couple dangerous both in open battle and in supernatural contest.
Zhang Kui’s standing is established through a devastating engagement with five commanders. Using the speed and smoke of his beast, he kills Huang Feihu, Chong Heihu, Wen Pin, Cui Ying, and Jiang Xiong. When Tuxingsun challenges him underground, Zhang Kui proves faster, lures his rival into a long pursuit, and kills him at Ferocious Beast Cliff. He later enters the Zhou camp beneath the ground to assassinate Jiang Ziya, but Yang Ren’s extraordinary eyes detect him and rouse the entire army.
No single warrior is enough to finish Zhang Kui. Jiang Ziya draws him away from Mianchi while Nezha and Leizhenzi take the city and kill Gao Lanying. Zhang Kui pursues toward the Yellow River, with Yang Ren tracking every movement below ground. Yang Jian burns a Ground-Turned-to-Steel talisman, sealing the earth around him; Wei Hu then casts the Demon-Subduing Pestle and crushes him. At the investiture Zhang Kui becomes the Seven Killings Star. His title fits a defender whose brief stand destroys an extraordinary number of Zhou commanders before coordinated magic finally closes every escape.
