Zhang Tie

Zhang Tie was a mortal originating from the State of Yue within the Heavenly South Region. He was determined to train in martial arts. When he died, his corpse was reanimated and refined using techniques derived from the Devil Dao. His reanimated corpse was renowned as the Daoist Crooked Soul. 
== First Meeting ==
Zhang Tie failed the tests to enter the Seven Mysteries Sect as inner-disciples. However, he along with Han Li showed determination that allowed them to become unofficial disciples and retest in half a year. Both Zhang Tie and Han Li caught the attention of the sect's renown Doctor Mo. 
Zhang Tie was given the chants of the first stage of the Eternal Spring Arts. He was successful at cultivating the first stage passing Doctor Mo's test. The first stage did not require absorption of Spiritual Energy which was impossible for Zhang Tie. His inability to absorb energy prevented him from making further progress in the cultivation art. As a result, he was given a set of martial arts that allowed him to refine his body.
After several years, Zhang Tie mysteriously disappeared to explore the region. On his journey, he was killed by his master. Zhang Tie's primal soul was removed from his body. A magical technique was used to preserve and allow Doctor Mo to control the soul-less corpse. Eventually, Doctor Mo met his end at the hands of Han Li. Zhang Tie's body came to be under the control of Han Li.
== Growing a gang ==
Now named Crooked Soul, he followed Han Li on a quest to obtain a cure for the poison left by their master. Cooked Soul served as Han Li's body guard and enforcer. This allowed Han Li to take control over a local gang. Crooked Soul was left in the hands of Sun Ergou - a local confidante that served Han Li. 
Years later, a Core Formation elder from the Devilish Dao Alliance suffered a mishap and was forced to abandon their body. Their primal soul found Crooked Soul's soulless body and decided to take over. However, their newfound body only lasted for 6 years. Han Li was in the area after completing a mission to protect a mortal clan. Han Li promptly expelled the primal soul from Crooked Souls body. 
Crooked Soul was taken by Han Li back to the Yellow Maple Valley sect. However, the sect was forced to flee from the State of Yue after losing a decisive battle in the war. Crooked Soul joined Han Li in escaping the region. Together with Han Li, Crooked Soul fled the turmoil in the Heavenly South Region using an ancient transportation formation.
== Settling in the Scattered Star Seas ==
The formation transported both Crooked Soul and Han Li to the Scattered Star Seas. Han Li's cultivation regressed to Qi Condensation following an encounter prior to escaping the Heavenly South. As a result, Crooked Soul again served as Han Li's body guard. The two temporarily rented the Minor Expanse Island where Han Li spent years rebuilding his foundation. After recuperating, Crooked Soul joined Han Li on an expedition to obtain Dustfall Pills which improved the odds of forming a core to enter Core Formation. 
The expedition turned perilous when it was interrupted by a member of the Zenith Yin Island. The interruption revealed a secret coalition. As a result the Core Formation elders presiding over the expedition decided to eliminate all witnesses. Both Crooked Soul and Han Li escaped by managing to surprise and decapitate one of the elders. As a result they became notoriously wanted criminals. Crooked Soul followed Han Li to a remote island where the two underwent secluded cultivation for four years. Crooked Soul managed to form his core ascending to become a Core Formation cultivator. Leaving seclusion, Crooked Soul encountered a patrol whose mission was to capture or kill both himself and Han Li. Crooked Soul eliminated the patrol and fled the area along with Han Li. 
== Refuge in the Heavenly Star City ==
Along with Han Li, Crooked Soul fled to the human capital of the Scattered Star Seas - the Heavenly Star City. The two rented a cave residence on the large Sage Mountain that the city encompassed. Being the human-led capital, the city had teleportation formations that directly transported cultivators to the Outer Star Seas where they harvest cultivation materials. Crooked Soul followed Han Li to the Outer Star Seas to hunt Demon Beasts for their cores. Together they spent several years farming for demon cores.
Upon returning to the Heavenly Star City, Han Li went into secluded cultivation to form his core. Crooked Soul was tasked with watching over and nurturing the various Spirit Beasts, insects, and plants that Han Li possessed. After 60 years, Han Li re-emerged after successfully forming his core. Soon after emerging, Crooked Soul and Han Li were dragged into a mission to acquire rare materials to refine Core Formation-grade treasures. The mission itself turned out to be a trap set by the Zenith Yin Island sect. Both narrowly managed to flee a Nascent Soul cultivator. While ultimately a failure, Han Li managed to obtain a Divine Wood that he nurtured and refined into Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.
== Demise ==
Years later, Crooked Soul was again dragged into an adventure to raid an ancient tomb. This was because both Crooked Soul and Han Li were vagrant (rogue) cultivators without access to a stable supply of cultivation resources. The two needed to actively search for treasures, materials and resources. However, the ancient tomb turned out to be a prison for an ancient ghost called The Bone Sage. Crooked Souls body was taken-over by The Bone Sage. The cultivation art that Crooked Soul was cultivating made it easier for The Bone Sage to take over. 
Months later, Crooked Soul's body was destroyed when Han Li killed The Bone Sage.
== Cultivation ==
Stage 	Chapter	Description
Foundation Establishment	338 	A cultivator from the Devilish Dao Alliance lost their body. They took over Zhang Tie's soulless body. The new inhabitant began refining his body building its foundations.
Core Formation 	386 	Formed by consuming the Five Elements Blood Cores to create a Fiend Core.
== Appearance ==
Zhang-tie-3d.png|3D TV Series
Zhang-tie-3d-02.png|3D TV Series
crooked-soul-01.png|Crooked Soul - 3D TV Series
crooked-soul-03.png|Crooked Soul - 3D TV Series
Zhan-tie-blood-devil-arts.png|Charging Blood Devil Arts
Zhan-tie-core-formation-breakthrough.png|Core Formation Breakthrough
== References ==
Category:Male
Category:Mortals
Category:Characters