As said before I will jot down a character list. Ever time a new character will make his or her first appearance I shall make a small addendum in this thread.
YU PEIYU: The hero of this novel, he is a handsome young man. He is in search of the mastermind who is responsible for the death of his father, Yu Fanghe. His martial arts are very good, like his father he belongs to the Xiantian Wuji (Congenital no extreme) School. He has a long and difficult quest ahead of him.
YU FANGHE:The father of Yu Peiyu, he is famous for his benevolence and gentleness.
He is also the leader of Xiantian Wuji School. Unfortunately he was murdered and replaced.
LIN DAIYU: The fiancee of Yu Peiyu, she is a very strong and intelligent girl. And is helping Yu Peiyu secretly. She is also the daughter of the hero Lin Shoujuan aka The Flowered Chestnut Sword. She is also proclaimed to be the most beautiful woman of Wulin at the time.
HONG LIANHUA: The young leader of the Beggars Association, he is a good friend of Yu Peiyu and is helping him to uncover the truth of the evil mastermind. He is a very intelligent man with very good martial arts.
He is secretly in love with Lin Daiyu.
JIN YANZI (Golden Swallow): A beautiful young girl who is in love with Yu Peiyu. She is famous heroine in Wulin. She is a straightforward girl when she's mad with someone she will scold that person. If she is in love with someone she will say it directly to him.
THE YOUNG MASTER OF THE DIVINE SABRE: He is in love with Jin Yanzi and is quite obnoxious. Also he follows her around and is unaware of the fact that she can't stand him.
ABBOT TIANYUN: He is the leader of the Shaolin School. For a few times in a row he became the chancellor of Wulin. However he had no desire to lead Wulin again. He is an enlightened Buddhist monk with excellent martial arts. Also he's highly respected by everyone in Wulin.
REVEREND CHUCHEN: The leader of Wudang School. He is the brother of Xu Shuzhen (leader of Huashan). He's highly respected in Wulin and has superior martial arts.
XU SHUZHEN: aka The Lotus Fairy. She is the younger sister of reverend Chuchen and she is the present leader of Huashan School.
Her art of levitation is praised throughout the realm. She is also a Taoist priestess.
*She is one of the most famous leaders of the Huashan School in the Gu Long universe.
Even in the Chu Liuxiang novels her name was mentioned.
JUE QINGZI: The leader of Kongtong school, he is a Taoist priest but lacks the temper and grandeur a true Taoist priest should have. He is quite petty but because of his martial arts no one would like to offend him. Not a pleasant character but also not too intelligent.
YU XUAN: The leader of the Hainan School, he loves to drink. And is quite fat but his swordsmanship and martial arts are said to be unmatched in the southern regions of China.
MADAME HAITANG: The leader of the Baihua (100 flowers) Association. A rather mysterious woman but ever so enchanting. Although no one knows how good her martial arts is but nobody would dream of offending her. She loves to hear compliments about her beauty and is very cunning.
REVEREND TIANGANG: The leader of Kunlun School. He is an enlightened Taoist priest with superior martial arts. He is also very sharp and wise. He is also the teacher of Yu Peiyu, however he too dies at the hand of the evil mastermind.
XIE TIANBI: he is the young leader of the Diancang school. He is also a good friend of Hong Lianhua. But somehow he has been replaced by an imposter and his whereabouts are currently unknown.
MEI SIMANG: an elder of the Beggars Association. He is an expert in controlling and using snakes. He is the confidant of Hong Lianhua and is very loyal to Hong Lianhua and the Beggars Association.
(FAKES)WANG YULUO, XIMEN FENG, LIN SHOUJUAN, SHEN YINQIANG, DRAGONKING OF TAIHU: These WERE famous martial arts experts in the realm but all of them were killed and replaced by imposters. Except for a few people in the realms nobody knows that the present group are imposters. They are lackeys of the evil mastermind.
-THE FAKE YU FANGHE: He is the replacement of the real Yu Fanghe and has successfully become the new chancellor of Wulin.
He is in cahoots with the evil mastermind.
Some of the 13 and later on 14 Great Schools (including Xiantian Wuji) are not mentioned and their leaders unknown. Later on there will be a few Wulin dignitaries making an apperance but I'm not sure whether they and their school belong to the 14 Great schools.