Zhou Nanwang

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Zhou Nanwang (周南望)
Alias(es)	Grandmaster Zhou; Earth Grandmaster Nanwang; the Profound Martial Sage 879 1151
Gender	Male 1211
Affiliation	Zhou Clan Western Sect (founding ancestor); Lihuo Prefecture 789 956
Occupation/Role	Earth Grandmaster; Governor of Lihuo Prefecture; adoptive father and intended successor-maker of Zhou Daqian 793 956 997
Status	Active 1211
First Appearance	Chapter 767 767

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Grandmaster	794	Returned to the Zhou Clan after tracing his descent from Zhou Su’s line, then rose to Grandmaster and earned a Sealed Lord’s recognition.
Earth Grandmaster threshold	879	Displayed enough power to halt the dispute over Zhou Ding’s apprenticeship, revealing that he had touched the Earth Grandmaster threshold.
Earth Grandmaster	915 917 918	Broke through amid the Eight Lords’ assault by deploying the Great Conquest Formation; gained Earth Grandmaster-level fist intent, thought, and city-building methods.
Mid-stage Earth Grandmaster	1030	Stabilized at the middle stage and refined his city-building technique while constructing a new city in Lihuo Prefecture.
Peak Heavenly Ladder; failed Martial Sage ascent	1211	After inheriting the Profound Martial Sage’s legacy, reached the peak of the Heavenly Ladder and attempted to lift the Nine Tripods. He survived the failed attempt but lost his opportunity to ascend to Martial Sage.

Background / History

Origins and the Western Sect

Zhou Nanwang descends from Zhou Su through a collateral line exiled to Northern Xuan. More than a hundred generations removed from Zhou Su and Zhou Xuan, he returned to the Zhou Clan, traced his ancestry, and sought to raise Zhou Su’s memorial tablet beside Zhou Xuan’s. The main sect rejected this demand, as it would have displaced direct-line ancestors and reshaped the clan hierarchy. 794

His dispute with the main sect became the Zhou Clan’s “Ten Year Internal Change.” Zhou Nanwang fought the main-sect Grandmasters hundreds of times and narrowly survived several encounters before a settlement formally divided the clan into the Eastern and Western Sects. Zhou Su became the Western Sect’s honored ancestor, while Zhou Nanwang became its Old Ancestor. 794 789

Zhou You and the Western Sect Heir

Zhou Nanwang recognized Zhou You as a blood descendant after using Grandmaster power to trigger bloodline resonance and reveal Zhou Family Fist techniques within him. He confirmed that Zhou You had inherited an ancestral secret manual and accepted him as a grand-nephew. 774

He later established Zhou You’s public identity as his adopted son, Zhou Daqian, and treated him as the Western Sect’s future successor. To conceal the connection between Zhou You and Zhou Daqian, he arranged for most witnesses’ memories of Zhou You’s Zhou Clan identity to be erased before the party departed for Dijing. 793 781

When Zhou You was targeted by the Impermanent Killers, Zhou Nanwang turned the attack into political leverage against the Eastern Sect. He exposed Zhou Kuai as the source of the leaked whereabouts and used the Great Conquest Tribulation Hand to extract a confession that Zhou Kuai had ordered the assassination. 793 794

Earth Grandmaster and Prefect

Zhou Nanwang broke through to Earth Grandmaster while the Eight Lords attempted to isolate him from the Western Sect. His return reversed the balance of power: his city-building fist intent divided space around the Western Sect mansion and forced hostile observers back. 915 918

The Sealed Lord subsequently appointed him Governor of Lihuo Prefecture, a strategically vital southeastern prefecture bordering the Southern Border. He was tasked with containing demonic threats and preventing Marquis Shen from using the Southern Border crisis to threaten the rest of the realm. 956

In Lihuo, Zhou Nanwang organized the Cauldron Guard Army to defend the Demon Transformation Cauldron and placed trusted subordinates in key positions. He also built a city through his Earth Grandmaster methods after the region recovered from war. 986 1030

Profound Martial Sage Legacy

At the Imperial Palace of Heaven Worship, Zhou Nanwang revealed that he had merged with a wisp of the Profound Martial Sage’s fist intent. According to his account, the Profound Martial Sage concealed this intent within the realm called “Profound,” leaving a key within Sacred Artifacts; Zhou Nanwang later found that key and became an existence carrying both identities. 1151

Decades later, he disclosed that the legacy had allowed him to reach the peak of the Heavenly Ladder and attempt the Nine Tripods trial for Martial Sage ascension. The attempt failed, but his merged nature allowed him to survive a failure that should have reduced an ordinary challenger to dust. 1211

Personality

Zhou Nanwang is politically calculating and highly protective of his branch and family. He regards threats against Zhou You not merely as personal attacks, but as opportunities to expand the Western Sect’s influence and strike hostile factions. 793

He values practical, individual cultivation over blind adherence to inherited tradition. Although he possesses Zhou Family martial arts, he repeatedly advises Zhou You to find a path suited to himself rather than devote excessive effort to family techniques. 814

His protection of Zhou You is unusually resolute. He rejected Uncle Wang’s proposal to abandon Zhou Daqian for the Western Sect’s safety, choosing instead to stake his future on an Earth Grandmaster breakthrough. 911 915

Abilities & Skills

Earth Grandmaster City Building Technique

Zhou Nanwang can manifest fist intent and thought into a spatial domain, separating battlefields from their surroundings and reshaping space into prison-like structures.

• Used fist intent to divide the Western Sect’s entrance into crisscrossing spatial trajectories, driving away hostile onlookers. 918
• Isolated the Mang Demon within a separate space using Infinite Rivers and Mountains Chain Tribulation. 959
• Created a dedicated battlefield against the Alligator Demon, allowing him to control the engagement as an Earth Grandmaster. 978
• Formed a crystalline confinement around Mu Xiangtong through Plotting Calamity then Placing Piece, Three Lifts Three Drops Hand. 997

Great Conquest Tribulation Hand

A self-created Grandmaster-level fist technique based on strategic positioning, suppression, and the gathering of opposing forces.

• Extracted Zhou Kuai’s confession concerning the assassination attempt on Zhou You. 794
• Served as the foundation of his Earth Grandmaster breakthrough through the Great Conquest Formation, All Tribulations Are Gathered. 915
• Reached a refined state during Lihuo’s city-building ceremony, producing distinct black-and-white patterns with each strike. 1030
• He promised to personally teach its deeper secrets to Zhou You once Zhou You reached the late Mighty Warrior realm. 814

Hundred Battles Preservation Compendium

A family boxing art that treats the battlefield as a chessboard, using calculated positioning to constrain opponents and exploit weaknesses.

• Uses battlefield control and military principles to create a “prison” around opponents. 978
• Identified the Alligator Demon’s defensive redistribution weakness and targeted its exposed underbelly. 978 979
• Was given to Zhou You alongside the Great Conquest Tribulation Hand as reference material for creating an original combat style. 986

Glazed Longevity Light Fist

A Zhou Family fist art associated with defense, counterattack, and the clan’s ancestral martial inheritance.

• Its principles appeared spontaneously within Zhou You when Zhou Nanwang tested his bloodline resonance. 774
• Zhou Nanwang is recognized as a practitioner of the technique during his confrontation with Mu Xiangtong. 997

Profound Martial Sage Legacy

Through his fusion with the Profound Martial Sage’s remaining fist intent, Zhou Nanwang possesses knowledge and methods beyond ordinary Grandmasters.

• Traversed 87 traps in the Imperial Palace of Heaven Worship, including twelve “Absolute Kill” character plates and seven Seal Script teleportation passages. 1151
• Explains that the Profound Martial Sage hid a wisp of fist intent within the “Profound,” a realm beyond ordinary perception. 1151
• Survived a failed Nine Tripods ascension attempt due to his merged state with the Profound Martial Sage’s legacy. 1211

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Dot Picker — A slender, fork-tipped Divine Weapon used with Zhou Nanwang’s boxing style against the Alligator Demon. 978
• Point Conceal Undefeated Art — The technique he employed through the Dot Picker to redirect an apparently stalled strike toward the Alligator Demon’s vulnerable underbelly. 979

Relationships

• Zhou You / Zhou Daqian — Blood descendant recognized as Zhou Nanwang’s grand-nephew; publicly established as his adopted son and intended Western Sect successor. Zhou Nanwang protects, advises, equips, and politically supports him. 774 793 986 1012
• Zhou Ding — Grandson and designated future heir of the Western Sect; Zhou Nanwang revealed his Earth Grandmaster strength to protect Zhou Ding’s right to remain with the family. 879
• Zhou Gan — Son; acted as the Zhou Family’s representative when Zhou Nanwang was absent. 767 768
• Zhou Tianyuan — Eastern Sect leader and longstanding political rival whose conflict with Zhou Nanwang traces back to the division of the Zhou Clan. 794 879
• Zhou Kuai — Eastern Sect member exposed by Zhou Nanwang as the person who leaked Zhou You’s whereabouts and ordered his assassination. 793 794
• Lord Chongyang — Palace adversary confronted by Zhou Nanwang, who accused him of orchestrating the deaths of the Sealed Lord and Consort Mei. 1151
• Mu Xiangtong — Enemy who sought revenge against Zhou Daqian and fought Zhou Nanwang using demonic-enhanced power. 995 997
• The Sealed Lord — Political patron who appointed Zhou Nanwang Governor of Lihuo Prefecture. 956

Notable Quotes

“Everyone has their own path. Family martial arts were passed down by our ancestors, but they might not be suitable for every descendant.” 814

“I intend to achieve Earth Grandmaster today. I ask for everyone’s witness.” 915