Xuan Zi

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Xuan Zi
Alias(es)	Elder Xuan; Taotie
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Shrek Academy; Sea God Pavilion; later associated with the merged Shrek–Body Sect leadership
Occupation/Role	Vice Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion; Shrek team leader and protector
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 43

Background / History

Xuan Zi served as Shrek Academy’s Vice Pavilion Master and was regarded as second only to Mu En in both standing and strength. At level 98, he was expected to become the next Sea God Pavilion Master as Mu En’s life waned. 74

He was assigned to oversee Shrek’s candidates for the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament. He assessed the team’s available Soul Emperors, approved Ma Xiaotao’s participation after her condition stabilized, and settled a dispute over the reserve lineup by granting He Caitou the final substitute position. 43 67 68

Appearance

Xuan Zi is an elderly, slovenly man often depicted drinking wine or eating meat, including while carrying out academy duties. 43 68 83

• Frequently carries alcohol and drinks during important events. 68 83
• Was first seen lying down and gnawing on a chicken leg. 43
• Projects overwhelming pressure when angered, contrasting with his normally careless bearing. 83 95

Personality

Xuan Zi is blunt, prideful, and highly confident in his own strength. He judges students primarily by demonstrated talent and immediate results; he dismissed Huo Yuhao as a “waste” because his eye Martial Soul had not undergone a second awakening and his innate Soul Power was only level one. 43

His confidence repeatedly becomes negligence. He rejected Soul Guide Shields for Shrek’s tournament team on the grounds that his presence made extra precautions unnecessary, then left the group to nap after determining their target was merely a five-ring Evil Soul Master. 73

Despite this pattern, Xuan Zi does feel genuine remorse when students die under his protection. After a failed mission, he convened the Sea God Pavilion himself, confessed his guilt, and requested punishment or expulsion. 74 Following the later disaster in the Star Dou Great Forest, he again chose to remain at Shrek and atone rather than leave. 260 261

Abilities & Skills

Rank 98 Titled Douluo

Xuan Zi is a level 98 Titled Douluo and one of the continent’s foremost Soul Masters. His status and strength overshadow ordinary Titled Douluo; a Body Sect Titled Douluo judged that even five or ten of himself would likely be unable to defeat Xuan Zi. 74 253

• His Super Douluo aura can suppress an entire venue. 83
• He easily subdued a fifty-thousand-year Spirit Beast during a Spirit Ring hunt. 145
• His presence alone caused a Body Sect Titled Douluo to withdraw from a protection assignment. 253

Taotie Martial Soul and Taotie State

Xuan Zi bears the Taotie Martial Soul and can enter the powerful Taotie State. He uses its immense physical and devouring power in combat. 253 288

• In Taotie State, he can attempt to devour opponents; Xiao Qiang later burst out from inside Taotie’s body through Exploding Ring. 288
• He can manifest enormous Soul Power constructs, including a giant hand used to seize Xiao Qiang. 283
• His Taotie State normally required Mu En and the Golden Tree, but could be enabled through a Spirit Fusion Skill after Mu En’s death. 282
• The state is not invulnerable: Xiao Qiang wounded him with Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment and disrupted him with Soul Impact. 283 288

Combat Pressure and Detection

Xuan Zi’s Soul Power is sensitive enough to notice faint Soul Power fluctuations and hidden Soul Tools, although he failed to recognize a non-Soul-Power-emitting insect used to record Shrek’s cheating. 96

• He attempted to pressure Xiao Qiang after questioning his Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring. 78
• He immediately released his full Spirit Ring configuration and attacked Xiao Qiang after witnessing the deaths of Shrek students. 95
• His ring configuration is two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red. 95

Relationships

• Mu En — Superior and Sea God Pavilion Master. Mu En rejected Xuan Zi’s request for expulsion after his first major failure and instead ordered him to lead Shrek’s replacement tournament team. 74
• Yan Shaozhe — Fellow Shrek leader who regularly consulted Xuan Zi on team composition and student matters. Yan Shaozhe also recognized the danger in Xuan Zi accompanying Spirit Ring hunts because of his past record. 67 68 257
• Zhang Lexuan — Shrek disciple deeply uneasy around Xuan Zi due to prior losses under his protection. She remembered a previous incident in which she had been forced to kneel and apologize, and later feared he would lose track of another Spirit Ring hunting team. 68 220 253
• Huo Yuhao — Student whose potential Xuan Zi dismissed before his Body Spirit’s second awakening. 43
• Dai Yueheng — Tournament team member who respected Xuan Zi’s burden after his confession, but was also placed at risk by Xuan Zi’s decisions. 73 74
• Du Busi — Body Sect Sect Master and later Sea God Pavilion Master. Du Busi condemned Xuan Zi after the Star Dou Great Forest disaster but declined to expel him because Shrek still needed his combat strength. 257 260 261
• Xiao Qiang — Major adversary. Xuan Zi questioned his Spirit Ring, attempted to suppress him, attacked him after Shrek student deaths, and later joined the Tianfu Alliance’s assault on Spirit Hall. 78 95 283

Story Role / Major Arcs

All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament

Xuan Zi supervised Shrek’s tournament preparations and made decisions on the Shrek Seven Devils’ substitute lineup. He confirmed Ma Xiaotao was fit to compete and selected He Caitou for the final reserve position. 67 68

During the tournament’s earlier mission, his overconfidence contributed to a severe failure. He refused to require Soul Guide Shields, dismissed the threat posed by a five-ring Evil Soul Master, and left the team unattended. 73 He subsequently returned to Shrek, confessed his failure before the Sea God Pavilion, and was ordered by Mu En to lead a replacement team to the tournament. 74

At the tournament, he pressured Xiao Qiang over his Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring but withdrew after Jing Hongchen threatened Shrek’s key students. 78 He later lost control after Xiao Qiang killed two Shrek students and directly attacked him from outside the arena. 95

Repeated Spirit Ring Hunt Failures

Xuan Zi later assisted junior students with Spirit Ring hunts despite normally helping only with eighth and ninth rings. He subdued a fifty-thousand-year Spirit Beast, earning the students’ confidence, but left to investigate a distant angelic presence and was teleported away by Xiao Qiang’s anchored teleportation. 145 149

He subsequently volunteered to replace a Body Sect Titled Douluo as the protector for Zhang Lexuan, Bei Bei, Long Aotian, and other elite students. 252 253 Bear Lord forced Xuan Zi to switch places and leave the students near the Star Dou Great Forest’s core area without their principal protector. 255

The operation ended in catastrophic losses, including Long Aotian and multiple young Soul Emperors. Xuan Zi accepted responsibility and offered to leave Shrek, but the academy’s students and teachers asked him to remain; he chose atonement instead. 260 261

Conflict with Spirit Hall

Xuan Zi participated in the Tianfu Alliance’s attack on Spirit Hall, attacking Xiao Qiang directly with a giant Soul Power hand. Xiao Qiang cut through the attack with Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment and injured Xuan Zi with Soul Impact. 283

During the ensuing battle, Xuan Zi used Taotie State to devour Xiao Qiang, but Xiao Qiang escaped by detonating Spirit Rings from within. Xuan Zi was left badly wounded and weakened by age, injury, and backlash from the broken Spirit Fusion Skill. 288

Shrek Continent

After Shrek’s decline on the Sun Moon Continent, Xuan Zi remained one of the two Titled Douluo capable of managing Shrek’s affairs on the newly conquered Shrek Continent. 318

Notable Quotes

“With me here, could anything really go wrong?” 73

“I’m a ninety-eighth-ranked existence—can I not protect a bunch of fifth- and sixth-ring Soul Masters?” 68

“This old man must confess his sins and beg for punishment.” 74