Zhao Ming

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Zhao Ming (赵铭)
Alias(es)	Young Master Zhao; former Zhao Family heir
Species/Race	Human; later transformed into a Gu-corrupted monster
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Zhao Family; Azure Cloud Martial Hall (True Disciple) 7
Occupation/Role	Zhao Family’s eldest legitimate son; martial hall disciple
Status	Deceased; his Gu-transformed body was destroyed and dissolved into poisonous black liquid 43 44
First Appearance	Chapter 7

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Bone Refining Minor Success	42	Publicly revealed after his blood energy surged during his match against Li Pingsheng; he used the breakthrough to press his injured opponent.
Gu-induced demonization	43	After consuming a black-bottle catalyst, a Gu Insect devoured his blood, qi, and mind, producing strength far beyond the Bone Refining Realm. The transformation reduced him to a slaughter-driven puppet and ended with his destruction. 43 44

Background

Zhao Ming was the eldest legitimate son of the Inner City’s Zhao Family and initially stood as its heir. Raised with abundant medicinal pills and instruction from martial arts masters, he entered Azure Cloud Martial Hall with a superior bone structure and a martial foundation far stronger than Li Pingsheng’s. 7 14 18

His family treated his success as a matter of Zhao Family prestige. After his failures triggered the conflict with the Black Water Gang, Zhao Zhentian threatened to strip him of his heirship unless he won the Martial Hall Grand Exam. 32

Appearance

Zhao Ming is introduced as a handsome youth dressed in gold-woven brocade, usually accompanied by auditing disciples. His elevated chin and sidelong gaze reflect his habitual contempt for others. 7

• Gold-woven brocade clothing during his early appearances. 7
• Handsome features marked by arrogant brows and eyes. 7
• Bloodshot eyes and a disheveled appearance after losing the Beast-Controlling Bone Whistle. 23
• In his final transformation, his eyes turned black, scales spread across his body, and insects crawled beneath his skin. 43

Personality

Zhao Ming is arrogant, class-conscious, and deeply dependent on his family status. He dismisses Li Pingsheng as a “peasant” from the Wealthy District, believing wealth, training resources, and pedigree make him inherently superior. 7 8 14

His pride cannot withstand public defeat. Li Pingsheng’s display of Fist Intent drives him into a rage, and he responds by hiring Black Water Gang assassins rather than accepting the gap between them. 16 18 When he loses the Beast-Controlling Bone Whistle, he conceals his failure, invents an attacker, and lets his father direct suspicion toward the Black Water Gang. 21 23

By the Grand Exam, humiliation and paternal rejection leave him desperate for revenge. He uses Yunmei as leverage against Li Pingsheng, then embraces Gu corruption after losing again. 42 43

Abilities & Skills

Thunderbolt Fist

Zhao Ming had practiced the first three forms of Azure Cloud Martial Hall’s Thunderbolt Fist for years. His technique produces audible fist wind and was considered exceptional among the new disciples, though it lacked the Fist Intent later demonstrated by Li Pingsheng. 14 16

• Performs Thunder on Flat Ground, Lightning Flash and Thunder Roll, and Thunder Moves Through the Nine Heavens. 16
• Possesses a superior early martial foundation due to childhood training. 14
• Could not attain Fist Intent despite practicing the technique for over a decade. 16

Mystic Yin Technique

Zhao Ming cultivated the Zhao Family’s Mystic Yin Technique and used his direct bloodline to begin binding the Beast-Controlling Bone Whistle in the Cold Spring Deep Pool. 21

• His essence blood remained on the whistle after it was lost, becoming evidence that implicated the Zhao Family. 22 23
• His unstable refinement was exploited by Li Pingsheng, who caused the whistle to fall into the Cold Spring. 21

Bone-Crushing Mountain-Collapsing Fist

During his match with Li Pingsheng, Zhao Ming used the Zhao Family’s finishing move, combining Bone-Crushing Force, hard-body cultivation, and Blood-Burning Secret Medicine. 42

• Intended to overwhelm Li Pingsheng while his right arm was poisoned and Yunmei was held hostage. 42
• Li Pingsheng identified flaws in Zhao Ming’s disordered qi and blood, then shattered the technique with a single counterpunch. 42

Gu-Induced Demonization

Zhao Ming consumed a pill supplied in a black bottle by the Black-Robed Gu Master after being disowned. The pill activated a Gu Insect already within his dantian. 42 43

• The Gu devoured his blood, qi, and brain, turning him into a puppet driven by hatred and slaughter. 43
• His transformed strength surpassed the Bone Refining Realm. 43
• He killed Zhao Zhentian before Gu Zhenyue destroyed his body with one punch. 43

Equipment / Items

• Beast-Controlling Bone Whistle — A whistle refined from a century-old ferocious beast’s brow bone, entrusted to Zhao Ming for bloodline binding and control of blood slaves. He lost it during the refinement ritual. 21
• Black porcelain bottle — Given by the Black-Robed Gu Master; its pill served as the catalyst for Zhao Ming’s Gu transformation. 42 43
• Bone Strengthening Pills — Instructor Wu granted him three bottles while giving Li Pingsheng only one pill, openly favoring Zhao Ming. 7
• Blood-Burning Secret Medicine — Used alongside his finishing fist technique during the Grand Exam. 42

Relationships

• Li Pingsheng — Rival and target of Zhao Ming’s class prejudice. Zhao Ming repeatedly provokes him, hires assassins against him, and uses Yunmei as a hostage; Li Pingsheng defeats him in their decisive match. 7 18 42
• Zhao Zhentian — Father and Zhao Family patriarch. Zhao Zhentian entrusts him with the Beast-Controlling Bone Whistle, demotes him after its loss, and ultimately disowns him; Zhao Ming kills him while demonized. 21 32 42 43
• Instructor Wu — Favored instructor who grants Zhao Ming extra Bone Strengthening Pills and supports his privileged treatment within the martial hall. 7 16
• Black Water Gang — Zhao Ming hires the gang to cripple Li Pingsheng, providing the lead that identifies Li as the killer of gang members. 18 19
• Black-Robed Gu Master — An outside manipulator who supplies the Beast-Controlling Bone Whistle through the Zhao Family and later gives Zhao Ming the catalyst that activates his Gu corruption. 21 42 43
• Zhou Kuang — Zhao Ming’s cousin, who acts against Li Pingsheng in expectation of Zhao Family rewards. 27 28

Story Role / Major Arcs

Azure Cloud Martial Hall Rivalry

Zhao Ming enters the inner courtyard as a privileged new disciple and immediately disparages Li Pingsheng’s Outer City background. He revels in Li’s unequal resource allocation and leads other disciples in mocking his early difficulty with Thunderbolt Fist. 7 8 14

At the new-disciple assessment, Zhao Ming performs the first three forms well, but Li Pingsheng surpasses him by displaying genuine Fist Intent. Unable to accept the humiliation, Zhao Ming demands an immediate fight and is publicly reprimanded by Pei Guang. 16

Assassination Plot and the Lost Whistle

Seeking revenge before the Grand Exam, Zhao Ming pays the Black Water Gang to cripple Li Pingsheng. Li survives the assassination attempt, interrogates one of the attackers, and learns that Zhao Ming funded the operation. 18 19

Zhao Zhentian later assigns Zhao Ming to bind the Beast-Controlling Bone Whistle. Li Pingsheng covertly disrupts the ritual, takes the whistle, and leaves Zhao Ming convinced that he lost it through his own lapse in concentration. 21 22 Zhao Ming lies to his father, claiming a masked Black Water Gang thief stole it, helping ignite open conflict between the Zhao Family and the gang. 23

Grand Exam Defeat and Demonization

With his heirship at stake, Zhao Ming trains frantically and overdoses on stimulants before the Grand Exam. 32 33 During his match against Li Pingsheng, the Zhao Family uses Yunmei’s abduction to force Li into the arena. Zhao Ming reaches Bone Refining Minor Success and attacks with his strongest technique, but Li Pingsheng breaks his arm and defeats him with one punch. 42

Zhao Zhentian disowns him immediately afterward. In response, Zhao Ming consumes the Gu Master’s pill, transforms into a monster, and kills his father in a frenzy of resentment. Gu Zhenyue then destroys him with a single punch; Zhao Ming’s remains dissolve into toxic black liquid that spreads miasma through the martial hall. 42 43 44

Notable Quotes

“You all look down on me... then I will make you all fear me.” 42