Imperial Fighting Team

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

The team was originally led by Yu Tianheng, a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, with Dugu Yan serving as vice-captain. Yu Tianheng’s pursuit of Dugu Yan was widely known among the academy, and the original team regularly trained and fought together. 3 31

Ye Qing’s transfer to Heaven Dou Royal Academy disrupted this arrangement. His public engagement to Dugu Yan and subsequent defeat of Yu Tianheng shifted the team’s internal balance; Ye Qing was admitted as an official member, while Yu Tianheng withdrew from training and later transferred to Thunderclap Academy. 31 35 40 56

Under Ye Qing’s captaincy, the team shifted from routine academy training to individualized sparring, Soul Arena objectives, and a six-month survival program in Sunset Forest. The training emphasized practical coordination under pressure rather than individual cultivation alone. 59 61 64 78

Ye Qing’s increasing control over all team affairs gradually reduced Qin Ming’s authority to a nominal role. After Ye Qing later revealed his nine soul rings, Qin Ming resigned from Heaven Dou Royal Academy, leaving the captain responsible for the team’s continued training and soul-beast hunting activities. 80 145

The team's later development extends beyond academy facilities and Sunset Forest. While Ye Qing explores the Sea of Buried Corpses, the members cultivate inside his Heavenly Realm and benefit from both accelerated cultivation and the sealed sea's unusual temporal conditions. Subsequent soul-bone fusion, ring hunts, and increasingly dangerous Floating Island exercises substantially strengthen the seven-member field lineup. 191 192 203 209

Personnel

Later Confirmed Cultivation

Combat Doctrine

Mobile Fortress Formation

The team’s standard combat structure places the Shi brothers at the front with their Black Tortoise shields, Dugu Yan in the central command position, and Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling protected in the rear. Osler operates behind or around the shield wall, while Yu Feng provides aerial pressure and reconnaissance. 73 77 85

• Front line: The Shi brothers absorb direct attacks and maintain the defensive wall. 69 85
• Center: Dugu Yan commands positioning, controls the battlefield with poison, and reinforces allies with her own soul skills. 73 85
• Flanks: Yu Feng and Osler harass, warn of threats, and exploit openings. 66 69
• Rear line: Ning Rongrong provides attribute enhancements while Ye Lingling maintains continuous healing support. 70 85
• Encirclement response: During the Floating Island poison emergency, the members immediately form a tight, back-to-back defensive circle, with the Shi brothers anchoring the front, Yu Feng and Osler guarding the flanks, and both support masters protected in the center. 212
• Later combined defense: The Shi brothers' Xuanming Turtle Shell Shields and Combined Defensive Formation withstand a forty-thousand-year Shadow Gold Coin Leopard without breaking, demonstrating the formation's growth beyond its earlier Sunset Forest capabilities. 212

Dual-Support System

Ning Rongrong’s Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda and Ye Lingling’s Nine-Heart Begonia give the team both active enhancement and sustained recovery. This combination substantially raises the group’s ability to maintain formation during prolonged engagements. 70 85

• Ning Rongrong enhances the team’s strength and agility. 85
• Ye Lingling supplies healing while remaining under the protection of the shield wall. 70 85
• The support pair allows the frontline and assault members to fight aggressively without losing formation integrity. 85 87
• Ning Rongrong later reaches level thirty-two, while Ye Lingling advances to level forty-two and obtains her fourth soul ring. 154
• Ye Lingling's Ten Thousand Year Vine and Ning Rongrong's Gem Barrier provide additional defensive layers behind the shield wall, preventing a simple breakthrough from exposing the support core. 88
• Following further ring acquisition, Ning Rongrong continues providing enhancements while Ye Lingling's healing closes severe wounds without leaving scars during Floating Island recovery periods. 203 209 212

Poison-Zone Control

Dugu Yan’s evolved Jade Phosphorus Flood Dragon martial soul gives the team a dangerous area-control weapon. Her poisonous mist restricts enemy movement, while stronger poisons can bypass conventional detoxification methods. 51 87

• Jade Phosphorus Mixed Poison defeated Huo Wu after overpowering her fire-based defenses. 51
• Jade Phosphorus Poison Slurry proved difficult for Tang San to detoxify during the Shrek battle. 87
• Dugu Yan concealed her true cultivation during the opening of the Shrek battle before revealing five soul rings, including a ten-thousand-year soul ring. 85 87
• Dugu Yan’s poison attacks are supported by the team’s formation, which prevents opponents from easily reaching the rear line. 85 87
• Her sixth soul skill, Myriad Poison Flood Dragon Prison Burial, adds a composite offensive and control technique to the field leader's arsenal. 199
• Her poison expertise also serves as an early-warning system. On the Floating Island, she detects the approaching green mist by its unusual scent and orders the team to hold its breath after recognizing that the foreign poison suppresses even her own. 212

Wilderness Survival and Adaptation

Sunset Forest training forced the team to respond to ambushes, nocturnal soul-beast attacks, toxic terrain, and large-scale beast tides. Ye Qing often observed rather than intervened, requiring the members to solve battlefield problems themselves. 64 66 73

• The team uses terrain and poison zones for mobile defense rather than meeting a stronger force head-on. 73
• Its members learned to synchronize warnings, flanking attacks, defensive coverage, and multi-target support. 66
• The team remained functional during a Soul Emperor ambush despite the overwhelming gap in cultivation. 69 70
• Ye Qing's later Floating Island exercises increase both the density and territorial aggression of the soul beasts encountered, exposing the members to possible attacks from multiple high-level beasts. 209
• The members alternate fighting with guarded recovery periods: Yu Feng scouts from elevated positions, Ye Lingling heals the wounded, and Dugu Yan monitors the group and its surroundings. 212
• Repeated life-and-death encounters help the members adapt to their new rings and bones, making their coordination increasingly seamless. 212

Emergency Aerial Protection

During the later soul-beast hunting expedition, Ye Qing demonstrated an emergency extraction method for the entire team. His Green Lotus sword qi lifted the members above a soul-beast frenzy, while individual Green Lotus Body Protection halos shielded them from the beasts’ baleful aura and shockwaves. 147

• Ye Qing can move the entire team through the air on sword light when ground conditions become untenable. 147
• He left a One Qi Transforms Three Purities incarnation behind to guard the members when he and Dugu Yan departed through a spatial rift. 148
• This contingency allows the team to remain protected even when its captain is temporarily absent. 148

Independent Soul Spirit Support

Dugu Yan's Green Flood Dragon Soul Spirit adds an independent combatant without replacing any member of the field lineup. Its soul, consciousness, and combat instincts are preserved through Ye Qing's Heavenly God Pearl after its voluntary sacrifice. 199

• The Soul Spirit can leave Dugu Yan's body and fight at its full strength. 199
• It does not require continuous, precise control through Dugu Yan's spiritual power. 199
• Its poisonous mist corrodes a massive bluestone into sludge and burns a deep hole into the ground during its demonstration. 199
• Ye Qing attempts to extend this arrangement to other members, but suitable beasts must possess exceptional intelligence and cooperate willingly; the later ring hunts do not reproduce Dugu Yan's success. 203

Dragon-Pearl Emergency Safeguard

Before intensifying the Floating Island training, Ye Qing entrusts Dugu Yan with a pearl containing the soul of a hundred-thousand-year Flowing Flame Red Dragon. It is a last-resort protection measure rather than a substitute for the team's own combat effort. 209

• Activating the pearl summons the dragon's soul to block a fatal attack and alerts Ye Qing to the emergency. 209
• Ye Qing promises to arrive quickly, emphasizing that he intends to push the members to their limits without allowing them to die. 209
• The pearl later sends an urgent signal while Ye Qing is discussing his next hunting targets; he immediately opens a spatial rift and leaves to respond. His arrival and the resolution of the team's danger are not yet shown. 212

Soul Bones and Training Rewards

• Dugu Yan — Received a fifty-thousand-year Earth Dragon Lizard torso bone; its Earth Dragon Tyrant Body increases her strength and defense by eighty percent and releases dragon might. 74 She also possesses the External Soul Bone Mandala Poison Eyes, which she used to create an opening against the masked Soul Emperor, and later fused a fifty-thousand-year Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent left-leg bone that grants flight and greater speed. 70 72 154 The left-leg bone raises her Soul Power from level fifty-seven to nearly sixty and manifests seven-colored feathered wings. 154 The Green Flood Dragon's sacrifice subsequently grants an eighty-thousand-year right-arm bone with Poison Cocoon Nirvana: at the brink of death, it automatically forms an indestructible poison cocoon, restores her condition, and doubles her basic attributes and poison power upon emergence. 199
• Yu Feng — Received a Right Arm Bone of Wind, which raised his Soul Power by two levels and provided a speed-enhancing skill. It is identified as a ten-thousand-year bone during the Shrek battle. 62 86
• Osler — Possesses a Right Leg Bone of Speed, which increased his Soul Power by two levels and improved his mobility. 62 It is identified as a ten-thousand-year bone during the Shrek battle. 86 Later soul-bone fusion brings him to rank fifty before Ye Qing helps obtain his fifth ring. 209
• Shi brothers — Later soul-bone fusion brings both brothers to rank fifty; Ye Qing then obtains suitable ten-thousand-year fifth rings for them. 209
• Ye Lingling — Fused with a forty-thousand-year plant-type torso bone that raised her Soul Power to level thirty-eight and granted Ten Thousand Year Vine, allowing her to manipulate four vines for attack, defense, and binding. 74 88 She later advances to level forty-two upon absorbing her fourth soul ring. 154 Subsequent advancement brings her to rank fifty and a ten-thousand-year fifth ring. 203 209
• Ning Rongrong — Received a thirty-thousand-year soul bone from Ye Qing after the wilderness training. 78 The bone is identified as the Gem Turtle right-arm bone; its Gem Barrier provides group defense during the Shrek match. 88 She later advances to level thirty-two after absorbing her third soul ring, then reaches level forty and receives Ye Qing's assistance in hunting another ring. 154 203
• Team-wide reward policy — Ye Qing distributed recovered soul bones according to martial-soul compatibility, ensuring the team’s overall growth rather than keeping all rewards for himself. 74
• Beyond-limit ring preparation — Ye Qing attributes Ning Rongrong's ability to absorb a three-thousand-year third ring and Ye Lingling's ability to absorb a seven-thousand-year fourth ring to physical tempering that strengthens them beyond ordinary Soul Masters. 148
• Accelerated cultivation resource — The Heavenly Realm provides a doubled cultivation benefit, which Ye Qing combines with the unusual time flow of the Sea of Buried Corpses to accelerate the members' development. 191
• Emergency dragon pearl — Dugu Yan carries the hundred-thousand-year Flowing Flame Red Dragon soul pearl entrusted to her for the field lineup's protection and emergency communication with Ye Qing. 209 212

Relationships

• Heaven Dou Royal Academy — The team’s academy affiliation and competitive representative; its early training and personnel changes are managed through Qin Ming and the academy leadership. 31 57 83 After Qin Ming resigns, Ye Qing personally directs its continued training and ring hunts. 145
• Qin Ming — Instructor who introduces Ye Qing to the team and supports his appointment as captain. As Ye Qing assumes control over training and major decisions, Qin Ming ultimately resigns. 31 35 57 145
• Dugu Bo — Dugu Yan’s grandfather and a powerful protector of the team; he investigates the Sunset Forest attack because Dugu Yan was endangered. 72 103
• Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan — Hostile party responsible for sending the masked Soul Emperor who ambushed the team in Sunset Forest. 69 103
• Blazing Fire Academy and Godwind Academy — Challenged the team at Heaven Dou Royal Academy; Dugu Yan defeated Huo Wu, and Ye Qing defeated Huo Wushuang and Feng Xiaotian simultaneously. 51 53 56
• Shrek Team — Faced the Imperial Fighting Team at Suotuo City’s Great Soul Arena and surrendered after being decisively suppressed. The teams later clashed again after Ma Hongjun’s misconduct toward a waitress led Ye Qing and the Imperial Fighting Team to subdue him, Dai Mubai, and Oscar. 83 85 87 88 95 After the arena defeat, Dugu Yan detoxified the Shrek members; Zhu Zhuqing thanked her, while the others responded with silence or hostility. 90
• Xue Qinghe — The Heaven Dou Crown Prince intervened when the post-battle confrontation between the Imperial Fighting Team and Shrek Academy escalated in the street. 96
• Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect — Ning Rongrong connects the team to the sect's resources and intelligence network. At Ye Qing's request, Ning Fengzhi secretly investigates the trafficking operation uncovered after the team's wilderness training. 78 80
• Green Flood Dragon — Voluntarily sacrifices itself for Dugu Yan after accepting Ye Qing's promise of future bodily reconstruction and ascension. Its preserved Soul Spirit becomes an independent combat asset for the field leader. 199
• Snow Empress and Ice Empress — Ye Qing's powerful soul-beast companions during his Sea of Buried Corpses exploration. Dugu Yan meets them after reaching level sixty, and both witness the creation of her Soul Spirit Prototype. They are not members of the Imperial Fighting Team. 192 199

Story Role / Major Arcs

Reorganization of the Team

Ye Qing’s arrival, engagement to Dugu Yan, and victory over Yu Tianheng trigger the team’s leadership transition. Yu Tianheng’s eventual departure leaves Ye Qing as captain and Ning Rongrong as a new addition to the roster. 31 35 40 56

Sunset Forest Special Training

The team undergoes six months of harsh survival training in Sunset Forest. It endures wolf attacks, kills a Mandala Snake, faces a Soul Emperor ambush, survives a beast tide, and emerges with improved coordination and soul-bone rewards. 64 67 70 73 74

Petty Mountain Bandit Investigation

After leaving Sunset Forest, the team dismantles a bandit hideout and discovers imprisoned girls connected to a human-trafficking operation. Ye Qing decides the group must investigate the network discreetly before acting further. 77 78

Rather than immediately involving Dugu Bo, Ye Qing recommends using the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's intelligence network because the operation may implicate powerful figures or the imperial family. Ning Rongrong later reports that Ning Fengzhi is investigating in secret. 78 80

Battle Against Shrek Team

The team accepts Shrek Academy’s Soul Battle challenge at Suotuo City. Ye Qing deliberately remains out of the match, trusting the field lineup to fight independently; the team defeats Shrek through superior ranks, battlefield discipline, poison control, and support coordination. 80 81 85 88

Afterward, Dugu Yan removes the poison from the defeated opponents, and Ye Qing promises his teammates a celebratory feast. Shrek's defeat exposes both its tactical weaknesses and its inability to confront the Imperial Fighting Team's institutional backing, while Flender urges his students to seek a future victory through training rather than retaliation. 90 91 92

Continued Training During Ye Qing’s Absence

When Ye Qing leaves with Dugu Bo to seek his eighth and ninth soul rings, he instructs the team to preserve the gains made through special training. 104

Although he initially anticipates an absence of ten days to half a month, Ye Qing returns after six months. The members have continued cultivating: Dugu Yan reaches level fifty-seven, the Shi brothers reach level forty-three, Yu Feng and Osler reach level forty-two, and both support members reach their next ring bottlenecks. 104 144

Qin Ming's Resignation and Soul-Beast Hunt

After Ye Qing displays nine soul rings before the team, Qin Ming resigns, and Ye Qing personally leads the members on a new soul-beast hunting expedition. During a soul-beast frenzy, he evacuates the team by sword light, protects every member with Green Lotus Body Protection, and uses an incarnation to guard them while he and Dugu Yan temporarily depart. 144 145 147 148

Support Members' Advancement

At the expedition’s temporary camp, Ning Rongrong absorbs her third soul ring and reaches level thirty-two, while Ye Lingling absorbs her fourth and reaches level forty-two. Dugu Yan returns with a fifty-thousand-year Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent left-leg bone, which grants her flight and increased speed. 154

The support members' new rings come from a three-thousand-year Three-Colored Deer and a seven-thousand-year King Flower, respectively. Ye Qing maintains that their physical conditioning allows them to exceed conventional absorption limits. On returning to camp, he conceals the Title Douluo confrontation he and Dugu Yan witnessed, attributing the disturbance and soul-bone discovery to a fight between two ten-thousand-year beasts. 148 154

Heavenly Realm Seclusion and Dugu Yan's Sixth Ring

During Ye Qing's exploration of the Sea of Buried Corpses, the team cultivates in seclusion inside the Heavenly Realm of his Heavenly God Pearl. Its cultivation enhancement combines with the sealed sea's unusual time flow, allowing substantial growth while Ye Qing pursues additional resources. 191 192

Dugu Yan reaches level sixty and summons Ye Qing through the Heavenly God Pearl. He promises to find an exceptional sixth ring in the Sea of Buried Corpses rather than settle for an ordinary hunt in the Star Dou Great Forest. The Green Flood Dragon's subsequent voluntary sacrifice gives her a sixth soul skill, an eighty-thousand-year right-arm bone, and a preserved Soul Spirit capable of fighting independently. 192 199

Expanded Ring Hunts and Floating Island Training

Over the following half year, Yu Feng and Ye Lingling reach level fifty, while Ning Rongrong reaches level forty. Ye Qing personally assists their ring hunts but cannot reproduce Dugu Yan's Soul Spirit Prototype because the available beasts lack the necessary intelligence or complete willingness to cooperate. 203

Further soul-bone fusion brings Osler, the Shi brothers, and Ye Lingling to rank fifty, after which Ye Qing spends two or three months securing suitable ten-thousand-year fifth rings. He then doubles the difficulty of the next Floating Island mission, warning that the previous location was merely a warm-up and that the new island contains numerous aggressive, territorial beasts. Before leaving, he gives Dugu Yan the dragon-soul pearl to protect the group against a fatal emergency and summon his assistance. 209

Floating Island Poison Emergency

The seven-member field lineup defeats a forty-thousand-year Shadow Gold Coin Leopard and begins a guarded recovery period. The Shi brothers note that their improved shields and combined formation withstand attacks that would previously have broken their defenses, while Dugu Yan recognizes that the members are adapting effectively to their new rings and bones. 212

Dugu Yan then detects a foul, unusually sweet scent as humidity rises and pale green mist spreads from the forest floor. The team immediately reforms its defensive circle, but Yu Feng cannot disperse the heavy mist, and Dugu Yan senses that it suppresses her own poison. Visibility collapses, the surrounding wildlife falls silent, and an enormous unidentified presence approaches through the trees. Meanwhile, the dragon pearl's emergency signal reaches Ye Qing, who immediately departs through a spatial rift; the outcome remains unresolved. 212