Huang Nian

Biodata

Background / History

Huang Nian was a direct descendant of the Huang Family, one of Yufeng Prefecture's two major powers. Despite being only eighteen, he had reached the peak of the Pulse-Opening Realm, placing him far above the cultivators of Greenwood Town. He arrived there with four guards, ostensibly to “guide” the Mad Blade Martial Hall disciples in cultivation. 28

Rather than instructing them, Huang Nian used the disciples as targets for brutal sparring. He severely injured nearly all of them, leaving four unconscious and seemingly beyond Greenwood Town's ability to treat. When Ba Dao pleaded for mercy, Huang Nian mocked him and implied that no one he had rendered unconscious had ever awakened. 28

Personality

Huang Nian is cruel, arrogant, and contemptuous of those weaker than himself. He treats his social standing and cultivation as license to inflict harm without consequence, openly taunting Ba Dao and the Mad Blade Martial Hall after injuring their disciples. 28 29

He is also vindictive and manipulative. When the martial hall disciples consider resisting him, he threatens their families to force their compliance. 29 His interest in Xia Xue is openly predatory; after noticing her, he and his guards surround her, prompting her to attempt suicide rather than submit. 29

“Even if all of you came at me together, could you even scratch a hair on our heads?” 29

Equipment / Possessions

• Long spear — A roughly sixty-jin spear prepared for Huang Nian's own use. Its silver refined-metal shaft is flexible and cool to the touch, while its spearhead is exceptionally sharp. Chu Xiaotian later takes it and uses it to practice the Electric Dragon Spear. 33
• Qiankun Bracelet — A spatial storage artifact carried by Huang Nian; it contained the spear and the incomplete Soaring Dragon Spear manual. 32
• Soaring Dragon Spear manual — An ancient, incomplete manual containing enough material for the first move, the Electric Dragon Spear. Huang Nian apparently intended to cultivate it himself. 32

Relationships

• Huang Family — A direct descendant whose death prompts an extensive family investigation and retaliatory campaign against Greenwood Town and the Mad Blade Martial Hall. 28 34
• Huang Xiang — His uncle. Huang Xiang leads ten guards to investigate Huang Nian's disappearance, recovers his remains, and seeks revenge on the suspected killers. 34
• Ba Dao — Target of Huang Nian's humiliation after Ba Dao intervenes to stop him from further injuring Mad Blade Martial Hall disciples. 28 29
• Xia Xue — Huang Nian attempts to forcibly take her after noticing her at the Mad Blade Martial Hall. 29
• Chu Xiaotian — Opponent who rescues Xia Xue, humiliates Huang Nian after incapacitating him, and later disposes of Huang Nian and his guards' bodies while taking their possessions. 29 31 32

Story Role / Major Arcs

Greenwood Town incident

Huang Nian enters Greenwood Town and abuses his superior strength against the Mad Blade Martial Hall's disciples under the pretense of offering guidance. He mocks Ba Dao's pleas for the injured and challenges the martial hall to retaliate, confident that neither Ba Dao nor the disciples can oppose the Huang Family. 28 29

After spotting Xia Xue, Huang Nian attempts to seize her. Chu Xiaotian uses Bone-Softening Powder as a distraction, incapacitating Huang Nian and his guards before carrying Xia Xue to safety. 29 30

Death and aftermath

While incapacitated, Huang Nian is humiliated by Chu Xiaotian, who steps on his face. One of Huang Nian's Sea-Opening Realm guards eventually purges the powder and attacks, but Chu Xiaotian and Ba Dao defeat the group. 30 31

Chu Xiaotian removes Huang Nian's possessions, destroys evidence, and stages the deaths as an incident in the mountains. Huang Nian's life tablet shatters, and his uncle Huang Xiang later finds bloodstained clothes, bones, and signs of a battle in the valley. 31 34

The Huang Family's subsequent investigation identifies the Mad Blade Martial Hall as the suspected culprit. Huang Xiang's revenge expedition is itself destroyed by Chu Xiaotian, further weakening the family's position around Greenwood Town. 34 35 36

Trivia

• Huang Nian's disappearance throws Greenwood Town into chaos, as Huang Family investigators interrogate and abuse residents while searching for him. 33
• The Huang Family ultimately abandons its investigation into Huang Nian's death after suffering severe losses during the conflict over the Purple Flame Tiger cub. 46