Zhao Xiong

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Zhao Xiong (赵雄)
Alias(es)	Gang Leader Zhao
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Azure Cloud Gang (leader)
Occupation/Role	Gang leader; inheritor of the gang's exclusive Mountain-Breaking Fist
Status	Deceased — killed by Zhou Yan during the destruction of the Azure Cloud Gang 48
First Appearance	Chapter 14

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Mid Meridian-Opening Realm	47	Had broken through two years earlier; his deeper inner qi made him one minor realm above Zhou Yan during their final confrontation. 47 48

Appearance

Zhao Xiong is a little over forty and carries himself with the hard-earned presence of a veteran martial artist. 14

• Square face and broad mouth.
• Gloomy, hawk-like eyes.
• Azure satin robe.
• Thick knuckles and joints covered in old calluses. 14

Personality

Zhao Xiong is controlled and methodical in public. When Zhao Mo's remains are recovered, he studies the bones without outward emotion, then turns his grief into a calculated campaign against Black Tiger Hall. 20

He is also patient and politically astute. Rather than confronting Black Tiger Hall alone, he frames its threat as a danger to local merchants and invites the Sun Family into an alliance. 20 His caution extends to Zhou Yan: after linking him to Blackwind Ridge, Zhao refuses to move openly because of Zhou Yan's ties to the Mountain-Suppressing Martial Hall and Sun Family. 46

His final actions reveal greed and arrogance. Believing Zhou Yan's rapid progress must come from a hidden treasure, Zhao Xiong seeks to seize it for himself and fatally underestimates Zhou Yan's mastery of his own fist art. 48

Abilities & Skills

Mountain-Breaking Fist

Zhao Xiong's signature art is the Azure Cloud Gang's exclusive fist technique, reserved for the gang leader and young gang leader rather than taught broadly within the gang. Its blows can leave the skin intact while shattering what lies beneath. 20

• The manual was carried by his son Zhao Mo and later stolen from Zhao Mo's corpse. 20 34
• Zhao Xiong claims to have spent thirty years reaching Perfection in the art. 48
• His Mountain-Crushing attack concentrates his inner qi into a single heavy killing blow. 48
• His style is ultimately countered by Zhou Yan, who recognizes its patterns and uses a Limit-Breaking version of the same art. 48

Meridian-Opening Cultivation

As a Mid Meridian-Opening martial artist, Zhao Xiong possesses considerably deeper inner qi than an Early Meridian-Opening opponent. 47 48

• He overwhelms the meeting hall with repeated fist exchanges against Zhou Yan. 48
• His realm advantage becomes less decisive against superior technical mastery and Zhou Yan's stronger force delivery. 48

Gang Leadership and Investigation

Zhao Xiong commands the Azure Cloud Gang's searches, intelligence gathering, and retaliatory operations.

• Orders disguised agents to search Blackwind Ridge for Zhao Mo, Lei Bao, and any buried remains. 14
• Deduces that the missing Mountain-Breaking Fist manual may have been taken by a third party and has the gang monitor cultivators whose martial arts improve unusually quickly. 34
• Maintains a dossier on Zhou Yan, connecting him to White Cloud Martial Hall's Blackwind Ridge expedition and his subsequent rapid rise. 46
• Sends Qin Kun, Sun Yanping, and more than twenty gang elites to ambush Zhou Yan outside the county. 47 48

Background / History

Zhao Xiong's son, Zhao Mo, disappears in Blackwind Ridge roughly half a year before Zhao Xiong's first appearance. When Lei Bao and four gang members later vanish in the same area, Zhao Xiong treats the repeated disappearances as evidence that something is wrong in the ridge. He orders covert searches and recalls rumors of an ancient sect that vanished there centuries earlier. 14

The gang eventually uncovers Zhao Mo's remains beneath the incense table of a ruined temple. Identified by a jade pendant engraved with “Mo,” the bones show that Zhao Mo was pursued and killed by multiple blade-wielding attackers. Zhao Xiong concludes that Black Tiger Hall murdered his son, stole the Mountain-Breaking Fist manual, and is using the technique to frame the Azure Cloud Gang. 20

Using that conclusion, Zhao Xiong rallies merchants and other local interests against Black Tiger Hall, then opens negotiations with the Sun Family. The resulting Azure Cloud Gang–Sun Family alliance later destroys Black Tiger Hall, though the stolen manual remains missing. 20 32

Zhao Xiong continues searching Blackwind Ridge for the manual rather than merely pursuing his son's supposed killers. His men conclude that an outsider who looted Zhao Mo's body may still be in Qingyun County, prompting surveillance of anyone whose martial ability rises too quickly. 34

After a search party of seven disappears without leaving bodies or bloodstains, Zhao Xiong grows increasingly suspicious and orders the county's martial halls watched. His investigation eventually identifies Zhou Yan's connection to Blackwind Ridge, Lei Bao's disappearance, and Zhou Yan's abrupt advancement. 38 46

Unable to confront Zhou Yan openly, Zhao Xiong sends Qin Kun, Sun Yanping, and the gang's elites to capture him outside the city. Zhou Yan kills the entire force, learns that Zhao Xiong is left with only a lightly guarded headquarters, and returns that night to strike first. 47

Zhou Yan confronts Zhao Xiong in the gang's rear meeting hall and reveals the ambush force has been annihilated. Their duel devastates the hall, but Zhao Xiong's Mid Meridian-Opening cultivation and decades of experience cannot overcome Zhou Yan's Limit-Breaking mastery of the Mountain-Breaking Fist. Zhou Yan breaks both of Zhao Xiong's arms, crushes his chest, and kills him before eliminating the remaining gang members. 48

Relationships

• Zhao Mo — Son and designated inheritor of the Mountain-Breaking Fist. Zhao Xiong's search for him and the fist manual drives much of his conflict with Black Tiger Hall and later Zhou Yan. 14 20
• Zhou Yan — Unidentified thief of Zhao Mo's manual and eventual killer. Zhao Xiong investigates him, attempts an ambush, and dies fighting him. 46 47 48
• Qin Kun — Vice gang leader entrusted with Blackwind Ridge investigations and the ambush against Zhou Yan; killed during that failed operation. 14 47
• Sun Yanping — Deputy gang leader who supports recruiting the Sun Family against Black Tiger Hall; later interrogated and killed by Zhou Yan. 20 47
• Lei Bao — Peak Body-Tempering subordinate whose disappearance in Blackwind Ridge strengthens Zhao Xiong's suspicions about the area. 14
• Sun Wenli — Sun Family representative who conditionally agrees to contribute strength against Black Tiger Hall. 20
• Black Tiger Hall — Rival faction Zhao Xiong blames for Zhao Mo's death and the theft of the Mountain-Breaking Fist manual. 20

Notable Quotes

“Don't let me find you.” 14