Grandpa Niu

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Early Life and Guardianship

As a young man, Grandpa Niu wished for innate soul power so he could obtain a well-paid job at the newly established Spirit Hall in Nuoding City. His mother was gravely ill, and he hoped the earnings could pay for her treatment. While working in the city, he also received some instruction from a teacher 13 14.

He later found Duan Qingya and raised him without expecting repayment. A powerful farmworker through his Azure Ox Martial Soul, he retired from fieldwork and became village chief after younger villagers insisted. He nevertheless remained eager to farm, even when age and a serious back injury made others discourage him 3 13 14.

Supporting Qingya’s Education

Grandpa Niu brought Qingya to Su Yuntao’s Martial Soul Awakening ceremony and proudly accepted the villagers’ congratulations after the boy awakened level-six innate soul power. He then secured Qingya’s work-study application and accompanied him to Nuoding City’s Junior Soul Master Academy 1 2 3 4.

He had spent more than ten years saving a few Gold Soul Coins for Qingya’s schooling. Learning that intermediate academies could cost dozens or even a hundred Gold Soul Coins annually left him worried that his savings would not suffice. Qingya eased his concerns by proposing work as a pharmacy apprentice 3.

Evolution and Recovery

During a visit home, Qingya gave Grandpa Niu an Evolution Potion disguised as back medicine, adding herbs that genuinely treated the injury. Grandpa Niu initially called the gift wasteful but eagerly accepted once told it would let him work the fields again 13.

By morning, his Azure Ox had evolved into a Mighty Barbarian Bull, he had gained soul power, and his back no longer hurt. He declined Qingya’s playful suggestion that he attend school and immediately rushed outside with his hoe. Later, he recognized that treating his back had not been the potion’s main purpose and warned Qingya against attracting attention before he was ready 13 14.

Medicinal-Herb Farming

At Qingya’s urging, Grandpa Niu led the villagers in growing ingredients for the boy’s successful potions. By Qingya’s graduation, he was a One-Ring Soul Master, and the village’s several mu of medicinal herbs enabled every household to earn over a hundred Gold Soul Coins annually. Su Yuntao promised to oversee herb purchases after Qingya left for Heaven Dou City 15.

Appearance

• Elderly and bearded: He puffs out his beard and glares when Qingya suggests that he is too old to hurry about 3.

Personality

Grandpa Niu is affectionate, proud of Qingya, and deeply invested in the children of his village. He delivers the same enthusiastic encouragement before each year’s awakening ceremony. His care for Qingya extends beyond education: when the boy returns home looking thinner, he offers to swallow his pride and beg rather than let him go hungry 1 13.

He dislikes being treated as frail and values useful work more than comfort. Although delighted by Qingya’s gifts, he resists spending precious resources on himself. His perceptiveness also tempers his pride: after recognizing the potion’s hidden purpose, he urges Qingya to conceal his exceptional talents until he can safely reveal them 3 13 14.

Abilities & Skills

Azure Ox Martial Soul

• Martial Soul Possession: In his youth, possession gave him enough strength to plow more than half the village’s fields alone 3.
• Limitation: His original Martial Soul did not grant him innate soul power 13.

Mighty Barbarian Bull Martial Soul

• Evolution: Obtained through Qingya’s potion rather than a conventional awakening 13.
• Recognition: Grandpa Niu identifies it because it resembles Niu Erdan’s Martial Soul 13.
• Documented rank: He later becomes a One-Ring Soul Master; no named soul skill is revealed 15.

Farming and Village Leadership

• Agricultural experience: His fieldwork earns him Qingya’s teasing description of the village’s returning “champion farmworker” 14.
• Organizing cultivation: He leads the transition to growing medicinal herbs for the potion trade 15.

Relationships

• Duan Qingya — The child he found and raised. Grandpa Niu supports his education and offers protective advice; Qingya repays his care by healing his back and evolving his Martial Soul 3 13 14.
• Niu Er — A fellow villager who drives him and Qingya to Nuoding City. Niu Er is protective of his health and confronts Qingya when the injured elder resumes farming 3 13.
• Niu Erdan — A young village Soul Master whom Grandpa Niu recommends Qingya approach for help at school. Erdan’s Mighty Barbarian Bull later helps him recognize his own evolved Martial Soul 3 13.
• Su Yuntao — The Spirit Hall representative with whom he discusses the village’s awakenings. Su later commits to supervising medicinal-herb purchases from his village 1 15.

Notable Quotes

“When I first found you, I never thought you had to repay me someday. All I thought about was how to raise you.” 14

“But a pumpkin that ripens too early will always be spotted and picked, becoming a dish on the table and a handful of seeds after the meal.”
“So until the time is ripe, use the pumpkin leaves to keep yourself hidden a little longer.” 14