Yu Tingchao

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Family and Childhood

Yu Tingchao was born into the Yu family as the son of the lord of the Eastern Twelve Isles. His father raised him strictly according to traditional standards of gentlemanly conduct, although Ning Xiang considers his actual behavior far removed from that ideal 6 7.

He and Ning Xiang knew each other before their present interactions as fellow disciples. Fifteen years earlier, she visited the Eastern Sea with her parents and met him when he was two. She remembers him as a soft, chubby child whom she repeatedly held and kissed 42.

His father is later identified as Yu Zhengrong, True Lord Hengyan, and his mother as Gu Jinyi. Yu Yuechi is the family’s second son, while Tingchao is its eldest son and young lord 107 182.

Yu remembers Ning Xiang making him serve tea, massage her shoulders, and rub her back while he was still a toddler. On his sixth birthday, she also tricked him into signing an agreement requiring him to earn money for her in the future 171.

An earlier kidnapping becomes significant when Yu recalls the scar on Ning Xiang’s palm. A woman of the Joyous Union Sect abducted him and Jiang Miaomiao to pressure Lu Qingchen into becoming her lover. With Lu away, Su Lang, Xie Feihong, and Ning Xiang attempted the rescue themselves. Xie’s impersonation of their master failed, but Ning Xiang and Su Lang reached the captives and escaped with them; Ning Xiang’s palm was slashed while saving Yu 154.

Reflection Cliff

After Ning Xiang is confined to Reflection Cliff, Yu begins visiting her, waking her for cultivation and requesting swordsmanship instruction. Hearing her thoughts reveals that her professed devotion to Lu Qingchen contradicts her private feelings. Her unexpected behavior draws his curiosity, but he does not suspect possession because of the Ning family’s protective treasures 4 5 6.

Ning Xiang attempts to discourage his visits with an eight-layer Rubik’s Cube, telling him not to return until he solves it. He eventually returns with the completed puzzle and warns her against using the same trick again 7 17.

Yu also intervenes in the expected plot by persuading Jiang Miaomiao to enter three years of seclusion rather than visit Reflection Cliff. Her absence leaves Ning Xiang to encounter the wounded Mingyuan in her place 8.

Thousand Calamities Valley

Yu supplies the Profound Heaven Sect delegation with transportation aboard his luxurious flying boat. He is assigned to a different team from Ning Xiang and openly resents their separation 24.

His group later escapes a third-tier Kui Ox using Ning Xiang’s talisman array. After she captures the beast, she awards its core to him; he enjoys receiving her special treatment 28.

Following the parties’ reorganization, Yu joins Ning Xiang’s search team and breaks the Maze Forest formation. He later retrieves the Ghost-Faced Ape’s demon core at her request and offers to carry the Heaven-Splitting Python’s remains for her 30 31 33.

Moon-Worship Festival and Later Events

Yu intercepts Ning Xiang as she sets out to confront Bai Yueguang and persuades her to visit the Mortal World’s Moon-Worship Festival instead. He says he has never seen a mortal lantern market, appealing to her sympathy 37.

When an imperial noble harasses them, Yu retaliates with spiritual power. He stops only after Ning Xiang warns that the noble’s True Dragon Aura could bring heavenly calamity upon him. He subsequently promises to cultivate harder so that no one can bully her 38 39.

Before the Purple Tenuity Domain expedition, Ning Xiang visits Tide-Sigh Court, urges him to cultivate diligently during her absence, and requisitions his Seven-Treasure Ship Pavilion for the journey 49.

The borrowed vessel later suffers a crash while Shaowei is piloting it and further damage during a fight between Ning Pingzhang and Lu Qingchen. Ning Xiang sends Yu a selectively framed recording blaming Lu for the damage, with Su Lang supporting her account, and tells him to seek repair money from their master 51 71.

Eastern Sea Crisis and Reunion

When Ning Xiang’s party reaches the Eastern Sea, the Twelve Islands are suffering disappearances, demon-beast attacks, and the aftermath of Bai Xi’s experiments on abducted cultivators and residents. Gu Jinyi explains that Yu has gone to assist an island under attack. A report then announces that he has been swept into an undercurrent and cannot be found, prompting Ning Xiang and Lu Qingchen to begin searching immediately 107.

Ning Xiang subsequently reunites with Yu, whose torn clothing exposes a bleeding, wounded arm. He appeals to her affection by asking whether he is still her “sweetheart” and “little darling,” and she reassures him while tending his injuries. Mingyuan resents the tenderness she shows him, while Su Lang later arranges for Zhou Ruoxue to provide treatment 108 109.

Yu’s attempts to secure private time with Ning Xiang repeatedly collide with Su Lang’s intervention. He asks her to dress a reopened wound, only for Su Lang to take over, bandage him extensively, and send him back to rest. After boasting about an intimate seaside conversation, Yu is subjected to another spar by Su Lang; his later attempt to win sympathy over the resulting injuries instead ends with Ning Xiang leaving in Su Lang’s company 110 112 113.

Alongside these romantic disputes, Yu helps inspect and reinforce island formations and directs patrolling cultivators. He also supports Ning Xiang’s suggestion that Penglai develop tourism, agreeing to have a proposal drafted. During a later sea journey, he deliberately provokes her into a spar to improve her mood, then takes her into the air on the Chongming Bird when a surge of demonic energy threatens their vessel 113 119 120.

Ghost-Crying Island

Bai Xi abducts Ning Xiang and Yu. After escaping, the Nine Nether Array transports the pair to Ghost-Crying Island, separating them from Su Lang and their other companions. There they encounter Mingyuan, whose involvement offers a possible route out but also intensifies Yu’s jealousy 126.

The island’s strange environment leaves Yu feverish and dazed. He tries to suppress the unfamiliar heat with spiritual power, while Ning Xiang attempts to cool him in one of her ice cabinets. Mingyuan explains that avoiding thoughts of women will allow the condition to subside 128 129.

When the Hundred Ghosts King appears with Ning Xiang’s face and a wound near her heart, Yu and Su Lang are alarmed by the possible connection to Ning Xiang’s fate. The King later magically controls Ning Xiang, Mingyuan, Su Lang, and Yu and orders Ning Xiang to choose one of the three men as a husband. Yu pleads his case, but Ning Xiang chooses Su Lang, leaving both him and Mingyuan disappointed 131 132 133.

Yu also fights during the island’s increasingly dangerous ghost and demon-beast attacks. Ning Xiang scatters vengeful ghosts surrounding him with her whip, but the later pressure from powerful demon beasts nearly makes him cough up blood. She recognizes that he and the other weaker companions cannot withstand the battle indefinitely 135 138.

Ning Xiang later studies medicine and treats his wounds herself, administering anesthetic, cleaning them, and stitching them with visibly uneven sutures 141.

Tai Bai Domain and the Ten Thousand Demons Cave

After Ning Xiang leaves for the Tai Bai Domain, Xia Buyan reveals her whereabouts to Yu in an attempt to make Mingyuan jealous. Yu arrives furious that she departed without telling him. When Mingyuan prepares to remove him, Yu feigns coughing up blood, prompting Ning Xiang to rebuke Mingyuan and take Yu to her room 153 154.

In private, Yu admits his performance and says Ning Xiang played along. He recalls the scar she received while rescuing him and Jiang Miaomiao, then remarks that some memories feel as though they belong to someone else. He falls asleep before explaining. On waking, he pulls Ning Xiang into his arms and claims compensation for her taking advantage of him while he was unconscious in the Cold Ice Formation; she protests that she had been saving him, but he kisses her forcefully 154.

Ning Xiang rebukes him for kissing her without permission. During the subsequent expedition to find a blood-burning red lotus, he offers her a wooden carving of herself, but she remains angry and turns away. Mingyuan uses Yu’s continuing injury as a reason to have him taken to a cabin 155.

Yu accompanies the group through Skull Mountain on his Wind Qilin and argues with Mingyuan over the importance of his sixteen-year bond with Ning Xiang. During a truth-or-dare game, he reluctantly participates in Xia Buyan’s hand-holding recitation, performs an embarrassing seductive dare, and protests when Mingyuan’s dare requires carrying and kissing Ning Xiang 156 157.

After the group is separated inside the Ten Thousand Demons Cave, Yu’s anxiety escalates when a transmission from Ning Xiang and Mingyuan sounds intimate and is abruptly cut off. He takes up Calm Tide and attempts to leave in search of them, but Xia Buyan restrains him because he does not know their location and the cave is dangerous. He continues sending messages and threatening to avenge Ning Xiang until the group reunites several days later 160 161 162.

Confession and Lower Primordial Festival

Back in the increasingly troubled Eastern Sea, Yu leads cultivators on coastal patrols and helps inspect its defenses. Ning Xiang notices that he has become more dependable, but her praise draws an unexpectedly direct request that she give herself to him as his reward 171 172.

After encountering Ning Xiang with blood near her lip, Yu assumes Lu Qingchen has mistreated her and vows to challenge his master for her. Seeing her exhaustion, he takes her home on the Wind Qilin, lets her sleep against him, and carries her to bed. He also remembers that she secretly protected him during earlier journeys for experience, despite never openly expressing concern 174.

Yu grows jealous of Qin Ge’s domestic talents and decides to learn cooking. During the Lower Primordial Festival, he applies fragrant makeup to Ning Xiang; after she accidentally leaves a kiss mark on his cheek, he kisses her and openly confesses that he likes her 174.

He invites her to his private island, where they spend the night together. The following morning, Ning Xiang is exhausted and angry at his disregard for her demands, while Yu remains playful and affectionate. He presses her to say whether being with him makes her happy, then tells her that her happiness is enough for him. On returning to Tianxuan Island, he deliberately makes his invitation for another nighttime visit audible to Qin Ge 175 176.

Sacrifice and Ning Xiang’s Attempt to Save Him

The Ghost Emperor warns Ning Xiang that crossing Yu’s name out of the Book of Life and Death cannot prevent his soul from vanishing. On returning from the Underworld, she learns that the Eastern Twelve Islands are under a massive assault and chooses to go to Penglai rather than flee 182.

At Penglai, invading demons demand the Array Manual for the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation and use captured cultivators and civilians to pressure Yu Zhengrong. Ning Xiang is trapped in a modified Spirit-Severing Formation and cannot intervene. Yu offers himself as a more valuable hostage, claiming his father will surrender the manual for his eldest son, but instead detonates himself, killing the Great Demon and many other invaders 182.

His final resolve recalls Ning Xiang’s teaching that cultivation should give one the strength to protect others. The spiritual energy from his detonation clears demonic energy from the battlefield. Ning Xiang breaks free of the formation and rushes toward him, but he has vanished 182 183.

Determined to save him, Ning Xiang obtains an Undying Fruit with Su Lang’s help and seeks to use the Kongtong Seal to return to the past. Mingyuan warns that doing so could shorten her life, but she accepts the risk 194 196.

She returns to the Lower Primordial Festival night and feeds Yu the Undying Fruit while calling it a “Youthful Beauty Fruit.” Believing it is a special gift meant only for him, he finishes it. She urges him never to give up on living, then prepares to continue her brief journey into the past 198.

Their exchange exposes his ability to hear her thoughts when he catches her thinking about the Demon Venerable and insists that only he can marry her. Ning Xiang confronts him, but softens when he clings to her despite his injuries. He says he never intended to hear her thoughts, offers to share his own secrets, and places her hand over his heart as proof of his sincerity 198.

The Ghost Emperor later reports that Yu’s name has disappeared from the Book of Life and Death, leaving him beyond the Emperor’s reach, and advises Ning Xiang to return to the beginning to search for him. Yu is subsequently alive in the family side stories 205 226 235.

Dragon Crown Prince’s Former Life

The later side story reveals that Yu was formerly the Dragon Crown Prince of the Eastern Sea and that his connection to Ning Xiang, then Yinghuo, long predates their childhood acquaintance. He describes their shared history as spanning ten thousand and twenty-eight years 226.

On her way to the Heavenly Court, Yinghuo stopped to retrieve a borrowed treasure and found a baby dragon sunning himself. She played with him and tied pink bows to his horns, provoking him to dive into the sea. Unable to swim, she became trapped underwater by his formation. He rescued her by giving her air, but she bit him, leaving a lasting mark near the corner of his eye. To reconcile, he gave her a Water-Avoidance Pearl and invited her to visit 226.

Four thousand years after that encounter, Yinghuo rescued the gravely wounded Dragon Crown Prince during the war between gods and devils. Before his soul faded, he placed it in the pearl and told her that a future person bearing a cinnabar mark at the corner of his eye would be him 226.

Later Family Life

Yu and Ning Xiang have a son, Yu Xiaoyu, who is five years old in the Moon-Worship Festival side story. Yu plays with a Rubik’s Cube alongside him and falsely presents Ning Xiang’s old puzzle challenge as a promise that she would marry him if he solved it 226.

He encourages Xiaoyu to pursue Jiang Miaomiao’s three-year-old daughter, Xia Lanlan, when they grow up. Ning Xiang scolds him for teaching a five-year-old to seek a wife, and Xiaoyu’s retelling spreads the reprimand throughout the Profound Heaven Sect 226.

In a later child-rearing episode, Yu carries Zhu Yu’s little daughter and jokingly offers to trade Xiaoyu for her. Su Lang persuades him to hand the child over by reporting that Xiaoyu and A Jin are being disciplined by Ning Pingzhang. Before leaving, Yu privately proposes taking Ning Xiang to the Eastern Sea for offerings to the Sea God and remaining there for three to five hundred years 235.

Appearance

Yu Tingchao has an exquisitely handsome, delicate appearance that Ning Xiang compares to a wealthy young master rather than someone suited to a damp cultivation cave 5.

• Eyes: Peach-blossom eyes that curve when he smiles, framed by thick, long lashes 4 7.
• Features: Red lips, pearly teeth, and finely sculpted, jade-like features 28 38.
• Height: Half a head taller than Ning Xiang by their Reflection Cliff spar 6.
• Clothing: Wore a lotus-blue robe in an earlier encounter with Ning Xiang 6.
• Eastern Sea attire: Adorns his hair ribbon with pearls; Ning Xiang compares his radiance to a lustrous pearl and a flowering tree covered in snow 110.
• Later clothing: Wears a navy-blue robe and silver hair crown during his visit to the Tai Bai Domain, and a silver-red robe while inspecting Eastern Sea defenses 154 172.
• Cinnabar mark: Has a vivid red mole at the corner of his eye. The Dragon Crown Prince’s account connects this identifying mark to the bite Yinghuo left on him in their former lives 172 226.
• Ornate beauty: His long hair, broad sleeves, and brilliantly colored robes are described as sumptuous without appearing gaudy; his beauty is sufficiently striking to blur conventional impressions of his sex 145.

Personality

Yu is naturally indolent, with few things capable of holding his interest. Ning Xiang’s secrets change that: he becomes persistent about visiting her, notices her evasions, and uses affectionate praise or a forlorn expression to gain her attention. His teasing includes asking his older senior sister to call him her “dear big brother” 5 7 17 37.

His sweetness is selective. Ning Xiang regards him as the original novel’s concealed, scheming “black lotus,” but her assumption that he is plotting revenge for Jiang Miaomiao repeatedly conflicts with his actual thoughts. His harsher side becomes unmistakable when the imperial noble threatens Ning Xiang: he responds with cold contempt and painful coercion, then relents at her request 5 7 38.

His later courtship makes his theatrical and calculating tendencies explicit. He exaggerates or feigns injury to gain Ning Xiang’s sympathy, pretends to cough blood before Mingyuan has struck him, and portrays himself as a considerate suitor willing to step aside. He is also intensely jealous of her closeness to Su Lang, Zhu Yu, Mingyuan, and Qin Ge 110 113 154 174.

Beneath his teasing, Yu wants Ning Xiang to acknowledge him romantically rather than regard him only as a junior brother. He recognizes that her apparent indifference often conceals care and remembers her secretly following to protect him. His affection develops into direct confession and physical intimacy, although his possessiveness also leads him to kiss her without permission and disregard her demands 154 155 174 176.

The Eastern Sea crisis reveals a growing sense of responsibility beyond his personal attachments. He directs defenses and patrols, and ultimately sacrifices himself rather than allow invaders to obtain the formation manual or use civilians to coerce his father 113 171 172 182.

His mischievousness continues into fatherhood. He rewrites his own courtship history while teaching Xiaoyu about the Rubik’s Cube and encourages the child’s premature matchmaking ambitions, earning Ning Xiang’s reprimand 226.

Abilities & Skills

Hearing Ning Xiang’s Thoughts

Yu can hear Ning Xiang’s unspoken inner commentary, including statements that contradict her dialogue 2 5.

• Recognizes that she does not truly want to become Lu Qingchen’s Dao companion 5.
• Hears her plans to write him into her novel as expendable cannon fodder 18.
• Sometimes misunderstands what he hears: he interprets “little white lotus” as “pretty boy” 4.
• Finds her commentary amusing, frustrating, or capable of ruining an affectionate moment 38 39.
• Learns of Ning Xiang’s intimacy with Zhu Yu through her thoughts, provoking anger and jealousy 110 125.
• Is startled, alongside Su Lang, by indications that Mingyuan can also hear her thoughts 132.
• Accidentally exposes his ability to Ning Xiang during her return to the Lower Primordial Festival night. He says he never meant to hear her thoughts and offers to reveal his own secrets in return 198.

Swordsmanship

Yu trains under Lu Qingchen and wields Calm Tide. His Sword Qi resembles gathered light upon rivers and seas, contrasting with Ning Xiang’s fiery technique 6.

• Exchanges multiple attacks and counters with Ning Xiang, though she wins their equal-realm spar 6.
• Refines his technique noticeably after one night of practice 7.
• Uses Calm Tide for sword-riding travel 7 17.
• Continues sparring with Ning Xiang over the sea when she suppresses her cultivation to Foundation Establishment 120.
• Participates in battles against the increasingly powerful vengeful ghosts and demon beasts around Ghost-Crying Island, although their pressure exceeds what he can safely endure for long 135 138.

Formation Arts

Yu shows exceptional talent for designing and breaking formations 18 31.

• Creates arrays with defense, concealment, and spiritual-energy-gathering functions 18.
• Uses multiple nodes that must be destroyed simultaneously to break his array 18.
• Initially includes an explosive fallback intended to take an overwhelming enemy down with him 18.
• Breaks the Maze Forest formation by casually kicking a stone, causing the ancient trees to withdraw 31.
• Inscribes portable defensive formations, including a conspicuous pink lotus-shaped formation used to protect Zhou Ruoxue 128.
• Helps inspect and reinforce island defenses during the Eastern Sea crisis 113.
• In his former identity as the young Dragon Crown Prince, uses an underwater formation that traps Yinghuo before he rescues her 226.

Paper Spirit Art

Yu transforms Ning Xiang’s Paper Puppet Maid into a palm-sized red fox by reducing it to paper, folding it, and breathing life into the new form 7.

• The fox moves independently, nuzzles Ning Xiang, and imitates her gestures 7.
• Mingyuan recognizes the paper creature as connected to Lu Qingchen’s Paper Spirit Art 9.

Memory and Puzzle Solving

Yu has strong visual memory and problem-solving ability 7 17.

• Restores a Rubik’s Cube almost instantly by memorizing Ning Xiang’s scrambling movements 7.
• Later solves the more difficult eight-layer cube she gives him to keep him occupied 17.
• Eventually plays with a Rubik’s Cube alongside his son, Yu Xiaoyu 226.

He later reports that some of his memories seem to belong to someone else, introducing uncertainty about their source. The subsequent Dragon Crown Prince side story establishes a former identity connected to Yinghuo 154 226.

Spiritual Pressure

Yu can attack without visibly moving, using spiritual power to inflict pain and force a mortal opponent to kneel 38.

• Makes the imperial noble feel as though his wrist bones have been crushed, despite leaving no visible mark 38.
• Withdraws his power after Ning Xiang warns him about the consequences of harming an imperial mortal 38.

Self-Detonation

During the siege of Penglai, Yu destroys himself in an attack that kills a Great Demon and many invading demon beasts and cultivators. The released spiritual energy disperses the battlefield’s demonic energy, but he vanishes afterward 182 183.

Former-Life Soul Preservation

As the gravely wounded Dragon Crown Prince, he places his fading soul inside the Water-Avoidance Pearl. He tells Yinghuo to recognize him in a future life by a cinnabar mark at the corner of his eye 226.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Calm Tide Sword — A rare divine weapon used for combat and sword-riding 6 7.
• Seven-Treasure Ship Pavilion / Seven-Treasure Spirit Vessel — His flying vessel, borrowed by Ning Xiang for the Purple Tenuity Domain expedition. It later crashes under Shaowei’s piloting and suffers further damage during Ning Pingzhang and Lu Qingchen’s fight 49 51 71.
• Storage Ring — Used to store the eight-layer Rubik’s Cube 7.
• Talisman-enhanced array — Modified by Ning Xiang to trap enemies in fire while allowing underground escape for up to ten li 18 19.
• Kui Ox demon core — Awarded to him by Ning Xiang during the valley expedition 28.
• Pair of clay Bunny Lords — Romantic festival tokens he buys for Ning Xiang, presenting them as repayment for her help 39.
• Pink lotus defensive formation — An inscribed formation used by Su Lang to protect Zhou Ruoxue on Ghost-Crying Island 128.
• Wooden carving of Ning Xiang — Offered to her during their journey toward Skull Mountain while she is still angry about his kiss 155.
• Wind Qilin — His mount, lively and affectionate toward Ning Xiang’s Lei Aotian. He later uses it to take the exhausted Ning Xiang home 156 174.
• Waist bell — Hangs from a leather belt; becomes part of his teasing about Ning Xiang’s bells before the Lower Primordial Festival visit to his private island 175.
• Undying Fruit — Fed to him by Ning Xiang during her journey into the past, disguised as a “Youthful Beauty Fruit” intended only for him 198.
• Water-Avoidance Pearl — Given to Yinghuo by the young Dragon Crown Prince after their underwater encounter; later used by him to preserve his fading soul 226.

Relationships

• Ning Xiang / Yinghuo — Older senior sister, childhood acquaintance, romantic partner, and mother of his son. He initially seeks her company and instruction while she misreads his attention as scheming or devotion to Jiang Miaomiao. He later openly confesses his feelings, and their relationship becomes intimate. Ning Xiang is deeply distressed by his sacrifice and risks shortening her life to return to the past and feed him the Undying Fruit. Their bond is ultimately revealed to extend back to her life as Yinghuo and his identity as the Dragon Crown Prince 5 7 37 39 42 174 176 182 196 198 226.
• Lu Qingchen — Master. Lu regards him as gifted and perceptive, with strong prospects if he practices diligently, and immediately volunteers to search when Yu disappears beneath the sea. Their shared attachment to Ning Xiang creates rivalry; Yu even vows to challenge Lu after mistakenly believing he has injured her 6 107 119 174.
• Su Lang — Eldest senior brother and rival for Ning Xiang’s attention. Su removes him from her company after the expedition and later scolds him for taking her to the festival. In the Eastern Sea, Su repeatedly interrupts his efforts to court Ning Xiang, takes over his bandaging, and uses sparring or orders to rest to separate them 34 39 110 112 113.
• Xie Feihong — Second senior brother. Enthusiastically recommends Ning Xiang’s novel to him without recognizing the awkwardness of its new villain sharing Yu’s name. Earlier participated in the attempt to rescue Yu and Jiang Miaomiao from the Joyous Union Sect 23 24 154.
• Jiang Miaomiao — Younger junior sister and his intended romantic partner in the original novel. Yu privately dislikes her frail manner and rejects Ning Xiang’s assumption that he belongs to her. They were once abducted together by the Joyous Union Sect. Jiang later tells him that loving Ning Xiang means accepting the person she likes, frustrating him; their children, Yu Xiaoyu and Xia Lanlan, become playmates in the side stories 1 5 7 154 160 226.
• Father / Uncle Yu — Yu Zhengrong — Strict father, True Lord Hengyan, and lord of the Eastern Twelve Isles. Ning Xiang threatens to report Yu’s behavior to him when trying to end an unwanted visit. Yu later sacrifices himself to prevent invaders from coercing his father into surrendering the formation manual 6 7 107 182.
• Gu Jinyi — Mother. She warmly receives Ning Xiang, says Tingchao often speaks of how well Ning Xiang has cared for him, and suggests neighboring quarters so the two can deepen their bond 107.
• Yu Yuechi — Younger brother, identified as Yu Zhengrong’s second son and sent to meet Ning Xiang’s visiting party 107.
• Mingyuan — Rival for Ning Xiang’s affection. Yu resents Mingyuan’s intimacy with her and argues that their long childhood bond cannot simply be displaced. Their rivalry includes Yu’s feigned injury, Mingyuan’s attempts to remove him from Ning Xiang’s company, and an embarrassing dare that Mingyuan secretly records 108 126 154 155 156 157.
• Zhu Yu — Romantic rival. Yu becomes furious on learning through Ning Xiang’s thoughts that she has been intimate with the Demon King. In the later family stories, he jokingly offers to exchange his son for Zhu Yu’s daughter 110 125 235.
• Qin Ge — Rival whose beauty and domestic talents impress Ning Xiang. Yu decides to learn cooking in response and later deliberately hints at his nighttime intimacy with Ning Xiang within Qin Ge’s hearing 174 176.
• Xia Buyan — Meddling acquaintance who invents elaborate accounts of Ning Xiang missing Yu and later reveals her location in the Tai Bai Domain. He also restrains Yu from rushing blindly into the Ten Thousand Demons Cave 109 153 160.
• Yu Xiaoyu — Son with Ning Xiang. Yu teaches him to play with a Rubik’s Cube and encourages his interest in Xia Lanlan; Xiaoyu later spreads the story of Ning Xiang reprimanding his father 226.

Notable Quotes

“Senior Sister, I'll work twice as hard at cultivating from now on. I'll never let anyone bully you again.” 39

“You think you're worthy of coveting my senior sister?” 38

“As long as you're happy, Senior Sister. That alone is enough.” 176

“Sister, the scar you left at the corner of my eye four thousand years ago is still there. If you ever meet someone with a cinnabar mole at the corner of his eye, that will be me.” 226

“Senior Sister, let me save a little face! Just a little!” 226

Trivia

• Ning Xiang writes a villain named Yu Tingchao into her novel; he remains composed on learning this because he has already heard her intentions 18 23 24.
• Bai Yueguang’s fanfiction includes Yu Chao, whom Ning Xiang suspects is modeled on him. The associated “Xiang-Yu” pairing attracts Zhou Ruoxue’s support 38 41.
• His immense cultivation-family wealth does not mean he carries mortal money: Ning Xiang supplies the silver for his festival purchases 37 39.
• His defensive formation’s large, glowing pink lotus design draws criticism from Su Lang for being excessively gaudy 128.
• During a drunken gathering, he tries to record Ning Pingzhang and Ning Su’s antics, but his Recording Pearl captures only his own foolish grin 119.
• Ning Xiang’s attempt to keep him occupied with a Rubik’s Cube is later rewritten by Yu as a romantic promise when he tells the story to their son 7 226.
• After Ning Xiang’s journey into the past, he repeatedly asks whether he heard bells; she firmly denies knowing anything about them, leaving him unable to verify the memory 198 226.
• His son’s resemblance to him makes their parentage immediately apparent to Ning Xiang in the later family scene 226.

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