Qiong Rong

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Qiong Rong (琼肜); also addressed as Zhang Qiong Rong 53 141.
Alias(es)	Qiong Tong; Elder Princess of the West 441 442. “Fire Goddess Granny” is foreshadowed as a future reputation 365.
Species/Race	Immortal princess who lives in the mortal world as a shapeshifting, extraordinary beast 113 442.
Gender	Female 53 442.
Affiliation	Four Seas Hall, Shangqing Palace; recognized bearer of the Zhurong Gate’s authority tokens; Kunlun’s immortal court through her mother 65 105 141 442.
Occupation/Role	Xing Yan’s first disciple and sworn younger sister; wielder of the Vermilion Bird Divine Blades; Elder Princess of the West 61 65 95 350 442.
Family	Daughter of the Queen Mother of the West 442.
Residence	Lives with Xing Yan at Thousand Birds Cliff; later returns to Kunlun before seeking him again in Raozhou 65 442 461.
Status	Alive; reunited with Xing Yan after returning from Kunlun 461.

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Human transformation	53	Reports that she learned to assume human shape by watching people while living alone in the hills.
Instinctive aerial swordsmanship	94 98	Holds off Mo Chian with agile, short-blade attacks. Sheng Hengtang identifies her movements as Flying Bird Slash, though Xing Yan attributes them to her innate gifts and games with birds.
Vermilion Bird Divine Blades acknowledged owner	95 96	Intercepts Li Yangya’s two scarlet blades, which choose her as their rightful master.
Temporary adult divine manifestation	152 153	Under Kongya’s lethal curses, becomes a radiant adult woman with overwhelming power. Returns to childhood without understanding what happened.
Winged combat manifestation	332	Two white wings emerge during battle, emitting rings of holy radiance; she defeats the woodland monsters alongside her firebirds.
Protection from primordial fire	360	Receives the Scarlet Radiance Separation Fire Robe, protecting her spiritual roots from prolonged exposure to the Vermilion Bird blade spirits.
Divine form restored	442	The Queen Mother restores her as the Elder Princess of the West. Her Kunlun memories return, but she initially does not remember her twenty years in the mortal world.

Background / History

Solitude in Luoyang

Qiong Rong initially describes herself as a girl who grew up alone in the hills near Luoyang. Having learned to take human form, she nevertheless remained isolated because people called her a monster. Xing Yan’s kindness was, by her account, the first time anyone had treated her as someone who mattered 53.

She asks to travel with him, but Chen Ziping warns that bringing a monster to Shangqing Palace would endanger her. Xing Yan reluctantly refuses and comforts her by claiming that he, too, is a monster. Before their farewell, he gives her the name Qiong Rong, explaining that “Qiong” evokes precious jade and “Rong” means joy. He plays a flute melody for her and subsequently vows to return 53.

Joining Four Seas Hall

Rather than wait, Qiong Rong follows Xing Yan’s familiar scent roughly a thousand miles to Mount Luofu. A red bird helps guide her through the mountains. Thin and wearing ragged clothes, she secretly leaves Vermilion Fruits outside his room and plans to sleep in the bamboo grove so her presence will not cause trouble for him 61.

Xing Yan discovers her nighttime visits and decides to take her as his first disciple. When Du Ziheng attempts to remove her to Purple Cloud Hall, he intervenes. Sect Master Ling Xu ultimately approves her admission without hesitation, allowing her to live openly at Four Seas Hall 62 65.

Firecloud Mountain Campaign

Qiong Rong secretly follows Xing Yan on his bandit-suppression mission, leaving Xueyi a note containing three crooked characters meaning “I’m going too.” She brings two short blades taken from an ironworks, not understanding that weapons must be paid for. Xing Yan accepts her company and teaches her practical battlefield precautions 84 85.

During the fighting, she holds off Mo Chian and intercepts Li Yangya’s daggers, saving Xing Yan from dangerous attacks. The daggers prove to be the Vermilion Bird Divine Blades and acknowledge her as their owner. Li Yangya then tries to persuade her to become the Zhurong Gate’s leader, but she remains beside Xing Yan 94 95 96.

Upon their return, Xing Yan pays for the ironworks blades. Shangqing’s elders uphold her ownership of the divine weapons, and Ling Xu disguises them as bird-shaped hairpins to discourage thieves 99.

Hidden Powers and the Pure World Sect

Her ordinary life at Thousand Birds Cliff includes writing lessons, playing with animals, and helping Xing Yan. An unexplained talent briefly allows her to write elegant passages from the Southern Flower Scripture, only for her handwriting to return to its usual untidy state. She also secretly attempts to learn flight in beast form because she wants to help Xing Yan, injuring herself when her immature wings fail 106 113.

At Yangshan, Qiong Rong repeatedly takes the Golden Bowl Master’s enchanted bowl and frees a man imprisoned inside it. Her possession of the Zhurong Gate’s authority tokens establishes her as its representative, and she joins Xing Yan and Xueyi as contestants against the Pure World Sect 141.

Later, Ancestor Kongya traps her and offers to help her grow up. His aging spell fails, but a combined aging and soul-devouring attack begins to suffocate her. A radiant adult woman appears in her place, restrains Kongya, and leaves no detectable trace of him. The woman then hurls a mountain peak at Xing Yan and Xueyi before reverting to Qiong Rong, who remembers neither the transformation nor Kongya’s disappearance 152 153.

Companionship and the Emerald Li Village Mission

During Lingyi and Xueyi’s captivity on the Demon Continent, Qiong Rong guards Yinghuo within Xing Yan’s talisman formation. She prevents Xing Yan from attacking Yinghuo in anger, helps with household chores, and later accompanies him to the prisoner-exchange location 206 207 210 211.

At Emerald Li Village, her declaration that she is Xing Yan’s “child bride” helps the travelers satisfy the settlement’s restrictive customs. She later fights Diao Han’s mountain spirits and wood monsters, manifests wings, and assists Xing Yan in overcoming the demon’s illusion trap 215 331 332.

After the village is freed, she receives a new Li-style outfit while Xueyi mends the jacket torn by her wings. Shui Ruo explains that watching Qiong Rong and Xing Yan’s happy life together helped awaken her own desire for companionship. Qiong Rong subsequently travels with Xing Yan and Xueyi to his hometown 334 335.

South Sea War

Fearing the danger of his journey to avenge Xueyi and a prophecy of separation, Xing Yan tries to leave Qiong Rong with retired minister Liang Meigong and his wife as their adopted daughter. She secretly follows him. Liang releases her without resentment, and her insistence that unjust decrees can be changed helps Xing Yan recover his resolve 350.

Qiong Rong joins the South Sea campaign, receiving protective armor from the Four Rivers Dragon Lord. She fights at Hidden Wave Isle with Xiao Mang and later charges through enemy formations on a Vermilion Bird mount. Her combination of aggression, agility, and tactical caution earns the Dragon Lord’s praise 360 363 365.

Her encounters also reveal power beyond ordinary combat. Phoenix Goddess Xuan seeks her spiritual guidance and immolates herself after hearing her answer, leaving Qiong Rong grief-stricken. At Nine Wells Isle, Qiong Rong casually removes the Dragon Core controlling the Nine-Headed Kuihui, breaking the South Sea army’s position and earning formal honors 410 415 416.

Kunlun and Her True Identity

In Kunlun, Speech-Understanding Immortal Grass tells Qiong Rong that her mother may be nearby. She leaves Xing Yan a chalk map and searches for her, receiving assistance from the grateful Phoenix Xuan. A woman at the Queen Mother’s palace embraces her as her daughter, but Qiong Rong becomes suspicious when the woman already knows her name 441.

The woman is the Queen Mother of the West, who identifies her daughter as Qiong Tong and restores her divine form as the Elder Princess of the West. She explains that Qiong Tong’s mortal life was intended to soften her arrogance and teach emotional balance. A wager concerning whether she would fall in love becomes central to their discussion of Xing Yan 442.

Restored Qiong Tong remembers Kunlun but initially lacks her mortal memories. The Queen Mother shows her scenes of Xing Yan’s care through Mirror Mountain. Qiong Tong becomes absorbed despite mocking the memories, then destroys the mountain in anger and embarrassment upon seeing him kiss her forehead. Mother and daughter agree to test his sincerity 442.

She remains in Kunlun for a time, but later returns to the mortal world to find Xing Yan. Lost among snowy mountains and grasslands, she joins a circus troupe after its master promises to take her to Horseshoe Mountain in exchange for a thousand somersaults. She eventually reunites with Xing Yan and discovers that the troupe master had concealed their arrival in Raozhou 445 461.

Appearance

Qiong Rong’s mortal human form is a small, exceptionally pretty girl repeatedly compared to precious jade. Her smiling eyes and brows curve like crescent moons 89 350.

• Human features: Dark, shining eyes, rosy cheeks, cherry-red lips, and small white teeth 153 360 415.
• Beast form: A snow-white, four-footed creature whose movements are accompanied by curling white mist; Xing Yan notices a resemblance to Yinghuo’s Golden-Mane Snow-Stripe Tiger 113 341.
• Combat wings: Two white, fleshy wings that emit holy radiance; she also bares small fangs during her fierce attacks on wood monsters 332.
• Temporary adult manifestation: Golden-flame-like hair, a rainbow crown, and a starry mantle, described as being crowned in golden clouds and clothed in the Milky Way 152 153.
• Characteristic accessories: Two bird-shaped hairpins concealing her divine blades 99.

Personality

Qiong Rong is affectionate, restless, and literal-minded. She treats danger much like play, regularly wanders off during lessons or cultivation, and believes Xing Yan’s jokes as readily as his serious instructions. Her sincere acceptance of his “child bride” cover story creates recurring misunderstandings 128 215 420.

Her confidence in battle contrasts with a persistent fear of rejection. Differences between herself and ordinary people make her worry that being a monster will cost her Xing Yan’s affection. She also compares herself unfavorably with Xueyi, Ju Ying, and Lingyi, believing that she must become useful to deserve her place beside him 67 113 370 416 440.

She is generous with food and gifts, habitually bringing treats back for Xing Yan. Her devotion can become ferocious when he is threatened or insulted, but she is also capable of calming his anger and feeling compassion for an apparent enemy 109 207 396 410.

Restoration to her divine identity produces a striking change: Qiong Tong becomes proud, volatile, and openly dismissive of mortal experiences. Her fascination with Xing Yan’s remembered kindness and embarrassed anger nevertheless complicate her denial of affection 442.

Abilities & Skills

Transformation and Flight

• Assumes human and beast forms; her early account attributes human transformation to observing people 53 113.
• Initially cannot sustain flight on her underdeveloped beast-form wings, despite repeated practice 113.
• Later manifests wings during combat and travels on the Vermilion Birds associated with her blades 332.
• Her adult divine manifestation is initially involuntary and unexplained; restoration at Kunlun is performed by her mother 152 153 442.

Scent Tracking and Qi Perception

• Recognizes a familiar scent on Xing Yan and follows it from Luoyang to Mount Luofu, then uses it again to locate him after he leaves the mountain 53 61 84.
• Sees heaven-and-earth qi as brilliant, flowing colors where Xing Yan sees nothing 67.
• Her distinct perception initially causes distress because she interprets it as another sign that she is a monster 67.

Water, Ice, and Object Manipulation

• Summons water from the air for washing and freezes a falling droplet in place 67.
• Takes weapons from an ironworks using her powers and repeatedly removes the Golden Bowl Master’s enchanted treasure from his possession 84 141.
• Uses a splash of water, following Xueyi’s instruction, to assist Xing Yan against Diao Han’s illusion 332.

Instinctive Swordsmanship

• Uses rapid approaches, sudden retreats, and sharp aerial turns to avoid Mo Chian’s axe while striking at his vital points 94.
• Her movements are identified as Flying Bird Slash, but Xing Yan believes they developed naturally from playing with birds rather than formal instruction in an ancient art 98.
• Adapts to terrain, attacks at different ranges, and avoids opponents or situations beyond her immediate advantage 360 365.
• Vermilion Bird Wandering Soul Slash is foreshadowed alongside her future battlefield reputation, rather than presented as a formally learned technique in the supplied account 365.

Vermilion Bird Fire

• Commands the twin blade spirits as enormous Vermilion Birds and uses one as a mount 211 332.
• Burns through massed plant attacks and the woodland monsters’ stronghold 331 332.
• Fire is not universally effective: Jun Tai’s powerful water magic counters her fiery attacks, leaving him largely unharmed 396.
• Prolonged contact with the primordial fire spirits threatens spiritual roots, prompting the Dragon Lord to give her a protective robe 360.

Command of Animals

• Directs large, fierce beasts as though they were tame household animals, arranging them for Xing Yan’s scripture gathering 76.
• Effortlessly rides the elders’ Manman Birds and attracts their supposedly untamable black leopard, astonishing experienced beast trainers 410.

Divine Manifestation

• Her temporary adult form appears as time freezes, binds Kongya with star-like lights, and releases silver butterfly lights followed by golden radiance; afterward, Kongya cannot be detected 152.
• Hurls a mountain peak at Xing Yan and Xueyi, demonstrating power far beyond her ordinary childlike presentation 153.
• This manifestation is dangerous to allies as well as enemies, and Qiong Rong has no explanation for it after reverting 153.

Learning and Cultivation

• Studies reading, writing, and Daoist texts under Xing Yan and Ju Ying, though she is initially indifferent to spell study 105.
• Briefly writes elegant, unfamiliar passages from the Southern Flower Scripture. The ability comes and goes unpredictably 106.
• Claims to possess her own exclusive cultivation method; Xing Yan cannot determine its inner workings from watching her practice 128.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Vermilion Bird Divine Blades — Twin fire-attribute divine artifacts once associated with the protection of ancient Nanyue. They possess unusual intelligence, choose Qiong Rong as their owner, and manifest Vermilion Bird spirits 96 99 360.
  • Sparrow Hairpins: Their concealed bird-shaped form, created and taught to her by Ling Xu 99 101.
  • Authority tokens: Recognized by the Zhurong Gate as equivalent to the presence of its leader 141.
• Ironworks short blades — Two weapons taken without payment before the Firecloud campaign; Xing Yan settles their cost on the return journey 84 99.
• Scarlet Radiance Separation Fire Robe — Gift from the Four Rivers Dragon Lord. Its fitted silk armor, flowing sleeves, and skirts are wreathed in flame and golden mountain-and-river patterns; it protects her spiritual roots from the blade spirits’ fire 360.
• White dress — Bought by Xing Yan in Yangshan and worn during the journey that leads to Kongya’s ambush 147 151.
• Li-style outfit — A gift accepted after Emerald Li Village’s liberation 334.

Relationships

• Zhang Xing Yan / Zhang Xingyan — Sworn elder brother, teacher, and central emotional attachment. He names her, secures her place at Four Seas Hall, and repeatedly reassures her that his care does not depend on her usefulness. Her wish to marry him is expressed as a childlike desire never to be separated 53 65 113 153 350.
• Queen Mother of the West — Mother. Restores her divine form, reveals the purpose of her mortal experience, and challenges her denial of affection for Xing Yan 441 442.
• Kou Xueyi — Fellow disciple and elder-sister figure. Studies with her, treats her injuries, mends her clothes, and coordinates with her in battle 105 114 332 334.
• Lingyi / Ling Yier — Affectionate elder-sister figure who cares for her, protects her from Jun Tai’s interference, and defends her when questions about her origins provoke fear of rejection 167 398 416.
• Ju Ying — Reading and writing teacher whose learning Qiong Rong admires 105 106.
• Ling Xu — Sect master who approves her admission and teaches her how to conceal her divine blades as hairpins 65 99.
• Li Yangya — Zhurong Gate leader who recognizes her ownership of the divine blades and tries to recruit her as his successor 96.
• Xiao Mang / Siyou — Ghost King companion. Qiong Rong welcomes the prospect of a junior she can care for and later fights alongside him at Hidden Wave Isle 163 363.
• Yinghuo — Initially a captive under her supervision, later an affectionate acquaintance she calls “Big Sister Witch” 206 207 210 341.
• Phoenix Goddess Xuan — Seeks her guidance and later recognizes her as a benefactor, helping her reach the Queen Mother’s palace 410 441.
• Jun Tai — Attempts to persuade her to leave Xing Yan. His insults and rough handling provoke her resistance and fiery retaliation 396.
• Liang Meigong and his wife — Brief prospective adoptive parents. They welcome her warmly but allow her to return to Xing Yan rather than force a separation 350.

Notable Quotes

“Hmph, whoever decides Heaven’s decrees has no sense! Don’t worry, Brother. If she makes bad decrees, then as long as Brother doesn’t drive Qiong Rong away, Qiong Rong will work hard and help Brother change every one of them!” 350

“Don’t worry, Brother Xing Yan! Qiong Rong is really good at fighting battles now. Whenever you want to fight someone, I’ll fight them for you!” 370

Trivia

• Xing Yan’s explanation of the name Qiong Rong and the Queen Mother’s claim that Qiong Tong was her original name occur at different points in the story; the supplied account does not explicitly explain the naming discrepancy 53 441 442.
• She removes the Nine-Headed Kuihui’s controlling Dragon Core because she takes Xing Yan’s complaint of hunger literally and thinks she has found him something to eat 416 420.
• Observers frequently attribute her extraordinary abilities to Xing Yan’s teaching, increasing his reputation even when her powers are innate or unexplained 411.
• She and Xing Yan mistakenly eat Cold Jade Snow Frog Paste, a remedy Lingyi intended to apply to his forehead 393.
• Her spontaneous birdlike call after Xing Yan’s tremendous dawn roar is answered by the surrounding forest birds 350.