Xing Yan

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Xing Yan (醒言), also written Zhang Xingyan 389.
Alias(es)	Formerly Zhang Jiagou Dan’er; called Hall Master Zhang, Demon King, and “Great Splendor Divine Son,” the last a name spread through wartime rumors 59 302 370 412.
Species/Race	Human 389 410.
Gender	Male 18 295.
Age	Seventeen during his journey to Shangqing Palace: Chen Ziping is twenty and three years older 47.
Origin	Horseshoe Mountain, near Raozhou 22 337.
Affiliation	Shangqing Palace, also called the Highest Clarity order; Four Seas Hall; later leader of the Mystic Spirit Cult and the Mysterious Spirit Monster Race 59 354 410.
Occupation/Role	Former Flower Moon House flutist; Four Seas Hall Master; Central Court Grand Master; military commander in the Four Rivers campaign 58 59 297 360.
Residence	Family home on Horseshoe Mountain; Four Seas Hall on Thousand Birds Cliff, Mount Luofu 58 339.
Status	Alive in the latest supplied events, with preparations underway for his marriage to Kou Xueyi 458 459.

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Involuntary Great Splendor manifestation	21	After the Bench Demon incapacitates him, his flowing-water-like power emerges when he stops struggling. The demon abruptly halts upon contact with his body.
Nonaction-assisted use	27	Discovers that stillness and receptiveness to nature can bring forth Great Splendor Dao Power. Uses it to complete Water Dragon’s Chant, but nearly dies when his reserves run out; the white rock supplies the power needed to survive.
Entry into practical magical study	40	Ling Yier begins teaching him magic. Her instruction makes previously obscure passages of the Upper Clarity Scripture intelligible.
Refining Spirit into Void	58	The Nameless Sword transmits a method for absorbing and transforming the primal spirit of heaven and earth. He begins refining Innate Essence Qi into Great Splendor Dao Power.
Improved power responsiveness	60	Repeated practice produces little immediate increase in quantity, but his power responds more readily to his thoughts.
Sufficient purity for the Wind Wall	72	Passes through the scripture repository’s protective formation because his Dao Power has become sufficiently pure, despite limited growth in its volume.
Radiant Glory Art	72	Deciphers the Supreme Great Radiance Divine Incantation and successfully surrounds himself with golden light.
Initial Sword-Riding instruction	82	Qingming teaches him to nurture a sword spirit and establish resonance with it. His first attempt fails; sustained practice is required.
Emerging sword-spirit perception	99	Reports sensing a faint response from his sword’s spirit. Receives Lingxu’s notes on the Moonlit Flowing-Light Slash, which requires a Sword-Riding foundation.
Deliberate flying-sword attack	101	Attacks Zhao Wuchen with his awakened sword. His first strike misses, but he later redirects another strike deliberately to avoid killing Zhao.
Dao Soul absorption	108 110	Great Splendor dissolves an ancestral Dao Soul attempting to possess him. The encounter breaks a previous barrier, after which his power grows purer and stronger each day.
Unsupported levitation	110	Rises more than twenty feet above the terrace during cultivation, then descends when his power completes its circuit.
Competent Sword Flight	113	Trains under Qingming in Cloudgathering Valley and becomes reasonably proficient. Initially, a single flight only just covers the height of Thousand Birds Cliff.
Beginnings of flight by qi	118	Uses Great Splendor-powered leaps to reach the Origin Celebration platform; the narration identifies these as the beginnings of flight by qi.
Deliberate yin–yang control	147	After the Pure World Sect confrontation, senses clearer hot and cold aspects within Great Splendor and can summon either deliberately.
Paired sun-and-moon sword technique	148	Applies Xueyi’s principle of unity between wielder and weapon. Destroys a blood-soul formation and kills its caster.
Big Dipper restorative power	199	Uses seven orbiting points of starlight to restore and purify the Red Tiger Mountain God’s destroyed axe. The elder identifies his newly acquired power with the Big Dipper and warns of a connection to the Heavenly Slaughter Star.
Repeated weapon restoration	201	Recreates Azure Xi’s iron club after learning its original shape, demonstrating that the axe’s restoration was not an isolated success.
Mass deployment of Moonlit Flowing-Light Slash	361	Releases the technique in meteor-like volleys against Hidden Wave Isle’s spider-silk cocoon, exceeding the small numbers ordinarily released by Shangqing’s senior masters.
Mysterious Pass opened	370	The divine potency of the slain ancient spirit breaks his bottleneck and shatters the Mysterious Pass. His meridians change from channels holding small streams into vast spaces capable of storing far greater power.
Post-Mysterious Pass refinement	385	Great Splendor becomes vast and formless, moving in harmony with his breathing and the surrounding universe. He recognizes that he has grown stronger but does not understand his actual realm.
Heaven-Earth Rebirth Tribulation performed	433	Has used the ultimate art previously described by Lingxu; afterward, only a little strength remains.
Malice-responsive snowfall	453	Brings down a Daoist snowfall whose lethal effect depends on the cruelty and treachery of those beneath it, killing Changyi and numerous accomplices.

Background / History

Xing Yan grows up poor on Horseshoe Mountain and spends years making his way through Raozhou’s streets and markets. Old Scholar Ji of the Ji Family School gives him the name Xing Yan; before that, he is known as Zhang Jiagou Dan’er. He sits in on the school’s lessons and receives a grounding in Confucian learning 18 295 302.

At school, his intelligence, physical fitness, and willingness to join fights and mischief earn him the respect of wealthier children. He becomes their informal leader despite having less food and clothing than his classmates. Tree-climbing, fishing, and swimming are already familiar skills before he enters Daoist life 18 40.

His flute playing supports him at Flower Moon House. Qinghe supplies his early Daoist instruction and gives him an annotated Upper Clarity Scripture containing the secret Spirit Refining and Void Transformation chapters. Qinghe tells him to memorize those sections, destroy their pages, and conceal their contents 22 58.

The transformation of Horseshoe Mountain into a sought-after sanctuary brings three major Daoist schools to his family’s doorstep. Shangqing Palace uses his existing study of its arts to strengthen its claim and offers him admission and a senior hall position. By the time he travels to Mount Luofu, he is Four Seas Hall Master rather than an ordinary novice 44 47.

Appearance

• Face: Refined and clear-featured, with lifted, swordlike brows and an expression suggesting relaxed composure 148.
• Daoist clothing: Wears blue Daoist robes during the Jieyang campaign; their workmanship and light fabric contrast with the Celestial Master disciples’ coarse clothing 86.
• Demonic disguise: His companions find his face unconvincing as an evil demon, even after Xiao Mang helps him produce sinister vapor. The Black Demon Armor supplies the fearsome appearance his face lacks 196.
• Public portrait: A wartime painting depicts him as a towering, glaring giant in golden armor and a black cloak. Xing Yan initially fails to recognize it as a portrait of himself 409.

Personality

Xing Yan is lively, clever, optimistic, and mischievous. His street experience makes him socially adaptable: he chats easily with reserved disciples, negotiates with spirits, and uses humor even when speaking to his mysterious sword. He prefers familiar address to grand titles and asks acquaintances to call him Xing Yan rather than “Lord Grand Master” 47 58 146 295.

Poverty gives him a practical concern for wages, food, travel costs, and his parents’ welfare. After surviving the Bench Demon, he first imagines using his unusual durability to earn money as a sparring partner. His sympathy for Flower Moon House’s workers also comes from understanding that stigmatized work may simply be a means of survival 22 59.

His compassion does not exclude violence, but he distinguishes between active threats and people who have been deceived. He spares Zhao Wuchen after deciding that Zhao has not yet earned death, releases frightened Pure World Sect followers, and hesitates to use magic against an ordinary crowd. When a blood-soul formation begins consuming living beings, that hesitation gives way to decisive action 101 147 148 149.

Cultivation appeals to his curiosity as much as to his ambition. He questions what spiritual qi actually is, develops a theory of “negative chaos,” and seeks principles behind techniques rather than accepting their names as explanations. His desire to improve increasingly centers on protecting Qiong Rong and Xueyi 60 67 113.

His public reputation often exceeds his own confidence. During war, opponents interpret his desperate improvisations as calculated strategy, while he privately remains frightened and self-deprecating. He nevertheless puts victory above pride, readily accepting Bingyi’s help even if it means conceding a rivalry 360 390.

Abilities & Skills

Great Splendor Dao Power

Xing Yan experiences Great Splendor as a flowing current within his body. His early successes depend on nonaction rather than forceful attempts to summon it 21 27.

• Demonic suppression: Halts the Bench Demon and leads him to conclude that his power can suppress unruly demonic aura 21 69.
• Spirit absorption: Dissolves the Dao Soul attempting to possess him. Its resemblance to Soul Devouring becomes a reason to conceal or disguise its effects 71 72 108.
• Restorative influence: Clears some of Xiao Mang’s confusion and restores fragments of the Ghost King’s memories 163.
• Spiritual perception: Helps him see the caster concealed behind a blood-soul formation and recognize unusually concentrated spiritual energy in Emerald Li Village 148 216.
• Energy control: Eventually allows him to summon hot and cold aspects deliberately 147.
• Limits: Early use is unreliable; extreme expenditure can leave him helpless or near death 27 94 96.

Refining Spirit into Void

His central cultivation method draws on heaven-and-earth primal spirit and transforms it into his own Dao Power. The sword provides practical instruction where the secret scripture initially offers mostly principles 23 58.

• Practices regularly at Thousand Birds Cliff, refining the qi of Luofu Grotto-Heaven 105.
• Improves control and purity before producing dramatic increases in power 60 72.
• Interprets cultivation as absorbing life-sustaining “negative chaos” to transcend ordinary lifespan; this is his developing theory, not a confirmed attainment of immortality 67.
• Later learns from Qinghe that the secret texts preserve an ancient path toward understanding nature and potentially attaining longevity 337.

Radiant Glory Art / Great Light Shield

Initially learned as a dazzling golden-light technique, the art proves capable of protection and restoring strength 72 98.

• Sheng Hengtang identifies his protective spell as the renowned Great Light Shield 98.
• Blocks Zhao Wuchen’s poisonous Bone-Eroding Wind without Xing Yan realizing what happened 101.
• At maximum output, surrounds Xing Yan and Qiong Tong with brilliant white radiance during their escape through the South Sea army 390.
• Forms the first stage of the sequence leading to Moonlit Flowing-Light Slash and Heaven-Earth Rebirth Tribulation 99.

Sword Arts and Flight

His swordsmanship develops through Qingming’s instruction, battlefield experience, and his growing bond with the Ancient Sword 82 99 113.

• Sword-Riding and Sword Flight: Controls the weapon through spiritual and mental resonance; eventually uses it for routine travel to and from Thousand Birds Cliff 82 113.
• Moonlit Flowing-Light Slash: Produces luminous ranged attacks, including mass volleys that penetrate the Wolf Spiders’ protective cocoon 361.
• Flying Moonstream: Uses luminous spheres to slow Meng Zhang’s combined lightning pillar, nearly exhausting himself 412.
• Close-range combat: Turns Hu Yantuo’s transforming trident against its wielder during their duel 389.
• Large-scale swordlight: Opens a chasm more than ten zhang wide across an approaching cavalry army’s path 450.
• Limits: The sword sometimes acts independently. Its autonomous flight is not proof that Xing Yan has mastered the corresponding art 88.

Water and Ice Magic

Ling Yier introduces him to practical magic, and his later repertoire includes the Dragon Palace spell Iceheart Knot 40 167.

• Freezes wine during a demonstration before Shangqing’s elders 82.
• Immobilizes an attacking bandit during the Firecloud campaign 93.
• Uses Iceheart Knot in an unsuccessful attempt to make captured bandits reveal their employer 167.
• His mild demonstration on a hitching post initially makes soldiers underestimate him 87.

Talismans

• Draws Fire-Avoidance Talismans to protect soldiers against supernatural flames 85 87.
• Successfully protects Sun Xiaoyi even after Qiong Rong secretly strengthens the test fire 87.
• Gives a protective talisman to a frightened traveler near Emerald Li Village 215.
• Paints peachwood charms for neighbors during his family’s New Year preparations 340.
• Early in his training, still consults his manual before drawing a talisman 87.

Restoration and Growth

• Great Art of Instant Bloom: Makes a seed sprout and flower within moments, demonstrating the technique while defending Xueyi from Zhao Wuchen’s accusations 100.
• Big Dipper restoration: Reconstitutes destroyed weapons and purifies them, first with the Red Tiger Mountain God’s axe and then Azure Xi’s club 199 201.
• Reconstruction requirement: Needs to know a weapon’s original shape; restoring Azure Xi’s club requires its owner to describe and demonstrate it 201.

Music, Learning, and Leadership

• Flute: A trained professional musician who continues practicing after entering Shangqing Palace 58.
• Water Dragon’s Chant: Performs notes beyond the ordinary human range through Great Splendor. The performance draws animals into a peaceful gathering while storms and lightning assemble around Horseshoe Mountain 27.
• Scholarship: His literary education helps him decipher difficult magical scripture; he also teaches Qiong Rong and Xueyi to read and write 72 105.
• Command: Plans and leads the Hidden Wave Isle operation, adapts when its defenses invalidate his initial plan, and later commands a mixed vanguard of more than ten thousand demons and gods 360 361 411.
• Battlefield instruction: Teaches less experienced land-based disciples to remain thirty or forty feet above the sea to guard against aquatic ambushes 405.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Ancient Sword / Nameless Sword / Yao Guang / God-Sealing Sword — Emerges from the white rock on Horseshoe Mountain. Its spirit teaches him cultivation, flies independently, and communicates through changing inscriptions and movements. Despite its immense power, it often appears dull and blunt 27 30 58 84 105 106.
• Divine Snow — Jade flute used to perform Water Dragon’s Chant. Xing Yan has promised Ling Yier that he will return it 27 37.
• Upper Clarity Scripture — Qinghe’s annotated copy includes two secret cultivation chapters. Qingyun later gives him another copy while urging orthodox practice 22 183.
• Moonlit Flowing-Light Slash notes — Instructional text bestowed by Lingxu after the Firecloud campaign 99.
• Dust Repelling pendant — Ju Ying’s precious imperial heirloom. Absorbs fire poison from numerous wounded soldiers without visibly changing 98 183.
• Netherworld Ring / Siyou Ghost Ring — Xiao Mang’s ring form, bearing the inscription “Warden of the Netherworld.” Later shelters Lan Cheng, Ding Jia, and Yi Cang 163 330.
• Flying Snow — Fine white horse given by Prefect Duan for the bandit campaign; Xing Yan lets Qiong Rong ride it while he walks 88 89.
• Soul-Slaying Great Axe — Lent by Xiao Mang to strengthen Xing Yan’s demonic disguise 196.
• Black Demon Armor — Obtained for the Liling Isle infiltration. Ultimately drains his power and immobilizes him; Xiao Mang breaks it apart to free him 196 202.
• Four Spirits Divine Armor — Worn during the South Sea war; ordinary aquatic spirits cannot harm him through it 365.
• Sushuang steed — Divine warhorse whose mount-to-mount battle helps occupy Meng Zhang’s black dragon during their duel 412.
• Ghost-Head Ice Sawblade — Acquired after Wu Zhiqi’s defeat, then gifted to Yin Tieya because its water affinity complements Yin’s wind affinity 369.

Relationships

• Qinghe — Early teacher, trusted friend, and benefactor of his family. Gives him the secret scripture, protects his parents from a land-grabbing bully, and later explains the deeper significance of Refining Spirit into Void 22 337.
• Qingming — Sword-art mentor. Begins treating Xing Yan as a genuine fellow hall master, teaches Sword-Riding, and provides safer instruction in Sword Flight 82 113.
• Lingxu — Shangqing sect leader and senior guide. Entrusts him with the Jieyang mission, supplies advanced instruction, and emphasizes moral cultivation alongside technique 82 99 108.
• Qiong Rong — Little-sister figure and Four Seas Hall disciple, rendered Qiong Tong in some later passages. Their bond rests on mutual affection rather than usefulness; both repeatedly risk their lives to rescue the other. She remains on Kunlun in the later story 105 113 390 445.
• Kou Xueyi — Disciple, attendant, close companion, and eventual intended bride. He protects her from Zhao Wuchen and conceals her supernatural identity. Her death and stolen remains become central to his wartime concerns; she is with him again when he begins arranging their marriage 100 110 364 429 458.
• Lingyi / Ling Yier — Four Rivers dragon maiden, early magic teacher, and romantic partner. Their relationship develops across the mortal–divine divide into a verbal marriage agreement and acknowledged betrothal 40 169 419 458.
• Ju Ying — Longstanding friend and princess with whom he shares playful exploits and later mutual declarations of love. He rescues her during the imperial rebellion and supports her efforts to restore order at court 183 302 448 453.
• Xiao Mang — Ghost King who asks to become his servant because Great Splendor helps restore his memories. Saves him from the Black Demon Armor and later receives Xing Yan’s support in defending Ghostside 163 202 389 390.
• Lord of the Clouds, Yang Fu — Senior dragon lord, patron, and Lingyi’s grandfather. Takes an interest in Xing Yan because of the sword’s connection to Horseshoe Mountain and later entrusts him with military command 360 402.
• Chen Ziping — Escort to Shangqing Palace and one of the few disciples with whom Xing Yan can converse casually 47 48 60.
• Lin Xu, Sheng Hengtang, and Zhang Yuner — Celestial Master Order comrades. Initial sect rivalry gives way to respect through the Firecloud campaign; Sheng helps identify Xing Yan’s protective art 87 98 115.
• Kun Xiang and Yin Tieya — Mystic Spirit leaders who acknowledge him as cult leader. Kun Xiang advocates his acceptance as ruler, while Xing Yan’s victories and gift of the Ice Sawblade strengthen Yin’s loyalty 354 369.
• Yinghuo — Initially hostile Devil Master who captures Lingyi and Xueyi. Later declares that she likes Xing Yan during a hostage exchange; he suspects a trick rather than accepting the declaration at face value 202 211.
• Meng Zhang — South Sea Water Marquis and major wartime opponent. Their conflict encompasses suspicion over ghostly power, rivalry involving Lingyi, Xueyi’s murder and stolen body, and a direct duel 190 412 429.
• His parents — Remain important to him despite his rising rank. His court appointment includes a hundred mu of rice paddies for their support, and he later returns home for a family New Year 297 340.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Arc	Xing Yan’s role and major events
Flower Moon House and Horseshoe Mountain	Survives the Bench Demon, receives Qinghe’s secret scripture, and uses Water Dragon’s Chant to uncover the Ancient Sword. Initially considers selling the apparently unimpressive weapon 21 22 27 30.
Entry into Shangqing Palace	Becomes the focus of competing recruitment offers tied to his family’s mountain. Travels to Mount Luofu as Four Seas Hall Master and discovers that his rank may make him a competition judge rather than a contestant 44 47.
Cultivation at Thousand Birds Cliff	Learns from the sword, develops Great Splendor, and builds an informal household with Qiong Rong, Xueyi, and later Ju Ying. Encounters prejudice over his former employment and conceals the sword from investigating elders 58 59 105.
Firecloud Mountain campaign	Volunteers to help troops facing supernatural fire. Earns respect through his talisman work, fights Li Yangya, and negotiates peace after discovering their clash arose from misunderstanding. The casualties leave him longing for home rather than further glory 82 87 94 96 98.
Protection of Xueyi	Confronts Zhao Wuchen’s harassment and accusations, defeats him, and deliberately turns aside a potentially fatal sword strike 100 101.
Origin Celebration	Intervenes against a charm spirit occupying Tian Renbao and destroys it without harming the host. The feat spreads his reputation beyond Shangqing Palace 118 119 148.
Pure World Sect conflict	Faces accusations after Duan Ruhui’s death, supports Xueyi’s fight against Luo Ziming, survives a staged abduction accusation, and destroys a consuming blood-soul formation. Kongya subsequently learns of his Soul Devouring ability and plans revenge 145 147 148 149.
Yulin famine	Rescues a relief messenger, donates all his silver to a gruel kitchen, and targets Bai Shijun’s corruption through a ghost-ring scheme rather than a direct assault on the fortified city 167 169 183.
Liling Isle infiltration	Disguises himself to investigate stolen Dragon Horses. The armor becomes a trap, and Lingyi and Xueyi are captured while saving him. He later secures their release by exchanging Yinghuo 196 201 202 211.
Water Spirit search	Investigates Emerald Li Village’s unnatural fertility, exposes its false chief as the Wood Spirit Tiao Han, and pursues him to the captive Water Spirit Shui Ruo 215 216 331.
South Sea war	Leads the successful Hidden Wave Isle operation, kills Wu Zhiqi, gains a major cultivation breakthrough, and grows into a commander of combined monster, Daoist, and water forces 360 364 370 403.
Defense of Ghostside	Rejects the South Sea’s justification for seizing Ghostside’s sacred land. Escapes an enemy formation, returns to rescue Qiong Tong, and captures the Army-Guarding Banner, helping force the invaders’ retreat 389 390.
Final South Sea confrontations	Survives Meng Zhang’s strongest lightning attacks, helps negotiate the aftermath of the South Sea surrender, and continues seeking the safe return of Xueyi’s remains 412 428 429.
Imperial rebellion	Rescues Ju Ying, confronts the forces supporting Changyi’s coup, and ends the rebellion with malice-responsive snow. Stays beside the princess as she purges the court and restores order 448 450 453.
Marriage preparations	Delivers invitations to his sect and brings Xueyi home toward Raozhou. Because of his existing agreement with Lingyi, first seeks approval from the Four Rivers and Dongting dragon lords 458 459.

Notable Quotes

“I’ve got an affinity for water! I’ve got one! I may not be good at much else, but I’m a mighty fine swimmer!” 40

“Senior Bingyi, so long as we can defeat the enemy, what does it matter if I concede right now?” 360

“Soldiers of the Eastern Capital District, hear me! I, Zhang Xingyan, in my capacity as Grand Marshal of All Armies, command you to unlock and open the gate immediately and admit the righteous army I have newly recruited!” 452

Trivia

• His court appointment grants one hundred mu of rice paddies to support his parents, a reward more directly useful to his family than the prestige of office 297.
• Shangqing Palace permits marriage. His mother says the family would not have allowed him to enter the order otherwise 195.
• His first response to acquiring the Ancient Sword is to polish it for the pawnshop; removing its dirt does nothing to improve its dull, grayish-black surface 30.
• His status as Four Seas Hall Master complicates his wish to prove himself at the Origin Celebration: Chen Ziping points out that he would likely be a judge 47.
• Jun Tai demands that Lingyi’s future husband learn an instrument, unaware that Xing Yan is already an accomplished flutist 58 419.