Lingyi

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Lingyi (灵漪); her personal name is also rendered as Ling Yi 38.
Alias(es)	Ling Yier; Snow Flute Lingyi; Four Rivers Princess; Four Rivers Dragon Maiden 26 38 75 135.
Species/Race	Dragon Clan deity; the Four Rivers lineage is a branch of the East Sea Dragon Clan 39 196.
Gender	Female 26 38.
Affiliation	Four Rivers Dragon Palace beneath Poyang Lake; later resides at Four Seas Hall on Thousand Birds Cliff 39 346.
Occupation/Role	Dragon princess, Xing Yan’s water-magic instructor, and commander of Four Rivers female guards and archers 40 364 424.
Family	Granddaughter of the Four Rivers Dragon Lord, the Lord of the Clouds; daughter of the Lord of Dongting and the Dragon Consort of Dongting, formerly the Xiang River Goddess 39 189.
Marriage agreement	Mutually promises marriage to Zhang Xingyan; their verbal agreement remains acknowledged when he seeks her family’s approval to marry Xueyi 344 458.
Status	Alive after Xi He saves her from a mortal wound; her spiritual root remains damaged, requiring recovery 434 435.

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Newly learned Wind and Water Invocation	38	Learns the composition her grandfather wrote specifically for her because she cannot perform the ancestral Water Dragon’s Chant. Demonstrates it by gathering clouds and bringing rain.
Acquires Mirror-Shadow Soul Departure	109	Specifically asks her grandfather to teach her the Dragon Palace spell, allowing her to visit Xing Yan through the White Jade Lotus as a remote manifestation.
Improved battlefield archery	360 365	After her grandfather identifies her lack of practical combat experience and offers instruction, she becomes more composed and effective with the Divine Moon Silver Bow.

Background / History

Lingyi grows up as a highly favored princess of the Four Rivers Dragon Clan. Her grandfather indulges her requests, while her rank makes other young waterfolk reluctant to joke or quarrel with her. Despite her extraordinary surroundings, she finds palace life dull and lacks companions who treat her freely 26 34.

Her reputation as Snow Flute Lingyi is known throughout the rivers and seas. The name comes from her treasured Divine Snow Jade Flute, which her grandfather secretly gives to Xing Yan. Discovering the flute in the young musician’s hands brings her into his life, initially as an angry pursuer rather than a friend 26 37.

Appearance

Lingyi is tall and graceful, with dark flowing hair and a softly contoured face. Her beauty is renowned among the waterfolk; Xing Yan compares her to a lotus greeting the morning sun 36 37 109.

• Facial features: Eyes likened to autumn ripples, brows to distant mountains, and delicately shaped lips and nose 109.
• Usual palace attire: White silk gowns, sometimes worn with her hair falling loosely around her shoulders 75 109.
• Ceremonial dress: Cloud-and-bird embroidery, translucent silver gauze, a silver cloud-brocade shawl, floating pink and green ribbons, and a red forehead gemstone 186.
• Four Seas Hall attire: Adopts a plain cloth skirt and thornwood hairpin while sharing household work with Xueyi 346.
• Battle attire: A white feathered helmet, shining silver armor, a gold-woven lotus-patterned cloak, and a crimson forehead ornament. Pink lotuses support her bare feet as she crosses the waves 364.
• Practical adjustment: Removes the golden bells from her helmet tassels after Xing Yan warns that their sound could reveal her position 364.

Personality

Lingyi’s public manner is cold, proud, and difficult to approach. Among her own companions, however, she is lively, outspoken, mischievous, and easily delighted by teasing. Xing Yan gradually recognizes that much of her apparent willfulness is straightforwardness rather than malice 26 37 74 187.

She initially pursues Xing Yan partly for amusement, treating the missing flute as an excuse to escape boredom. Her growing attachment brings jealousy and embarrassment: she questions him about Ju Ying, reacts uneasily to other women’s attention, and repeatedly denies feelings that her mother and friends can see 26 34 37 105 110 156.

Her affection becomes increasingly practical and protective. She shelters Xing Yan when he is drunk, shields him and Xueyi from suspicion, nurses him through grief and injury, and learns ordinary cooking and cleaning to share his home. By the wartime period, she accepts his wish to marry the women close to them, although she remains opposed to Yinghuo 38 39 110 346 349 359 369.

Abilities & Skills

Water Magic and Underwater Travel

• Water-Traveling Art: Moves freely through water without surrounding herself with a water-repelling bubble. She explains that the art generally requires the exceptionally strong water affinity of aquatic beings 40.
• Instruction: Teaches Xing Yan the Water-Repelling Spell and offers the Return-to-Shore Spell to help him leave the Dragon Palace safely 39 40.
• Advanced teaching: Tentatively teaches him Water-Traveling Art; he successfully uses it to explore Poyang Lake beside her 230.
• Protection: Parts the rain around herself and the unconscious Xing Yan while carrying him away from Lakeview Tower 38.

Water Without a Trace

• Conceals her figure completely, allowing her to follow and tease Xing Yan unseen. It is described as the spell she has mastered best during their early encounters 34.
• Xing Yan’s Great Splendor Dao Power exposes her after he catches her invisible form 36.
• Later teaches the intermediate water spell to Xing Yan before his departure for Shangqing Palace 227.
• Earth-based summoning and solidification spells can restrict the concealed caster’s movement 227.

Iceheart Knot and Ice Illusions

• Iceheart Knot: Uses a freezing spell against Xing Yan and later teaches it to him 34 63.
• Early limitation: Does not teach him how to undo it because she has never learned the reversal herself; Xing Yan independently discovers a melting method 63.
• Playful constructs: Creates an ice figure that repeatedly jumps over bamboo sticks 167.
• Illusory confinement: Makes an inn courtyard appear to a thief as an endless maze of bamboo fences, exhausting him until he collapses 168.

Musical Spellcasting

• Wind and Water Invocation: Uses flute music to gather clouds and summon rain 38.
• Five Phases principle: Explains that the flute’s five tones correspond to the Five Phases; particular arrangements can function like Dao Power and produce spells 38.
• Water instruments: Forms a konghou from lake water and turns a waterfall into a zither to accompany Xing Yan 37 109.
• Performance: Plays an ancient zither, sings, and dances; later performs a gentle Lotus-Picking Ballad to help the injured Xing Yan rest 37 347 368.
• Limit: Cannot perform the ancestral Water Dragon’s Chant, prompting her grandfather to compose a more accessible piece for her 38.
• Diplomatic use: Her music helps persuade the South Sea Rain Master Jun Tai to change his allegiance, alongside his existing objections to Meng Zhang’s ambitions 420.

Mirror-Shadow Soul Departure

• Sends a manifestation through the White Jade Lotus to visit Xing Yan from the Dragon Palace 109 167.
• The manifestation appears tangible but does not consume the food she seems to eat 110.
• Visits have a limited duration: she disappears when the sustaining power runs out 110 168.

Object Transformation

• Conjures a dressing table for Qiong Rong and remodels Four Seas Hall’s rooms, adding furnishings and changing Xing Yan’s square window into a fan-shaped arch 347.
• Creates decorative objects but explicitly cannot create living things 347.
• Turns broken porcelain into wind chimes 346.

Divine Archery and Martial Manifestation

• Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden Archery: Controls the Divine Moon Silver Bow 360.
• Moonlight Return-to-Truth Art: Condenses the bow’s arrows of light 360.
• Barrier-breaking: A crystalline arrow opens a breach in the Demon Continent’s fiery defensive wall 202.
• Battlefield archery: Uses disciplined shots to immobilize and destroy South Sea enemies while fighting within the protection of her guards 365.
• Giant manifestation: Wields the Azure Cloud Halberd while appearing as an enormous armored divine warrior, with her hair brushing the clouds and her feet treading the sea 406.

Craftsmanship and Caregiving

• Embroiders the landscape on a scented sachet for Xing Yan and promises a money pouch bearing his name 186.
• Learns household cooking and cleaning from Xueyi despite initially being inexperienced 346.
• Gathers calming herbs with Qiong Rong, brews medicine for Xing Yan, and later prepares nourishing soup during his battlefield recovery 349 369.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Divine Snow Jade Flute — Her treasured flute and the source of her “Snow Flute” epithet. Her grandfather gives it to Xing Yan; she later permits him to keep it 26 37 38.
• Divine Moon Silver Bow — Her principal ranged weapon, paired in renown with Divine Snow as one of the Dragon Palace’s twin treasures 355 360 365.
• Azure Cloud Halberd — Drawn during her giant divine manifestation at Mulberry Sunset Isle 406.
• Pink silk sash — A magical belt capable of binding a divine opponent; she uses it to capture Fan Chuan 135.
• White Jade Lotus — Gives it to Xing Yan at their parting. When placed in water, it can reveal her image and serve as the medium for her mirror-shadow visits 74 75 109.
• Ancient zither — Used for singing and personal performances, including a sorrowful song of separation and an immortal’s return 347.
• Four-horse dragon carriage — Her family’s cloud-traveling carriage, drawn by dragon steeds raised at Flowing Cloud Pasture 186.
• Embroidered scented sachet — A gift to Xing Yan made from merfolk dragon-silk gauze and pearls, with a landscape she embroiders herself 186.

Relationships

• Zhang Xingyan / Xing Yan — Begins as the suspected thief of her flute, becomes her student and close companion, and eventually reciprocates her marriage proposal. Their agreement is still treated as binding when he plans to marry Xueyi 26 40 344 458.
• Lord of the Clouds — Her indulgent grandfather, the Four Rivers Dragon Lord. Gives away her flute, teaches her spiritual manifestation and battlefield methods, and publicly identifies Xing Yan as her intended husband 34 109 355 360.
• Lord of Dongting — Her father. She initially expects him to lead her rescue from the Demon Continent; he later becomes part of the family Xing Yan consults about marriage 210 458.
• Dragon Consort of Dongting — Her mother, formerly the Xiang River Goddess. Worries about a mortal husband’s short lifespan, mistakenly favors Meng Zhang, and later withdraws her opposition to Lingyi’s marriage to Xing Yan 189 193 364.
• Kou Xueyi — Becomes a sister-like friend, fellow captive, and household companion. Lingyi protects her from sect suspicion and accepts Xing Yan’s wish to marry her 110 206 346 359.
• Qiong Rong — Affectionate younger-sister figure whom she pampers, comforts, and helps care for. They also work together to nurse Xing Yan 135 167 349 350 369.
• Ju Ying — Initially a source of jealousy, but their first meeting brings immediate mutual admiration. They share music and festival celebrations 37 109 110.
• Meng Zhang — South Sea Water Marquis and unwanted prospective husband. His pursuit combines attraction with a plan to gain Four Rivers resources; Lingyi chooses Xing Yan instead and later fights against his forces 344 346 365.
• Yinghuo — Longstanding rival whose feud with Lingyi begins with petty insults about appearance and living conditions. Lingyi distrusts her declaration of affection for Xing Yan and remains unwilling to accept her as another wife 211 341 359.
• Shui Bi and Bai Hua — Two of her aquatic attendants: the lively goddess of clear rivers and the reserved goddess of breaking ice. Accompany her during the South Sea campaign 364 365.
• Fan Chuan and Runlan — Helps secure their marriage by promising to recommend Fan Chuan as Zhenshui River deity and asking Xing Yan to obtain the magistrate’s approval 136 138.
• Xi He — Saves Lingyi after Meng Zhang’s attack and advises her to recover in the ancestral East Sea Dragon Palace 434 435.

Story Role / Major Arcs

The Missing Flute and the Princess Teacher

Lingyi initially assumes Xing Yan stole Divine Snow, but her grandfather’s evasiveness convinces her that he is responsible. She nevertheless keeps pursuing Xing Yan for amusement. Her invisible harassment ends in an embarrassing embrace when he traps and reveals her, after which he offers to return the flute 26 34 36.

At Poyang Lake, she accompanies his playing with water-made music and dance, refuses to reclaim Divine Snow immediately, and invites him to dinner. Teaching him musical spellcasting turns their banter into a teacher–student relationship. After he becomes drunk, she brings him to her private chambers in the Dragon Palace and cares for him overnight 37 38 39.

Long-Distance Visits and Growing Affection

The White Jade Lotus lets Xing Yan glimpse Lingyi in her bedchamber, then enables her to join a Mid-Autumn celebration through Mirror-Shadow Soul Departure. During the visit, she invents a story about Xueyi supervising Xing Yan’s cultivation, protecting both from Qingming’s questions 75 109 110.

Their later reunion at an inn deepens her feelings when she sees Xing Yan’s concern for famine victims. She also assists Fan Chuan and Runlan’s marriage and visits Xing Yan’s mother with festival gifts and money, adjusting her account of his adventures when she realizes the dangers frighten his mother 136 138 168 195.

South Sea Banquet and the Mortal–Divine Divide

Lingyi brings Xing Yan to the South Sea flower-viewing banquet, where Meng Zhang’s attention and the Sea Epiphyllum’s marriage omen expose her jealousy. When Pan Hou accuses Xing Yan of carrying ghostly energy, she immediately defends him 186 189 190.

On their return, she breaks down over the divide between her dragon-noble existence and his mortality. Xing Yan shelters her in an abandoned fishing hut and guards her overnight. Her mother’s subsequent warning about outliving a mortal husband makes the same fear painfully explicit 191 192 193.

Demon Continent Captivity

During the unauthorized expedition to seize Dragon Horses, Lingyi breaches the Demon Continent’s defensive wall but later falls captive with Xueyi. Flame Cages torment them, and Demon Rings restrain their magical power 202 206 211.

Xing Yan secures their release by exchanging Yinghuo. Lingyi rebukes him for risking himself, then praises the rescue and tries to keep him from being blamed for her unauthorized expedition 210 211.

Choosing Xing Yan

After her family accepts Meng Zhang’s proposal and betrothal gifts, Lingyi goes to Thousand Birds Cliff and asks Xing Yan to marry her. His initial hesitation wounds her, but he then declares his love and formally asks for her hand. He rejects an unfavorable stone-cutting omen rather than let it decide their future 344.

They agree that she will stay at Four Seas Hall until her grandfather returns and can hear their case. Lingyi embraces ordinary household life, learning chores from Xueyi and furnishing the hall with her magic 346 347.

South Sea War

After Luofu’s devastation, Lingyi and Qiong Rong nurse the grief-stricken Xing Yan and accompany him south to recover Xueyi’s remains. Her grandfather later declares that Divine Snow had been delivered three years earlier as a betrothal gift, pairing it with the Divine Moon Silver Bow she holds 349 350 353 355.

Lingyi develops into a battlefield commander, brings female guards to Hidden Wave Isle, and fights with increasingly disciplined archery. Her status sometimes keeps her in the rear headquarters because her capture could endanger the campaign. When the war becomes critical, her grandfather orders her back into battle 364 365 378 402.

At Divine Wrath Reef, she leads the women archers against Giant Thunder Pass. Protected by Whirlwind Turtles, they destroy the enemy’s lightning support and its commander, Ai Lei. Her composure breaks when Xing Yan appears to be killed by Xi Ying’s axe, until Qiong Rong recognizes his feigned death 424.

Injury and Recovery

Meng Zhang’s full-force Cosmic Disordering Origin Power mortally wounds Lingyi and damages her spiritual root. Xing Yan cannot save her with his remaining Dao Power, but Xi He’s Sun Pearl restores her to consciousness 434 435.

Although Xi He advises secluded recovery in the East Sea, Lingyi insists on staying with Xing Yan. She accompanies him to Horseshoe Mountain, joins his parents’ family supper, and shares a quiet respite at the hot spring. Their marriage agreement remains recognized later, when Xing Yan consults her family before marrying Xueyi 435 458.

Notable Quotes

“Everyone at home calls me Ling Yier. I'll allow you to call me that too~” 38

“What does expensive matter? Since I invited you, of course I'm paying!” 37

“Silly, this is our Dragon Palace's spell, Mirror-Shadow Soul Departure. I specially asked Grandfather to teach me!” 109

“Qiong Rong is such a good girl. Anyone would cherish her!” 350