Zhao Longfei

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Zhao Longfei (赵龙飞)
Alias(es)	Principal Zhao; Uncle Zhao Er; “the man who recognized my talent,” as Qin Siyang publicly calls him 449 756
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Zhao Family; Zhao Merchants’ Association; Nanrong University, also called Southern Glory; later the United Government’s Awakening Department 433 973 1675
Occupation/Role	Former principal of Nanrong University; black-market operator and Zhao Family leader; later Minister of the Awakening Department 267 1675
Status	Alive at his latest documented appearance 1861

Background / History

Zhao Longfei and his elder brother, Zhao Longteng, grew up poor after their parents died. Lin Jiancheng, head of the then-small Lin Group, gave them work and helped their younger sister, Zhao Fengjun, obtain an education. The siblings came to regard Lin as their mentor and an elder closer than their own uncles 682.

Lin Jiancheng was murdered by his adopted son, Lin Cheng, who attempted to frame Zhao Longfei before fleeing. When the Lin Group collapsed, the Zhao brothers took over part of its business and used it as the foundation of the Zhao Family’s wealth. Despite their subsequent success, avenging Lin remained a lifelong obligation for all three siblings 682.

The brothers’ rise involved extensive shady dealings. Their eventual cooperation with the United Government was negotiated rather than imposed: Secretary-General Gu Weiyang approached them and offered concessions, and they accepted the name “Nanrong University” partly out of consideration for the government’s dignity. Zhao therefore rejects the idea that he is merely a subordinate of the Ministry of Education 267 433.

Appearance

• Scarred scalp: Zhao repeatedly rubs the scar on top of his head while speaking or considering a situation 262 265 449.
• Pockmarked appearance: Qin describes him as pockmarked when reflecting on his guarded manner 541.
• Formal clothing: He is shown wearing a shirt and a carefully chosen striped tie during political discussions 675.
• Habitual smoking: Cigars, cigarettes, and smoke rings frequently accompany his conversations 267 682 845.
• Claimed youthful good looks: Zhao says he was once a handsome young man renowned throughout the surrounding villages 756.

Personality

Zhao combines a casually domineering manner with blunt humor and calculated pressure. He trades insults with Qin Siyang, enjoys making the younger man acknowledge his help, and uses Qin’s concern for Wen Shu to secure a public tribute. His insistence on being called Qin’s talent scout reflects both pride in his judgment and a willingness to manipulate personal obligations 756.

His apparent arrogance is tempered by an understanding of consequences. When Qin asks why he does not simply eliminate Guo Jiuxiao, Zhao explains that Guo’s supporters and the Three Major Merchants’ Associations could make the conflict prohibitively costly. He distinguishes effective intimidation from the ability to act without repercussions 273.

Zhao values demonstrated ability over social background. He challenges Lin Yaman’s dismissal of Qin as a lucky provincial orphan, recalling that he and his brother also began as poor outsiders. He regards Qin’s independent rise and mixture of righteousness and ruthlessness as reasons to invest in him, not merely the rare materials Qin supplies 433.

His protectiveness can conflict with others’ autonomy. He defends Qin’s right to choose a dangerous political path, yet initially tries to keep Zhao Fengjun, Chen Fenghe, and Lin Yaman out of Sigma District. The women challenge his assumptions about their roles and usefulness, and he eventually agrees to take them 480 481 1149.

Abilities & Skills

Intelligence Gathering and Counterintelligence

• Research-team surveillance: While helping rescue Qin, Zhao investigates the accompanying professors and identifies a Reincarnation Church infiltration. He initially narrows the suspect to Wu Yu or Hao Liang 261 262.
• Personnel research: Before the Championship Tournament, he investigates the referees closely enough to know Lü Boming’s old promotion dispute with district chief Fang Mo 887.
• Memory-based intelligence: The Zhao Family extracts and organizes memories for investigation. Zhao has memories of Qin’s fight with Yamamoto Taro erased from the corpse to prevent others from discovering Qin’s skills; the passages do not establish this as Zhao’s personal Sequence Ability 482.
• Limits: Even after repeatedly examining Qin’s fight, Zhao cannot identify Qin’s Sequence or explain his abilities 482.

Political and Commercial Strategy

• Institutional leverage: Zhao uses the importance of his black market to the Churches, his connections, and the university’s deterrent power to confront threats against Nanrong personnel 267.
• Negotiation support: He helps Qin evaluate terms with Chu Xiaoang rather than allowing the legion commander to dictate the deal 449 481.
• Reading rival tactics: He rejects the Wang and Xie families’ attempted “good cop, bad cop” negotiation and later explains that their wider alliance has not fractured enough to make cooperation timely 845 846.
• Political workarounds: He agrees to support Hu Chan through legitimate Merchants’ Association activity—opening a branch, clearing traps, and providing a retreat point—rather than openly intervening in church affairs 706.

Combat and Mobility

• Vehicle-linked movement: During an attack on the Zhao Family’s plane, Zhao disappears from his seat to address the threat. He is shown able to move freely through his own vehicle, though the mechanism is not explained 792.
• High-level combat: He personally confronts mining-company leaders alongside Wei Rulai and later joins the fighting against Zone 1 in Sigma District 814 1172.
• Coordinated assaults: Zhao and his allies exploit openings to kill several sequence-level-seven opponents from Zone 1 1186.
• Later battlefield cooperation: Zhao and Yan Bunan kill roughly a dozen Domain Sequence opponents before the enemy’s reorganized defenses reduce their effectiveness 1700.
• Power benchmark: When assessing Shen Shisong, Qin treats Zhao and the other experienced fighters as substantially harder opponents than that poorly trained sequence-level-eight enemy 1243.

Talent Development and Protection

• Research support: Zhao promises supplies for Wu Yu’s sequence-identifying devices and reserves the scarce production for Nanrong’s own people 423.
• Leadership mentoring: He teaches Qin to consider social order, political status, timing, and long-term preservation rather than personal survival alone 433 724 846.
• Discreet protection: He supplies a plausible explanation for Qin’s unusually heavy Sequence Potion consumption and offers Zhao Family backing if officials press the matter 712.
• Student safety: During the tournament, he concedes Le Zixiao’s match to prevent further injury and warns Duan Chongfang not to overexert himself 908.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Tier Four Armor — Worn during the confrontation with the four mining-company leaders 814.
• Storage Box — Kept in his office and used to hold materials sought by Chu Xiaoang 441.
• Conversation Shielding — Used for private discussions, including the account of Lin Jiancheng’s murder; its source is unspecified 682.
• Zhao Family vehicles — Travels in private cars, covert transport, a flying vehicle, and an armored vehicle. Zhao Longju performs the car-to-plane transformation, not Zhao Longfei 790 799 844.

Relationships

• Qin Siyang — Protégé, political partner, and increasingly trusted ally. Zhao recognizes his leadership potential, gives him major negotiating opportunities, and later treats him as family. Their familiarity includes frequent insults and attempts to outmaneuver each other 433 443 723 756.
• Zhao Longteng — Elder brother and partner in building the Zhao Family. They coordinate military and commercial plans, though Longfei rejects Longteng’s willingness to risk Qin’s safety for bargaining gains 509 682 799.
• Zhao Fengjun — Younger sister, whom he helped raise and remains strongly protective of. Their secrecy causes resentment, but an explanation of Li Dajian’s death leads to reconciliation 790 792 1213.
• Zhao Sifang — Nephew. Zhao sympathizes with Sifang’s frustration over limited equipment but cannot override Longteng’s parenting decisions 919.
• Lin Yaman — Secretary and close emotional companion. Zhao comforts her after Lin Cheng’s death; she later follows him to the Awakening Department, where his workload leaves them little time together. Their formal relationship status is not specified 682 756 1675.
• Lin Jiancheng — Employer, mentor, and family benefactor whose murder shapes Zhao’s enduring sense of obligation 682.
• Lin Cheng — Lin Jiancheng’s adopted son, murderer, and Zhao’s long-sought enemy. Qin kills him before Zhao can take revenge personally 681 682.
• Li Tianming — Research collaborator and fellow protector of Qin. They disagree over whether Qin should enter dangerous military-family disputes 424 480 481.
• Zhao Longju — Trusted clan member given increasing responsibility, including protecting Qin and handling conference security 572 723.
• Shan En — Long-standing family-like ally. Zhao trusts him more than anyone else in Sigma District and credits his dependable work with helping the Zhao Family prosper 1154 1329.
• Gu Weiyang — Government negotiator rather than a dependable factional ally. Zhao explains that Gu supports whichever course he believes serves Safe Zone stability 267 743.
• Wei Rulai — Transactional military ally whom Zhao remains willing to confront, particularly when Wei attempts to take Qin away 799 814.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Acceptance of Qin and the Research-Team Crisis

• After Qin saves Zhao Sifang and Gu Yunpeng, the Zhao elders’ earlier prejudice gives way to a warm family dinner 225.
• Zhao arrives during the impostor crisis and proves his identity by recalling the revision to Qin’s special-admission agreement: top three in both god-hunting and research points, rather than first in both 261.
• He reveals his counterintelligence investigation and subsequently asserts that Nanrong’s people cannot be recruited or intimidated simply because another researcher possesses superior technical talent 261 262 267.
• Following an assassination attempt at a venue he selected, Zhao accepts responsibility for finding an explanation and investigates Sun Yaru, a previously trusted underground-market manager 291.

Building Nanrong and the Zhao Merchants’ Association

• Zhao defends Nanrong against online accusations that it harbors wanted criminals, ordering the posts suppressed and their source investigated 423.
• His attempts to permanently recruit Li Tianming’s research circle to the university’s Board of Trustees fail; their commitment remains centered on Li rather than Zhao’s incentives 424.
• He reveals that Qin’s vice presidency in the Zhao Merchants’ Association is an investment in his character and potential, not simply payment for research materials 433.

Military Expansion and Internal Betrayal

• Zhao announces a proposed exchange of a year’s medicine supply for a military division and control of surrounding areas, establishing Area No. 7 as the family’s stronghold. He chooses Qin to represent the family in negotiations with a legion commander 443.
• Qin warns that the Chu Character Legion may know about the family’s secret Sequence Force. Zhao initially denies the claim, then privately acknowledges the danger to Longteng 509.
• After the family’s internal purge, Zhao admits that fewer trusted personnel remain available for classified work and that the family’s position is strained 540 541.
• The Zhao brothers eventually gain standing alongside the established legion leaders, and their force becomes publicly recognized as the Seventh Legion, officially possessing one Sequence Division 973.

Lin Cheng’s Death and Family Obligations

• Zhao recognizes the body of a Reincarnation Church leader killed by Qin as Lin Cheng. He insists on compensation because avenging Lin Jiancheng is a debt shared by all three Zhao siblings 681 682.
• The news exposes a solemn, grief-stricken side of Zhao beneath his usual humor. He regrets not killing Lin Cheng himself and immediately comforts Lin Yaman when she learns of his death 682.
• Later, Zhao confirms that the family killed Li Dajian, Zhao Fengjun’s former husband, who reported Zhang Kuang for illicit trading in the Zhao underground market. The siblings reconcile after the brothers explain the circumstances more fully 790 792.

Crystal Coin Politics and the Yan Legion Conflict

• Zhao presents the Crystal Coin Issuance Conference as a struggle over the distribution of the new currency and arranges for Qin to meet faction leaders while welcoming guests 724.
• He uses the Yan siblings’ competition for Zhao backing and conference access to secure military opportunities for Qin 720 723 726.
• During the Yan Character Legion conflict, he refuses to let Wei Rulai take Qin away and sets out to secure another Sequence Regiment allotment and brigade-command rank for him 799.
• When Qin proposes a solo mission against Yan Xiaoying, Zhao objects. Qin escapes his supervision with [Feast Kingdom], leaving Zhao to handle the approaching mining forces 803.

Championship Tournament and Mining Negotiations

• Zhao abandons a meeting with the Wang and Xie families when their reception reveals an insincere negotiating tactic. His cigar sets the Huan flag alight, and the fire spreads to the Yu flag 845.
• He privately tells Qin that the deeper reason for waiting is the mining families’ incomplete political breakup: their alliance is “not done cooking yet” 846.
• He supports Qin against Eastern Glory principal Liu Yingrong after Qin kills Hua Weiguang. Later, Zhao and Liu cooperate over the arena’s official damage record, with Lü Boming supplying unregistered replacement armor 883 887.

Sigma District and Government Service

• Zhao reluctantly takes Zhao Fengjun, Chen Fenghe, and Lin Yaman to Sigma District after they insist that their medical and Sequence abilities are needed 1149.
• He backs Longteng’s plan to target Jin Mian, arguing that accumulated resentment toward the United Government creates a rare opportunity for factional unity 1154.
• His entry into the battle against Zone 1 changes public perceptions of the conflict. Nanrong’s record of educating disadvantaged students gives his choice greater moral weight than the participation of other powerful fighters 1172.
• After stepping down as Nanrong’s principal, Zhao becomes Minister of the Awakening Department. Intensifying war fills his schedule with meetings and crises, while Lin Yaman continues working beside him 1633 1675.

Notable Quotes

“I don't work under the Ministry of Education. The United Government asked me to cooperate with them.” 267

“Qin Siyang fought his way out all alone, an orphan, and no one has ever gotten anything on him. As far as I'm concerned, he's far more capable than I am.” 433

“It's not done cooking yet. We need to wait a little longer.” 846

“Some people are born to change the world.” 1249