Cao Ying

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Cao Ying was born into the Cao Family of the Pill Region. Her spiritual power manifested immediately at birth, spreading with enough force to nearly kill her mother. She officially became an alchemist at seven and was later accepted as Xuan Yi’s personal disciple 22.

Before meeting Xiao Yan, she was undefeated among her peers in the Pill Tower. Her achievements reflected sustained effort as well as innate talent: she normally spent even her nighttime waking hours cultivating or refining pills 28 37.

Xuan Yi frequently praised her disciple to Yao Lao. Hoping to answer that boasting, Yao Lao asked Xiao Yan to enter the Youth Alchemist Tournament and defeat Cao Ying 22.

Appearance

• Clothing: Introduced wearing a fiery red dress 25.
• Build: Slender figure, long legs, and a slender neck 25 35 49.
• Face: Delicate features that still retain traces of childhood 25.
• Eyes: Long eyes, with a tiny tear mole at the corner of one eye 34 36.
• Voice: Slightly husky 26.

Personality

Cao Ying is confident, strong-willed, and intensely competitive. Having outpaced her peers since childhood, she welcomes an opponent who can genuinely challenge her. Xiao Yan’s resistance in their first flame duel excites her rather than discouraging her 26 27 39.

Her determination can become self-destructive. Facing defeat, she attempts a secret art that could damage her foundation; afterward, she trains relentlessly to surpass Xiao Yan. Exhaustion and accumulated distress eventually cause her to collapse at the tournament 27 29 33.

She is also perceptive and mischievous. She senses loneliness beneath Xiao Yan’s outward confidence and later deliberately provokes tension between him and Song Qing. Her growing interest in Xiao Yan brings out jealousy toward Dan Chen, although she also shows genuine concern when he agrees to fight Song Qing 36 40 41 44.

Abilities & Skills

Alchemy

Cao Ying advances from fourth-rank standing to successfully refining fifth-grade pills before her fifteenth birthday 22 29.

• Azure Tortoise Longevity Pill: Her first successful fifth-grade refinement, achieved while preparing for a rematch with Xiao Yan 29.
• Dou Ling Pill: Successfully refines this fifth-grade pill during the Youth Alchemist Tournament, drawing praise from experienced spectators 32 33.
• Ingredient handling: Controls and calcines several medicinal ingredients during refinement 31.
• Limit: Her demonstrated abilities remain below Xiao Yan’s sixth-grade Emperor’s Extreme Pill. At the tournament, she recognizes that reaching that level would require at least two more years of extreme effort 33.

Soul Power

Her exceptional spiritual power is apparent from birth and supports both alchemy and flame control 22 27.

• Pours soul power into her flame construct to strengthen it during combat 27.
• Possesses soul strength comparable to Dan Chen’s, while exceeding her in Dou Qi cultivation 39.
• Is decisively outmatched by Xiao Yan’s soul power during their duel 27.
• Does not meet the soul-strength requirements for the proposed Ancient Ruins expedition 48.

Blood Demon Ape Flame

Cao Ying uses the blood-red innate beast flame of an eighth-rank Blood Demon Ape 27.

• Shapes it into a Demon Flame Gorilla capable of tearing, biting, and striking an opposing flame creature 27.
• Amplifies the construct with Dou Qi, enlarging it to several dozen feet tall within the duel arena 27.
• Uses the flame for pill refinement as well as flame duels 29.
• Xiao Yan identifies it as the core flame for a potential Blood Demon Flame fusion. He anticipates that the Cao Family will gather additional beast-flame essences, but no completed fusion is shown 27.

Unnamed Secret Art

Cao Ying nearly activates a strength-enhancing secret art when her flame construct is overwhelmed 27.

• Requires hand seals to activate 27.
• Carries serious aftereffects and may damage her cultivation foundation 27.
• Is interrupted by Xiao Yan before activation; its full effects are not demonstrated 27.

Equipment / Items

• Phoenix-patterned medicinal cauldron — Used to refine her tournament Dou Ling Pill 32.
• Storage Ring — Receives her requested tournament ingredients in it and checks them after Xiao Yan emphasizes the importance of verification 31.
• Jade bottle — Stores her completed Dou Ling Pill 32.

Relationships

• Xuan Yi — Master and protective mentor. Celebrates her first fifth-grade refinement, treats her tournament collapse, and opposes sending her into ruins for which she is unqualified 22 29 33 48.
• Cao Family Ancestor — Grandfather and family elder. Warns against her dangerous secret art and later hopes a partnership with Xiao Yan could benefit the Cao Family 27 34 35.
• Xiao Yan — Rival and developing romantic interest. Defeats her in flame control and alchemy, prevents her from harming her foundation, and visits during her recovery. He later tells Xuan Yi that he has reserved a concubine’s place for her; Cao Ying’s acceptance is not established 27 33 35 50.
• Dan Chen — Fellow Pill Tower core disciple and friend, whom she treats as a younger sister. Their shared interest in Xiao Yan introduces jealousy, but Dan Chen still comforts her after Xiao Yan’s rebuke 28 40 44.
• Song Qing — Senior brother and Youth Class teaching assistant who is possessively interested in her. His jealousy of Xiao Yan escalates into a fight 39 40 41 42.
• Qingcui — Maid left to assist during her recovery at the Cao Family’s rest area 34.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Flame Duel

Cao Ying first meets Xiao Yan in the Dan Family’s reception hall and challenges him to an immediate flame duel. She considers their contest an extension of the rivalry between Xuan Yi and Yao Lao 25 26.

Despite revealing her Dou Wang cultivation, she cannot overcome Xiao Yan’s superior Dou Qi, soul power, and flame control. When she attempts a dangerous secret art, he ends the duel and interrupts her seals. The defeat leaves her shaken, while his intervention makes a lasting impression on her 27 28.

Youth Alchemist Tournament

Determined to win the rematch, Cao Ying achieves her first fifth-grade refinement and continues training. At the tournament, she successfully produces a Dou Ling Pill but loses to Xiao Yan’s sixth-grade Emperor’s Extreme Pill 29 32 33.

She collapses from overwork and emotional distress. Xuan Yi confirms that she has suffered no serious harm, and Xiao Yan later visits her bedside. He gives her a sixth-grade Heart-Guarding Pill despite her refusal and tells her a story about the Pure Lotus Demon Saint. During recovery, she repeatedly thinks about him and begins questioning the person behind his different outward personas 33 34 35 36 37.

Pill Tower Youth Class

Cao Ying joins the Youth Class and sits beside Xiao Yan. Her teasing contributes to Song Qing’s jealousy, but she becomes worried when their confrontation turns into a challenge to fight 38 39 40 41.

After defeating Song Qing, Xiao Yan accuses her of using the teaching assistant’s affection as a weapon and distances himself from her. She subsequently approaches him twice, receiving gradually less cold responses. Over the following three months, she becomes increasingly forward, although their earlier rapport is not fully restored 44 46 49.

Ancient Ruins Preparations

The Pill Tower seeks sixth-rank alchemists with Dou Emperor strength for an expedition into dangerous Ancient Ruins. Cao Ying meets neither requirement, and Xuan Yi does not want her disciple sent there 48.

Notable Quotes

“Flame control is a fundamental skill for an alchemist. Although the tournament is still seven days away, why don’t we have a flame duel here first?” 26

“This is still nowhere near enough to beat Xiao Yan!” 29