Xu Ziqing

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Xu Ziqing is a concubine-born daughter of the Fallen Dragon Xu Family. Her lineage’s wealth gives her access to resources far beyond those available to ordinary students: she usually cultivates in second-tier cultivation rooms, and her household owns several flying shuttle magical artifacts. Liu Yan claims that her family could readily supply her with the five Foundation Establishment spirits 8 32.

Five years before her visit to the Spirit Beast Pavilion, she attended a lineage gathering and met the family’s Golden Core ancestor. That experience allows her to recognize the restrained pressure of Golden Core cultivator Han Liangcai without needing to guess his realm 34.

At Shouhe No. 2 Middle School, she consistently holds first place academically, ahead of Chen Beiwu. Before his breakthrough to Late Qi Refining, she also regularly defeats him in combat class 6 20.

Appearance

Xu Ziqing is described as tall and beautiful, with a sweet voice and eyes “as limpid as water” 8 21.

• Fair hands: Noted when she declares her resolve to pursue Chen Beiwu and later waves to attract his attention 18 46.
• Graceful movement: Leaps onto the Combat Platform with her sleeves streaming behind her 20.
• Expressive smiles: Frequently smiles gently or radiantly during conversations with Chen Beiwu 8 32 35.

Personality

Xu Ziqing generally presents herself as gentle, generous, and well-bred, but she is also playful and competitive. She collects a wager from Xu Lingling after her friend fails to fool Chen Beiwu, teases Lingling about her affection for him, and openly calls her own outing with him a “date” 6 18 34.

She believes cultivation should allow her to live according to her desires rather than suppress them. Although she once intended to reach Golden Core before starting a family, she abandons that childhood plan after her mother advises her to act when she meets someone who moves her heart 18.

Her pursuit of Chen Beiwu includes deliberate romantic maneuvering. She initially hopes that expressing her affection in front of the shy Xu Lingling will discourage competition. When Lingling gives him expensive Frostfall Pills, Xu Ziqing recognizes that her approach may have backfired and proposes that they compete fairly 22.

She remains considerate in practical situations. During sparring, she deliberately reduces her spell’s destructive force; at Four Seas Lake, she waits ashore because accompanying Chen Beiwu without a token would hinder him. Her composure has limits, however: after another declined invitation, she sharply tells Sun Yajing that her romantic affairs are private 20 35 46.

Abilities & Skills

Cultivation Aptitude

• Fire-attribute earth spiritual root: Purity of 79, just below heavenly spiritual root grade 6.
• Academic excellence: Consistently ranks first in her class and year 6.
• Strong fortune: Chen Beiwu identifies her pale-orange fortune as possibly third-tier. Its color and radiance increase after her companion contract 6 45.
• Artifact-crafting background: Sun Yajing, one of the school’s ranked student artifact smiths, is described as her senior in the craft; Xu Ziqing’s own crafting rank is not specified 32.

Fire Spellcasting

• Creates a searing pillar of fire beneath an opponent’s feet 20.
• Uses three fire pythons to tear through surrounding mist and protect herself from every direction 20.
• Can deliberately dissipate part of an attack’s power, leaving enough to activate a sparring opponent’s protective talisman 20.

Blazing Flame Pull

A first-tier supreme-grade fire spell recognized for its compatibility, destructive power, and versatility 21.

• Seven variations: Requires changes in magical-power circulation between forms 21.
• Encirclement: Transforms three fire pythons into thirty-six pale-orange fire threads, sealing an opponent’s retreat 20.
• Documented weakness: Her magical power briefly hesitates at the Shanzhong acupoint when she changes variations, weakening her perception. Chen Beiwu exploits this opening to defeat her 21.
• Advanced form: The spell develops into Blazing Dragon Shatter, which can break a Late Foundation Establishment expert’s defenses with a direct hit. Xu Ziqing is not shown casting that form 21.

Scarlet Flame Fox

Her contracted companion is a fire-attribute spirit beast with a second-tier upper-grade bloodline. It is approximately three feet long, with scarlet fur, fiery eyes, flame-shaped ear tufts, and a tail that trails streaks of fire 45.

• Talents: Flame Assimilation and Divine-Sense Scorching Scarlet Flame 45.
• Flame control: Its species can control flames within a hundred-zhang radius and condense scarlet flames capable of melting metal and scorching divine sense 45.
• Illusions: Can create illusions for silent attacks 45.
• Potential evolution: One-tailed golden fox, a third-tier lower-grade treasure beast, or three-tailed flame fox, a third-tier upper-grade treasure beast 45.
• Fortune: Chen Beiwu assesses the fox’s pale-orange fortune as possibly third-tier 45.

Spirit-Beast Knowledge

• Knows that a companion contract requires the young beast’s approval, and warns Chen Beiwu that frightening Azure Spirit Newts could jeopardize that approval 33.
• Understands the expense of raising a Golden Scale and the incompatibility between its metal-attribute evolutions and Chen Beiwu’s weak metal spiritual root 42.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Blazing Flame Pull jade slip — Gives it to Chen Beiwu after their sparring match. The spell normally costs five hundred low-grade spirit stones to redeem 21.
• Protective talisman — Activates automatically to stop Chen Beiwu’s concealed water blade near her neck during sparring 20.
• Clear Breeze Talisman — Offers Chen Beiwu this middle-grade first-tier talisman to counter the alchemy room’s heat and fire toxins; he declines it 24.
• Spirit Beast Pavilion jade slip — Serves as identification and an access pass during the companion-selection visit 32.
• Storage ring — Holds the anonymous Spirit Origin gold card she offers Han Liangcai; he does not accept the card 35.

Relationships

• Chen Beiwu — Classmate, academic and combat rival, and romantic interest. She admires his looks, aptitude, comprehension, and disposition, gives him a valuable spell, and repeatedly invites him to spend time with her. He recognizes her affection but remains cautious about involvement with powerful cultivation families 8 21 24 34.
• Xu Lingling — Best friend and deskmate. Their shared interest in Chen Beiwu creates romantic competition, which Xu Ziqing eventually proposes handling openly and fairly 6 18 22.
• Wang Kui — Homeroom and beast-taming teacher; supervises her spellcasting match against Chen Beiwu 20 21.
• Sun Yajing — Senior in artifact crafting and companion during the Spirit Beast Pavilion visit. Xu Ziqing rebuffs her gossip about Chen Beiwu 32 45 46.
• Lin Yi — Senior student whose longstanding affection for her is widely known at school. She declines his invitation to Sulfur Reef Island in favor of accompanying Chen Beiwu 32 46.
• Han Liangcai — Golden Core cultivator encountered at Four Seas Lake. His unusual request for spirit stones puzzles her; his interest in Chen Beiwu reinforces her belief that she has chosen an exceptional romantic prospect 34 35.

Story Role / Major Arcs

School Rivalry and Courtship

• Discusses companion-beast choices with Chen Beiwu and approves his initial preference for an Azure Spirit Newt 6.
• Invites him to fish at Still Abyss West Lake with Xu Lingling; he declines 8.
• Watches his fishing livestream and notices the rusted box containing bloodface vine 17.
• Loses their spellcasting match when he uses water doubles and a concealed blade to exploit the opening between her spell variations. She then gives him Blazing Flame Pull and challenges him to learn it 20 21.
• Proposes fair romantic competition after Xu Lingling gives Chen Beiwu three Frostfall Pills 22.

Spirit Beast Pavilion Visit

• Travels with the school group to choose a companion beast. Her initial candidates are the Scarlet Flame Fox, Flamefeather Crow, Redtail Sparrow, and Flamefang Tiger 32.
• Accompanies Chen Beiwu through water-beast habitats before pursuing her own selection, then waits ashore while he enters Four Seas Lake 32 33 34 35.
• Is unsettled when he returns with Golden Egg, a Golden Scale. She worries that its upkeep could obstruct his path to Golden Core, while also trusting that he must have seen something unusual in it 42.
• Returns with her newly contracted Scarlet Flame Fox and invites him to explore the pavilion. After he leaves early, she refuses to discuss her courtship with Sun Yajing 45 46.

Notable Quotes

“I'm not afraid of missing a good match. I'm afraid of leaving a knot in my heart. If cultivating immortality can't let me live as my heart desires, how could it ever lead me to eternal life?” 18

“Lingling, how about we each rely on our own abilities and compete fairly from now on?” 22