Qin Fangyang

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Separation, vengeance, and military service

Qin Fangyang’s life was shaped by an ambush that separated him from his wife, Lü Qianqian. After spending seven years searching for her with little attention to cultivation, he sought revenge against their two attackers. They had cultivated diligently in anticipation of his return, and one confrontation ended with him fleeing gravely wounded 139.

Unwilling to entrust his revenge to anyone else, Qin enlisted at Sun Moon Pass. He fought at the front with little regard for his own survival, accumulated military merits, reached Infant Transformation, and earned the rank of general. His recklessness also earned him a place among the East Army’s Ten Great Desperadoes 139 468.

Despite his superiors’ efforts to retain him, he resigned to resume his vengeance. Over the following ten years, he killed one attacker; the other escaped with serious injuries. Before leaving the military, he sought Marshal Dongfang’s guidance and received a written message: “Wherever your heart finds peace, there lies its home” 139.

Search for Qianqian

Qin searched for another twenty-eight years without finding his wife. Remembering her interest in legends of phoenixes, he began visiting cities with “phoenix” in their names. He eventually found peace near Second High School in Phoenix City and became a teacher, training students to defend their homeland against the Witch Alliance 139.

He continued searching emotionally even after settling down. As his unease intensified, he feared that Qianqian—unable to cultivate and already over a hundred and twenty by his estimate—was approaching the end of her life. Zuo Xiaoduo’s explanations of unusual intuitions led him to seek the student’s help 139.

Appearance

• Build and apparent age: Tall and straight-backed; described by Zuo Xiaoduo as a handsome middle-aged man 1154 1155.
• Usual clothing: Broad robes with flowing sleeves; he is specifically shown wearing blue robes 193 263.
• Battle scars: His decades at Sun Moon Pass left his body covered in thousands of scars 279.
• Mourning attire: Wears black after He Yuanyue’s death 549 556.
• Later formal dress: Arrives for his reunion with Zuo Xiaoduo unusually well-dressed and wearing cologne, prompting teasing from his former students 1155.

Personality

Qin initially maintains strict emotional distance from his students. His motto is that a homeroom teacher must not become attached to them; he teaches meticulously, then leaves without involving himself further. His cold manner and harsh discipline make Class Nine both fear and respect him 24.

That detachment gradually gives way to open pride and personal concern. Sister Lan observes that his habitual declaration, “You’re the worst class I’ve ever taught,” is replaced by praise for the gratification, honor, and pride his students bring him. He Yuanyue describes this change as the difference between merely teaching students and teaching their hearts 220.

His affection often appears as scolding, teasing, or carefully controlled beatings. Happiness can prompt him to drag Zuo Xiaoduo out for extra punishment, while pride in his students leads him to torment Luo Lie with exaggerated modesty. He also deliberately withholds praise when he thinks Zuo would become complacent—or simply because Zuo’s frustration amuses him 168 421 430.

His devotion to Qianqian is absolute. He resists suggestions that her age or inability to cultivate makes reunion meaningless, and insists that she deserves to know her sacrifices were not wasted. After her death, he rejects the possibility of a replacement relationship; only later does the prospect of reincarnation restore his desire to pursue cultivation for his own future 315 548 1174 1191.

Abilities & Skills

Five Directions Sword

Qin’s signature sword art manifests five solid versions of himself, each capable of using different sword moves 124.

• Fights multiple opponents simultaneously rather than relying on illusory distractions 124.
• Combines the five streams of sword light into a unified assault 124.
• Rapidly redirects pressure between enemy groups, allowing him to support an ally while continuing to contain his own opponents 124.
• Serves as a recognizable military signature: Wei Chong identifies him through the technique 467 468.

Sword Heart Transmission

Qin can impart the influence of his Sword Heart to inspire his students’ resolve and plant seeds of it within them 193.

• Uses his presence and Sword Qi to convey an indomitable, forward-breaking spirit 193.
• Sustaining the transmission for six students pushes even his concealed cultivation to its limit 193.

True Essence Sword

After Shang Qingyun destroys his physical sword, Qin forms a replacement from True Essence and drives it into his opponent’s chest 364.

• Detonates the sword inside the target 364 365.
• The attack consumes his remaining strength, leaving him unable to escape Shang Qingyun’s retaliatory palm 365.

Flight and Cloud Transformation

Qin possesses high-speed aerial movement, including sword flight before reaching Cloud Transformation 275.

• Rises more than ten thousand feet in a single ascent during the Phoenix Tail Mountain incident 275.
• Carries Zuo Xiaoduo into the clouds for an aerial examination of the surrounding terrain 292.
• After reaching Cloud Transformation, can turn his body into cloud and disappear from sight 446.

Spiritual Sense and Knowledge Transfer

Qin uses spiritual perception to inspect cultivation and transmit information 56 288 430.

• Detects unusual cultivation activity and examines a student’s dantian and meridians with True Qi 56 430.
• Infuses the contents of a jade slip directly into Zuo Xiaoduo’s consciousness 288.
• Warns that such an infusion is dangerous below Embryonic Breathing; proceeds only after learning that Zuo’s sea of consciousness has already been opened. The process leaves Qin exhausted 288.

Battlefield Combat and Assassination

Qin’s experience includes decades of frontline warfare and extensive fighting against hired killers 139 273.

• Estimates that he killed more than seventeen thousand opponents during his service at Sun Moon Pass 238.
• Uses relentless pressure, precise footwork, and controlled blows to expose the difference between sparring proficiency and survival in mortal combat 115.
• Employs concealment and ambush rather than restricting himself to open confrontation 273.
• Kills more than five hundred pursuers in four days in the Star Radiance Mountain Range, but retreats when an opponent is beyond his ability 1151.

Teaching and Cultivation Guidance

Qin combines technical instruction with preparation for lethal combat 115 220.

• Survival first: Judges battlefield performance by life and death rather than sporting victory; approves otherwise disreputable tactics when they keep a fighter alive 220.
• Foundation building: Uses balloons to demonstrate how delaying a breakthrough can enlarge reserves and strengthen a cultivator’s starting foundation 323.
• Breakthrough timing: Advises students to suppress their True Qi until they can no longer control it, while warning those nearing twenty not to delay unnecessarily 324.
• Practical cultivation support: Guides classroom spiritual energy and the Star Soul Formation 28 56.
• Protection of information: Orders strength-test records destroyed and restricts public use of Zuo’s dangerous Kunlun Dao Sect techniques 60 418.
• Resource management: Teaches Martial Master students to earn cultivation resources through missions 220.

Equipment & Items

• Swords: His principal weapons. Shang Qingyun shatters one into seventeen or eighteen pieces; Qin later again uses a physical sword to perform the Five Directions Sword 364 467.
• Space Ring: Receives one from Zuo Xiaoduo during his mourning. Its gifts include Top-Grade Star Soul Jade and messages from his students 549 556.
• Dragon Soul Ginseng: Given by Zuo before Qin’s departure from Hidden Dragon High Martial. Qin plans to use it during his future advance to Guixuan; its expected benefits are not yet realized in the documented events 1173 1174.
• Soul-benefiting coin: Gives this coin to He Yuanyue, who makes it into a pendant. Later wonders whether its Fortune Qi might help preserve the possibility of her return 520 1174.

Relationships

• Lü Qianqian / He Yuanyue — His wife and lifelong emotional anchor. He recognizes Qianqian behind the former principal’s identity but quietly respects her refusal to acknowledge their marriage publicly 169 519 546.
• Zuo Xiaoduo — Student, confidant, and frequent target of his discipline. Qin protects him, seeks his help finding Qianqian, and remains a trusted adviser after leaving Phoenix City 102 139 1155.
• Li Chenglong — One of his six outstanding students. Shares a joyful reunion with him alongside Zuo and receives cultivation materials Qin prepared for them 1155 1173.
• Long Yusheng, Wan Lixiu, Li Changming, and Yu Moyan — Members of the student group he continues teaching after their promotion. Their concern comforts him after He Yuanyue’s death; Wan Lixiu later weeps when he leaves after delivering Zuo’s gifts 191 556 1187.
• Li Changjiang — Principal and ally. Investigates Qin’s suspicions of Witch Alliance activity and fights beside him to protect students from an ambush 112 124.
• Sister Lan — He Yuanyue’s attendant and Qin’s ally. He declines her offer to accompany him after the funeral, explicitly refusing a situation in which either might fall in love 548.
• Marshal Dongfang — Former commander who regarded him with particular favor. Qin seeks his guidance during his search for Qianqian and later considers consulting him about reincarnation 139 468 1174.
• Luo Lie — Fellow teacher and eventual successor with Qin’s students. Envies their accomplishments but comes to sincerely admire Qin’s ability to train them 421 560 563.
• Shen Yushu — Father of a student who dies during field training. Despite Qin’s preventive warnings, Shen funds a massive assassination campaign against him 238 273 274.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Class Nine and the Witch Alliance Investigation

Qin becomes Zuo Xiaoduo’s homeroom teacher when the latter enters Martial Warrior Class Nine. He assesses Zuo through a controlled beating, explains the class’s daily sparring and weekly rankings, and later gives him intensive live-combat instruction 24 26 115.

His role extends beyond classroom discipline. He prevents Mu Yunfeng from attacking Zuo after a student dispute, identifies suspicious changes among Mu’s students, and brings his concerns about Broken Army to Li Changjiang. During a coordinated attack, he and Li defend five students against eleven assailants 102 112 113 124.

Recognition of He Yuanyue

Qin publicly approaches He Yuanyue believing she may be his wife, from whom he has been separated for eighty-two years. Officials initially block him, but she allows him closer 150 151.

He subsequently becomes certain of her identity. Rather than force an acknowledgment, he chooses to watch over her quietly and maintains a stern public manner to conceal his happiness. At her recommendation, he follows his six promoted students into Martial Master Class Nineteen 169 191 215.

Shen Yushu’s Bounty and Phoenix Tail Mountain

After Shen Tienan’s death, Shen Yushu places an extravagant bounty on Qin: one billion Star Soul Coins, ten Star Soul Flame Pills, ten thousand pieces of upper-grade star soul jade, and a cultivation manual extending beyond Cloud Transformation 238 273.

Qin escorts Zuo home before drawing pursuit away. He fights through successive assassination attempts and kills nearly four hundred attackers on Phoenix Tail Mountain. Shen eventually orders the mountain soaked in fuel and burned; Qin’s escape through sword flight exposes his peak Infant Transformation cultivation and breaks the assassins’ willingness to continue 263 273 274 275.

The battle brings him to the attention of Meng Tianyue and Ning Suifeng. Their attempt to buy his cooperation through gifts and an imposed favor fails when he counters with demands of his own, informed by Zuo’s advice 302 305 307 310.

Shang Qingyun and the Unwanted Breakthrough

Qin takes part in the battle against Shang Qingyun, sacrificing his remaining True Essence for a desperate sword strike. The retaliation damages his organs and shatters roughly half his bones 364 365 401.

Treatment saves him but also triggers an unconscious breakthrough to Cloud Transformation. Rather than celebrate, he is distressed by the enormous increase in lifespan: with Qianqian nearing death, he had little desire to outlive her 401 1191.

He Yuanyue’s Death and Departure

Qin gives He Yuanyue a soul-benefiting coin shortly before her death. At her funeral, he walks at the front, although he cannot publicly take the place of Lü Qianqian’s husband 520 546.

After six days of mourning, he begins treating his injuries and vows to finish her unfinished business and kill her two enemies. He leaves Second High School after a final vigil. Reading his students’ messages during his solitary travels gives him a measure of comfort 548 549 556.

Reunion and Renewed Purpose

Qin returns to action when Zuo is hunted in the Star Radiance Mountain Range, killing pursuers to reduce the danger to his student. Their later reunion reveals that his harsh exterior has not diminished his attachment to Zuo and Li Chenglong 1151 1152 1154.

At Hidden Dragon High Martial, he advises Zuo on secrecy, gratitude, and distributing surplus King Beast meat without surrendering the credit due to him. He then undertakes deliveries across the continent, including compensation for families bereaved in the Phoenix Soul battle 1155 1158 1160 1189.

An account of Chi Changsheng’s reincarnation as Tie Mengru rekindles his hope of meeting Qianqian again. Shan Xiaoru later confirms that Tie’s past-life memories returned gradually after he began cultivating his Divine Soul at Embryonic Breathing. With a reason to live and cultivate seriously again, Qin enters the Vast Wasteland to fight Star Beasts, compress his True Essence, and prepare for Guixuan 1166 1174 1190 1191.

Notable Quotes

“As a homeroom teacher, you must not grow attached to your students!” 24

“Even if you face a raging storm, you must find a gap within that storm and strike back! Because even the densest rain still has gaps!” 115

“I’m a teacher who came back from the battlefield. What I look at has never been victory or defeat, but life and death.” 220

“You all know to grant her wish. Why has no one thought of granting mine?!” 316