Zhou Tong

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Dao Sect Prodigy

Zhou Tong was Ying Xuanzi’s most outstanding disciple and a leading genius of the Eastern Xuan Region. After acquiring the Space Ancestral Talisman, he received the Great Desolation Tablet’s assistance in comprehending the Great Desolation Scripture. The tablet selected him because an Ancestral Talisman wielder might obtain a second talisman and help destroy the Yimo Kings sealed beneath it 64 84 101.

His swordsmanship overwhelmed his contemporaries, including the disciples of the swordsmanship-renowned Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace. His achievements helped establish the Great Sky Demon Cloud Sword’s reputation as the Eastern Xuan Region’s finest sword technique. At the Sect Competition, he fought the Three Little Kings alone and killed that generation’s Little Yuan King 51 75.

Capture and Concealed Survival

While at the Life Profound Realm, Zhou Tong attacked the Yuan Sect and killed three Death Profound Realm elders. The Yuan Sect then captured him and publicly claimed to have killed him. The circumstances that drove him to attack remained concealed so effectively that even Ying Xuanzi had not uncovered the full explanation 6 47.

The Yuan Sect’s leaders coveted his Space Ancestral Talisman and wanted to suppress the Dao Sect’s potential. They spent over a century corroding his will and cultivating him as a hidden weapon. Although he eventually appeared obedient, the talisman prevented complete control and could allow him to awaken during intense combat or unusual circumstances 79 97.

To the outside world, Zhou Tong remained dead. Within the Dao Sect, his achievements became a source of enduring pride: later disciples regarded him as more than a senior, treating him as a symbol of their faith in the sect 42 98.

Ambush and Rescue

Tian Yuanzi deployed Zhou Tong and two Death Profound Realm experts to trap Hong Wuji while another group captured Xiang Yun. The ambush used spatial interference to separate the targets and formations reinforced by the Space Ancestral Talisman to contain Hong Wuji 79 87 93.

Under Ren Yuanzi’s control, Zhou Tong attacked Hong Wuji and prevented him from protecting Xiang Yun. When reinforcements overturned the battle, Zhou Tong attempted to teleport away with Ren Yuanzi, but Xiang Yun’s World Tree sealed the surrounding space 94 95 96.

Repeated use of the Space Ancestral Talisman destabilized the Demon Emperor Lock. Zhou Tong resisted Ren Yuanzi’s attempt to make him self-destruct, then briefly regained awareness upon hearing Ying Xuanzi’s voice. Fearing that he would become a weapon against the Dao Sect, he begged his master to kill him 96.

Xiang Yun instead fed him vitality-bearing purple blood and used the World Tree’s roots to extract the demonic power. Zhou Tong survived with Life Profound Realm cultivation, though prolonged corrosion left his body badly damaged. Ying Xuanzi took him home to recuperate rather than destroy and reconstruct his body, a process that risked losing the Space Ancestral Talisman 97 101.

Recovery and the Talisman Offer

After returning, Zhou Tong learned from Gu Mo about the century he had missed and the Dao Sect disciples killed by the Yuan Sect. He regretted his earlier impulsiveness and questioned whether he remained worthy of wielding the Space Ancestral Talisman 101.

He insisted on visiting Xiang Yun at the Primordial Hall to offer him the talisman. Zhou Tong believed Xiang Yun could use it more effectively and better fulfill the Great Desolation Tablet’s task. Xiang Yun refused, explaining that its abilities added little to what he already possessed 101 102.

By this visit, Zhou Tong looked healthier but remained weak. His eventual return to the Samsara Stage was discussed as a possible means of strengthening the Three-Sect Alliance, not an advancement he had already achieved 101 102.

Appearance

• Build and features: Tall and slender, with long hair and a handsome face 96 101.
• Clothing: Wore Dao Sect robes when visiting the Primordial Hall after his rescue 101.
• Under demonic control: Expressionless, with lifeless dark-gray eyes. Silver light appeared in his eyes as the Space Ancestral Talisman resisted the Demon Emperor Lock 94 96.
• After rescue: Initially pale and physically fragile; his complexion improved during recuperation, though some weakness remained 97 101.

Personality

Zhou Tong’s early success made him exceptionally confident; he later described himself as having been arrogant after obtaining the Space Ancestral Talisman. Following his rescue, that confidence gave way to regret over his impulsiveness and the suffering the Dao Sect had endured during his absence 101.

His loyalty survived more than a century of coercion. When briefly lucid, he preferred death to harming his sect. Xiang Yun explicitly admired the strength of will required to endure the Demon Emperor Lock for so long, even with the talisman’s protection 96 98.

He could also acknowledge another cultivator’s superiority. After learning Xiang Yun’s age and achievements, Zhou Tong accepted that his own accomplishments had been surpassed and willingly offered him his most important inheritance 101.

Abilities & Skills

Spatial Manipulation

Through the Space Ancestral Talisman, Zhou Tong could manipulate space for movement, offense, defense, and confinement 87 93 94 95.

• Teleportation interference: Altered an ongoing spatial teleportation to separate Xiang Yun and Hong Wuji from their companions 87.
• Spatial travel: Entered and emerged from spatial rifts and attempted to teleport himself and Ren Yuanzi away together 94 95.
• Space Annihilation: Collapsed space across several hundred zhang, damaging Hong Wuji’s defensive dragon scales 94.
• Spatial Blades: Created blades in close combat and a vast rift filled with blades to block pursuit 95.
• Spatial defense: Twisted space into a seemingly solid barrier against Hong Wuji’s attack 95.
• Limits: Hong Wuji shattered his blades through brute force, while the World Tree prevented his teleportation entirely 95 96.

Swordsmanship

Zhou Tong’s swordsmanship was one of his principal advantages over his generation 51 75.

• Suppressed the contemporary swordsmen of the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace 51.
• Relied on swordsmanship alongside the Great Desolation Scripture when fighting the Three Little Kings 75.

Desolation Arts

Zhou Tong mastered both the Great Desolation Scripture and the Great Desolation Body 56 58.

• Great Desolation Scripture: A central component of his Sect Competition victories 75.
• Great Desolation Body: Gave him the strongest recorded Nirvana Realm physique in the Dao Sect before Xiang Yun’s visit 56.
• Limit: Even that physique could not directly withstand Desolate Energy as Xiang Yun’s body later did 56.

Resistance to Demonic Control

The Space Ancestral Talisman protected Zhou Tong from complete subjugation, while his own resolve endured prolonged corruption 79 98.

• Heavy use of the talisman caused its power to fight back against the Demon Emperor Lock 96.
• Resisted commands to self-destruct and resisted Ren Yuanzi’s attempt to carry him away 96.
• Could not remove the lock unaided; extraction required Xiang Yun’s intervention and cost him much of his cultivation 97.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Space Ancestral Talisman — Acquired in the Creation Realm; the source of his spatial abilities and a crucial safeguard during captivity. He retained it after Xiang Yun rejected his offer to transfer it 79 101 102.
• Demon Emperor Lock — removed — Demonic power used to control him. Its long entanglement with his cultivation made extraction dangerous and caused his regression to the Life Profound Realm 96 97.

Relationships

• Ying Xuanzi — Master. His voice briefly restored Zhou Tong’s awareness during the rescue; afterward, he personally took his disciple home and oversaw his recovery 84 96 97.
• Xiang Yun — Rescuer and intended recipient of the Space Ancestral Talisman. Zhou Tong regarded him as better suited to completing the Great Desolation Tablet’s mission 97 101.
• Ren Yuanzi — Captor and battlefield controller. Used Zhou Tong against Hong Wuji and attempted to sacrifice him to escape 95 96.
• Tian Yuanzi — Directed his deployment as a concealed Yuan Sect weapon against Hong Wuji 79.
• Hong Wuji — Opponent during the ambush and participant in his rescue, helping restrain him and administer Xiang Yun’s blood 94 95 96 97.
• Gu Mo — Informed him about the Dao Sect’s affairs during the century of his captivity 101.
• Ying Xiaoxiao and Ying Huanhuan — Junior sisters whom he learned about after returning to the Dao Sect 101.
• Great Desolation Tablet — Taught him the Great Desolation Scripture in the hope that he could help eliminate its sealed Yimo Kings 64.

Notable Quotes

“I don't want to become a blade that harms the sect! Master, do it!!” 96

“It would be more useful in your hands.”
— Offering the Space Ancestral Talisman to Xiang Yun 101