Xue Zhongqi

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Xue Zhongqi entered Leikedasi because his family required him to apply. His own stated ambition was to become a carefree young playboy who spent his days eating and drinking. When Commander-in-Chief Jing Hongyi later asked about his future, he said he intended to focus on his studies and postpone specific career plans until after graduation 66 194.

Before enrolling, he had already become a level-one inscriptionist and the personal disciple of the Federation Inscriptionist Association’s chief president. President Sun’s treatment of him suggested that he was being groomed as a future association successor 47 50.

Appearance

• Rakishly handsome: His looks are explicitly contrasted with Song Tianqi’s more clean-cut appearance 125.
• Folding fan: Frequently opens or waves it while striking a refined, gentlemanly pose—even when only pretending to be composed 47 50 58.
• Carefully styled presentation: For a fan-organized celebration, he styles his hair neatly and wears a fashionable casual hoodie 153.
• Competition mask: Competes alongside the other Mask Squad members while concealing his face 111 121.

Personality

Xue Zhongqi is sociable, teasing, and conspicuously fond of attention. He introduces himself with practiced charm, enjoys watching other people’s antics, and cultivates a polished public image. After defeating the Heavenly Radiance Team, he dismisses the achievement before reporters as “business as usual.” He later admits that his eagerness to show off caused him to reveal a formation-pattern trump card unnecessarily 50 87 111.

His playful manner conceals a pragmatic fighter. When Mu Guang’s squad has superior numbers and strength, he signals his teammates to retreat rather than contest supplies they cannot secure. Against Kong Ruzhen, he patiently identifies the silver coin essential to his opponent’s Word Spirit techniques and exploits the opening 66 317.

Despite his professed wish to avoid responsibility, he works persistently on inscriptions. He becomes humbler after learning how heavily his successful arrays depend on Qian Duoduo’s assistance, pays her for the work, and continues seeking instruction. At the Armament Camp, he completes his assignments and undertakes extra training without abandoning his familiar vanity and jokes 79 80 103 211.

He also acts as a restraining influence on his teammates. When hostile spectators provoke the Mask Squad, he stops Xu Jintang from acting rashly and pulls Yan Yuting away from the confrontation 146.

Abilities & Skills

Soul Link and Life-Sharing Effects

• Soul Link: Connects Xue Zhongqi and a target through a Starlight Chain, causing them to share life and damage 60.
• Damage advantage: As the initiator of the link, he can reduce the damage he receives by 50% 60.
• Deterrence: Wei Zixuan’s giant eagle stops attacking him after recognizing that doing so would trigger the link’s backlash 60.
• Later applications: Passages also refer to Soul Sharing and Life Sharing. Soul Sharing has a cooldown; he later uses Life Sharing to entangle Qiuyue while wearing her down with inscriptions and control effects 145 323.

Soul Brand

• Unlock: His second-tier skill effect 98.
• Duration: One minute 98.
• Mental-power drain: Makes the locked target consume mental power at three times the normal rate 98.
• Attack reduction: Reduces the target’s attack damage by 10% 98.
• Combat use: Applies it to Xu Jintang during a practice match; Song Tianqi reports that testing it nearly exhausted his mental power 98.

Inscription Crafting and Formation Patterns

• Offensive talismans: Deploys numerous attack inscriptions, including air-blade attacks and explosive inscriptions 47 111 150.
• Level-two arrays: Can generate attacks equivalent to a peak fourth-tier ability user. His early attempts require another inscriptionist to repair broken mental-power threads during assembly 79 80.
• Level-three proficiency: By his own account, can produce every type of inscription at level three and below 295.
• Research: Acquires a thousand-year lightning-attribute spirit plant for inscription development and later purchases expensive materials to research new talismans 73 241.
• Noncombat work: Creates colorful firework inscriptions that his classmates distribute during the freshman ceremony 242 243.

Mirror of Stars

• Defensive use: Channels mental power into the Mirror of Stars to withstand incoming attacks 269.
• Demonstrated limit: Xu Jintang’s combined Ice Blade Storm and ice-lotus assault shatters it and knocks him out of the arena 269.

Realm of Stars

• Damage absorption: Manifests an enormous round mirror surrounded by starlight that devours incoming attack damage 312.
• Reflection: Can return the absorbed damage after thirty seconds 312.
• Demonstrated use: Absorbs a Glacier Military Academy opponent’s hurricane, leaving its user unable to sense the attack’s energy 312.

Absolute Star Chain

• Mental-power seal: Seals Kong Ruzhen’s mental power, enabling Xue Zhongqi to win their one-on-one match 317.
• Timing: Conceals the technique until Kong Ruzhen stands still to activate his Word Spirit 317.

Grappling-Gun Combat

• Mobility: Anchors the hook to the arena and rapidly pulls himself between positions 109 110.
• Ring-outs: Hooks an opponent’s ankle and uses the pull to exchange positions, returning himself to the arena while throwing her out 110.
• Pressure: Combines evasive movement with explosive tracking bullets to force Xin Honglang’s surrender 110.
• Vulnerability: A stronger opponent can seize the chain and drag him. Against Xiao Linghe, he abandons the gun and uses explosive inscriptions to escape 150.

Equipment & Items

• Wolf Fang Grappling Gun / Wolf Fang Grappling Hook Gun — Retractable hooked weapon used for movement, attacks, and pulling opponents. Its modified functions include firing inscription-enhanced explosive tracking bullets 109 110 121.
• Folding fan — His habitual accessory, used for posing, gestures, and feigned composure 47 58 66.
• Inscription talismans — Carries offensive and explosive talismans, including the large quantities needed to assemble formation patterns 47 79 150.
• Tracking Inscriptions — Purchases five from Xu Jintang at 20,000 star coins each and studies their structure with Qian Duoduo’s guidance 81 131.

Relationships

• Xu Jintang / Qian Duoduo — Initially an examination rival, later his class monitor and Mask Squad leader. Unknowingly hires her disguised identity to assist with arrays and teach inscription concepts. After discovering the truth, his disbelief gives way to enthusiastic admiration 47 79 103 155.
• Yu Wanyao — Former classmate of three years and recurring competitive rival. She distrusts his schemes, fights him during the red-flag contest, and orders him restrained after a teleportation error places him in her camp 47 58.
• Song Tianqi — Classmate, teammate, gaming companion, and frequent partner in banter. Song complains when Xue monopolizes the competition spotlight 71 110 125 152.
• Yan Yuting — Classmate and teammate. He helps her leave the arena after her injury and later restrains her from confronting hostile spectators 122 146.
• Jiang Shiyi — Classmate and teammate who protects him while he assembles a formation. She also reassures him after he learns Qian Duoduo’s identity 145 155.
• Zhuang Silin — Academy teacher who oversees his assessments and later takes pride in the military leaders’ praise of his support and inscription capabilities 74 145 295.
• Wu Jinghong — Competition instructor who assigns him the opening position in one-on-one gauntlets and criticizes his premature revelation of a trump card 111 121.
• Mu Zhongbai — His most admired inscriptionist idol; Xue credits him with creating the Tracking Inscription’s formation diagram 155.

Story Role & Major Arcs

Joint Examination and Enrollment

• Holds fourth place on the examination’s red ranking, having been displaced from third by Xu Jintang 47.
• Triggers a melee near the red flag to create an opportunity for himself, but Yu Wanyao intercepts him. His talisman barrage fails to stop Xu Jintang from securing first place 47.
• Enrolls in Leikedasi’s support class alongside Xu Jintang 53.

Simulated Siege and Experimental-Class Training

• A teleportation error places him in the attackers’ tent, where Yu Wanyao has him tied up and guarded 58.
• Subsequently fights for the defenders, using Soul Link on Wei Zixuan’s giant eagle to prevent it from attacking him 60.
• Begins intensive level-two array practice to improve his team’s chances in an upcoming assessment, hiring Qian Duoduo as an assistant 79 80.
• Completes a level-two formation during the assessment against Gu Nianwei’s team, helping secure victory 145.

Ability User Competition

Inscription Master Competition

• Enters under the codename Big Watermelon and explains the contest format to Xu Jintang 112.
• Scores 70 points in the elimination round and places third, behind Qian Duoduo and Jiang Xiangyang 132.
• Advances through the semifinal knockout round and continues competing in the final, where he struggles with repeated failed attempts 158 192.

Military Internship and Academy Activities

• Accepts Jing Hongyi’s offer to train as a trainee soldier during the academy break 194.
• Joins the Armament Camp, earns praise for his performance, and explains that interns are restricted to outer-area logistics work rather than the core area 211.
• Travels with the experimental class as the substitute team for Leikedasi’s medium-star-region challenge circuit 227.
• Helps circulate false information about the Mask Squad’s academy affiliation to draw out people investigating reserve teams 257.

Border Defense and Military Academy League

• Helps defend the group outside Star City against a satellite missile, then fights the Dragon-Tiger Lion pack after it breaches the defenses. Forms a barrier to cover the defenders’ retreat 289 290.
• Uses Realm of Stars against Glacier Military Academy and Absolute Star Chain to defeat Kong Ruzhen 312 317.
• Suffers a severe defeat against Qiuyue’s Water Dragons Converge on the Moon and receives emergency treatment. In a later team battle, he pressures her through life sharing, inscriptions, and control effects 317 323.
• Enters the grand finals’ simulated battlefield with Xu Jintang’s team and encounters Grande Military Academy after an earthquake and rockfall 327.

Notable Quotes

“My dream is to be a carefree young playboy who does nothing but eat and drink every day.” 66

“No particular feelings. Just business as usual.” 111

“What’s wrong with being a support? In a moment, you’ll see how cool a support can be when he goes all out.” 317