Xiao Yao

Biodata

Power Progression

Disguised and Inconsistent Readings

• Fabricated rank 32: Xiao Yao uses transformation to display three rings—yellow, yellow, and purple—and rank-32 Soul Power fluctuations. This is a disguise, not a documented breakthrough 19 24.
• Reported rank 33: He later tells Qian Renxue that he has reached rank 33, but the preceding chapter explicitly states that he is still disguising himself as having three rings 49 50.
• Second-contract discrepancy: Chapters 22–23 place him at rank 24, while Chapter 49 retrospectively describes the same contract as raising him from rank 22 to rank 25 22 23 49.

Background and History

Arrival and Life in Nuoding City

Xiao Yao was a newly graduated college student in his previous life. A system of unknown origin transported him to Douluo Continent, reconstructed his body, awakened his Martial Soul, and then departed. His familiarity with the original novel and animation allowed him to recognize Xiao Wu in the Star Dou Great Forest 1.

After making Xiao Wu his first contract partner, he invented a story about a lost younger sister and persuaded her to accept him as her older brother. He subsequently admitted knowing her identity as a transformed hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast and promised to protect her 1 2.

Rather than enter Nuoding Academy, Xiao Yao chose independent cultivation, partly to avoid the danger he associated with Tang Hao’s protection of Tang San. He registered at Spirit Hall, declined Ma Xiunuo’s recruitment offer, and rented a courtyard in Nuoding City 4 5 6.

When Yu Xiaogang attempted to recruit the pair, Xiao Yao challenged his credentials and secretly sabotaged him with tea containing Fallen Heart Flame and a Green Lotus Core Fire lotus seed. Xiao Yao and Xiao Wu later helped Nuoding City win the Mo City branch-level New Soul tournament, receiving three thousand Gold Soul Coins. They declined higher-level competition because Xiao Wu would not join Spirit Hall 7 13.

Journey to Heaven Dou City

After reaching level 20, Xiao Yao attempted to refine the Fallen Heart Flame. Its eruption inside his body endangered him, but Xiao Wu’s evolved Martial Soul helped him complete the refinement. He then purchased their courtyard and left with her for Heaven Dou City to seek another contract partner 13 14.

During the journey, he sealed two Holy Wings of Light and attracted Qian Renxue’s attention. Recognizing her assumed identity as “Xue Ke,” he deliberately played an aloof but secretly helpful youth. He then engineered an encounter with a Wild Vajra Ape to give her an opportunity to rescue him and believe she had won his trust 16 17 18 19.

Qian Renxue provided a token for admission to Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Upon reaching the city, Xiao Yao reunited with Gu Yihan and Gu Sanshui, met their cousins Shui Bing’er and Shui Yue’er, and established his second contract with Shui Bing’er 21 22.

Two Academy Identities

Xiao Yao entered Heaven Dou Royal Academy with Xiao Wu while concealing his true age, level, and Martial Soul. He used the crown prince’s perceived support to discourage the education commissioners from pressing their recruitment efforts, then drove off Xue Beng’s followers without injuring the prince 24 25 26.

To increase Shui Bing’er’s intimacy, he secretly assumed Yan Lingji’s appearance and enrolled at Skywater Academy as Shui Lingji. His two purple rings astonished the teachers, and Shui Wuyang accepted him as a personal disciple 26 27 30.

When meditation briefly exposed his original appearance, he preserved his disguise by claiming that Xiao Yao was Shui Lingji’s secret crush. He continued praising his original identity while growing closer to Shui Bing’er as her junior sister 30 31 32.

Expedition and Return

Xiao Yao accompanied Shui Bing’er and Qiu Wanxi on a Soul Ring expedition. Along the way, he helped lure Wolf Bandits into an ambush and fought them using water controlled through the Sea Heart Flame; Qiu Wanxi ultimately destroyed the group 33 35 36 37.

At sea, his fused-flame attack against the Disc Water Spirit Jellyfish created a dangerous underwater explosion. He revealed his identity and transformed into a whale to shield Shui Bing’er from the resulting whirlpool. Her intimacy rose to 80, unlocking the fusion skill they used to escape 40 41.

The expedition also endured a storm, a volcanic eruption, and betrayal by the sailors. After returning to Heaven Dou City, Xiao Yao faced Xiao Wu’s anger over his three-and-a-half-month absence—longer than the two months he had promised 43 45 47 48.

He subsequently accepted a place among Heaven Dou Royal Academy’s second-team reserves, hoping to test the Heavenly Book’s rewards through Qian Renxue. Back at the academy, a confrontation with five students escalated into a Soul Power contest with Yu Tianheng 50.

Appearance

• Original body: Exceptionally handsome even as a child, with features he considers more attractive than those of his previous life 1.
• Accelerated growth: Reaches 1.8 meters and the appearance of a handsome young man after approximately a year and a half. Qian Renxue observes that he and Xiao Wu look fifteen or sixteen 13 16.
• Shui Lingji disguise: Takes Yan Lingji’s appearance, with waist-length hair, a water-blue gauze dress, and a strikingly mature figure 26.
• Adjustable presentation: Can alter appearance, bearing, aura, apparent bone age, Soul Power fluctuations, and Soul Ring display through transformation 19 24.

Personality

Xiao Yao favors safe, calculated growth over premature confrontation. His decision to avoid Nuoding Academy stems from his assessment of Tang Hao as a threat, and he deliberately refrains from injuring Xue Beng to avoid provoking Prince Xue Xing and Dugu Bo 4 26.

He is deceptive and opportunistic, frequently tailoring his behavior to influence others. His invented childhood memories win Xiao Wu’s initial trust, his aloof persona attracts Qian Renxue, and his Shui Lingji identity allows him to praise himself to Shui Bing’er without appearing to do so 1 17 18 31.

His attachment to Xiao Wu includes both protectiveness and possessiveness. He asks her to avoid close-contact combat with others, but also refuses to exploit her complete trust by demanding that she abandon her hatred of Bibi Dong. He likewise rejects the idea of having her sacrifice herself for him 3 16 48.

He can be ruthless toward perceived enemies, as shown by his treatment of Yu Xiaogang, but reacts with genuine anger to the Wolf Bandits’ slaughter of villagers. His cultivation also demonstrates considerable endurance: he withstands the Fallen Heart Flame’s painful tempering through willpower 7 8 33.

Abilities and Skills

Wordless Heavenly Book

His Martial Soul contains five divisions: Characters, Weapons, Protective Gear, Spiritual Objects, and Skills. Initially, every division is blank apart from its heading 1.

• Contracts: Every ten Soul Power levels permit one contract with someone no more than ten levels above him 1.
• Ring generation: A contract creates a Soul Ring whose age equals the combined ages of the partner’s rings. Xiao Wu’s lack of rings initially produces the minimum ten-year ring 1.
• Continuing upgrades: His first ring strengthens when Xiao Wu gains additional rings 2 13.
• Contract feedback: Contracts improve Martial Soul quality, talent, Soul Power, and spiritual power 1.
• No automatic obedience: Xiao Yao does not regard the arrangement as a master–servant contract 1.
• Unusual ring behavior: He initially receives no identifiable Soul Skill from his first ring and instead presents Fallen Heart Flame control as that skill 3.

Intimacy and Shared Cultivation

Intimacy unlocks Heavenly Book rewards and lets Xiao Yao and his partners supplement one another’s cultivation speed 1 2.

• At intimacy 40, each receives an additional cultivation-speed contribution equal to 40% of the other’s original speed 2.
• A decline in intimacy does not relock previously unlocked pages 2.
• Xiao Wu’s intimacy reaches the stated maximum of 100; Shui Bing’er reaches 80 during the sea expedition 16 41.
• By Chapter 50, Xiao Yao wants to test what happens if Qian Renxue reaches intimacy 100 before they form a contract 50.

Blank-Page Storage and Sealing

Three blank pages unlocked through Xiao Wu provide several distinct functions 16.

• Storage: Holds objects and plants in suspended time 16.
• Preservation: Seals living beings or souls; Xiao Yao places the two Holy Wings of Light together in dormancy 16.
• Long-term conversion: The Book can eventually revive sealed beings as Spiritual Objects Chapter pages 16.
• Imprisonment: Another sealing mode gradually drains an enemy’s strength, life, and intelligence 16.
• Restriction: Successful sealing requires nonresistance or an overwhelming strength advantage; it is not part of his dependable everyday combat strength 16 20.

Fallen Heart Flame

A heavenly flame ranked fourteenth, initially obtained when Xiao Wu’s intimacy reaches 20. Xiao Yao can activate it before refinement, although his early control is limited 1 3.

• Ignites heart flame inside targets, bypassing the need for an ordinary external strike 3 12.
• Tempers Soul Power, accelerates cultivation, removes bodily impurities, and neutralizes invading toxins 8.
• Preserves the impurity-free condition of his reconstructed Innate Body 8.
• Can be shaped into weapons after refinement; he later forms a flaming Wolf Spirit to scatter Xue Beng’s followers 14 26.
• Is substantially weakened when blocked by Soul Power 25.
• Initially consumes enormous resources: killing a Netherworld Wolf exhausts his Soul Power and most of his spiritual power 3.

Sea Heart Flame

A heavenly flame ranked fifteenth, received already refined when Shui Bing’er’s intimacy reaches 20 22 44.

• Commands water, including forming giant hands that drag Wolf Bandits beneath a lake 35 36.
• Gives him stronger direct-combat options alongside the Fallen Heart Flame 23.
• Is presented as Shui Lingji’s water-like flame Martial Soul at Skywater Academy 26 27.
• Does not instantly overcome every ice technique: Shui Bing’er’s dense bedrock ice temporarily contains it 44.

Incomplete Chapter of the Seventy-Two Transformations

Allows transformation into people, other species, and objects, along with concealment of identifying characteristics 19.

• Grants access to compatible abilities associated with a chosen form 19 21.
• Provides instinctive access to fire techniques, but not automatic understanding of their execution or ideal use 21.
• Requires practice to turn borrowed access into independently understood skill; powerful techniques may exhaust him in a single use 21.
• Does not increase his underlying physical constitution or Soul Power 41.
• Demonstrated forms include Yan Lingji, a giant whale, and slime used to brace Shui Bing’er during a storm 26 41 43.

Fire-Control Techniques

• Five Ring Flame Expelling Technique: Listed by the Heavenly Book as an independently cultivated skill 23.
• Buddha’s Fury Fire Lotus: Combines two heavenly flames into an explosive attack. Its underwater use against the Disc Water Spirit Jellyfish also endangers Xiao Yao and Shui Bing’er 40.
• Transformation-accessible techniques: Also gains instinctive access to the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler and Heavenly Fire Three Mysterious Transformations; independent mastery is not established 21.

Meditation, Illusions, and Body Cultivation

• Mirror Flower Water Moon Meditation Method: Learned from Shui Wuyang; cultivates Soul Power and spiritual power 30 49.
• Soft Bone: Yoga Chapter: Teaches it to Xiao Wu and Qian Renxue to improve flexibility and cultivation 20.
• Heavenly Fire God-Forging Technique: Develops his divine body and offers a path toward deeper control and eventual fusion of heavenly flames 44 48.
• Spiritual illusion realm: Resonance between the Divine Soul Chapter and Mirror Flower Water Moon creates a realm accessible to spiritual bodies 48.
• Combined cultivation: The interaction of his meditation method, body-forging technique, and Fallen Heart Flame accelerates progress, although gains from cultivating with Xiao Wu begin diminishing 49.

Ice and Fire Love Song

A Martial Soul Fusion Skill shared with Shui Bing’er, combining her Ice Phoenix and Mermaid with Xiao Yao’s two kinds of Soul Power 41 47.

• Freezes a massive whirlpool through enhanced Ultimate Ice 41.
• Produces an ice wing behind Xiao Yao and a fire wing behind Shui Bing’er, enabling flight together 41.
• Has Soul Power quality assessed by Qiu Wanxi as not far below a Soul King’s 47.
• Breaks the initial restraint of a ten-thousand-year Soul Skill when the strength gap is not overwhelming 47.

Equipment and Items

• Green Lotus Core Flame Associated Lotus Seat: Unlocked at Xiao Wu’s intimacy 80; used in preparations to refine the Fallen Heart Flame 5 13.
• Earth Spirit Pill and Core Lotus Seeds: Refinement aids used during the Fallen Heart Flame attempt 13.
• Storage earring: A discipleship gift from Shui Wuyang, capable of holding approximately a roomful of nonliving objects 30.
• Three Great Rejuvenation Pills: Granted at Shui Bing’er’s intimacy 80; Xiao Yao immediately uses one to recover during the whirlpool crisis 41.
• Xiao Wu’s Martial Soul Evolution Set: Gifts her the set incorporating the Aura-Concealing Dance Shoes and Mind-Concentrating Rabbit Ears; it enables her Soft Bone Charm Rabbit evolution 1 2 14 23.
• Fish and Bird Bound by Love set: Unlocked through Shui Bing’er and given to her; enables her Martial Soul evolution and mermaid transformation 22 40.
• Water-attribute right-leg Soul Bone: Obtained from the sailors’ chief and given to Shui Bing’er 48.

Relationships

• Xiao Wu — First contract partner, initially his adopted younger sister and later his romantic partner. He protects her identity and provides equipment supporting her cultivation; his prolonged absences become a recurring source of conflict 1 2 14 32 48.
• Shui Bing’er — Second contract partner and fellow disciple. He infiltrates Skywater Academy to become closer to her; she learns his identity during the whirlpool crisis, and they gain Ice and Fire Love Song 22 30 41.
• Qian Renxue — Patron and prospective contract partner. He knows her “Xue Ke” identity is false, cultivates her interest, and accepts her support for his academy enrollment and reserve-team placement 17 19 21 50.
• Shui Wuyang — Teacher at Skywater Academy, where she knows him as Shui Lingji. Teaches him Mirror Flower Water Moon and gives him a storage earring 30.
• Qiu Wanxi — Teacher and expedition companion who protects him and Shui Bing’er through the Wolf Bandit battle and volcanic eruption 37 45.
• Gu Yihan and Gu Sanshui — Former tournament opponents turned acquaintances. Thank him for withdrawing from higher competition, which allowed them to advance 12 21.
• Tang San — Antagonistic acquaintance. Xiao Yao distrusts him, resents his pursuit of Xiao Wu, and joins her in deceiving him about his injured hand 4 10.
• Yu Xiaogang — Rejected would-be teacher whom Xiao Yao regards as fraudulent and secretly sabotages 6 7.
• Yu Tianheng — Academy opponent whose Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul reveals his identity during their confrontation 50.

Notable Quotes

“I know, but I won't hurt you. I'll protect you, too. Perhaps that's why I appeared here.” 2

“They won't. They won't have a chance to appear before you.” 2