Nan Huai'an

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Spirit Hall Academy and Time Travel

At Spirit Hall Academy, Nan Huai'an maintained the appearance of an unambitious Soul Elder despite already being a Soul Emperor. Hu Liena regularly chatted and cultivated with him, even giving him extra lessons without realizing his true strength. Chen Xin had also seen him competing at a Soul Fighting Arena under his weaker public identity 2 3 4.

He took a long leave from the academy, ostensibly to travel the continent. Instead, his system transported him to another spacetime several decades in the past, dropping him into a river near six-year-old Bibi Dong's village. She initially mistook him for a water ghost, then invited him home to wash and change 1.

Taking Bibi Dong as His Disciple

After learning Bibi Dong's identity, Nan Huai'an received a disciple-recruitment mission. He revealed his Soul Emperor cultivation and offered her protection, cultivation guidance, and the opportunity to travel beyond her village. She accepted and formally acknowledged him as her teacher, earning him the God-Slaying Sword from the system 1 2.

He awakened her Death Spider Emperor and Soul Devouring Spider Emperor Martial Souls, confirmed her innate full soul power, and strengthened her physique with prepared whale rubber. In the Star Dou Great Forest, he subdued a 760-year-old Sickle-legged Demon Spider for her first Soul Ring. Its absorption brought her to rank thirteen and granted her Shadow Scythe 3 5 6 7 8.

When a ten-thousand-year Purple-Winged Spider Emperor attacked, Nan Huai'an killed it while protecting Bibi Dong. He gave her its Six-Winged Purple Light Wings External Soul Bone, asking only that she massage his shoulders and legs. Her successful absorption triggered his Green Lotus Sword Song reward 9 10 11.

Dugu Bo and the Immortal Herbs

Nan Huai'an encountered the younger Dugu Bo and his son, Dugu Xin, shortly afterward. Accepting a challenge, he refused Dugu Bo's offer to suppress his Soul Saint cultivation and defeated him with Green Lotus Sword Song, shattering his Martial Soul Avatar 11 12 13.

Before Dugu Bo could leave, Nan Huai'an revealed his knowledge of the hereditary poisoning caused by the Dugu family's Martial Soul. He offered treatment in exchange for Dugu Bo working for him, then led the father and son to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in Sunset Forest 14 15 16 18.

There, he supplied both men with Jade Dragon Clear Essence Ganoderma. Dugu Bo's Martial Soul evolved into the Jade Phosphor Poison Dragon, and his soul power reached rank eighty; Dugu Xin's Martial Soul also became a jade-green dragon. Nan Huai'an subsequently confirmed that he intended to establish a sect after recruiting more disciples 20 25.

He also selected two immortal herbs for Bibi Dong's spider Martial Souls. After absorbing them, she gained five soul-power levels and reached level eighteen. He then began teaching her about the other herbs growing around the well 21 26.

Appearance

• Face: Described as extremely handsome, with sword-like brows and star-bright eyes 1.
• Bearing: Retains his poise even after being dropped into a river and emerging soaked 1.

Personality

Nan Huai'an deliberately downplays himself at the academy, where his concealed strength allows him to live an idle, “salted fish” lifestyle. In the parallel timeline, he abandons that restraint and openly uses his full strength against the era's cultivators 3 8.

As a teacher, he combines generosity and protection with relentless teasing. He provides Bibi Dong with rare cultivation resources and repeatedly rescues her, but also frightens her with pranks, mocks her overconfidence, and physically disciplines her when she becomes demanding. He describes disciples as people to be trained rather than merely doted on 4 5 6 10 17 20.

He is also willing to bargain with his knowledge. After defeating Dugu Bo, he deliberately keeps him in suspense about his poisoning before offering a cure in exchange for service. Once Dugu Bo agrees, Nan Huai'an supplies valuable herbs to both him and his son 14 15 20.

Abilities & Skills

System

Nan Huai'an's system provides transportation, missions, and rewards tied to his activities and disciples 1 3 11.

• Spacetime transportation: Sends him to a parallel Douluo Continent several decades earlier 1.
• Daily-quest rewards: Supported his cultivation before the journey and enabled him to conceal his strength and alter Soul Ring colors 3.
• Disciple recruitment: Assesses recruits on a scale from R to SSR, with higher-ranked disciples yielding better rewards, including powerful Martial Souls 1.
• Training milestones: Rewards a disciple's achievements; Bibi Dong's External Soul Bone absorption grants Green Lotus Sword Song 11.

Heaven-Burying Sword

His original Martial Soul manifests as a dark-red or black-and-red longsword carrying an aura of death and slaughter 1 12.

• Sword flight: Rides the sword and transports passengers over long distances 6 17 18.
• Additional flying platform: Solidifies a sword shadow to carry Dugu Bo and Dugu Xin alongside his own sword 18.
• Combat while protecting others: Defeats the Purple-Winged Spider Emperor while carrying and repeatedly securing Bibi Dong 9.

God-Slaying Sword

The God-Slaying Sword is his second Martial Soul, awarded for recruiting Bibi Dong 2.

• Its individual Soul Skills and combat effects are not demonstrated in the provided chapters.

Sword Intent and Green Lotus Sword Song

Even before receiving Green Lotus Sword Song, Nan Huai'an can turn an ordinary leaf into a piercing weapon through sword intent. He uses this technique to incapacitate Bibi Dong's first Soul Beast and pierce rock 7.

Green Lotus Sword Song supplies sword techniques powerful enough to defeat Dugu Bo despite the difference between Soul Emperor and Soul Saint cultivation 12 13.

• Rapid consecutive slashes: Blue-white, lotus-like sword light destroys Dugu Bo's incoming serpent shadows 12.
• Lotus-Blooming Sword Strike: Forms a green lotus at the sword tip that explodes on impact, breaking the Jade Phosphorus Snake Shield and wounding Dugu Bo's arm 12.
• Green Lotus Sword Aura: Surrounds him with lotus-petal sword aura that blocks attacks from Dugu Bo's Martial Soul Avatar 12.
• Sword Qi Long Song: Builds sword power through four lines of poetry, culminating in a dragon-shaped torrent of sword Qi that shatters the avatar 12 13.

Although the system grants him the art, he tells Dugu Bo that he developed it from sword forms he comprehended 11 12.

Cultivation Instruction and Medicinal Knowledge

Nan Huai'an can awaken Martial Souls, test soul power, select compatible Soul Beasts, and identify medicinal resources suited to particular constitutions 3 7 19 21.

• Poison diagnosis: Accurately describes Dugu Bo's recurring symptoms, the accumulation of venom in his blood and marrow, and its transmission to descendants 15.
• Treatment options: Identifies Soul Bones and a medicinal herb as possible approaches to Dugu Bo's condition 16.
• Soul Bone knowledge: Explains the six ordinary Soul Bone categories and the rarity and evolutionary potential of External Soul Bones 10.

Equipment / Items

• Gold Soul Coins — Possesses 50,000 when Bibi Dong asks whether he can afford her meals 9.
• Soul-power testing crystal — Uses it to confirm Bibi Dong's innate full soul power 3.
• Dagger — Lends it to Bibi Dong so she can finish the weakened Sickle-legged Demon Spider 7.

Relationships

• Bibi Dong — Parallel timeline — His first disciple. He awakens her Martial Souls, obtains her first Soul Ring, and supplies an External Soul Bone and immortal herbs. Their relationship is marked by her determination to surpass him and his constant teasing 2 3 8 10 21 26.
• Bibi Dong — Original timeline — The Pope watching her alternate childhood. She comes to admire his abilities and care for her younger counterpart, but rejects Hu Liena's suggestion that she should call him “Teacher” 5 6 10 13.
• Hu Liena — An academy companion who regularly chats and cultivates with him. She is upset by his unannounced departure and shocked that she had been tutoring someone who secretly surpassed her. She later jokes that Bibi Dong could call her “master's wife”; no marriage is established 1 4 18.
• Xie Yue — An academy acquaintance who knows about his leave and confirms that the young man on the sky screen is the Nan Huai'an they know 1 4.
• Dugu Bo — Parallel timeline — Initially a sparring opponent, then an agreed subordinate and grateful beneficiary of his treatment. Calls Nan Huai'an his great benefactor after his Martial Soul evolves 12 14 20 25.
• Dugu Xin — Receives an immortal herb from Nan Huai'an that removes his hereditary toxins and evolves his Martial Soul 20 25.
• Chen Xin — Recognizes him from the Soul Fighting Arena and later gains insight from watching his swordsmanship 2 13.
• Qian Renxue — Admires his knowledge enough to wish he had chosen her rather than Bibi Dong as his disciple 25.

Impact of the Sky Screen

• Exposes his concealed cultivation: Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and major factions discover that the apparent academy Soul Elder is actually a young Soul Emperor 2 4 8.
• Reveals whale rubber's cultivation value: Viewers begin seeking it, while Qian Daoliu and Bibi Dong separately order Spirit Hall personnel to secure supplies and ports 5 8.
• Exposes the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well: His journey reveals the location and value of the immortal herbs, prompting Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect to act. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect instead considers negotiating a trade 18 19.
• Makes his lessons valuable intelligence: Powerful original-timeline viewers wait for him to explain individual herbs so they can select suitable resources for themselves 25 26.

Notable Quotes

“Disciples are meant to be trained. I'll train you properly and make you the finest disciple under heaven.” 5

“But now that I'm here, Bibi Dong won't be alone anymore.” 6

“That's right, I'm establishing a sect. There are just too few people right now. I'll get to it after taking in a few more disciples.” 25