Zhao Gongming

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

Zhao Gongming appears as a young man with a distinguished, carefree bearing 8 9.

• Facial features: Sword-like brows and starry eyes 9.
• Clothing: A simple grayish-white Daoist robe upon his return to Jin’ao Island; described in a black-and-white Daoist robe when meeting Lin Tian 8 9.
• Cultivation phenomena: Five-colored rosy light, abundant spiritual Qi, three flowers above his shoulders and head, and faint manifestations of laws 8.

Personality

Zhao Gongming is proud of his standing but deeply frustrated by his stalled cultivation. Comparing himself with Duobao, Xuandu, and Randeng makes him increasingly anxious to advance. After drinking Lin Tian’s tea, he acknowledges that his constant urgency has become an obstacle rather than a source of progress 8 10.

His loyalty to the Interception Sect is firm. Jieyin judges that, despite his clear Buddhist roots, his steadfast Dao heart makes him extremely difficult to turn into a Western Teachings pawn. Zhao Gongming himself condemns betrayal without hesitation, supporting Tongtian’s execution of Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal 6 19.

He is attentive to his junior sisters’ difficulties, encouraging them when they despair of breaking through. His concern also makes him cautious: he insists on concealing their identities before visiting Lin Tian and avoids actions that could damage the courtyard or provoke the Dragon Clan during the calamity 12 20 23 25.

Abilities & Skills

Spiritual Sense and Perception

His Peak Daluo Golden Immortal cultivation gives him keen spiritual perception, though Lin Tian’s residence repeatedly exceeds his ability to investigate 8 9.

• Detects a fleeting presence rich in pure Dao resonance near Lin Tian’s mountain 8.
• Recognizes Yazi’s direct Dragon Clan bloodline and identity, aided by having met him previously 21.
• Identifies the extraordinary spiritual Qi in the cauldron water 22.
• Cannot penetrate the mountain’s apparent ordinariness with spiritual sense. His attempt to probe the wooden qin ends when Lin Tian’s thought power extinguishes his divine sense 8 9.

Divination

Zhao Gongming attempts to divine why Tongtian has urgently recalled the disciples 8.

• The workings of heaven become obscured whenever his inquiry touches the Investiture of the Gods, preventing him from obtaining an answer 8.

Flight and Disguise

He travels through the air on clouds and can alter his outward appearance while suppressing his cultivation presence 8 11 20.

• Poses as an ordinary young wanderer when approaching Lin Tian 9.
• Maintains his disguise until he is several hundred li from the mountain, fearing that revealing his sect identity would displease the supposed recluse 11.
• Instructs the Three Xiaos to conceal their identities and cultivation for the same reason 20.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Sea-Calming Divine Pearls: His signature and most treasured magical treasures 10 50.
  • Can unleash power comparable to the four seas and emit Five-Colored Radiance that dazzles an opponent’s spiritual senses and five senses 11.
  • He possesses twenty-four in total and describes the complete set as a Supreme-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure 11.
  • Gives six directly to Lin Tian, then sends another six through Yunxiao. Although he initially intends to offer the remaining eighteen, only twelve are documented as delivered 10 11 44 50.
• Concealment treasure: An unnamed treasure given by Tongtian, used while secretly investigating Lin Tian’s dwelling 9.
• Protective talismans: Gifts from Tongtian that prevent the force destroying his divine sense from striking back at his primordial spirit 9.
• Spiritual tea leaves: Received from Lin Tian after their first meeting. Even while wrapped, they release pure spiritual Qi and display Dao resonance and manifestations of laws 11.
• Instant Pouch: Used to store the gifted tea leaves 11.
• Perfect World: A book Lin Tian entrusts to Yunxiao as a return gift for Gongming. Yunxiao considers it a cultivation opportunity, but Zhao Gongming is not shown receiving or reading it in the supplied chapters 50.

History

Return to Jin’ao Island and Meeting Lin Tian

After hundreds of years searching unsuccessfully for a breakthrough, Zhao Gongming returns to Jin’ao Island under Tongtian’s summons. A mysterious Dao resonance draws him to a nearby mountain, where he finds Lin Tian performing ordinary chores. He nearly dismisses the experience as a hallucination until a wind-blown wooden qin shakes his primordial spirit 8.

His attempt to investigate the instrument fails when Lin Tian’s thought power destroys his divine sense. Concluding that the young man must be a powerful Quasi-Saint, Zhao Gongming introduces himself as Ming Gong and asks for shelter from the storm. He conceals his sect identity because he believes a secluded expert would resent becoming entangled in the Interception Sect’s karma 9.

Lin Tian’s tea strengthens him, while casual advice to savor it slowly prompts him to reconsider his impatient approach to cultivation. Believing he has received deliberate guidance, Zhao Gongming offers six Sea-Calming Divine Pearls and receives tea leaves in return. Lin Tian’s treatment of extraordinary treasures as household objects leads him to suspect that his host might even be a hidden Sage 10 11.

After leaving, he watches Lin Tian throw the pearls into a pond without producing a splash. Rather than interpreting this as simple wastefulness, he begins to wonder whether the pond itself can suppress an Innate Spiritual Treasure 11.

Bringing the Three Xiaos for Guidance

Learning that Yunxiao, Bixiao, and Qiongxiao have spent hundreds of thousands of years at Peak Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, Zhao Gongming offers to introduce them to Lin Tian. Tongtian’s restriction against traveling farther than a hundred thousand li from the sect does not prevent the visit, since the mountain lies within that boundary 12 19.

He brings the sisters in disguise and introduces them as Yunzhi, Bizhi, and Qiong’er. During the visit, they witness Yazi recovering in a cauldron, being subdued by the courtyard formation, and then being tied up as Lin Tian’s supposed guard dog. Zhao Gongming discourages further attempts to provide a dragon meal, fearing conflict with the Dragon Clan 20 21 22 23 24 25.

Their request for cultivation guidance is interrupted by an urgent summons from Tongtian. Returning to Biyou Palace, Zhao Gongming privately notices that Lin Tian’s courtyard provides better cultivation conditions than his master’s Sage residence, briefly wondering whether Lin Tian could surpass Tongtian 26 27.

Sect Duties and the Second Gift

At Biyou Palace, Zhao Gongming learns that the Western Sages have planted hidden spiritual roots in several attendant immortals. Tongtian orders him to escort the offenders into the Evil-Warding Great Formation for a hundred thousand years of reflection. He leads away Jinguang Xian, Ling Ya Xian, Qiu Shou Xian, Wuyun Xian, and Piluxian 28.

When he later finds Biyou Palace sealed while Tongtian meets Duobao, he remains outside to wait and promises to notify the Three Xiaos when entry becomes possible. Before they leave for Lin Tian’s home, he gives Yunxiao six more Sea-Calming Divine Pearls to deliver, hoping to strengthen a connection that could provide guidance through future difficulties 44.

Lin Tian accepts the pearls and sends back Perfect World, describing it as leisure reading and warning Gongming not to become absorbed in it. Yunxiao instead regards the book as an opportunity intended for her elder brother 50.

Relationships

• Tongtian — Master and sect leader. Zhao Gongming obeys his summons and disciplinary orders, and receives concealment and protective treasures from him 8 9 28.
• Lin Tian — Host and perceived cultivation mentor. Zhao Gongming interprets his casual remarks as profound instruction and offers his prized pearls in gratitude; Lin Tian instead mistakes him for a poor, overly courteous cultivator 9 10 11.
• Yunxiao, Bixiao, and Qiongxiao — Junior sisters whom he also addresses as his younger sisters. He encourages their cultivation, introduces them to Lin Tian, and relies on Yunxiao to deliver his second gift 12 21 44.
• Duobao — Eldest senior brother. Zhao Gongming compares his own stalled cultivation with Duobao’s Quasi-Saint attainment and becomes concerned when Duobao is absent from the sect gathering 8 14.
• Yazi — A prior acquaintance whom Zhao Gongming recognizes despite his goldfish form. He considers capturing Yazi during the escape attempt but is preempted by the courtyard formation 21 23.