NovelPantheon

Xuan Kong Zi

One of the Pill Tower's three heads, senior alchemist, and high-level combatantPill Tower

Xuan Kong Zi is one of the three heads of the Pill Tower, the teacher of Cao Ying, and an old friend of Yao Chen. He combines the Tower's alchemical authority with enough combat strength to repel multiple Dou Zuns, yet much of his importance comes from working within limits: tournament rules, collective leadership, and the Tower's traditional neutrality prevent him from treating personal preference as law. His support for Xiao Yan is therefore most effective when he turns friendship into information, training, and institutional access. (Chapters 1154–1157, 1180–1218, 1447–1452)

Biography

Pill Tower head and Yao Chen's old friend

Xuan Kong Zi receives Xiao Yan in Holy Pill City as a friend's disciple rather than merely another competitor. He recognizes Xiao Yan as a high seventh-tier alchemist, confirms that Yao Chen is imprisoned by the Hall of Souls, and places the Pill Tower's intelligence network behind the search. His regret that Yao Chen refused a Tower leadership position does not become condescension; instead, he gives Xiao Yan the complete Spiritual Handprint practiced by Cao Ying and arranges rare ingredients needed for later preparation. Each gift is concrete, but none promises authority that Xuan Kong Zi does not possess. (Chapters 1154–1157)

That restraint is clearest in his handling of Hall infiltration. Xuan Kong Zi warns leading competitors that the Hall may seek the Three Thousand Burning Flame, yet refuses to bar suspected enemies without proof because the Pill Gathering's inherited rules admit any qualified alchemist. He asks the competitors to resist the Hall inside the contest while he and the other heads preserve the neutrality that gives the Gathering legitimacy. The choice is risky, but it is presented as an institutional principle rather than passivity or ignorance. (Chapters 1154–1157, 1180)

Pill Gathering and the Star Region

During the Pill Gathering, Xuan Kong Zi judges refinements beside Xuan Yi and Tian Lei Zi, recognizes the tier-eight and later tier-nine techniques before most observers, and publicly awards Xiao Yan the championship. The contest also resolves a private comparison with Yao Chen: Cao Ying is Xuan Kong Zi's candidate, but he accepts that his old friend's disciple has produced the superior pill. His pride in his own student never overrides the Tower's standard of medicinal spirituality. (Chapters 1180–1193)

The Star Region crisis forces him from oversight into direct action. After Hall operatives delay the Pill Tower elders outside, Xuan Kong Zi enters in time to stop Old Mu Gu from striking Xiao Yan during a soul battle and injures four fleeing Dou Zuns with one punch. When the Three Thousand Burning Flame erupts, he orders the other finalists evacuated and initially moves to extract Xiao Yan. He relents only after evidence that Xiao Yan remains aware and intends to continue, balancing the duty to protect a competitor against the damage that forced interruption would cause. (Chapters 1197–1204)

Rescue intelligence and alliance

Xuan Kong Zi keeps his promise concerning Yao Chen. The three Pill Tower heads spend almost a year identifying the Death Soul Mountain Range branch hall, then provide Xiao Yan with its confirmed location, estimated defenders, and a detailed internal map. He cautions Xiao Yan against allowing urgency to replace planning and acknowledges the boundary of the Tower's aid: intelligence and logistical support are possible, but direct participation in the rescue is not. That assistance nevertheless makes the eventual operation possible by converting rumor into an actionable target. (Chapters 1215–1218)

Later, the Hall of Souls' continued predation makes the Pill Tower's neutrality itself a strategic question. Xuan Kong Zi accompanies Yao Chen and Xiao Yan into the Small Pill Tower, where ten elders debate whether joining the proposed anti-Hall coalition violates Tower rules. He cannot determine the result alone; Xiao Yan must win elder status and the proposal passes by majority vote. Xuan Kong Zi's role is to carry his old allies through the institution rather than bypass it, and the successful vote places the Pill Tower within the Sky Mansion Alliance. (Chapters 1447–1452)

Appearance and personality

Xuan Kong Zi is a white-clothed old man with white hair, a deeply wrinkled face, and eyes that appear small beneath the wrinkles but are described as deep and unfathomable. A warm smile softens that age and authority in conversation. Under threat, the warmth gives way to an icy voice and a calmness that remains intact even while he is striking through space or ordering an evacuation. (Chapters 1154, 1157, 1203–1204)

He is generous toward a friend's disciple, proud of Cao Ying without being partial in judgment, and cautious about promises that could bind the whole Pill Tower. His respect for procedure sometimes leaves dangerous enemies room to act, but he is not neutral about the Hall's soul-taking. Once threats become overt, he responds decisively in combat and helps move the Tower toward collective opposition through its own governing structure. (Chapters 1154–1157, 1192–1204, 1215–1218, 1447–1452)

Abilities and cultivation

Grandmaster alchemy

Xuan Kong Zi's exact apprenticeship and formal alchemist tier are not restated, but his position as a Pill Tower head and teacher of Cao Ying establishes mature grandmaster standing. He can assess young alchemists at a glance, distinguish the quality of tier-eight Pill Lightning, recognize rare concealment methods used during refinement, and identify the Black Demon Lightning of a tier-nine Treasure Pill. He uses that expertise primarily through instruction and judgment rather than a showcased personal refinement. (Chapters 1154–1157, 1185–1193, 1448–1452)

His limits are institutional and evidentiary. He cannot identify a remote Hall elder whose aura and appearance are concealed, and the corpus does not show a personal tier-nine pill or state his latest exact tier. Xuan Kong Zi's authority also does not allow him to rewrite Pill Gathering rules or overrule the Small Pill Tower. His effectiveness instead comes from combining sound evaluation with the information, teachers, ingredients, and forums the Tower can provide. (Chapters 1154–1157, 1215–1218, 1447–1452)

Dou Qi combat and sealing

Xuan Kong Zi is also a combatant far beyond an ordinary alchemist. In the Star Region, he projects force through space to strike Old Mu Gu and three other Dou Zuns as they flee, breaking bones and forcing all four into retreat with a single punch. He and the other Tower heads maintain the seals on the Three Thousand Burning Flame, although its long absorption of stellar energy gradually weakens their restraint and its full eruption forces even Xuan Kong Zi to evacuate. The chapters demonstrate high-level spatial force and sealing, but do not provide a precise cultivation rank or named Qi Method. (Chapters 1154–1157, 1197–1204)

Institutional leadership

As one of three heads, Xuan Kong Zi can mobilize Pill Tower intelligence, ingredients, tournament administration, emergency evacuation, and access to the Small Pill Tower. That power always depends on coordination with Xuan Yi, Tian Lei Zi, and the elder council. The year-long search for Yao Chen and the eventual alliance vote show both sides of the mechanism: the institution can achieve what an individual cannot, but its rules make action slower and prevent Xuan Kong Zi from treating friendship as unilateral policy. (Chapters 1154–1157, 1204, 1215–1218, 1447–1452)

Relationships

  • Yao Lao: Xuan Kong Zi knew Yao Chen as a close friend and once tried to persuade him to become a Pill Tower head. He later searches for Yao Chen's prison, welcomes him into Small Pill Tower deliberations after the rescue, and takes genuine pleasure in the success of his disciple. (Chapters 1154–1157, 1215–1218, 1447–1452)

  • Xiao Yan: Xuan Kong Zi gives Xiao Yan training, ingredients, intelligence, and political access while still judging him by the same Pill Gathering standard as Cao Ying. Their relationship develops from courtesy owed to Yao Chen into respect for Xiao Yan's independent alchemy and strategic judgment. (Chapters 1154–1157, 1180–1204, 1215–1218, 1447–1452)

  • Cao Ying: Cao Ying is Xuan Kong Zi's personal disciple and preferred contender in his old rivalry with Yao Chen. He supports her development and views her as leadership material, but neither hoards her Soul Skill nor distorts the Gathering result when Xiao Yan surpasses her refinement. (Chapters 1124, 1143, 1154–1155, 1185–1193)

  • Xuan Yi and Tian Lei Zi: The three jointly govern the Pill Tower, maintain the Three Thousand Burning Flame's seal, share intelligence, and sit on the Small Pill Tower council. Their authority is collective, so emergency and political decisions require coordination rather than a single head's command. (Chapters 1157, 1193–1204, 1215–1218, 1447–1452)

Items

Xuan Kong Zi gives Xiao Yan a complete Spiritual Handprint scroll and later a detailed map of the Death Soul Mountain Range branch hall. Neither is cataloged as an independent notable item in the supplied manifest, and the scroll records Cao Ying's technique rather than a personal Xuan Kong Zi ability. (Chapters 1154–1156, 1215)