White Banyan Fox

The White Banyan Fox begins as a red-furred demon beneath a banyan tree and becomes a long-standing friend and informant to Li Tongya. His attachment to Tongya and his descendants coexists with a demon’s practical ethic and loyalty to the interests of Mount Dali. After seclusion and bloodline tempering, he returns as a white spirit fox who helps carry a guarded alliance between the fox tribe, the Dragon Clan, and Li Zhouwei. (Chapters 114–115, 333–358, 702, 976–987)

Biography

A wary demon becomes a family informant

When Tongya finds him asleep beside the white-leaved banyan, the Fox is a red-furred demon at the fifth heavenly layer of Qi Cultivation. Tongya approaches to test his swordsmanship, and the Fox’s halting declaration that he has “never eaten humans” does not prevent a fight: he blocks close attacks with his paws, catches sword qi, and spits fire that follows Tongya and scorches his protective true essence. Tongya extinguishes the flames and forces him back with the Celestial Moon Slash, at which point the Fox invokes the demon general whose authority he says makes killing him dangerous. Rather than kill him, Tongya turns the encounter into a conversation; the Fox points him toward the Foundation Establishment pig demon that demands annual bamboo-shoot tribute from his den. The exchange establishes both his ability to defend himself and the limits of that ability against Tongya’s stronger sword. (Chapter 114)

The Fox quickly makes information a more durable source of security than force. In return for Spirit Rice, he explains the pig demon’s location, its eight Qi Cultivation subordinates, and the practice of marking captured demons; his own fox-clan ties protect him from that particular threat. Tongya continues visiting, and the Fox trades mountain gossip for provisions while gradually treating him as a friend. He also takes in fox cubs as winter approaches and food becomes scarce, then gives Tongya the location of a Qi Cultivation deer king suitable for sacrifice. When Tongya later establishes the Boundless Ocean foundation, the Fox recognizes it as the Jing Dragon King and warns him that a Dao partner might exploit him through medicine, advising him to avoid unfamiliar pills and herbs. He says they both must avoid being eaten and can still talk for a hundred years: concern for Tongya has become part of their exchange. (Chapters 115, 138, 148, 240)

That friendship does not make the Fox adopt Tongya’s obligations to human villagers. As the Li Family’s protection removes demon feeding grounds, he complains that demons can no longer prey on commoners and argues that people are raised to be used. Tongya answers from his own farming background and refuses to accept the deaths of the people under his protection. The Fox falls silent rather than break with him, then continues to provide warnings and intelligence, including news of Mount Yue’s aging ruler and the dangers posed by Buddhist expansion. He values Tongya personally without extending that loyalty to every human or accepting the family’s moral boundary as his own. (Chapters 186, 283–284)

A friendship that cannot prevent death

After the Maha battle leaves Tongya’s Dao and organs destroyed, the Fox visits despite the Li family’s distrust of a demon. He proposes replacing Tongya’s five organs and restoring his Dao through a recurring flood-dragon blood pool supplied by 6,600 people every three years. The treatment is a proposed dark-art cure, not something performed or proven. Tongya refuses to sacrifice people, and the Fox initially argues that survival belongs to the strongest; their disagreement reveals that affection cannot erase their different ethics. (Chapters 333–334)

The Fox’s anger gives way to a more personal offer: he gives Tongya his prized Huashang Fruit, saying it may restore enough vitality and strength to keep him alive for a few more years. The fruit does improve Tongya’s condition temporarily, allowing a final burst of power, but it does not repair his ruined foundation or save him. The Fox’s gift is therefore a concrete act of care, not a cure or a power the Fox can wield himself. (Chapters 333–344, 346)

The Fox had left a mark by which he could follow Tongya and continued searching for medicine, but Tongya sealed the mark before dying. The Fox learns of the death only when he finds Li Qinghong at the burial stream; he curses the wasted search, cries, and takes a piece of mica from the river as a reminder. After the Fox leaves, Lu Jiangxian, keeper of Tongya’s mirror, secretly sends a stream of talisman qi into him; Lu believes it can strengthen the Fox’s cultivation and root bone, though its contribution to his later breakthrough is never measured. The Fox later maintains contact with the descendants, and after Tongya’s death introduces Li Yuanjiao to his demon friend Luken, helping the families keep a cautious channel open. Before entering his own seclusion, he also tells Luken to cooperate with the Li Family if the Fox fails to break through. (Chapters 334, 358, 458, 494–495)

A changed bloodline preserves an old connection

After years of seclusion, the Fox returns in a young human form with white fur, sharp fangs, and a violet haze. Li Xijun checks his identity because family records describe a red fox; the Fox answers hidden questions about Tongya’s swords and laughs that Tongya had recorded their relationship so carefully. He explains that he spent years building his Foundation in order to temper his bloodline in Mount Dali’s demon pool. The process shed his red fur and mortal fangs and made him a spirit fox capable of human transformation, though its exact method and cost are not given. He also absorbs blood qi from a battlefield during his return, while acknowledging that this differs from consuming human flesh rather than claiming it is free of moral consequence. (Chapter 702)

The transformation increases his standing but does not make him comfortable with human life or grief. The Fox remembers the Li family’s generations and asks after its elders; when he visits Tongya’s moved grave, the surrounding sea of tombstones unsettles him and he postpones paying his respects. He accepts the family’s hospitality and shares knowledge about the Thundercloud inheritance and the forces manipulating Yuan Tuan, while his lazy manner quickly reappears over tea and fruit. His bond with Tongya survives as a connection to the family’s memory, even as the human friends he knew pass away. (Chapters 708–709)

By the time Zhouwei seeks him out, the Fox has become a recognized lord within the den. Luken reports that the Fox’s Foundation Establishment breakthrough and abilities have won the submission of many demon generals, and the Fox now speaks for the den in dealings with the Dragon Clan. This authority follows an earlier period without backing: after his adoptive father died, he and Luken were left vulnerable, and the Fox still hoped that Foundation Establishment would earn him a fox-clan surname and a place in the den. His advancement changes his standing without erasing his older attachments or his awareness that stronger powers can dictate the terms of survival. (Chapters 495, 976)

The White Qilin and the dragon-fox pact

When Zhouwei arrives through Luken with an invitation from Dongfang Dingjiao, the Fox recognizes that the request concerns more than a visit to the Grave Abyss. His great-grandmother had old grievances with Dingjiao’s ancestor, so the Fox accepts the mission cautiously and insists Zhouwei accompany him: the Dragon Clan wants ties with both of them, and traveling together also gives Zhouwei protection amid threats around the lake. The Fox explains the political significance of Zhouwei’s White Qilin identity as he understands it, while making clear that his own role is to represent Mount Dali, not to offer unconditional allegiance. (Chapters 976–977)

The journey shows how easily his formal role gives way to his familiar habits. He visits Li Xuanxuan, talks with him about old memories, and urges Zhouwei to live long enough that the elder will not have to mourn another friend. On the road, the Fox draws on his knowledge of demon territories to steer them away from Cen Lufu, who had killed Tongya’s younger brother; he shares the danger only after they are clear of the relevant mountains. He buys shells and coral for the young foxes at home and warns Zhouwei about the political history behind the Southern Sea’s demon and blood-qi practices. His information is valuable but selective: he weighs the risk of what can safely be said and when. (Chapters 979–981)

At the Grave Abyss, the Fox’s bloodline hearing becomes essential to the investigation. In his true form, a third ear rises between his brows; he listens where Zhouwei hears nothing, then activates mana and chants to extend the sound to his companions. The Fox and Dingjiao, using an ancient Earth Virtue artifact that lets the earth speak, hear a captive’s cries and eventually identify him as Li Xunquan. The Fox worries that they may be violating a taboo, and the captive’s sudden mana-powered roar makes him groan and forces them to stop. They identify the prisoner but neither discover who bound him nor free him. The journey instead strengthens fox-dragon ties, and Dingjiao gives the Fox a Restrained Profound Purple Flame for the fox tribe. (Chapters 982–987)

The Fox and Dingjiao keep Zhouwei at sea for nearly two weeks after the Abyss visit. Zhouwei later recognizes the delay as protection: had he returned to the lake while a Wrathful Merciful One was probing him, other cultivators might have learned more about his cultivation. The Fox confirms that he feared Zhouwei could be drawn into the Buddhist struggle over Bright Yang, then returns home exhausted and refuses another such trip. Years later, Zhouwei estimates that the Fox has progressed from Foundation Establishment to nurturing divine abilities in roughly a century; the estimate does not name an ability or specify a further formal realm. (Chapters 999–1000, 1466)

Appearance and personality

The Fox first appears as a large red fox with lively, narrow eyes and the ability to refine his bones and speak. In combat he uses his paws and red fox fire. After his bloodline tempering, he appears as a pure white fox with three upright ears, including one between his brows, and sharp white fangs. In human form he looks like a young man in blue-green robes, with a fluffy white tail and a white quartz pendant strung with silver beads. (Chapters 114, 702, 982)

He is playful, curious, and lazy, readily trading gossip for food and preferring fruit to tea. He can be cunning when deciding what information to share, yet he is attentive to the cubs he raises and deeply affected by Tongya’s death. His manner also changes with his audience: he is casual and grumbling with Zhouwei, but can become poised and eloquent when representing his tribe to Dingjiao. His concern for friends exists alongside a demon’s acceptance of predation and a strong fear of provoking powers beyond his protection. (Chapters 148, 283–284, 358, 976, 982, 987, 999)

Abilities and cultivation

The Fox combines demon cultivation and a refined spirit-fox bloodline with combat, hearing, and political skills. His earlier cultivation is modest beside Tongya’s sword, while the years spent preparing his Foundation Establishment transform both his status and body. Later reports describe further cultivation, but do not establish a named divine ability. (Chapters 114, 495, 702, 976, 1466)

Cultivation and spirit-fox bloodline

Tongya identifies the Fox at the fifth heavenly layer of Qi Cultivation on their first meeting. The Fox later remarks that humans advance faster; by chapter 240, he says he remains between the sixth and seventh layers, and by chapter 458 he has reached the ninth. He continues to describe his cultivation as slower than human progress, and before his seclusion he says he has advanced rapidly over a decade but has not yet confirmed a breakthrough. He returns after that seclusion having established his Foundation and refined his bloodline through Mount Dali’s demon pool. The pool’s exact operation, ingredients, and cost are not explained; the demonstrated result is that his red fur and mortal fangs become a white spirit-fox form and he can take human shape. This bloodline makes him a Fox of the Serene Heart, a lineage recognized by Dingjiao; it is distinct from the mountain lord’s Morning Listening divine ability. (Chapters 114, 186, 240, 458, 495, 702, 982)

Before the seclusion that produces his Foundation breakthrough, the mirror’s keeper secretly sends a dose of Talisman Pill qi into the Fox, reasoning that it could improve his cultivation and root bone. The Fox does not know about this intervention, and no passage measures its effect. His later advancement grants him greater authority among the Mount Dali demons, and Luken reports that many demon generals submit to him. Zhouwei later estimates that the Fox has reached the stage of nurturing divine abilities within about a century of his Foundation breakthrough. That is a report of progress, not evidence of a particular attained ability, Purple Mansion substage, or ability count. (Chapters 334, 976, 1466)

Fox fire and demonic combat

The Fox’s early combat includes strong paws and red fire expelled from his mouth. The flames follow Tongya and burn against his protective true essence, while his paws block sword qi at close range. Tongya eventually extinguishes the fire with repeated true-essence attacks and drives the Fox back with the Celestial Moon Slash, showing that these defenses can delay a stronger opponent but do not guarantee victory. The fire has no known range or separate technique name. The purple fire he later breathes while traveling has no demonstrated combat use. (Chapter 114; compare Chapter 976)

Serene Heart hearing

The Fox’s hearing is associated with his refined bloodline. In true fox form, the third ear appears between his brows; he focuses his ears and listens for a distant human voice where Zhouwei hears silence. He can use mana and a soft, grating chant that fills the darkness with purple light and lets his companions hear what he detects. In the Abyss, this works alongside Dingjiao’s Earth Virtue artifact: Dingjiao supplies the artifact and the means to query the stone, while Zhouwei’s mana powers it. The Fox’s hearing contributes the distant voice and his own interpretation; it is not the sole cause of the investigation’s success. (Chapters 982–984)

The search requires repeated descents and intervals of roughly fifteen minutes of listening. The Fox hesitates because the prisoner may have a dangerous background, and the captive’s powerful cry leaves him groaning and winded as it breaks the artifact’s connection. The group stops and later resumes the inquiry, but the Fox does not identify who imprisoned Li Xunquan or free him. His latest known hearing remains tied to the spirit-fox bloodline; no later source names a new hearing ability or says he acquired Morning Listening. (Chapters 983–985, 1465–1466)

Healing knowledge and spirit medicines

The Fox understands demon remedies well enough to diagnose Tongya’s damaged organs and propose replacing them, with a blood-pool ritual that he believes could rebuild Tongya’s Dao. The proposed treatment depends on killing people and is never attempted; the Fox’s medical knowledge therefore remains a claim about a possible method, not a demonstrated cure. He also urges Li Yuanping to gather blood sacrifice, while later absorbing battlefield blood qi himself and noting that it bears less resentment than consuming human flesh. These choices show how his survival ethic differs from Tongya’s without establishing that the methods are harmless. (Chapters 333–334, 702)

His gift of the Huashang Fruit is the only successful aid to Tongya described in detail. It temporarily restores vitality and strength, but the effect belongs to the medicine and Tongya’s response to it, not to an innate power of the Fox; neither the fruit nor the Fox’s treatment revives Tongya or repairs his destroyed foundation. (Chapters 333–344, 358)

Intelligence, discretion, and travel

Long residence at Mount Dali gives the Fox access to demon news, territory, and relationships that the Li family cannot easily obtain. He trades that knowledge for Spirit Rice, directs Tongya toward useful targets, introduces Yuanjiao to Luken, and later warns Zhouwei about the interests behind the dragon-fox visit. He can travel on demonic wind and uses a cloak to conceal his cultivation and demonic identity in the Southern Sea market. These are practical skills rather than proof of universal knowledge: he sometimes withholds information, and his advice reflects the safety of his den as well as the Li family. (Chapters 115, 138, 148, 494, 976–981)

White-fox heart-reading

The Fox says that his white-fox tribe can read people’s hearts to some extent. As he and Zhouwei leave the Li household, he applies this ability to Xuanxuan, concluding that the elder carries many unresolved worries and has not had an easy old age. The ability offers a limited perception of others’ thoughts; its activation, range, accuracy, cost and resistance remain unknown. (Chapter 979)

Power progression

Relationships

Li Tongya: Their relationship begins with a spar and an exchange of Spirit Rice for information, then grows into decades of visits and personal trust. The Fox tries to save Tongya after the Maha battle, but cannot persuade him to accept a blood sacrifice; Tongya’s death leaves the Fox grieving at the burial stream. (Chapters 114–115, 138, 333–358)

Li Xuanfeng and Li Xuanxuan: The Fox worries when Xuanfeng visits in Tongya’s place and later speaks warmly with Xuanxuan, whom he remembers across generations. He offers warnings and information to the family while keeping the memory of Tongya at the center of that connection. (Chapters 186, 976, 979)

Li Yuanping, Li Qinghong, and Li Yuanjiao: Yuanping distrusts the Fox but ultimately maintains the annual Spirit Rice arrangement and refuses the Fox’s blood-sacrifice advice. Qinghong encounters his grief at Tongya’s grave. The Fox later helps Yuanjiao establish a relationship with Luken, extending his old friendship into practical support for Tongya’s descendants. (Chapters 334, 358, 458, 494–495, 702)

Li Xijun: Xijun verifies the Fox’s identity after his transformation, then hosts him and hears his account of the demon pool and the family’s history. The Fox’s visit to Tongya’s grave and the information he shares make him a source of continuity between the family’s records and the older events they describe. (Chapters 702, 708–709)

Li Zhouwei: The Fox treats Zhouwei as the next generation of a friend, advises him to survive rather than prove himself, and accompanies him to the Southern Sea. He protects Zhouwei from possible scrutiny by delaying his return, but his service is qualified by Mount Dali’s interests and he does not claim to speak for every Li family member. (Chapters 976–987, 999–1000)

Luken: Luken is the Fox’s old friend from the demon den. The Fox helps him remain on good terms with the Li family and relies on him to maintain the relationship during his own seclusion. Luken’s later standing as a den lord also reflects the way the Fox’s advancement improves the position of those connected to him. (Chapters 495, 494–495, 976)

Dongfang Dingjiao: The Fox acts as a go-between for Dingjiao and the fox tribe despite their ancestors’ disagreements. Their cooperation in the Abyss and the gifts that follow mark a political rapprochement shaped by mutual pressure, not the disappearance of old distrust. (Chapters 976–987)

Items

Huashang Fruit: The Fox gives his prized fruit to Tongya in an attempt to restore his vitality. The fruit is transferred to Tongya; the Fox is not shown retaining it afterward. (Chapters 333–344)

Talisman Pill: After the Fox visits Tongya, the Immortal Mirror’s keeper secretly sends talisman qi into him, believing it could improve the Fox’s cultivation and root bone. The Fox is unaware of the aid, and its effect on his later breakthrough is unknown. (Chapter 334)

Restrained Profound Purple Flame: Dingjiao gives this flame to the Fox for the fox tribe during their diplomatic visit. Its later holder and use are unknown. (Chapter 987)