Leiting the Spirit Loong

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Leiting (full name: Ao Leiting, Chinese: 傲雷婷 “Lightning”) is a spirit loong. Her human identity is a student in Class 3 of Grade 5 at Zhizheng Primary School and serves as her class’s P.E. representative. She is a curious, reckless, and mischievous girl with a talent for sports.

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Origin

Human turned into a spirit loong: Leiting used to be a normal human girl at Guancheng Zhizheng Primary School. At the end of her fourth-grade year, she followed her classmate Qiuye the Spirit Dhole into the spirit realm of Fengtai Observatory. There, she touched an ancient spirit item called Fengtai Loong Ball, which inexplicably transferred its spirit power to her, transforming her into a spirit loong.

Last loong alive: Leiting’s base species is the Eastern Loong (scientific name: Loong sinensis sanhai, conservation status: Extinct), which may have inspired the Loong (龙, Chinese Dragon) totems in Chinese culture. This species went extinct due to its inability to adapt to the sudden temperature drop during the Younger Dryas cool period of the Upper Paleolithic era (Old Stone Age).

Judging by Leiting’s animal form, the Eastern Loongs were slender creatures with long necks, bodies, legs, and tails, resembling Tang Dynasty’s Golden Walking Loong figurines. They had blue, white, and yellow feathers like birds, but they also had pawpads. The yellow areas of their bodies could discharge bioelectricity, and they featured glowing antlers. They were omnivorous creatures well-adapted for running, jumping, and swimming.

Leiting’s natural sleeping posture in her animal form closely resembles the Erlitou Green Stone Loong artifact from the Xia Dynasty. Her sleeping body shows a relaxed wavy arc, which is also quite similar to the ancient Loong constellation.

Inheriting the power from the past: The spirit power inherited by Leiting from the Fengtai Loong Ball carries residual memories from its former owner, Feng the Spirit Loong. These memories occasionally surface in Leiting’s dreams or under certain stimuli. Feng appears to be an Upper Paleolithic era (old stone-age) woman who loved pottery and stargazing. Based on Leiting’s description, Qiuye believed that Feng was the “Phoenix” (Feng means Phoenix in Chinese) mentioned in the “Phoenix Legend” of the historical downtown of Guancheng. She speculated that Feng might have been the inspiration of Nüwa (Feng Lixi), the goddess in Chinese folklore who repaired the sky and created humanity.

Personality

Cheerful and compassionate: Leiting is a cheerful and outgoing person who easily strikes up conversations. She stands up for classmates facing bullying and always offers a helping hand to those in trouble.

Curious and mischievous: Leiting is a curious and mischievous girl, brimming with childish energy. She hates boredom and is loves to explore new things. She touches everything that interests her, and struggles to focus on one task for long. If told not to do something, she will likely do it anyway.

Confident and adventurous: Leiting is confident and brave. Challenges and danger only excite her.

Rebellious and confrontational: Leiting enjoys opposing others and provoking her opponents, earning a reputation as a troublemaker in her family and school.

Specialties

Small spirit power capacity: By the time Leiting inherited the spirit power from Fengtai Loong Ball, it had been dissipating its energy for over 14,000 years and there was barely any left. Her initial spirit power capacity was so small that she struggled to maintain her human disguise, leading to all kinds of mishaps in her daily life. Nevertheless, Leiting felt delighted and playfully considered herself “the chosen one” with “a great responsibility.” She could not wait to explore the wondrous world of spirit animals.

Talented spirit spell user: Leiting is a talented spirit spell user and quick learner, able to sense the flow of spirit power better than anyone else. With just a glance, she can imitate spells at 80-90% accuracy. However, due to her small spirit power capacity, she can only use these spells as weakened “cheap versions” or short-lasting “trial versions.”

Strong karma influence: Although the spirit power Leiting inherited from Fengtai Loong Ball was weak, the karma associated with it is exceptionally strong. It seems that all of China owes a significant favor to the former owner of this power. This aligns with Qiuye’s hypothesis that Feng inspired the legend of Nüwa, the goddess who repaired the sky and created humanity. Due to this karma, Leiting’s spirit power easily influences external objects; for instance, many artifacts in museums would “come alive” in her presence.

Talented shape-shifter: Blessed with her vivid imagination and favorable karma, Leiting has exceptional talent in shape-shifting spells. She can effortlessly transform into various forms beyond the basic three and change objects into different shapes with ease.

Athletic and acrobatic: Leiting is a natural athlete who excelled as a sprinter and long-distance runner on her school’s team. After becoming a spirit animal, her abilities were enhanced; she became more agile and nimble, capable of climbing walls and leaping between rooftops in all three forms. She may be one of the best spirit animals in Dongguan, if not all of China, when it comes to acrobatic spells.

Tendency to break stuff: Leiting somehow has a “talent” for breaking things, often getting into trouble despite not intending to.

Animal instincts: Leiting possesses stronger animal instincts than many spirit animals, despite her human origin.

Bioelectricity and bioluminescence: Leiting can discharge bioelectricity, which can serve as a power source for charging mobile devices. Her antlers can emit light powered by this bioelectricity.

Cold-blooded animal: As a loong, Leiting cannot fully regulate her body temperature. Her body temperature is usually lower, making her cool to the touch in summer; however, in winter she becomes inactive and spends all day near the heater.

Life

Spirit animal life: After becoming a spirit animal, Leiting formed a trio with her classmate Qiuye the Sprit Dhole and Mingzhu the Spirit Shark. Because of their respective favorite colors (and the main body colors as spirit animals) they were jokingly referred to as the Traffic Light Trio. They often go on “adventures” in the city, uncovering secrets left by other spirit animals or assisting the local Spirit Animal Association with community services.

School life: Leiting, Qiuye, and Mingzhu are the only spirit animal students at Zhizheng Primary School, and they must keep their identities secret.

Leiting struggles with classroom learning and isn’t a very hard-working student. Qiuye often tutors her and Mingzhu after class to help them maintain barely average scores.

Leiting is the P.E. representative for Class 3 and a key player on the school athletic team.

Family life: At home, Leiting needs to prevent her parents from discovering that she has become a spirit animal. Her sister Leiyu, who shares a room with her, knows this secret and helps to cover her secret. But sometimes she also uses the secret to make Leiting run errands for her.

Relationships

Qiuye, Leiting’s trio partner and classmate: Leiting and Qiuye the Spirit Dhole live in the same neighborhood and have been classmates since first grade. Qiuye was often bullied, but Leiting always came to her aid. Qiuye admires Leiting’s passion and confidence and wishes to be like her, though she finds Leiting’s unpredictability and recklessness quite frustrating. In turn, Leiting respects Qiuye’s knowledge and appreciates her tutoring.

Mingzhu, Leiting’s trio partner and classmate: Leiting and Mingzhu the Spirit Shark met long ago and have been classmates since first grade. Their silly behaviors and constant struggles with classroom learning earned them the nickname “Silly Sisters.” Mingzhu enjoys following Leiting around to have fun, echoing Leiting’s words and cheering her on, which leads to her being called Leiting’s “minion,” though she is really the “Big Boss” in terms of raw power. As a shark, Mingzhu naturally wants a bite on everyone, but she has a particular fondness for Leiting’s loong meat, often imagining dishes she could make with it. However, she constantly reminds herself: “I must not eat my classmate.”

Alice, Leiting’s classmate and nuisance: Alice the robot girl sees Leiting as a nuisance – she likes to mess with things she isn’t supposed to touch, and is particularly good at breaking them – including Alice’s robotic body and equipment. One of her pranks caused Alice’s battery to catch fire, damaging her body. As a result, Alice had to use a robotic sweeper as a temporary body for weeks. Since then, whenever she uses the sweeper, she will intentionally ask Leiting to carry her upstairs or onto her desk. Feeling guilty, Leiting will just comply.

On the other hand, Leiting also finds Alice troublesome – she is too fragile, spells don’t work on her, and she always shows up at inconvenient times and places. Moreover, Alice’s self-promotion habit and stinginess also irritates Leiting, which leads her to tease Alice with more pranks.

Leiyu, Leiting’s elder sister: Leiting’s elder sister, Leiyu, is the only human aware of Leiting’s spirit animal secret. Although she appears indifferent, Leiyu genuinely cares for her sister and has always provided her with cover. However, she also exploits this secret to make Leiting run errands or act as a pillow in her animal form. Meanwhile, Leiting often plays pranks on Leiyu using her spells.

Dad and mom: Leiting’s parents are unaware of her spirit animal secret. Her dad takes a hands-off approach, and the two form a “united front” in the house. In contrast, her mom adopts a zero tolerance policy for Leiting’s antics and forms another united front with Leiyu.

Libbie, Leiting’s head teacher: Libbie the Spirit Oryx is Leiting’s head teacher. She considers Leiting to be her most mischievous and challenging student. She goes to great lengths in covering and guiding this unruly little girl.