One of the original Five Greats, known as Western Venom. He was the actual father of Ouyang Ke, a lecherous young man he was training as his disciple and heir. He sought the Nine Yin manual, and was given the false copy by Guo Jing, and by practicing the distorted teachings inside he would eventually become insane. About five years prior to the third Huashan Tournament, he died alongside his rival, Hong Qigong. He is buried on Mount Hua beside Hong Qigong by his godson, Yang Guo, who succeeded him as the "Western Eccentric" of the new generation of the Five Greats.
First Huashen Tournament
The Nine Yin Manual, a profound compilation and unification of martial arts wisdom, was rediscovered after decades of being lost. It was the center of bitter contention, and in a few short years roughly a hundred martial arts masters had been killed over ownership of the manual. It came into possession of Wang Chongyang, founder of the Taoist Quanzhen Sect, and the wise Taoist proposed a means to settle ownership: A tournament at which martial arts masters who desired it could compete for it, with the winner publicly known as the greatest martial arts master and the keeper of the manual. Ouyang Feng, eager to claim the manual, entered the tournament.
The contest consisted of discussions of theory, and the practical: sparring and combat. After seven days, the contenders were clear. There were five masters above the rest, and they were titled after the regions of China where they made their homes: Western Venom Ouyang Feng, Northern Beggar Hong Qigong, Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi, and Southern Emperor Duan Zhixing. Wang Chongyang edged out the other four through his superior neigong cultivation, and became known as the Central Divinity, the greatest martial artist alive. The Five Greats agreed to hold another Huashen Tournament in twenty years, to settle who would gain the manual and to again test their skills against each other--a wait that Ouyang wasn't willing to endure.
Attack on Quanzhen Sect
The tournament left Wang Chongyang the keeper of the Nine Yin manual, but Chongyang was very old and died only a few years after the Huashen Tournament--he never studied the manual and he forbade the Quanzhen Sect from learning its arts, either; he kept it out of circulation to keep down the bloodshed in the community of wulin. Hearing news that Chongyang was nearing the end of his life, Ouyang Feng made the journey to the Quanzhen Sect's temple and waited nearby to hear word of the great martial artist's passing. When the day of Wang Chongyang's death came, he launched an attack on the Quanzhen sect using his signature Toad Stance.
He defeated Wang Chongyang's disciples, including Zhou Botong, and made to take the manual from Chongyang's coffin. However, Wang Chongyang had known the covetous Ouyang would attempt to steal the manual upon his death and, unbeknownst to even his disciples, faked his death in order to lure Ouyang into a trap. He burst from the coffin and struck the shocked and off-guard Ouyang Feng with the Yiyang Finger, a subtle and powerful internal energy attack. Severely injured, Ouyang Feng fled empty-handed to recover on Mount White Camel, and for years his capabilities were reduced by the blow to his neigong. Wang Chongyang truly died very shortly after fending off Ouyang Feng.
First Visit to Peach Blossom Island
Fifteen years later, East Heretic's daughter Huang Rong has grown into a fine young woman whom Ouyang Feng's lecherous 'nephew' and disciple, Ouyang Ke, desired. The Western Venom had heard the story of Huang's rogue disciples, Mei and Chen, stealing the Nine Yin manual from their master and reckoned that indulging his nephew would put him closer to gaining the manual for himself. He visited Huang Yaoshi on Peach Blossom Island with Ouyang Ke to arrange a marriage between his nephew and Huang Yaoshi's daughter, Huang Rong.
However Guo Jing, Huang Rong's true love, contended with Ouyang Ke for Huang Rong's hand in marriage, and had the support of his master, Northern Beggar Hong Qigong. Huang Yaoshi had to appear impartial before his peers and give both men a fair chance. After three rounds of tests between the two young men, Guo Jing won Huang Yaoshi's consent but incurred the displeasure of the Ouyangs.
During the courtship and trials, Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong butted heads and proved absolutely equal in power and skill. The fight ran through their respective repertoires--those skills they were willing to display before an onlooking Huang Yaoshi, anyway--and towards the end of it, the two were reduced to sitting on the ground and thinking of new moves to try on each other and intermittently launching attacks when they felt they had invented something worthwhile. They eventually settled on a draw, none the fonder of each other for the experience.
Trouble at Sea
Later, Zhou Botong, Hong Qigong and Guo Jing, who have been stranded at sea, are picked up by Ouyang Feng's ship. Ouyang Feng made a bet with Zhou Botong and won, and forced Zhou Botong to jump into shark-infested seas, seemingly killing him. Later, Ouyang Feng realised that Guo Jing had memorised the entire Nine Yin Manual, and he attempted to coerce Guo Jing into writing a copy for him. However, acting on Hong Qigong's suggestion, Guo Jing wrote a deliberately corrupted version of the manual for Ouyang Feng. Ouyang Feng actually believed that he has gotten what he wanted and tried to kill Guo Jing and Hong Qigong by setting fire to the ship. Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng fought on the ship as it sank. Hong Qigong was poisoned by Ouyang Feng during the fight and lost all his neigong after using it to purge the venom from his body. The now powerless Hong Qigong, accompanied by Guo Jing and Huang Rong, were at the mercy of the Ouyangs on an island none of them could escape.
Despite her repeated rejections of him, the lecherous Ouyang Ke continued to make advances on Huang Rong, each time getting rebuffed and increasingly injured. Eventually, during one of his attempts on her, Huang Rong tricked Ouyang Ke into loosening a boulder, which fell and crushed his legs. Ouyang Feng forced the three of them to look after his nephew and provide them with food. In return, he promised not to harm them as long as they are still on the island.
At one point, Ouyang Feng revealed that he is actually Ouyang Ke's biological father after having an affair with his sister-in-law. After some difficulty, Ouyang Ke is rescued from under the rock using a plan devised by the intelligent Huang Rong. They are eventually picked up by Wanyan Honglie's ship. Yang Kang, Wanyan Honlie's adopted son, secretly murders Ouyang Ke to take his place as the Western Venom's disciple.
Encounter with Seven Quanzhen Masters
Zhou Botong, still alive and now knowledgeable in the art of shark-wrangling, challenged Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng to a race. They ended up at an abandoned inn within Ox Village. There Huang Yaoshi encountered the seven Quanzhen Masters, the disciples of Wang Chongyang. The seven Taoists erroneously believed Huang Yaoshi murdered their martial uncle Zhou Botong, and attacked the Eastern Heretic as a group. Huang, despite gaining the upper hand, was unable to land decisive blows thanks to the seven's tight teamwork and coordination.
Ouyang Feng decides to step in, killing one of the Quanzhen masters with a powerful strike, concluding the fight in Huang Yaoshi's favour. Unbeknownst to Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng attempts to ambush him from behind in order to take out a potential rival. However, Mei Chaofeng steps in to take the mortal blow for her master.
Later in the novel, Ouyang Feng joined forces with Yang Kang to massacre all but one of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan (Guo Jing's masters) on Peach Blossom Island. His treachery caught up to him when the remaining six Quanzhen masters and Guo Jing arrived and joined forces to take him on using the teamwork and formation the Quanzhen Sect had devised specifically to counter him. After the scuffle, Ouyang Feng entered a small monastery and heard Yang Kang confess his murder of Ouyang Ke, which infuriated him. Yang Kang subsequently tried to kill Huang Rong--but the young woman wore spiked armor which had gotten smeared with Ouyang Feng's poison, and so Yang Kang was wounded and mortally poisoned.
Second Huashan Tournament
Ouyang Feng managed to capture Huang Rong and coerced her into explaining the secrets of the Nine Yin manual. Because Huang Rong and Guo Jing conspired to give him a reversed copy of the manual, he found it difficult to grasp the concepts initially and he remained unaware that he was deceived. By the end of the novel, Ouyang Feng became insane due to practicing the manual's skills incorrectly, but his prowess in martial arts improved tremendously. He handily defeated Guo Jing, Huang Yaoshi, and Hong Qigong at the second Mount Hua tournament. Afterwards, he stayed on on Mount Hua, trying to figure out his identity.
Return of the Condor Heroes
In the sequel, Ouyang Feng was still insane after several years and meets the young Yang Guo. Unaware that Yang Guo was Yang Kang's son, Ouyang took a liking to him and accepted as a godson. Yang Guo learned the 'Toad Stance' from him and used it on two occasions to defend against bullies, but refused to tell the truth when Guo Jing and Huang Rong ask him how he learned the skill. Ouyang Feng appeared again when Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü practiced martial arts on Mount Zhongnan. Ouyang Feng wanted to teach Yang Guo some skills but did not want Xiaolongnü to overhear him so he immobilised her. He entered a fit of insanity later and left.
Ouyang Feng appeared one last time on Mount Hua, where he met Yang Guo and Hong Qigong again. In a repeat of their battle on Peach Blossom Island during the courtship of Huang Rong, he fought Hong Qigong to a stalemate – this time for a period of four days. The fight was interrupted only by Yang Guo bringing food for the old men to eat. The animosity between the two rivals was too strong for them to make peace and they pitted their inner energies against each other for a full day--again with no winner. Both of them were pushed to exhaustion but refused to back down. They decided to use Yang Guo, who had been an observer for the past few days and was known to them both, as an intermediary. They taught him their respective skills and asked him to perform for each to see and assess the skills of the other more objectively.
Hong Qigong taught Yang Guo his 'Dog Beating Staff Technique', the secret art of the leader of the Beggars' Sect. Ouyang Feng was initially taken aback at seeing the Yang Guo perform the last and most powerful stance, 'No Dogs Under Heaven' and he initially thought he could not top it. Nevertheless, Ouyang Feng spent the following night thinking of a countermove and the next morning, he asked Yang Guo to perform his devised countermeasure for Hong Qigong's 'No Dogs Under Heaven'. Hong was shocked to see Ouyang had overcome his most powerful skill. The Beggar finally realised that there would be no eventual victor between the two of them. He laughed hysterically and embraced Ouyang Feng in resignation. At the same time, Ouyang Feng recovered from his insanity and finally recognized Hong Qigong. The two rivals died together in the midst of laughter and forgotten past feuds. Yang Guo buried them side by side on Mount Hua.
SKILLS
- TOAD STANCE --Ouyang Feng's most famous move, Toad Stance is performed by getting on all fours and building strength and power to be released in a single focused explosive move--similar to how an ungainly toad can jump swiftly and for long distances. It can be used either offensively or defensively, and involves enormous amounts of both physical and internal strength.
- INVERTED NINE YIN MANUAL -- Learned the teachings of the Nine Yin Manual, but reversed. As such, he has damaged his neigong, making him insane but without actually weakening his abilities or crippling himself, which is usually the result of incorrect neigong cultivation.
- SACRED SERPENT BOXING --A boxing style he devised and taught to his nephew Ouyang ke, Sacred Serpent involves changing the direction of a strike midway through delivery with such fluidity it makes the practitioner's arm seem to bend bonelessly. It is good skill for getting around attempts to block and defend in close combat, especially against a surprised opponent, and Ouyang Feng considered it refined enough he forbade his Ouyang Ke to use it except to save his life--he didn't want word of the technique getting out and thereby weakening its effectiveness.
- Shown to be skilled with poison of all sorts
- Trains snakes and has a hollow staff with a snake inside. He can open one end of the staff to unleash the snake
- Much like Huang Yaoshi used a jade flute to exert and attack neigong energy, Ouyang Feng used a zither for the same purpose, and a contest between them with their respective instruments came to a draw.