Xia Lin

Biodata

Power Progression

Attribute values below are listed as Strength / Constitution / Agility / Spirit.

Background / History

Xia Lin transmigrates into the body of a man with the same name. The original Xia Lin lost both parents to monsters after the catastrophe and traveled with other survivors to Iron Rain Base. He had lived there for three months and worked at the No. 3 Steel Mill when the story begins 1.

Although official paperwork describes him as a volunteer, his conscription into the Ash Zone is retaliation from a foreman he offended. Neither the original owner nor the transmigrated Xia Lin wants to face an expedition with a reported 95% mortality rate. Before he can refuse, Lord Yue forcibly controls his body and selects him as one of six expendable recruits for Li Peipei’s expedition 1.

His familiarity with web novels helps him interpret the Ash Zone’s levels, attributes, and talents. His immediate priority is survival rather than loyalty to the people who recruited him 2 8.

Appearance

Xia Lin is initially described as a handsome young man. His mutations can radically alter his body, but the monstrous changes from his first Ash Zone disappear after settlement 7 9.

• Dark Cavern mutations: Serrated teeth and three fanged mouths, each roughly 30 centimeters long, arranged across his chest and abdomen 4 7.
• Combat expression: Bloodshot eyes and a savage grin frequently accompany his fighting state 6 27 32.
• North Wind uniform: White silk training clothes bearing “North Wind” on the chest and a large “fierce” character on the back 26.
• Complete Form Lifeform: Grows to 1.9 meters, with more refined features and a lean, sharply defined muscular build 48.

Personality

Xia Lin is fiercely protective of his autonomy. Having been treated as disposable cannon fodder, he pursues enough strength to prevent anyone from placing him in that position again. He willingly risks his life for major improvements, particularly when Backstab offers permanent attribute growth 14 36.

His violence is often accompanied by mockery, theatrical gestures, and deliberate humiliation. Nevertheless, his apparent frenzy does not prevent tactical thinking: he conceals his attributes, exploits opponents’ attachments, and becomes strikingly calm when facing imminent death 7 28 47.

He distinguishes goodwill from exploitation. He thanks Duan Jun for warning him about North Wind and urges him to leave the city before the match. He also declines to betray Aoluosi Pharmaceuticals when cooperation serves his goals and their dealings have been sufficiently straightforward 30 46.

Abilities & Skills

Unstable Mutation

His personal talent begins at SS-rank and becomes an SSS-rank class talent after he changes to Indeterminate Shadow 2 9.

• Mutates unprotected skills upon acquisition and when entering an Ash Zone 9.
• Randomly mutates buffs and debuffs affecting him, potentially turning hostile effects into advantages 3 48.
• After his class change, he can reject a mutation and retain the original effect instead 9.
• Results are not reliably beneficial: proposed mutations include sudden death and transforming his legs into weapons 44 48.

Indeterminate Constant

An S-rank class talent providing three additional constant skill slots 9.

• Skills in these slots do not mutate further and cannot be observed by skills 9.
• Their contents can be changed before an Ash Zone begins or in settlement afterward 9.
• He protects Backstab, Rapid Nourishment, and A Thousand Li Apart at Parting in these slots when entering Fierce Martial City 15.

Backstab

A mutated passive limit-breaking skill that permanently increases every attribute when Xia Lin betrays a faction to which he belongs 9.

• Rewards depend on both the faction’s strength and the impact of his actions 20.
• Recognizes memberships, employment, citizenship, and even his membership in the human faction 10 12 17 35.
• Allows permanent growth beyond the normal attribute cap of ten points per Walker level 9.
• Tiny rewards accumulate until they reach a whole point; smaller fractions do not immediately affect his panel or capabilities 12.
• Membership in a martial school does not automatically make him a member of its associated consortium 33.

Rapid Nourishment

Mutated from the F-rank skill Moisturize, this active skill rapidly fattens one living target to the limit its genes can withstand 9.

• Costs 4 Spirit and has no cooldown 9.
• Makes Li Wenzhang weigh approximately 1,000 kilograms, destroying his balance and mobility 20.
• Disrupts Watanabe Munen’s mechanical body by swelling his remaining organic tissue 48.
• Can be blocked by protection against negative statuses, such as Watanabe’s Superpower Barrier 49.
• Called Rapid Proliferation during the account of his escape from Li Peipei 10.

A Thousand Li Apart at Parting

An escape skill mutated from Light and Slow Footsteps 9.

• Activates after he says goodbye to a target and waves 9.
• Instantly transports him to a location capable of accommodating him exactly 1,000 li from the target, ignoring intervening obstacles 9 10.
• Costs half his remaining Spirit, with a minimum cost of 5, and has a half-month cooldown 9.

Martial Artists Do Not Die from Gunfire

A passive mutation of Fighting Basics that greatly reduces damage from technological weapons and items 22.

• Low-powered attacks, including ordinary bullets, can cause no injury at all 23 46.
• More powerful attacks still inflict reduced damage. Xia Lin estimates the reduction at over 99%, but this is his assessment rather than a stated skill value 46.
• Also blunts technological drugs used to incapacitate him 30.
• Does not provide complete immunity: the Radiant Knight’s lasers burn his chest, and Watanabe Munen’s physical attacks seriously injure him 36 46.

East Wind Divine Fist

A passive mutation of North Wind Heavy Punch. Every punch summons an East Wind Missile to strike the point where his fist lands 22.

• Missile payload scales with the force of his punch, making Backstab’s attribute growth directly improve his offense 22 33.
• Supports repeated bombardment at close or long range 23 49.
• His missiles track Watanabe Munen during their battle 49.
• His technological damage resistance allows him to fight inside his own explosions 23.

Martial Training

Although initially inexperienced across both lives, Xia Lin learns quickly through focused practice and his enhanced physique 20 21.

• Guo Yu teaches him anatomy, vulnerable points, Sanda, and practical killing techniques 21.
• He retains learned theory and movements even after the associated skill mutates 22.
• Learns Gale Blade Leg, a growth-capable D-rank skill costing 1 Spirit, which uses blade-like kicks to release cutting gusts 44.
• Rejects its Mimicry Blade Leg mutation because physically replacing his legs with a saber and sword would compromise his body and movement 44.

Temporary Mutation Effects

Equipment / Items

• Heaven-Gifted Source Essence — Stolen from Li Peipei’s expedition and swallowed. During settlement, it generates the class reward that lets him become an Indeterminate Shadow 7 8.
• Switchblade — Used to kill Li Wenzhang after Rapid Nourishment incapacitates him 20.
• Recovery potions — Initially receives ten B-rank Rapid Healing Potions from Aoluosi. Each restores injuries, stamina, and mental energy within five seconds; he later uses a recovery injection during the Watanabe fight 41 48.
• Angel of Death Potions — Receives three A-rank doses. Each doubles attributes for half an hour, followed by six hours of halved attributes, and applies three high-risk debuffs 41.
  • During his documented use, he rejects White Angel and Sudden Death, while accepting Mental Resistance and Complete Form Lifeform. Rejecting Sudden Death retains the original Shortened Lifespan effect, described as reducing his lifespan to 100 days 48.
• Divine Might Potion — Consumed for a one-time, permanent, limit-breaking increase of 30 to every attribute 41.
• Ascension Potion — Consumed to advance directly from level 2 to level 3 41.
• Potion pouch — Worn at his waist for quick access during combat 41.

Relationships

• Li Peipei — Principal early enemy. He kills members of her expedition, steals its treasure, and escapes after humiliating her. She posts a 10,000 Ash Zone Point bounty specifying capture alive and later seeks to exploit his power 6 7 10 12 26.
• Bai Guang — Conditional ally who wants Xia Lin’s help becoming stronger. Xia Lin investigates him before accepting their partnership and accompanies him into Fierce Martial City 14.
• Guo Yu — North Wind instructor who provides Xia Lin’s first systematic combat training and considers him as Li Wenzhang’s arena replacement 20 21.
• Duan Jun — Warns him about North Wind’s possible plot. Xia Lin responds with gratitude and advises him to leave the city on match day 30.
• Kitano Yama — North Wind patron who promotes him as Explosive Bomb Fist, then conspires against him after finding him threatening and uncontrollable. Xia Lin kills him 28 35.
• Suzuki Wan — Participant in the scheme surrounding Flower Burial’s match; later killed by Xia Lin during his attack on North Wind headquarters 28 35 36.
• Aoluosi — Cooperative partner who values Xia Lin’s combat abilities and recruits him against the Suzuki Consortium 38 40 46.
• Li Zhengzai — Loses an arena bet to Xia Lin and teaches him Gale Blade Leg as payment 42 44.
• Luo Qi and Augustine — Fellow participants in Aoluosi’s operation. They leave Xia Lin to delay Watanabe Munen, with Augustine enforcing the assignment through Life-and-Death Arena 44 46.
• Watanabe Munen — Level-eight Mechanical Fighter and his opponent at the Suzuki First Research Institute. Their battle remains unresolved when the arena collapses 46 49.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Dark Cavern and Escape

• Mutated hostile effects free Xia Lin from his intended role as a controlled Flesh Bomb and give him the means to retaliate 2 3.
• He kills An Yue, overwhelms Xie Xiaotian, and uses Zhang Wen to divert Li Peipei from the Heaven-Gifted Source Essence 5 6 7.
• Li Peipei escapes through quest completion before he can stop her, exposing his ignorance of return mechanics 7.
• His settlement class change supplies the escape skill he needs. He returns to Iron Rain Base, attacks Li Peipei, and teleports away 8 9 10.

Fierce Martial City and North Wind

• Enters the S-rank Ash Zone with Bai Guang and receives a main quest to complete three Savage Martial Arena matches 14 15.
• Collects martial-school memberships to create future Backstab opportunities, then joins North Wind as his route into the arena 17 18.
• Wins his three matches against Taishan, a Rushing Thunder fighter, and Flower Burial 28 32.
• After North Wind drugs and confines him to manipulate the third match, he kills Flower Burial anyway and attacks the consortium’s leadership 30 32 33.
• Destroys the Radiant Knight and North Wind Consortium, raising his attributes above 100 and activating the Iron Curtain clearance mission 37.

Aoluosi and the Suzuki Operation

• Aoluosi conceals his survival using a clone made from his hair, allowing “Explosive Bomb Fist” to be publicly treated as dead 40.
• Xia Lin remains in the Ash Zone, accepts cooperation against Suzuki, and advances to level 3 through Aoluosi’s potions 40 41.
• Assigned to hold Watanabe Munen for ten minutes, he is sealed into a Life-and-Death Arena with him 44 46.
• Recovers from severe injuries, combines Angel of Death with beneficial mutations, and begins a stronger second phase 48.
• Their missile-filled close-quarters battle collapses the arena. Watanabe’s right electronic eye goes dark, but his death is not confirmed 49.

Notable Quotes

“But I, Xia Lin, would rather hold my fate in my own hands.” 9

“Don't rush. Next comes phase two.” 48