Jiang Yiming

Biodata

Power Progression

Jiang Yiming’s personal cultivation and the ranks of his Gu are separate. His documented advancements include both:

Background and History

Early Life and Factory Work

Jiang Yiming never knew his parents and was raised by his grandparents in the mountains. After graduating from high school at eighteen, he could not afford further education and left home to support his family. He found work at a family-run pork-processing plant, where employees regularly bullied him 1.

He earned over 4,000 yuan per month and sent 2,000 home, while paying 500 yuan in rent. Fatty Hu deliberately caused the arm injury that left him unable to work; the factory offered no workplace-injury compensation 2 20.

System Awakening and Extermination Business

While recovering in his inexpensive, pest-infested apartment, Jiang Yiming activated the Gu Rearing System. He discovered that its spatial box could turn eligible venomous creatures into Gu and place them under his mental control 1.

His Gu’s enormous appetite pushed him to monetize their pest-hunting abilities. He first charged his neighbor Sun Qin forty yuan to clear her cockroaches, then expanded into household jobs and advertised a 150-yuan service. Sun Qin also introduced him to her employer, whose attempt to exploit a cockroach-free guarantee failed when Jiang secretly removed the insects planted in the restaurant 2 3 4 14.

The Former Mall Owner and the Gold-Shop Fight

Jiang Yiming used Void Spiderweb to catch a man falling outside Rainbow Shopping Mall. The man explained that Tu Ming had taken his business and that his wife had died of grief. Although Jiang called emergency services, the man had also swallowed poison and subsequently died 7 8.

The bank card entrusted to Jiang contained 1.2 million yuan. Uncomfortable accepting such a large sum without repayment, he covered the man’s hospital and funeral expenses and vowed to avenge him once he became stronger 8.

While buying gold to unlock the System Store, Jiang encountered a fraudulent jewelry shop. He retaliated by using the system to collect 4,100 grams of genuine gold from its stock. When the shop’s enforcers attacked him, he killed two with Gu venom. These first killings left him nauseated and distressed after returning home 9 10 11.

Recovering the Dragon Scale Cup

Jiang returned to the factory to retrieve the Dragon Scale Cup, the keepsake his parents had left him. Finding his locker looted, he confronted Fatty Hu, defeated his helpers with concealed Gu attacks, and left Red Tail and Ghost Face to monitor him 20 21.

After recovering the cup from Fatty Hu’s office, Jiang recorded workers replacing diseased pork with certified meat to evade inspection. The evidence helped expose the scheme, leading to arrests and the factory’s closure. He also used the stored meat to feed his growing Gu collection 23 25 27.

Encounters with Yulan and Lu Yan

Jiang cautiously concealed his abilities when he met Yulan, another Gu Master. Their first fight exposed his poor martial fundamentals and inefficient use of Gu Essence. He escaped, adapted to his enhanced agility, and later washed away the butterfly pollen she used to track him 29 30 32 34.

When Yulan requested rescue and offered at least a million yuan, he followed her location to Tu Ming’s villa. He severed Tu Ming’s wrist and transferred Gu Essence to Yulan so she could break her restraint. She then revealed that she had deliberately allowed herself to be captured to draw Jiang out 36 37 38.

Lu Yan’s transformation through the Eight-Tailed Earthworm forced Jiang into a much more dangerous fight. He protected the exhausted Yulan, borrowed his golden toad’s motion-sensitive vision, and sacrificed hundreds of Primordial Gu during the confrontation. Afterward, he kept a possible rune stone found in the villa 40 41 43 44.

Sunless Mountain and the Gu World’s Rules

Yulan paid Jiang the promised money but also secretly dosed him with poison intended to test his will. He survived, rejected her plan to take him to Fallen Flower Village, and began a ten-day search of Sunless Mountain before his intended departure from Qiuyang City 45 46.

He continued raiding Rainbow Shopping Mall to feed his Gu and impose losses on Tu Ming. During one raid, Chrysanthemum Hall assassins ambushed him with firearms. Jiang escaped their gunfire and killed the five subordinates, but Yulan intervened before he could finish their leader. The leader then fired at both of them despite her protection 46 48 49.

Yulan subsequently warned that Elder Shen, Qiuyang City’s Gu Warden, had taken an interest in him. Jiang again refused to submit to village testing. They agreed to fight on Sunless Mountain’s summit in one week, with the winner deciding whether he would accompany her 50.

Appearance

• Build: Lean and physically fit from heavy labor in the mountains 20.
• Concealment: Uses a mask and sunglasses while hiding his identity during his early encounters with Yulan 33 44.
• Combat equipment: His blackish-purple Snake Scale Gauntlets cover his hands and forearms up to the elbows 47.

Personality

Jiang Yiming is frugal and intensely conscious of money, largely because of his family obligations and the cost of raising Gu. He buys cheap meat in bulk, economizes on his phone, and initially treats romantic distractions as obstacles to earning. Despite this, he carefully completes extermination jobs regardless of how much individual customers pay 2 3 7 12.

He dislikes owing favors and connects repayment with responsibility. His decision to avenge the former mall owner follows his discomfort over accepting the man’s money, while his willingness to help strangers includes calling emergency services when he cannot save someone himself 7 8.

His caution coexists with pride and stubborn independence. He hides his system’s secrets and investigates unfamiliar Gu Masters before trusting them, but refuses to accept humiliation for work or let the Gu World decide whether he deserves to cultivate. His refusal of formal testing also reflects a private fear that he might not pass without assistance 4 29 44 46.

His attitude toward violence hardens with experience. Initially shaken by killing attackers, he later argues that a professional killer should accept the possibility of being killed. He prioritizes survival when purchasing equipment and techniques, favoring defense over a straightforward strength increase 11 47 49.

Abilities and Skills

Gu Rearing System

• Capture and conversion: Eligible venomous creatures personally discovered by Jiang can be stored and immediately converted into Gu 1 14.
• Primordial types: Limited to spiders, centipedes, toads, scorpions, and snakes 3.
• Capture restrictions: Previously captured and captive-bred creatures are ineligible; buying venomous animals does not bypass these restrictions 14.
• Absolute obedience: System-raised Gu follow mental commands without hesitation and can protect him automatically when he loses focus 3 32 44.
• Concealed storage: His spatial treasures keep Gu outside his qi sea, reducing his detectable Gu aura and allowing summons without an essence channel 30 31.

Gu Refinement

• Method: Places five suitable Gu into the Gu Refining Plate, where they fight before the survivor attempts fusion 11 12.
• Failure returns: Failed attempts yield Gu Refining Points and Gu Essential Essence, providing resources for purchases and personal cultivation 12.
• Low success rate: His early failure rate exceeds 95% 26.
• Stronger results: His method refines Gu from creatures already transformed into Gu, producing stronger Yellow-Rank specimens than ordinary insect-based refinement 33.
• Mystic-Tier requirement: Yellow-Rank Gu must reach Late Stage before they can be used for the next refinement 48.

Essence Absorption and Qi Intake Art

• Converts stored Gu Essential Essence into Jiang’s own Gu Essence 25 27.
• Improves strength and speed while nourishing his meridians; cultivation can restore energy in place of sleep 27 28.
• His early combat use is inefficient: most of his reserves remain unmobilized during attacks 27.
• Second Grade remains a future goal; he must first completely fill his sea of qi with liquid Gu Essence 47.

Identify Gu at a Glance

• Reveals a Gu’s type, rank, and skills, including unfamiliar specimens such as Yulan’s Dual-Sound Cicada and Five-Colored Butterfly 4 31 34.

Void Spiderweb

• Creates an invisible circular web approximately two meters across, which only Jiang can sense 6.
• Can restrain targets, pin objects, catch a falling person, and block an ice arrow 6 7 32.
• Its reverse thrust can provide an extra lift during a jump 20.
• Cannot guarantee complete protection: Lu Yan strikes Jiang through its deployment and is restrained for only a few seconds 41.

Ten Thousand Gu Communication

• Shares a Gu’s sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste; Jiang successfully tests it on Red Tail and Ghost Face simultaneously 36.
• Has a tested range of 2,000 meters with his current Gu Essence 36.
• Allows him to borrow the golden toad’s motion-sensitive vision when his own eyes cannot follow Lu Yan 40 41.
• Can be upgraded for 100,000 Gu Refining Points; the upgrade’s effects are not established 36.

Movement and Combat

• Enhanced agility: After adapting to ten Agility Pills, he exceeds thirty meters per second in a short sprint 32 34.
• Moon-Treading Footwork: Purchased for 1,000 Gu Refining Points and used alongside the golden toad’s senses to evade gunfire 47 48.
• Weak fundamentals: His early fighting relies on street-fighting moves rather than trained techniques. Yulan readily exploits this gap 32 40.

Notable Gu

Equipment and Items

• Gu Rearing Box — Spatial storage and rearing treasure, initially ten cubic meters and later expanded to fifty cubic meters 1 47.
• Gu Refining Plate — Conducts five-Gu refinement and balances participants’ strength. A completed refined Gu cannot simply be returned to the plate for storage 11 12 26.
• Yellow Gu Lotus Platforms — Spatial cultivation sites required for his Yellow-Rank Gu to cultivate independently 13 26.
• Dragon Scale Cup — Keepsake left by his parents. His grandmother claims regularly drinking from it will eventually reveal their whereabouts; Jiang remains skeptical but continues using it 20 33 36.
• Human-Gu Connection Water — Enables shared vision within fifty meters after application. Superseded by Ten Thousand Gu Communication, leaving half a bottle unused 36.
• Snake Scale Gauntlets — Flexible, elbow-length armor with retractable venomous fangs and strong resistance to fire and corrosion; cost 500 Gu Refining Points 47.
• Possible rune stone — Black stone recovered from Lu Yan’s villa in a box containing a receipt for 2.5 million yuan. Yulan identifies it as potentially containing a rune, but its nature remains unconfirmed 43.

Relationships

• Grandparents — Raised him; he sends money home to ease their financial burden. His grandmother preserves the account of the Dragon Scale Cup’s connection to his parents 1 2 20.
• Parents — Never met by Jiang. Their Dragon Scale Cup is both a cherished keepsake and a possible clue to their whereabouts 1 20.
• Sun Qin — Neighbor and early customer who helps him obtain restaurant work. He recovers her withheld wages, and her account of Xiangxi’s Gu traditions gives him a reason to travel there 2 4 16.
• Yulan — Rival, ally, and source of information about the Gu World. She admires his potential but repeatedly tries to make him obtain formal recognition; their dispute leads to an agreed rematch 32 43 44 46 50.
• Former Rainbow Shopping Mall owner — Stranger Jiang tries to save. Accepting his remaining money prompts Jiang’s vow of revenge against Tu Ming 7 8.
• Tu Ming — Revenge target whose mall Jiang repeatedly raids; Jiang also severs his wrist while rescuing Yulan 8 27 37 46.
• Fatty Hu — Abusive workshop director responsible for Jiang’s injury and the theft of his cup. Jiang exposes the factory’s diseased-pork scheme 20 21 23 25.
• Old Liu — Mysterious elderly servant Jiang meets near a peach orchard; his extraordinary movement introduces Jiang to abilities beyond his own experience 17.
• Elder Shen — Qiuyang City’s Gu Warden, whose interest in Jiang is relayed through Yulan. No direct meeting is documented 50.

Notable Quotes

“Women will only slow down the speed at which I make money.” 7

“With a success rate this low, how is this Gu refining? It’s clearly refining me!” 12

“I decide for myself whether I’m qualified to raise Gu. I don’t need anyone else to test me!” 46