Zhang Ziliang

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Zhang Ziliang (张子良)
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Heavenly Group; Ghost Gate Pass
Occupation/Role	Co-founder of the Heavenly Group; former Logistics Department Minister; acting leader; strategist and organizer
Status	Revived after death, but remains paralyzed and unresponsive 647 677 1057
First Appearance	11

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Awakened ability user	72	Reveals light at his forehead and arms while confronting Su Changqing and Wen Hua; the specific abilities are not identified.
Energy cultivation	440	Has cultivated an unnamed energy for years, strengthening his body and making his flesh a potent supplement in Zhang Xiao's ghost-slave experiment.
Sword Cultivation Technique	554	Zhao Hai confirms that Zhang has cultivated the technique; its pain causes severe coughing, bleeding, and physical deterioration.
Final sword strike	645 647	Restores his youthful appearance long enough to kill the Longevity Great Emperor and unleash the remaining force against Bodhisattvas and Arhats, at the cost of his life.

Background / History

Zhang Ziliang grew up in the same village as Li Xinghe. After a ghost attack threatened their home, their teacher saved the village and left the Sword Cultivation Technique to Zhang while entrusting leadership of the Heavenly Group to Li. The two later founded the Heavenly Group to protect humanity; Zhang chose to work from the shadows through the Logistics Department rather than become its public leader. 828

He also became Zhang Xiao's adoptive brother. When the amnesiac girl asked his surname, he answered “Zhang,” and she declared that she would share it from then on. 1058

During the Era of Blood after Eternal Night, Zhang witnessed pseudo-Awakeners dying in large numbers as humanity attempted to resist ghosts. The experience shaped his belief that survival sometimes demanded brutal, high-cost choices. 218

As the Heavenly Group expanded, Zhang developed a reputation for ruthlessness. He dismissed personnel connected to suspected Buddha Clan spies despite the possibility that some were innocent, and later eliminated members of the group for efficiency, earning widespread condemnation. 92 829

Appearance

Zhang is usually presented as an aging, composed administrator whose calm exterior conceals exhaustion and worsening injuries. During his final battle, the Sword Cultivation Technique temporarily restores him to the appearance of the youth he once was. 624 645 647

• Keeps information carved into his own torso, using scars to supplement the records in his hidden planning room. 306
• Frequently smokes while working or planning. 439 497
• Relies on a wheelchair and cane after his health deteriorates. 612 624
• His condition after resurrection is that of a living body without clear intelligence; he is later described as paralyzed and unresponsive. 677 1057

Personality

Zhang is an exceptionally far-sighted strategist who treats information as a weapon. He keeps extensive dossiers on ability users, maps out factions and contingencies in secret, and even records vital details on his body so they cannot be lost. 306 560 He considers broad political consequences rather than merely winning an immediate confrontation, making him the Heavenly Group's principal planner. 497 500

He is also theatrical, shameless, and highly transactional. Zhang routinely feigns misery to obtain supplies, bargains aggressively for Wang Ye's resources, and uses emotional performances even when those around him can plainly see through them. 204 312 607 His humor and habit of calling Wang Ye “Brother Wang” coexist with a willingness to threaten, manipulate, or sacrifice others for his plans. 203 531

Despite his reputation, Zhang does not treat sacrifice lightly. He distributes resources to the families of those who died under his command, regrets the lives spent for his strategies, and ultimately rejects an efficient plan to abandon most of the Heavenly Group because the human cost is too great. 531 554 He sees himself as a devil suited to bearing humanity's hatred so that others can inherit a safer future. 553

Abilities & Skills

Sword Cultivation Technique

Zhang's inherited technique is his ultimate combat method. Its power comes with extreme pain and consumes his life force.

• Temporarily restored his youth before his final attack. 645
• Produced a sword strike capable of killing the Longevity Great Emperor and devastating nearby Bodhisattvas and Arhats. 647
• Could connect with heaven and earth and alter the Human Race's destiny. 651
• Its use severely damaged his body and ultimately led to his death. 554 647

Awakened Energy

Zhang possesses an unnamed awakened power and a cultivated energy that has strengthened his body over time.

• His forehead and arms emit light when he releases pressure. 72
• His cultivated flesh was used as a crucial component in the creation of Yang Chen's ghost-slave form. 440
• The exact nature and limits of his awakened abilities remain unrevealed.

Strategy and Intelligence Work

Zhang's greatest strength is planning around stronger opponents rather than confronting them directly.

• Built hidden contingency maps linking the Underworld, Buddha Kingdom, Daoist forces, and Li Xinghe. 306
• Uses factional distrust—especially between the Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain—to turn larger powers against one another. 497
• Secretly observed and catalogued ability users for more than a year before assembling a heavily equipped Ghost Gate Pass squad. 316
• Designed selection processes that judge courage, morality, intelligence, and adaptability rather than raw strength alone. 229 560

Supernatural Investigation

When stripped of abilities during Wang Ye's assessment illusion, Zhang remains highly capable at identifying ghost rules and surviving through observation.

• Deduced that a ghost used blood as its killing medium and avoided contaminated surfaces. 563
• Used a dagger to temporarily fend off a hair ghost while facing multiple supernatural threats. 571
• Deliberately lured pursuing ghosts away from other survivors and escaped through improvised routes. 575

Equipment / Items

• Personnel dossiers — Detailed records evaluating Heavenly Group ability users' personalities, intelligence, and reactions. 560
• Hidden planning room — A concealed room containing faction maps and written contingencies, supplemented by information scarred onto Zhang's body. 306
• Paintings — Zhang's most treasured possessions; he carefully painted portraits of Wang Ye and Li Xinghe and stored them in a safe. 591
• Wheelchair and cane — Used during the Third Awakening crisis as his health declines. 612 624

Relationships

• Wang Ye — Recruit, business partner, and eventual trusted ally. Zhang promoted and invested heavily in Wang Ye, while Wang Ye repeatedly sees through his manipulations; their partnership later centers on preparing Ghost Gate Pass and humanity for larger threats. 26 342 607
• Li Xinghe — Childhood companion, co-founder of the Heavenly Group, and closest longtime ally. Their teacher assigned Li public leadership and Zhang the Sword Cultivation Technique; Li later carries Zhang's body back to Shangjing. 647 828
• Zhang Xiao — Adoptive younger sister and researcher. Her experiments helped create Yang Chen's ghost-slave body, and she silently supports Zhang when he leaves behind his former life for his mission. 440 583 826
• Yang Chen — Former subordinate and bodyguard. After Yang's death, Zhang used his own flesh and Zhang Xiao's research to preserve part of Yang's consciousness in a ghost-slave body. 439 440
• Zhao Hai / Li Changgeng — Fellow strategist and uneasy collaborator. Their shared cunning creates mutual respect, frequent threats, and a rivalry over how the Heavenly Group should be led. 531 554 626
• Zhang Ziliang's teacher — The unnamed teacher who saved Zhang's village from ghosts, gave him the Sword Cultivation Technique, and helped set the Heavenly Group's future in motion. 828

Story Role / Major Arcs

Recruitment of Wang Ye

Zhang identifies Wang Ye's potential early, assigns him responsibility for Zhou Han, grants him classified resources, and promotes him to Team 2 Leader after witnessing his abilities. 11 26 He continues increasing Wang Ye's resource allocation after Wang defeats King Kong without using his superpower. 48

Acting Leader and Ghost Gate Pass

After becoming acting leader, Zhang publicly becomes a reviled tyrant while secretly directing the development of Ghost Gate Pass. He oversees the rapid construction of walls, a hospital, an investigation bureau, and a railway, then builds an ability-user force under the guise of ordinary administration. 231 316

War Against Major Factions

Facing the Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain, Zhang plans to exploit their lack of unity rather than meet them directly. He conceals the Dare-to-Die Squad until they can sacrifice themselves as blood swords, killing two of the Four Great Heavenly Kings and crippling the other two. 497 541 542

Final Sacrifice

During the battle for Shangjing, Zhang declares humanity's spirit greater than the authority of “deities,” triggering a change in the world's rules. 644 He then uses his final sword strike to kill the Longevity Great Emperor, destroy remaining hostile energy, and secure peace for Shangjing at the cost of his own life. 647

Resurrection and Legacy

Wang Ye later restores Zhang's body with Merit Pool water and a magical flower, but cannot restore his mind. 677 Zhang's legacy nevertheless shapes Zhao Hai, Wang Ye, and the Heavenly Group; his sword strike also breaks a limitation on humanity's ability to awaken. 718 720

Notable Quotes

“Now... I truly have the confidence to scheme against all the heavens.” 306

“What I'm truly good at... is using the weak to overcome the strong.” 541

“The Human Race's strength lies in their unquenchable spirit, not power.” 644

“Cool, right?” 647

Trivia

• Zhang's childhood ambition was to become a great painter and paint the world's mountains and rivers. 647
• He considered the portraits he painted of Wang Ye and Li Xinghe among his most cherished possessions. 591
• He lived in a plain, dust-covered bungalow at Ghost Gate Pass and often slept in his office rather than at home. 582
• A child who drew his portrait after the war initially recognized him as “that big bad guy Zhang Ziliang”; Wang Ye corrected her, calling him a great hero. 1057