Old Chen

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Chen Yongjie (陈永杰) 53
Alias(es)	Old Chen; Chen Life Soil; Chen Randeng; “Buzz Cut Bro” / “Brother Ping Tou” 87 90 217 218
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Secret Path Exploration Organization; Old Arts field 51 181
Occupation/Role	Leader of the Secret Path Exploration Organization; Old Arts Grandmaster and researcher 51 181
Status	Alive 364
First Appearance	Chapter 42

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Grandmaster	By Ch. 53	Qing Mu reveals that Chen had entered the Grandmaster realm at least ten years earlier, possibly fifteen; he publicly demonstrates this level at the Congling Mountains. 53
Post-Grandmaster breakthrough	67	After recovering through the Inner Scenery Realm, he breaks through to a level stronger than his Pamir Plateau peak. 67
Mist	83	Reveals that he has reached the first documented Old Arts realm beyond the conventional Grandmaster level. 83
Lantern Burning	190	Uses Lantern Burning cultivation, the Sixteen-Foot Golden Body, Bodhisattva Fist, and Mental Secret Power to kill a Life Soil-level opponent. 190
Life Soil	259	Having accumulated sufficiently in the Life Soil realm, he enters seclusion to seek another advance. 259
Herb Gathering	By Ch. 287	Has reached Herb Gathering, though he considers his time in the realm too short and has not settled on the path beyond it. 287

Background / History

Chen Yongjie returned from New Star to Old Earth and secluded himself in a thousand-year-old temple outside Ancheng, initially asking Qing Mu to conceal his return from Wang Xuan. 42 Before openly resuming his place in the Old Arts field, he worked alongside Wang Xuan at the design institute and maintained a deliberately unremarkable appearance despite his reputation. 47

In his youth, Chen forcibly practiced secret techniques from the Daoist Ancestral Court. The attempt left lasting internal-organ injuries; the Four Elders of Old Arts saved his life, but the damage made prolonged high-intensity combat dangerous. 53 55 The elders nevertheless believed that, in a more favorable era, he could have founded a school or even reached the Bodhisattva level. 51 59

He leads the Secret Path Exploration Organization, whose purpose is to locate the hidden routes of the Old Arts. His work has brought him into contact with dangerous sites, ancient relics, and unexplained phenomena; he acquired his Black Longsword during a Mysterious Contact incident thirty years earlier. 91 104 181

Appearance

Chen Yongjie is a man approaching sixty at the time of the Congling Mountains confrontation, though his cultivation and recoveries frequently restore a more vigorous appearance. 50 181

• Often wears a cold silver mask in battle. 51 53
• Commonly carries a dark, one-and-a-half-meter Black Longsword. 57 91
• Was publicly mistaken for a young close-cropped-haired man after his battle with high-grade mechs. 217
• Later considers growing his hair out to change the “Buzz Cut Bro” image. 218
• Uses silver booster wings developed by the Wu family for extreme aerial mobility. 52 57

Personality

Chen is ambitious, combative, and unwilling to accept the supposed extinction of the Old Arts. He challenges the claim that New Arts should replace Old Arts, fights vastly outnumbered opponents alone, and regards the revival of the old path as his personal responsibility. 51 52 58

He is also pragmatic rather than doctrinaire. He accepts New Arts, gene enhancement, and mecha technology as potentially valid ways to grow stronger, provided they can be incorporated into a broader path of cultivation. 49 His scholarly interest in Old Arts history informs his belief that its decline resulted from severed secret paths—such as the Inner Scenery Realm and Heavenly Medicine—rather than inherent inferiority. 82

Behind his stern public persona, Chen is a calculating “angler” who tests allies and enemies alike. He exploits his apparent death to expose opportunists, yet accepts severe personal risk when he believes it can secure resources and a future for Old Arts practitioners. 64 75 181

Abilities & Skills

Old Arts Mastery

Chen is an elite close-combat practitioner whose speed, strength, and swordsmanship allow him to contend with mechs, Gene Superhumans, and Grandmasters.

• Destroys a mecha with his bare hands and breaks an alloy sword with a finger flick. 50 54
• Can leap more than ten meters, move quickly enough to leave afterimages, and sever the six arms of a Grandmaster-level Six-armed Bodhisattva Superhuman. 53
• Defeats three New Arts Grandmasters during the Congling Mountains battle, though the exertion nearly kills him. 58 61
• Uses the Black Longsword to cleave mechs and destroy powerful treasures. 57 232
• His old internal-organ injuries worsen under sustained intense combat. 53 58

Mental Domain and Mental Secret Power

Chen formed a rare mental domain before his public return to combat, granting him advanced danger perception and supernatural mental attacks. 57

• Senses an energy-cannon ambush in advance and escapes before the blast strikes. 57
• Combines Mental Secret Power with Wang Xuan to incapacitate Life Soil-level opponents. 190
• His mental domain can be damaged or dispersed by the sword-light hazards of the Inner Scenery Realm. 65

Internal Organ Lightning

Chen can release thunderous power from within his body, a technique capable of breaking through New Arts secret methods.

• A faint lightning strike from his chest helps instantly kill a powerful New Arts expert. 53
• Uses crimson aura and thunder from his chest to counter Mo Hai’s purification beam. 55 56
• The same internal condition becomes unstable after prolonged battle, signaling the recurrence of his old injuries. 59

Buddhist Body Arts

Although wary of Buddhist fundamental cultivation, Chen studies Buddhist combat and protection techniques that suit his fighting style. 83

• Bodhisattva Fist — A top-tier fist art he believes exceeds the Great Vajra Fist and can be cultivated without worsening his internal injuries. 71
• Sixteen-Foot Golden Body — A Buddhist protective technique that cloaks him in golden radiance, resists hostile objects, and strengthens his attacks. 181 195
• Shakya True Scripture — Allows him to resonate with and claim the snow-white conch, a Buddhist artifact. 286

Old Arts Scholarship

Chen has extensively studied the development of Old Arts from the Pre-Qin Root Method through Daoist Outer and Inner Elixir Arts.

• Explains the modernly applicable sequence of Mist, Lantern Burning, Life Soil, and Herb Gathering. 82 83
• Suspects that New Arts may be a trap connected to ancient cultivators. 83
• Uses his access to ancient collections and his organization’s expeditions to seek secret paths and cultivation methods. 181 297

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Black Longsword — An ancient sword discovered after a Mysterious Contact; can repel ghosts and gods, cleave mechs, and destroy rare weapons. 91 104
• Silver booster wings — Wu family-developed thrusters that enable rapid directional changes and flight-speed attacks. 52 57
• Beast skin bag — A spatial-force treasure used to counter the Five-Colored Feather Fan and evade the Sun family’s firepower. 233 240
• Five-Colored Feather Fan — A powerful treasure replenished with Mysterious Factor for use against the Sun family. 233 240
• Snow-white conch — A Buddhist artifact compatible with his Shakya True Scripture. 286 364
• Soul Locking Bell — A spiritual weapon worn on his head for protection during the search for the Spiritual Ruins. 364
• Blue Gold Dagger — A sharp spiritual weapon carried during the mental-world expedition. 364

Relationships

• Wang Xuan — Former colleague, ally, and frequent sparring partner. Wang Xuan saves Chen from his near-fatal injuries by bringing him into the Inner Scenery Realm; Chen later supports Wang Xuan’s cultivation, battles beside him, and helps him gather secret texts. 64 181 190 297
• Qing Mu — Disciple. Qing Mu is fiercely loyal, gathers artifacts to save Chen’s life, and is deeply distressed by Chen’s apparent deaths and injuries. 49 60 75
• Female Sword Immortal — Wang Xuan introduces Chen to her as a new master in the Inner Scenery Realm. 64
• Guan Lin — Close companion who worries for Chen’s safety and celebrates his victory over the Sun family. 233 240
• Wei Feng — Chen’s eldest disciple, missing for more than ten years and believed possibly trapped in Blessed Land. 49 259
• Zhong Yong — Major Zaibatsu figure and longtime associate. Zhong sends Chen a Longevity Elixir during his critical condition and later opens his scripture collection to him. 60 201 297
• Qian An — Zaibatsu elder who offers cooperation and support while Chen seeks to avoid further conflict. 219

Story Role / Major Arcs

Congling Mountains Showdown

Chen publicly represents the Old Arts against New Arts practitioners in the Congling Mountains. He destroys mechs, defeats Gene Superhumans, cripples a Six-armed Bodhisattva Superhuman, and kills three New Arts Grandmasters, decisively challenging the claim that Old Arts has become obsolete. 50 53 58

The victory comes at the cost of a catastrophic recurrence of his old injuries. With his life force fading, he entrusts Wang Xuan with the remaining enemies and becomes the focus of a desperate effort to preserve his life. 58 59 60

Recovery and Return

Wang Xuan pulls Chen’s spiritual domain into the Inner Scenery Realm, where Chen endures repeated sword-light attacks and uses the Pre-Qin Root Method to recover. 64 65 Chen survives, breaks through, and later stages his death to identify those seeking to profit from his demise. 67 75

Rise of a Supernatural Figure

After entering the supernatural realm, Chen fights high-grade mechs, becomes a viral public figure, and works with Wang Xuan to destroy a Gray Blood organization branch. 216 217 218 He later wages open conflict against the Sun family, beheading Sun Chengming and continuing the campaign toward Kangning City. 233

Secret Realm Expeditions

Chen continues pursuing secret paths, scriptures, and supernatural artifacts with Wang Xuan. He enters the mental world in search of the Spiritual Ruins, where he is injured aiding Wang Xuan against the silver-masked opponent and later prepares to seek greater strength. 361 364

Notable Quotes

“If it were in ancient times, before the Old Arts secret path was broken, I was destined to become a patriarch, to achieve Ascension and become an immortal. What are you people?!” 58

“The most glorious era of the Old Arts’ path has not yet arrived. It’s waiting for people like you and me to rise!” 82

Trivia

• Chen’s repeated apparent deaths lead influential figures to prepare memorial services and wreaths, only for him to recover or reveal that he had staged the event. 66 75
• After being repeatedly battered by sword light in the Inner Scenery Realm, he develops such an aversion to swords that merely seeing one makes him want to vomit. 66
• His viral mech battle makes the public believe he is a young man with a buzz cut, earning him the nickname “Buzz Cut Bro.” 217 218