Kuang Cheng

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Kuang Cheng (匡诚)
Alias(es)	Scholar Kuang; Young Master Kuang; Bu Qi 18 134 228
Species/Race	Human; a mortal with no cultivation 89 401
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Great Xia government; Immortal Affairs Supervision Bureau; Wulü Merchant Guild 134 150 257
Occupation/Role	Imperial Examination top scholar; Secretary in the Ministry of Revenue; Director of the Reception Office at the Immortal Affairs Supervision Bureau 26 150
Status	Imprisoned with Mu Jing after refusing to endorse the imperial family’s plan to sacrifice civilians for political change 430
First Appearance	Chapter 4

Background

Kuang Cheng was known throughout Yuyang County as a gentleman of strong principles. When the Qiu family faced Fengxian Mountain Villa, he urged Ji You to seek Fang Ruoyao’s intervention, then personally swallowed his pride to ask her for help. Fang refused, leaving Kuang Cheng unable to do more despite his conviction that the Qiu family deserved aid 4 5 8.

As the Kuang family’s only heir, he pursued the Imperial Examination because attaining fourth rank would grant one of his immediate relatives or descendants the right to cultivate. He regarded official success as the family’s path out of commoner status 11 13. He later became the Imperial Examination’s top scholar and entered government service 26.

His official career advanced quickly amid vacancies in the Pro-Immortal Faction. He was transferred to the Immortal Affairs Supervision Bureau’s Reception Division to handle human–Demon Race trade, and later served concurrently as a Ministry of Revenue secretary and Director of the Reception Office 99 134 150.

Personality

Kuang Cheng is principled, compassionate, and unwilling to ignore suffering merely because he lacks the power to resolve it. His attempts to protect the Qiu family, feed refugees, investigate missing children, and distribute winter relief all stem from this sense of duty 5 86 90 251.

He is also cautious in personal matters. Although he and Wei Rui grow close, he avoids compromising her reputation and withholds dangerous information about Fengzhou’s rogue cultivators from her 206. His caution does not overcome his curiosity or moral resolve: even after being warned that the Evil Seed and child-trafficking investigations were beyond a mortal’s ability to handle, he continued following the evidence 258 401.

Kuang Cheng can be unexpectedly blunt or mischievous around Ji You. He absorbs Ji You’s cynical advice on power and romance, offers increasingly outrageous relationship strategies, and writes an overly flattering biography of his friend 32 153 203.

Skills & Expertise

Scholarship and Civil Administration

Kuang Cheng’s scholarly background earned him first place in the Imperial Examination and enabled his rapid rise through Great Xia’s bureaucracy 18 19 26.

• Understands the Imperial Examination system, official ranks, and the legal restrictions governing cultivation opportunities 11.
• Handles diplomatic and trade-related work between humans and the Demon Race through the Immortal Affairs Supervision Bureau 134.
• Maintains Fengzhou’s accounts and oversees practical matters including harvests, markets, ranch construction, and land reclamation 257 278.

Investigation

Kuang Cheng is persistent at connecting overlooked evidence, particularly in cases involving civilians harmed by cultivators or officials.

• Questioned Qing Wa about a beast-bone pendant and uncovered testimony of numerous carriages outside the child’s former village, creating a lead in the missing-infants case 90.
• Investigated the abnormal appearance of Evil Seeds with Mu Jing and marked reported sightings across the Nine Prefectures 252 257.
• Recognized that ledgers buried in his courtyard might record the transport of children rather than grain, then sought Bureau records to identify those responsible 401.
• Limitation: He is a mortal; both Mu Jing and Ji You warn that investigations involving powerful officials, the Heavenly Dao, or Immortal Sects can place him in mortal danger 258 401.

Relief and Development Work

Kuang Cheng applies government administration to improving conditions for common people.

• Helped establish the Wulü Merchant Guild after Fengzhou’s autumn harvest, using surplus grain to provide relief across the other eight prefectures and recruit workers for Fengzhou 257.
• Managed relief-grain distribution through the Nine Provinces, helping impoverished communities survive the winter 251.
• Assisted with Fengzhou’s agricultural expansion, ranch construction, market consolidation, and harvest administration while Ji You was absent 252 257 275.

Relationships

• Ji You — Close friend and sworn brother. Kuang Cheng supported Ji You during his cultivation backlash, trusts his abilities, assists with Fengzhou’s administration, and receives confidential information about Ji You’s actions against threats to civilians 10 190 257 275.
• Wei Rui — Romantic interest. They aid refugees and visit orphanages together; Kuang Cheng remains careful to protect her reputation despite their mutual affection 86 167 206 251.
• Mu Jing — Friend and fellow official at the Immortal Affairs Supervision Bureau. They jointly investigate Evil Seeds and the suspicious ledgers, eventually being imprisoned together 252 401 430.
• Fang Ruoming — Longtime acquaintance whom Kuang Cheng initially respects as a reasonable man and fellow student of Master Chen. Their relationship fractures when Kuang Cheng rejects Fang Ruoming’s willingness to sacrifice innocent people for a new order 228 430.
• Qiu family — Kuang Cheng advocated for them during their conflict with Fengxian Mountain Villa, despite having no personal obligation to do so 4 5.
• Yan Shuyi — Cooperates indirectly with her disaster-relief efforts through Wei Rui and her attendants, briefing her on Ji You’s work among disaster victims 284 285.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Qiu Family Crisis

Kuang Cheng first becomes involved in the Qiu family’s plight in Yuyang County. He identifies Fang Ruoyao’s Celestial Academy connection as their best chance of intervention, personally petitions her, and is disillusioned by her refusal 4 5. He initially mistakes Ji You’s isolation for cowardice, but later realizes that Ji You had pursued a far more decisive path to protect Qiu Ru and other dying children 8 10.

Scholar to Official

Driven by the Kuang family’s hope of gaining a legal cultivation opportunity, Kuang Cheng travels to Shengjing for the Imperial Examination. He succeeds as top scholar, enters the bureaucracy, and is eventually assigned to the Immortal Affairs Supervision Bureau’s Reception Division 11 18 26 134.

Refugee Relief and Missing-Children Investigation

Kuang Cheng helps care for plague-stricken refugees and witnesses Yuan Chen’s pill-based cures firsthand 86 89. His conversation with Qing Wa uncovers evidence of mass carriage transport near a village where children had vanished, drawing him into the larger mystery of missing infants and ancient ruins 90.

Fengzhou Development

After Ji You establishes himself in Fengzhou, Kuang Cheng becomes a key administrator of the region’s practical affairs. He helps expand agriculture, manages harvests, organizes the Wulü Merchant Guild, distributes relief grain, develops ranches, and coordinates labor and markets 171 251 257 275.

Evil Seeds and the Buried Ledgers

Kuang Cheng and Mu Jing investigate the renewed spread of Evil Seeds, suspecting that their unexplained appearance may connect to earlier anomalies and missing children 252 257. The discovery of ledgers buried in Kuang Cheng’s courtyard convinces him that Vice Minister Wang may have used tax shipments to transport children to unknown buyers 401.

His pursuit of the truth leads him to learn that the children had been taken to the imperial palace and altered with opportunities from the ancient ruins. He returns to warn Mu Jing, but He Jingyuan captures him before he can prevent further investigation 430.

Imprisonment

In captivity, Kuang Cheng refuses to join He Jingyuan and Fang Ruoming’s plan to use the fortune of the entire clan against the Immortal Sects, even after they frame it as necessary to end oppression. He rejects the sacrifice of innocents and challenges Fang Ruoming to accept responsibility for the bloodshed he intends to cause 430.

Notable Quotes

“A gentleman judges deeds, not hearts, because deeds are all I can see. How am I supposed to see your heart?” 430

“How the world should be is not for you to decide.” 430

“Then once the new world you speak of has been built, will people like you pay for the grievous karma you have committed with your lives?” 430

Trivia

• Kuang Cheng wrote a biography of Ji You so flattering that Ji You asked him not to show it to anyone 203.
• He bought Ji You a dagger for five taels before the northern expedition 168.
• He once secretly promoted Ji You’s reputation among the Demon Race by writing and distributing storybooks about Ji You’s deeds in Fengzhou 386.