Ning Zheng

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Ning Zheng (宁铮)
Alias(es)	Xi Rong Manor Lord; Princess Xin E (disguise); Bone King; King of Embers; Nine Grains; Ring Esteemed Immortal 480 676 785 1169
Species/Race	Ghoul King; Calamity 1069
Affiliation	Sword Forging Manor; Xi Rong faction; Religion of No Life (Vice Cult Master) 293 480
Occupation/Role	Manor Lord, cultivator, faction leader, creator and controller of Dharma Aspect forces 678 980 1155
Spiritual Roots	Seven-colored system centered on the Human God Flower, Shadow Crocodile Grass, and Aspects of All Saints 1069

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Five Bodies Realm	23	Used magic coins and 300 luck value to stabilize a breakthrough, forming the second body in his left arm. Formed bodies are indestructible and regenerative.
Four Organs Realm — Grand Perfection	271	Reached completion of the Four Organs Realm and began accumulating the 100,000 luck value needed for the Three Origins Realm.
Three Origins Realm	273	His Neuro Shadow Poison evolved: split phantom clones could actively merge. He considered himself weak within this realm due to lacking matching techniques.
Three Origins Realm — Grand Perfection	473	Exhausted his luck value at the critical threshold and awakened as a Super Ghoul King.
Dharma Aspect — Grand Perfection	572	Established an unusual Yin-Yang circulation: his primary Dharma Aspect is Yin, while the Yang Dharma Aspect projects outward.
Transforming Self Realm	809 810	Completed the Seven-Colored Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart and entered the ten-stage Transforming Self system: Soul, Body, Fate, Yin, Yang, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
Five Tribulations Passed	869	Passed the body, soul, fate, yin, and yang tribulations; judged himself capable of Ascension to Immortality, though the Five Elements Tribulations remained.
Three Disasters and Seven Tribulations — Complete	917	Spent 50 billion luck value to perfect the Exquisite Heart of Wisdom and complete the Seven-Colored circulation.
Heavenly Immortal — Second Level	972	His divine-ability cycle strengthened the Shadow Crocodile Dharma Aspect Army into a woven-doll army with Yang entities.
True Immortal — First Level	1030	Entered the True Immortal Realm, where advancement required resources and the slow construction of a personal domain rather than enlightenment alone.
True Immortal — Third Level	1069	Supported by more than 700 Dharma Aspects in domain construction; his growth rate had begun to slow despite immense luck-value income.
True Immortal — Fifth Level	1104	Began studying Esteemed Immortal techniques in advance so he could use them immediately upon reaching that level.
True Immortal — Ninth Level	1192	Re-acclimated to ninth-level True Immortal power before departing for Earth.

Background / History

Ning Zheng obtained the Shadow Crocodile Grass after spending 30,000 luck value on a spiritual root suited to him. The formless, shadow-like grass granted him the innate divine ability Neuro Shadow Poison, establishing the clone-based and parasitic style that defined his early combat methods 18.

While Sword Forging Manor prepared for war against the crows, Ning Zheng secluded himself to break through the Five Bodies Realm. He relied on luck value to reduce the risk of failure, treating his cultivation as the manor’s primary combat preparation 23. As the manor expanded, he became increasingly involved in its political and military direction, including planning against a hidden cultivator lineage that could threaten his intended usurpation 144.

After reaching the Three Origins Realm, Ning Zheng took on the title of Vice Cult Master of the Religion of No Life and sought female ghouls to expand its strength 293. He later rose from a secluded manor cultivator to a leader selecting specialists for the sun and moon forging project, while remaining conscious that his faction’s rapid growth had left it without sufficient protectors or foundation 326.

Ning Zheng awakened as a Super Ghoul King after spending all of his available luck value to reach Three Origins Grand Perfection 473. Over the following century, Xi Rong Academy and the Sword Forging Manor became major forces, and he discovered that a monumental statue of Xi Rong was a statue of himself 479.

He infiltrated the Capital City, seized the Human race’s Chronicle of Ages in less than three seconds, and later achieved complete mastery over it with the cooperation of his first-life body 690 698. His subsequent rise was tied to the formation of a Seven-Colored spiritual-root system, a massive Dharma Aspect force, and control over increasingly powerful immortal resources 809 980 1155.

During the conflict with the Changzhen Esteemed Immortals, Ning Zheng held back forces from the Prehistoric Era to buy time for later cultivators. His principal opponent was ultimately revealed to be a future version of himself 1180 1187. On Earth, that future self confirmed that he had attained Dao in prehistoric times, co-founded the Round Table, and left behind the luck betting table as an immortal treasure against the Esteemed Immortals’ murder game 1227.

Personality

Ning Zheng is cautious, resource-focused, and intensely practical. He treats luck value as both a cultivation resource and a strategic weapon, spending it to stabilize breakthroughs, gain instant comprehension, and develop techniques that would otherwise take immense time to learn 23 917 1184.

He generally prefers indirect solutions over straightforward combat. He uses disguises, clones, possession, engineered races, hidden backdoors, and factional manipulation to avoid unnecessary risk 480 641 698. Even when his power grows overwhelming, he remains aware that divination, karma, and better-equipped opponents can still threaten him 928.

Ning Zheng is capable of genuine appreciation for competence and loyalty, but he is also willing to manipulate or forcibly control others when it serves his plans. His handling of Jiumu Qing—repeated resurrection, memory adjustment, possession, and eventual coercion into service—shows his willingness to prioritize control over consent 980 1097 1100.

Abilities & Skills

Neuro Shadow Poison

Ning Zheng’s original innate divine ability, derived from the Shadow Crocodile Grass. Each successful attack places a spiritual parasitism on the target; after ten applications, the victim undergoes a soul split that creates a temporary clone-like entity 18.

• Clones can continue attacking and stacking parasitism counts themselves, allowing the force to snowball during prolonged battles 18.
• Ning Zheng tested the ability by firing poisoned arrows into a River Monster until numerous shadows overwhelmed it 18.
• The ability is especially effective for ambushes, attrition, and creating numerical advantage from enemy losses 692 1180.
• Shadow Crocodiles are naturally adept at concealment and evasion 630.

Soul Void Splitting and Possession

Ning Zheng can split soul voids and use them to possess or control other bodies. This ability can also act as an external “brain” for the possessed body 273.

• He negotiated for control over a powerful possessed being in exchange for helping rescue its disciples 273.
• Princess Xin E became a fixed point through which he could observe and enter the Nursery more cheaply 356.
• He later possessed Jiumu Qing during her battle against Ping Cun, using her body to execute a newly developed Esteemed Immortal technique 1097.

Crocodile Blooms and Shadow Blooms

Ning Zheng acquired Heaven-grade Immortal Spiritual Root divine abilities after obtaining a Heaven-grade Human God Flower 542 544.

• Crocodile Soul Birth strengthens soul toxins, penetrates defenses, splits soul bubbles and shells, and weakens enemy consciousness 544.
• He can control and alter meridians at a level normally associated with the One Heart Realm, despite being able to perform the feat much earlier 544.
• He successfully tested meridian modification on frogs without causing them to explode 544.
• He later studied meridian diagrams and established a “Meridians and Acupoints” system for the blacksmiths 547.

Seven-Colored Spiritual Root System

Ning Zheng completed a Seven-Colored Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart linking Yin, Yang, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth 809.

• His Transforming Self system contains ten paths: Soul, Body, Fate, and the seven spiritual-root attributes 809.
• Each of the seven orifices can hold one divine ability, allowing him to cultivate multiple paths that ordinary cultivators cannot combine 809.
• His completed system gives him an exceptionally deep foundation and makes same-level opponents far easier to defeat 809 917.
• He considers himself a “Spiritual Root Illustration Collector,” recording and acquiring spiritual-root prototypes for later use 811.

Replication and Instant Comprehension

Ning Zheng can replicate divine abilities through his Aspects of All Saints system and rapidly understand techniques observed in battle 809 1180.

• His replication vault could initially store up to 72 divine-ability variations 814.
• He can use luck value to instantly study and reproduce techniques that took opponents millions of years to develop 1184.
• Changzhen Esteemed Immortal copied Ning Zheng’s replication ability and initially used it more agilely, proving that replication alone does not guarantee superiority 1180.
• Ning Zheng’s advantage lies in quickly understanding, adapting, and combining copied abilities in combat 1180 1184.

Dharma Aspect Army

Ning Zheng creates and commands Dharma Aspects, each possessing approximately half of his own combat power 932.

• His early combat strength relied heavily on Dharma Aspects because his main body avoided direct battle 288.
• By the True Immortal stage, he could control more than one hundred high-quality Dharma Aspects 932.
• He later maintained more than 700 Dharma Aspects to assist in constructing his True Immortal domain 1069.
• He upgraded 500 additional Dharma Aspects to the True Immortal level to control the Myriad Beast Esteemed Immortal 1155.
• His Shadow Crocodile force can convert enemy residual energy bubbles into further combatants during large-scale battles 1180.

Shadow Ember

Ning Zheng developed Shadow Ember as a new ember type that can root itself inside his shadow and use it as an earth vein for resurrection 980.

• His shadow effectively functions as a Netherworld-like resurrection anchor 980.
• He used embers, memory selection, and accelerated resurrection to repeatedly revive and reshape Jiumu Qing 980.
• He avoids absorbing excessive foreign memories because he fears they could alter his personality 980.

Luck Value Manipulation

Luck value is Ning Zheng’s core resource for cultivation, enlightenment, combat boosts, and risk management 23 917.

• He can spend luck value to improve breakthrough stability and reduce the chance of accidents 23.
• He can enter states of extreme enlightenment by consuming massive reserves 678 1097.
• His unusual fate makes his baseline luck value effectively zero, allowing it to rise or fall through external accumulation and expenditure 1227.
• He must suppress his destiny and avoid reckless spending, as excessive luck value can draw unwanted attention or create vulnerabilities 1007.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Chronicle of Ages — Human race divine artifact seized from the Capital City. Ning Zheng gained control in under three seconds due to his prior sacrifice to repair its core and later achieved complete mastery. He discovered it contains a backdoor 690 698.
• Yin-Yang Creation Furnace — Creation artifact used for species fusion, spiritual-root cultivation, and character creation. Ning Zheng fused it with the Life Dao Fruit and three Esteemed Immortal treasures, elevating it into an Esteemed Immortal Supreme Treasure 478 1049.
• Shadow Server — A formless black cloak-like artifact that merges into Ning Zheng’s shadow and conceals the Sword Forging Manor server from direct contact 883.
• Sun Moon Su Yu Niang — A Seven-Colored support entity Ning Zheng uses to convert the attributes of acquired divine abilities, including turning Dragon Phantom into an Earth attribute ability 809.

Relationships

• Su Yu Niang — Close collaborator and major Sword Forging Manor asset. She shares Ning Zheng’s Shadow Crocodile and Human God abilities in an enhanced form and later helps develop the Ancestor Dragon project 672 829.
• Ning Jiaojiao — Close companion and Ghoul King project. Ning Zheng plans to awaken her as a potential Ancestor Dragon using Golden Mud and a linear False Human 641.
• Jiumu Qing — Resurrected True Immortal, later Esteemed Immortal subordinate and mount. Ning Zheng repeatedly reshaped her through Shadow Ember resurrection and uses her blacksmithing skill and augmented luck value 980 1100 1121.
• Sword Fairy Maiden — Loyal member of Ning Zheng’s old Xi Rong faction. She maintained faith in his legacy during his century-long absence and offered help rebuilding the faction 480.
• Shi Youxing — Religion of No Life contact who reports on cult activities and the availability of female ghouls 293.
• Phoenix Yi — Allied divine-beast leader who offered Ning Zheng her race’s divine abilities in exchange for one future favor 829.
• Xin Xichen — Political rival and recurring strategic opponent. Ning Zheng infiltrated Xin Xichen’s Capital City defenses to seize the Chronicle of Ages 690 692.
• Myriad Beast Esteemed Immortal — Powerful entity Ning Zheng subdued with 500 True Immortal Dharma Aspects, intending to use it as a second major combat power 1155.
• Changzhen Esteemed Immortal — Future version of Ning Zheng and major opponent during the Prehistoric Era conflict. He later revealed the origins of the Round Table and the luck betting table 1187 1227.

Notable Quotes

“Only fools solved problems with their fists.” 887

“Whether I win or lose, I will stop you with my life.” 1180

“I am the interstice of time, the paradox of space, the One That Escapes Life.” 1227

Trivia

• Ning Zheng was startled to discover that the colossal hammer-wielding statue of Xi Rong outside Xi Rong Academy depicted himself 479.
• He describes himself as an enhanced or “Super” Ghoul King due to the perfection of his awakened foundation 473.
• Ning Zheng considers his style aesthetically incompatible with a classical sword immortal because his poison causes enemies to produce temporary split entities after repeated attacks 18.
• His future self’s immortal treasure, the luck betting table, is also the future self’s true form 1227.