Yun Zihai

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Yun Zihai (云自海)
Alias(es)	Lord Yun; formerly addressed as Prince Yun 277
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Azure Cloud Academy; Great Chu Kingdom; formerly the Yun Family 87 88
Occupation/Role	Scholar cultivator; imperial investigator; former Prefect of Yunlai Prefecture with autonomous governing authority; king of a different surname 88 100 178
Status	Alive; dedicating himself to divine-soul cultivation to contain the doors within his mind 313
First Appearance	Chapter 84

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Fifth Rank Scholar	108	Managed Yunlai Prefecture’s affairs while maintaining Fifth-Rank scholar cultivation.
Transcendence Realm, Rank One	182 231	Forced a breakthrough despite his congenital deficiency and nearly died; the Dean of Azure Cloud Academy saved him.
Extraordinary Realm	226	Became an Extraordinary expert after recovering at Azure Cloud Academy; his once-frail body emerged dramatically strengthened.

Background

Yun Zihai was born prematurely with a congenital physical deficiency that left him pale, sickly, and endangered whenever he attempted a major breakthrough. 182 231

Originally a member of the Yun Family, he abandoned martial arts to pursue scholarship and was expelled for it. After becoming a prized Azure Cloud Academy disciple, the family attempted to reclaim him, but he refused. 87 A prince later attempted to force Yun Zihai into service by targeting his family; when the prince’s actions led to the deaths of Yun Zihai’s relatives, Yun Zihai personally killed him rather than following legal procedure. 84

The Chu Emperor nevertheless recognized his abilities and secretly dispatched him to Sheng County to investigate the Eighth Prince’s death and the involvement of heretics and fiends. Yun Zihai openly professed allegiance only to the Emperor, treating the Sixth Prince with contempt. 88

Appearance

Yun Zihai initially appeared as a pale, frail scholar whose weak constitution was immediately apparent. Following his recovery and body-strengthening training at Azure Cloud Academy, his physique became notably muscular and robust. 84 183 226

• Pale complexion and frequent coughing during his early appearances. 84 108
• Long hair, ordinarily secured with a hairpin. 95
• Carries a scholar’s brush and book in combat. 88 101
• Later trains by handling enormous iron or stone spheres, despite his scholarly bearing. 183 276

Personality

Yun Zihai is principled, intelligent, and deeply committed to public service. Even while conducting a secret imperial mission in Sheng County, he handled practical matters for local residents, earning their affection and respect. 100 As Prefect of Yunlai Prefecture, he treated governance as a personal duty rather than merely an office, deliberately taking on extensive work to improve the region. 108 110

He is a capable strategist who can quickly assess political schemes, use himself as bait, and coordinate allies against threats. 87 116 117 Although usually calm and courteous, he can become sharply confrontational when officials or envoys disregard the law within his jurisdiction. 108

His greatest fear is becoming a danger to the people he has devoted his life to serving. Upon learning that the doors in his soul could become a springboard for invasions from countless worlds, he was devastated by the possibility of being remembered as a sinner. 279

Abilities & Skills

Scholar Cultivation and Righteous Qi

Yun Zihai converts Divine Essence into Righteous Qi, using a brush, written characters, books, and animated pages as his primary combat tools. 106

• Writes characters such as Suppress to immobilize opponents and Kill to attack them. 85 88
• Commands pages to intercept concealed weapons, form barriers, and protect himself from close-range assaults. 85 115
• Uses written marks to determine whether barriers have been breached. 91
• His frail body remains a weakness when enemies force him into prolonged close combat. 115

Talent Qi Transformation Curtain

An Azure Cloud Academy fifth-rank ultimate art that turns Righteous-Qi-guided pages into walls described as bronze and iron, sealing an entire area. 118

• Enclosed the Yunlai Prefecture Office against more than thirty attackers. 118
• Prevents outside forces from entering once formed. 118
• Requires the user’s full concentration; it collapses if Yun Zihai is distracted. 118

Forced Righteous-Qi Sword

When his allies were endangered by the mud man, Yun Zihai was prepared to form a sword from Righteous Qi and forcibly raise his realm at the cost of his life. 95

• Combined pages, brush, and blood into a massive Righteous-Qi construct. 95
• Demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice himself to protect others. 95

Divine-Soul Cultivation

After discovering that countless doors to other worlds existed within his mind, Yun Zihai shifted his focus away from improving his conventional cultivation and toward strengthening his divine soul. 284 313

• Can enter his own soul and make limited contact with the doors. 294
• Must maintain sufficient soul strength to keep the doors closed and prevent entities from emerging. 313
• His soul was once suppressed by the worlds within him; Xu Bai strengthened it enough for Yun Zihai to resist them temporarily. 284

Body-Strengthening Training

Following his near-fatal Transcendence breakthrough, Yun Zihai trained with a revised body-strengthening method under the Dean’s supervision. 183

• Developed enough physical strength to manipulate enormous iron and stone spheres. 183 276
• His recovery transformed him from a frail scholar into an unusually muscular Extraordinary expert. 226

Equipment

• Scholar’s brush — His principal casting tool for inscribing characters and directing Righteous Qi. 88 95
• Book — Produces and commands the pages used in his scholar arts. 88 101
• Azure Cloud Academy treasure brush — A valuable academy item used while confronting the Mirror Dead. 101

Relationships

• Xu Bai — Close friend, ally, and frequent investigative partner. Xu Bai repeatedly protects Yun Zihai in combat and later saves his soul from suppression by the countless worlds. 87 88 279 284
• Chu Emperor — The sovereign Yun Zihai serves directly. The Emperor entrusted him with secret investigations, autonomous authority over Yunlai Prefecture, and later a kingly enfeoffment. 88 100 178
• Yun Family — His former family and sectarian affiliation. They expelled him for abandoning martial arts, then attempted to take him back after his rise at Azure Cloud Academy. 87
• Dean of Azure Cloud Academy — Senior scholar who saved Yun Zihai after his dangerous Transcendence breakthrough and oversaw his recovery. 182 183 231
• Liu Xu — Junior fellow disciple who refers to Yun Zihai as Senior Brother and understands the dangers posed by his congenital deficiency. 231
• Liu Qingfeng — Ally who guards Yun Zihai while he enters his soul to investigate the doors. 294

Story Role / Major Arcs

Sheng County Investigation

Yun Zihai first encounters Xu Bai while concealing his imperial mission. After revealing that the Emperor sent him to investigate the Eighth Prince’s case, he forms a mutually beneficial partnership with Xu Bai, promising cultivation manuals and rewards in exchange for assistance. 84 88

He investigates the Sixth Prince’s schemes, withstands repeated assassination attempts, and works with Xu Bai to trace Thousand-Faced Poison Lord and the Ghost Sculptor’s clues. 87 89 90 91

Rising Dusk King Mausoleum

Yun Zihai joins Xu Bai, Qing Xue, and Zhou Qing in exploring the Rising Dusk King’s mausoleum. During the expedition, he risks his life to protect his companions and identifies the Eighth Prince among the revived soldier figurines. 95 96

Governance of Yunlai Prefecture

The Emperor grants Yun Zihai unprecedented autonomous authority over Yunlai Prefecture. He and Xu Bai relocate there, where Yun Zihai investigates the Mirror Dead massacre, the Ye Family, the Chen Family, and the Dark Building’s hidden network. 99 100 104 110

As the Dark Building makes Yun Zihai’s death central to its plans, he uses Talent Qi Transformation Curtain to defend the Prefectural Office and works with Xu Bai to expose the conspiracy. 116 118 119

Kingly Enfeoffment and Recovery

Yun Zihai’s autonomous prefectural administration becomes an experiment for the Emperor’s later enfeoffment policy. He is subsequently made a king of a different surname, but his attempt to break into Transcendence nearly kills him due to his congenital condition. 178 182 231

The Doors Within

While serving in the Barbarian Territory, Yun Zihai begins dreaming of countless doors containing terrifying entities. The doors absorb power whenever he makes a major breakthrough and gradually alter his behavior. 276 279

Machine, an entity from a technological world, temporarily possesses Yun Zihai through one of the doors and reveals that Yun Zihai is intended to serve as a stepping stone for descent into this world. 280 Though Xu Bai expels Machine and reinforces Yun Zihai’s soul, Yun Zihai remains the core of the threat and continues cultivating his divine soul to contain the doors. 284 313

Notable Quotes

“I shall make a sword from Righteous Qi and shatter all evil.” 95

“If it cannot be resolved, then please kill me, Brother Xu. Then they will have no springboard.” 279