Old Mage

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Kun Zhen 2
Alias(es)	Old Mage; Mage 2 3
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Anju Hotel; Cheng Yun's spacetime-node research 3 4
Occupation/Role	Spellcaster, interdimensional traveler, researcher, and Cheng Yun's mentor/assistant 3 16
Status	Active; periodically travels away from Anju Hotel to explore Earth 44 47
First Appearance	Chapter 2

Background / History

Kun Zhen comes from the shores of Yan Lake in a magical civilization. His family were salt workers, and he recalls their home as one of the households near an ancient military outpost. His former country was the Jia Nuo Kingdom. 7 30

Having lived for roughly 1,200 years, he traveled widely in his youth and later across the world, visiting places such as the Forest of Ten Thousand Mountains and the City of the Gods. After becoming widely acclaimed, he vanished from public view around eight or nine centuries before arriving on Earth. 8 9

He acquired a scroll capable of traveling through time and space, using it to seek knowledge by visiting different universes and civilizations. Before reaching Earth, he spent ten years studying a dormant spacetime node in his own world but could not awaken it. 3 8

Kun Zhen arrived at Cheng Yun's newly awakened spacetime node via his scroll, only to find that the node had fused with Cheng Yun. Unable to leave independently and intrigued by a node with a living consciousness, he remained at Anju Hotel to research it with Cheng Yun. 3 4

Appearance

Kun Zhen is an elderly, tall man with white hair, a gray-white beard, slightly clouded pupils, and a kind face marked by relatively few wrinkles. His eyes are repeatedly noted for their calm, distant wisdom. 2 3 15

• Initially wore a simple, patched cloth robe and patched shoes. 3
• Carries a staff roughly 1.8 meters long, topped with an apple-sized crystal ball. 2 3
• Later adopts modern clothing, including shirts, straight-leg pants, casual shoes, and a cane. 28
• Returned from one journey in tourist attire: shorts, a red T-shirt, straw hat, sunglasses, sandals, and a backpack. 40

Personality

Kun Zhen is patient, composed, and unfailingly courteous, even when Cheng Yun is skeptical, exhausted, or dismissive. He treats their work as a mutual exchange of knowledge rather than merely instructing Cheng Yun. 3 7 9

His defining trait is an obsessive pursuit of wisdom and truth. He studies spacetime nodes, Earth’s cultures, unfamiliar lifeforms, and the relationship between intelligent races across worlds; he accepts that some answers may remain beyond his lifespan. 3 19 20 44

Despite his immense age and ability, he is practical and adaptable. He mends his own robe, purchases modern clothing, acquires identification documents, and freely explores Earth rather than treating its civilization with contempt. 6 8 28

Abilities & Skills

Spellcasting

Kun Zhen is a high-level spellcaster from a magical civilization. Earth’s unfamiliar rules suppress his abilities substantially, but he remains far more capable than an ordinary mage would be under the same conditions. 4

• Casts translation magic through his crystal-ball staff. 2 16
• Stops Yin Dan’s thrown saber in midair. 16
• Cleans bowls and chopsticks instantly with magic. 19
• Causes his staff to stand upright without support. 4
• Can use an anesthetic spell during rune engraving. 30

Language Translation and Transfer

Kun Zhen can translate between previously unknown languages and copy a language system into another person. 2 16 17

• Enabled Cheng Yun to understand him shortly after their first meeting. 2 3
• Translated communication between Cheng Yun and Yin Dan. 16
• Offered to give Yin Dan the language systems of Cheng Yun’s country so she could function outside the node space. 17

Spacetime-Node Research

He possesses extensive theoretical knowledge of spacetime nodes, gained through a decade of study and observations of other activated nodes. 3

• Identified Cheng Yun as the consciousness-like living host of a fused spacetime node. 3 4
• Guided Cheng Yun in researching node functions, energy perception, and the energy recovery of travelers and items. 7 9
• Cannot independently open the node-space entrance from outside; he requires Cheng Yun’s cooperation. 6

Meditation and Mental Restoration

Kun Zhen teaches Cheng Yun a modified version of the Iron Horse Kingdom’s junior meditation technique. 7 9

• Provides a meditation-assistance card that calms the mind, clears distractions, and helps sleep. 7
• Teaches meditation to improve mental strength, resilience, recovery, and resistance to external intrusion. 7
• Casts sleep-inducing magic and establishes a hotel magic circle intended to improve rest. 5 7

Rune Program Engraving

Kun Zhen can manually engrave rune programs using precise crystal instruments. 28 30

• Engraved a basic healing rune program on Cheng Yun’s back. 30
• The program continuously supplies restorative energy, repairing fatigue, wear, and bodily damage to keep the wearer in peak condition. 30
• Redesigned the program’s appearance as a small sun pattern while preserving its rune composition. 30

Interdimensional Travel and Exploration

He used a special scroll to travel through time and space in pursuit of knowledge. 3 8

• Traveled from Jinguan to Yanjing and returned within roughly two hours. 9
• Regularly leaves Anju Hotel to investigate human customs, cultures, ecosystems, and Earth’s biosphere. 28 44 47
• Describes himself as knowledgeable across disciplines because mages’ long lives allow them to pursue many fields. 44

Botanical Magic

Kun Zhen introduced plants from his world to Anju Hotel’s rooftop garden. 44 46

• Planted flowers and vegetation that bloomed overnight. 46
• Helped create a rooftop landscape with aquatic plants, miniature trees, bonsai, and moss-like growth. 46
• States that the plants’ fruit is ordinary food: sugary, juicy, thirst-quenching, and rich in trace elements rather than a source of extraordinary power. 46

Equipment / Items

• Crystal-ball staff — His signature staff, used in spellcasting and translation. 2 16
• Interdimensional scroll — A strange-material scroll that originally carried him across dimensions; in node space, it cannot be handled freely by him. 3
• Meditation-assistance card — A brass-colored card that aids meditation and sleep. 7
• Floating research screen — A transparent display from his world that he uses to record observations and research notes. 4 19
• Rune-engraving instruments — Small, precise crystal tools used to engrave Cheng Yun’s healing rune program. 30
• Cane — A modern cane he uses during his stays and travels on Earth. 28 40

Relationships

• Cheng Yun — Research partner, student, and host at Anju Hotel. Kun Zhen guides him in node operation, meditation, and magical preparation while relying on Cheng Yun to access the node space. 3 6 7 30
• Yin Dan — Fellow otherworld traveler whom he assists with translation, language acquisition, and adjustment to Earth. She addresses him respectfully as “Teacher” or “Mage.” 16 17 44
• Cheng Yan — Cheng Yun’s younger sister; she is polite toward Kun Zhen, while he treats her with gentle understanding. 3 5
• Yu Dian — Anju Hotel receptionist who worries about his apparent loneliness and offers him an umbrella before one of his journeys. 47

Story Role / Major Arcs

Arrival at Anju Hotel

Kun Zhen is the first otherworldly visitor Cheng Yun encounters after the spacetime node awakens. He explains the node’s nature, reveals that Cheng Yun has fused with it, and becomes Cheng Yun’s essential source of guidance. 2 3

Mentor and Research Partner

While staying at Anju Hotel, he helps Cheng Yun investigate node-space phenomena, cope with dreams linked to other worlds, learn meditation, and assess travelers’ energy. 4 7 9

Protector During Yin Dan’s Arrival

When Yin Dan arrives armed and hostile, Kun Zhen reassures Cheng Yun that her combat strength is manageable, translates between them, and prevents her saber from striking Cheng Yun. 15 16

Preparing Cheng Yun for Future Threats

Recognizing Cheng Yun’s physical limitations, Kun Zhen supports the plan to compensate through magic. He later engraves a healing rune program that allows Cheng Yun to recover from strenuous training. 27 30

Earthly Exploration

Kun Zhen increasingly travels through Earth to study its cities, cultures, and biosphere. He returns with gifts and stories from his journeys, but continues to depart for longer expeditions. 40 44 47

Notable Quotes

“A qualified mage must have knowledge in every discipline and profession.” 44

“Only by facing the storm can one bravely move forward.” 47

Trivia

• Kun Zhen’s initial patched robe and shoes cause Cheng Yun to mistake him for a beggar-like vagrant despite his demeanor. 3
• He claims that on a clear day, he can see storm cyclones on Jupiter. 6
• He does not need to eat to avoid starving, though he still enjoys Cheng Yun’s cooking. 7
• He obtained usable Earth identification cards for both himself and Yin Dan, with issue dates predating their arrival. 28