Zhang Sheng

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Zhang Sheng (张生)
Alias(es)	Mr. Zhang; Junior Brother Zhang
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Azure Hall of Taichu Palace; formerly an evaluator for the Immortal Sect Unified Examination 4 8
Occupation/Role	Scholar, cultivator, formation and fortune-art practitioner, and Wei Yuan's master
First Appearance	1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Dao Power restored	14 17	His Dao Power had been sealed for six years by an extraordinary strand of external fortune. He emerged from seclusion early at personal cost, then used his restored power and immortal sword to compel the examination evaluators to score fairly.

Background / History

Zhang Sheng arrived in Ye County while traveling and seeking a “dragon” for cultivation. At the Wei Residence, he named the unborn Wei Yuan with the character 渊 (“abyss”), explaining it as “a dragon in the abyss,” and bestowed a measure of fortune upon the child. He subsequently constructed the Wushui Heguan Array at the Dragon Pool to extract dragon energy, but the ritual instead drew the attention of a mysterious three-headed bird. Its gaze erased his remembered Spiritual Powers and Daoist Arts, while a portion of his face crumbled away to reveal another visage beneath. 1

Three years later, with his Dao Power unusable, Zhang Sheng was found bound among refugees and brought to the Wei Residence. Wei Youcai pressured him into becoming Wei Yuan’s teacher; after accepting the child’s disciple-greeting ceremony, Zhang Sheng grew genuinely fond of him. He spent the following three years teaching Wei Yuan an amount of mortal knowledge that ordinarily required ten years to learn. 3 4

Twenty years before Wei Yuan’s examination, Zhang Sheng himself had been the unrivaled top candidate of Yunzhou’s Immortal Sect Unified Examination. He later entered Taichu Palace’s Azure Hall, where True Person Fen Hai is his master and True Monarch Xuan Yue stands above him in the lineage. Zhang Sheng describes his Dao Foundation as three immortal swords: two streams of sword qi bestowed by the Ancestor and a third sword formed through his own insight. 4 30

Appearance

Zhang Sheng usually presents himself as a scholar, though his bearing and sword-like presence make his cultivation difficult to conceal once his Dao Power returns. He is repeatedly described as pale while suffering the consequences of forcing his power and techniques beyond their limits. 1 14 17

• Dresses in scholar’s robes. 1 3
• Has sharp, sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. 17
• Part of his outward face once crumbled away after the three-headed bird’s gaze, exposing a hidden eye with a crescent-shaped brow and star-bright, ink-deep gaze. 1
• His presence after recovering Dao Power causes nearby evaluators to feel stinging dread. 17

Personality

Zhang Sheng is composed, knowledgeable, and deeply proud of both his learning and Azure Hall lineage. He can be vain about his reputation and appearance, and Wei Yuan recognizes his master’s fixation on taking first place rather than second. 4 24 36 43

His strongest trait is his refusal to abandon a disciple to unfair treatment. Though initially reluctant to teach Wei Yuan, he repeatedly risks his health, fortune, income, Dao Foundation, and immortal path to secure Wei Yuan’s future. He is also confrontational toward institutional favoritism, responding to injustice with direct threats rather than compromise. 8 14 17 24 48

Abilities & Skills

Three-Immortal-Sword Dao Foundation

Zhang Sheng’s unranked Dao Foundation consists of three immortal swords, a structure he considers outside ordinary classifications. 30

• Two sword qi were bestowed upon him by Taichu Palace’s Ancestor. 30
• The third immortal sword arose from his own insight during Body Forging. 30
• Wields the immortal sword Green Silk Rain to dominate the assessment hall and suppress its evaluators. 17
• Uses a flying sword for high-speed travel and protects passengers with surrounding green rain-like sword qi. 36

Formations and Fortune Arts

Before his Dao Power was sealed, Zhang Sheng displayed advanced command of formations, heavenly secrets, and fortune manipulation. 1

• Constructed the Wushui Heguan Array from stones, branches, and a jade disk by exploiting a water eye rather than relying on expensive materials. 1
• Used the array to gather surrounding heavenly secrets and fortune in an attempt to draw out dragon energy. 1
• Infused a pheasant with Phoenix Qi to replenish the Wei Residence’s damaged fortune and alter its fate through an object-borrowing technique. 1
• Recognized the dangers posed by malformed or hostile fortunes, including the three-headed bird and the black external fortune that sealed him. 1 14

Heaven and Earth Madman

Zhang Sheng created the fortune secret technique Heaven and Earth Madman specifically to give Wei Yuan a means to survive the Martial Assessment. 14

• Combines his six years of mortal-world observations with the “heartlessness of heaven and earth” and violent ferocity. 14
• Requires exceptional fortune; an inadequate user risks ruin and death. 14
• Can affect the practitioner’s temperament and state of mind. 14
• Zhang Sheng empowered Wei Yuan to use it by transferring the strand of external fortune that had sealed his own Dao Power. 14

Protective Sword Qi and Tribulation Bearing

After Wei Yuan overused the Heaven and Earth Madman, Zhang Sheng placed azure sword qi in Wei Yuan’s sea of consciousness to block potential fortune backlash. 24

• The sword qi is intended to delay or prevent a future backlash from the external fortune. 24
• By doing so, Zhang Sheng knowingly takes on Wei Yuan’s tribulation, a choice that may multiply the danger to his own Dao. 24

Teaching and Cultivation Guidance

Zhang Sheng is an exceptionally demanding teacher whose instruction covers both scholarship and cultivation. 3 4 30

• Condensed roughly ten years of foundational learning into three years for Wei Yuan. 3
• Taught Wei Yuan to assess mortal affairs from multiple perspectives while leaving final moral choices to his disciple. 4
• Selected the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram as Wei Yuan’s Body Forging foundation because it could convert Wei Yuan’s extraordinary fortune into cultivation foundation. 30 31
• Supplies Wei Yuan with costly Heart Cleansing Pills and Peiyuan Pills despite his own financial hardship. 31 46 49

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Green Silk Rain — Zhang Sheng’s immortal sword, used to suppress the Unified Examination evaluators. 17
• Flying sword — used to transport Wei Yuan through Taichu Palace and shield him with green rain-like sword qi. 36
• Ding Mule — his modest mortal mount during the journey to the Unified Examination. 5
• Jade disk — served as the core of the Wushui Heguan Array before shattering to sever the passage of the colossal fortune. 1
• Peiyuan Pills — expensive cultivation pills he regularly provides to Wei Yuan during Body Forging. 46 49

Relationships

• Wei Yuan — Direct disciple. Zhang Sheng named him at birth, later taught him for three years, fought for his examination placement, and repeatedly endangered himself to protect Wei Yuan’s cultivation path. 1 3 8 24 48
• True Person Fen Hai — Zhang Sheng’s master and Wei Yuan’s grand-master. Fen Hai helped gather resources for Zhang Sheng’s Dao Foundation in the past and later supported Wei Yuan’s cultivation. 4 36 48
• True Monarch Xuan Yue — Senior figure in Zhang Sheng’s Azure Hall lineage and the Patriarch who ultimately approved resources for Wei Yuan. 4 48
• Sun Yu — Senior brother and ally. He provides examination information, assists Zhang Sheng’s efforts for Wei Yuan, and objects when Zhang Sheng chooses to bear Wei Yuan’s tribulation. 5 8 14 24
• Daoist Fu Feng — Fellow evaluator who initially participated in lowering Wei Yuan’s scores, then chose to support Wei Yuan after witnessing the Heaven and Earth Madman. 14
• Feng Chutang — Longstanding rival. Their conflict included three public duels that left both severely injured, as well as numerous private sparring sessions. 28
• Wei Youcai — Wei Yuan’s father. He compelled Zhang Sheng to remain at the Wei Residence as Wei Yuan’s teacher during a period when Zhang Sheng could not safely leave Yongzhou. 3
• Unnamed page — Former attendant whom Zhang Sheng taught basic cultivation knowledge, but refused to formally accept as a disciple because he believed the boy lacked the necessary opportunity. 1

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Dragon Seeking — Names Wei Yuan, attempts to harvest dragon energy from the Wei Residence’s Dragon Pool, and suffers the three-headed bird’s attack, which seals his cultivation. 1
• Wei Yuan’s Enlightenment — Becomes Wei Yuan’s master under coercive circumstances, then devotes three years to preparing him for the Immortal Sect Unified Examination. 3 4
• Unified Examination Conflict — Identifies manipulation of the examination charter by prominent families, refuses to delay Wei Yuan’s entry into Taichu Palace, and develops techniques to counter the Martial Assessment’s unequal conditions. 8 9 14
• Confrontation with the Evaluators — Forces Daoist Fu Feng to admit Wei Yuan’s scores were lowered, creates the Heaven and Earth Madman at severe personal cost, and later uses Green Silk Rain to demand fair scoring. 14 17
• Aftermath and Punishment — Is fined three years of salary for his conduct during the assessment, but still protects Wei Yuan from the Heaven and Earth Madman’s potential backlash. 23 24
• Taichu Palace Mentorship — Pays Wei Yuan’s tuition, oversees his initial cultivation, and struggles to fund the pills and resources needed to strengthen his disciple’s foundation. 28 30 46
• Pledge for Wei Yuan’s Future — After the three-headed bird resurfaces through Wei Yuan’s visualization, Zhang Sheng offers his own Dao Foundation and immortal path as collateral for Wei Yuan’s continued cultivation. 48

Notable Quotes

“This is a struggle for the Great Dao. I will not yield an inch!” 14

“Level them for your master!” 14

“As a teacher, one should act thus!” 48