Chen Ping

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Chen Ping (陈平)
Alias(es)	Han Li; Li Gou; “Group D, No. 32”
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Formerly Lin Manor; Ye Family Guest Elder; ruler of Golden Toad Island
Occupation/Role	Former book boy and manor foreman; military scholar; talisman master; puppeteer; cultivator
Status	Alive
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Longevity of Pine and Crane, First Layer	5	Secret martial training grants improved health and extends his lifespan to 72 years.
Longevity of Pine and Crane, Third Layer	19	His inner energy breaks through after eliminating Lai San and his gang, enhancing his senses and strength.
Qi Refining, Layer 1	46	Enters cultivation through the Everlasting Spring Technique using a Low-Grade Spirit Stone; gains Magical Power and Spiritual Sense.
Qi Refining, Layer 4	73	Reaches the mid-stage of Qi Refining after sustained talisman sales fund pills, spirit rice, and other cultivation resources.
Qi Refining, Layer 9 (Perfection)	92	Completes the Qi Refining realm after five years of seclusion and prepares to attempt Foundation Establishment.
Foundation Establishment, Early Stage	93 94	Condenses liquid true essence after a life-or-death breakthrough; gains Spiritual Sense covering 200 zhang and a lifespan of 245 years.
Foundation Establishment, Middle Stage	122	Forcefully refines elixirs and a demon core in seclusion, then conceals the successful breakthrough by feigning injury.
Foundation Establishment, Late Stage	136	Advances after consuming Gathering Essence Pills while disguised as Han Li; lifespan reaches 450 years.
Golden Core, Early Stage	151 152	Survives the Heart Devil and Heavenly Lightning Tribulations, forms a Golden Core, and gains an 800-year lifespan.

Background / History

Chen Ping is a transmigrated soul who begins as a book boy in Lin Manor. Initially resigned to the restrictions of servant life, he awakens the Heaven Rewards Diligence destiny after seeing a vision in a water vat. Its principle—effort always yields reward, skills never regress, and bottlenecks naturally open—gives him a route toward martial strength and eventual immortality 1.

Unable to safely learn from the abusive guard instructor Wang Meng, Chen Ping searches for alternative methods. He cultivates martial arts in secret, uses his distant cousin Liu Sanjin’s connection to the Weiyuan Escort Agency for work, and learns techniques simply by observing the guards’ saber practice 1 16. After Wang Meng targets him with a room search, Chen Ping murders him during a night infiltration, takes his wealth and manual, and later assumes Wang Meng’s former foreman quarters 5 8 11.

He earns freedom from his servant identity through the Imperial Military Examination. Throughout the competition, Chen Ping deliberately acts frail and unskilled, suppressing his results to avoid attention from powerful families. He ultimately takes third place and becomes a military scholar of the Liang Dynasty 23 28 35.

After helping kill an Evil Cultivator, Chen Ping receives the Everlasting Spring Technique and a Spirit Stone from Ye Muqing. He successfully draws Qi and enters the cultivation path, resolving to find the means to extend Yun Niang’s mortal lifespan as well as his own 45 46.

In Taihang Market, Chen Ping establishes himself publicly as a cautious talisman master while secretly developing puppetry, formations, disguises, and combat methods. He becomes a Ye Family Guest Elder while concealing his Foundation Establishment cultivation, then abandons Taihang Market amid its collapse and escapes to Golden Toad Island with Yun Niang, Chun Sanshiniang, and Ye Linger 68 84 94 96 128.

After reaching Golden Core, Chen Ping takes control of Golden Toad Island’s affairs through his subordinates and establishes the Renshui Heavenly Thunder Array around its core territory 152.

Appearance

Chen Ping’s natural appearance remains youthful after cultivation, appearing to be in his early twenties even after five years of seclusion 89.

• Initially thin, gaunt, and dressed in patched gray servant clothes; he cultivates an outward image of weakness and submission 13 25.
• His body becomes jade-like after Foundation Establishment, with old calluses and martial injuries erased 93.
• Frequently adopts the guise of a sickly, hunched elder or other inconspicuous identities through the Formless Technique 72 102.
• Uses the alias Li Gou while disguised as a scarred, sallow middle-aged rogue cultivator with late-Foundation-Establishment pressure 154.

Personality

Chen Ping is intensely pragmatic, patient, and survival-oriented. He considers reputation expendable compared with concrete safety, resources, and longevity, repeatedly choosing humiliation, concealment, or retreat over an unnecessary confrontation 23 27 72.

His habitual cowardice is largely a calculated façade. He presents himself as weak, greedy, or terrified to lower others’ guard, then acts decisively when an enemy threatens him or an opportunity appears. His killings are methodical: he favors ambushes, talismans, poison, puppets, false identities, and the destruction of evidence over direct displays of strength 30 80 88 141.

Yun Niang is his central emotional attachment. Chen Ping’s pursuit of longevity is inseparable from his refusal to accept her mortality; he risks resources, safety, and exposure in search of methods to preserve her life 46 73 100 102.

Abilities & Skills

Heaven Rewards Diligence

Chen Ping’s destiny allows him to build skills through repeated effort without regression and to overcome bottlenecks naturally.

• Records techniques and skills he observes or obtains, including saber arts and puppetry 16 84.
• Enables steady improvement through repetition, even in techniques that would ordinarily require formal instruction 68.
• Lets him treat lifespan-consuming escape arts as viable options because his cultivation can continually increase his lifespan 82.
• Supports rapid accumulation across cultivation, talismans, puppets, formations, and disguises 144 147.

Everlasting Spring Technique

His primary cultivation method and the basis of his longevity.

• Enables Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and later Golden Core advancement 46 93 151.
• Raises his lifespan dramatically, from 120 years at Qi Refining Layer 1 to 800 years at Golden Core 46 151.
• Its life-attribute Magical Power resonates with and advances his Longevity of Pine and Crane inner art 46.

Talisman Making

Chen Ping’s principal public profession and one of his most dangerous combat tools.

• Produces Purification, Flicking Finger, Vajra, Swiftness, Smoke, Flash, Fireball, Earth Prison, and lightning talismans 63 73 86 106 114.
• Uses high-volume Fireball Talismans to eliminate an Iron-Backed Grey Wolf pack 106.
• Develops enhanced Palm Thunder Talismans capable of heavily injuring peak Qi Refining cultivators and threatening early Foundation Establishment cultivators 98.
• Masters the Lesser Five Elements Thunder Talisman to create second-tier Lightning Evasion Talismans, which can evade pursuit below Golden Core 102.
• Reaches Tier 3 Low-grade Talisman proficiency after forming his Golden Core 152.

Puppet Technique

A developing specialty learned through observation and later formal guidance from Shen Qianji.

• Uses puppets for battlefield cleanup, scouting, formation maintenance, herb cultivation, and decoys 80 84.
• Creates substitute puppets that can absorb a fatal strike and release disorienting smoke 86.
• Employs miniature reconnaissance puppets to identify formations, reefs, demon beasts, and other hazards during the Bihai Palace expedition 141.
• Uses self-destructing puppets alongside poison to eliminate enemies without exposing himself 88.

Formless Technique and Disguise

Chen Ping is an accomplished infiltrator who treats identity as a disposable tool.

• Alters appearance and suppresses cultivation to pass as weak, injured, elderly, or otherwise harmless 72 94 111.
• Uses multiple identity changes during a single operation to break pursuit and obscure his movements 88 91.
• Conceals his true Foundation Establishment cultivation from Ye Hongling by posing as a damaged Qi Refining cultivator 94 96.
• Disguises himself as Han Li and later as Li Gou for separate operations 136 154.

Formation Arrays

Chen Ping develops formation expertise for defense, stealth, and infiltration.

• Establishes defensive, maze, soundproofing, and isolation formations around his residences and secret rooms 91 110.
• Identifies formation cores and bypasses the tier 3 water barrier protecting Bihai Palace’s core chamber 143.
• Reaches Tier 3 Low-grade formation proficiency 140 147.
• Constructs the Renshui Heavenly Thunder Array to defend Golden Toad Island’s core area against mid-Golden-Core bombardment while retaining water-and-lightning counterattack capability 152.

Escape and Mobility Arts

Chen Ping prioritizes survival and possesses multiple escape methods.

• Light Body Movement Technique — used to evade pursuers, assassinate quietly, and move rapidly in combat 17 22 30.
• Burning Blood Escape — triples speed by burning vital blood, with the drawback of reduced lifespan 82.
• Blood Shadow Escape — a more advanced vital-blood escape art cultivated to Minor Accomplishment and later Great Accomplishment 140 147.
• Lightning Evasion Talisman — transforms the user into lightning for rapid escape 102.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Sea Moon Pearl — Fully refined treasure that increases his Magical Power density; later becomes his Natal Magic Treasure 148 152.
• Heavenly Thunder Orbs — Thirty-six orbs used to trap Li Xuehun during Chen Ping’s escape from Bihai Palace 143.
• Sword Qi Talisman — Life-saving talisman given by Ye Hongling before his Foundation Establishment attempt 91.
• Substitute Puppets — Blood-bound decoys intended to replace him in a lethal situation and disrupt enemy Spiritual Sense 86.
• Evil Ghosts mask — Used during covert operations and paired with layered armor and decoy storage pouches 86.
• Poisoned sleeve darts — Concealed assassination weapon 71.
• Earth-Walking Boat — Escape vessel used to flee Taihang Market with Yun Niang and Chun Sanshiniang 128.
• Guest Elder token — Ye Family credential granting formal status and access to the Scripture Pavilion 96 100.

Relationships

• Yun Niang — Wife; his emotional anchor and primary reason for seeking mortal longevity methods. They support one another through poverty, cultivation, and repeated separations 10 46 73 154.
• Shen Qianji — Neighbor, puppeteer, and informal mentor. Chen Ping learns puppetry by assisting and observing him; Shen later provides guidance and leaves behind a legacy that helps Chen Ping prepare to escape danger 68 71 84 125.
• Ye Hongling — Ye Family Foundation Establishment cultivator and complicated ally. She offers him aid, resources, and Guest Elder status, while Chen Ping conceals his true strength and keeps his independence 91 96 100.
• Chun Sanshiniang — Business intermediary and later subordinate. She distributes Chen Ping’s talismans, assists with resource acquisition, and escapes Taihang Market with him 61 74 122 128.
• Su Yuqing — Subordinate and cover identity on Golden Toad Island. Chen Ping spares her, secures her loyalty through reward and threat, and takes her into Bihai Palace 140 141 144.
• Tie Niu — Fellow Imperial Military Examination candidate. Chen Ping advises him to avoid reckless conflicts and later reunites with him after placing third 23 28 35.
• Liu Sanjin — Distant cousin and Weiyuan Escort Agency guard. His connection initially helps Chen Ping find work, though their relationship remains strained and ends with Liu’s death 16 89.
• Wang Meng — Former Lin Manor guard instructor and oppressor; Chen Ping kills him and takes over his foreman quarters 8 11.
• Jin Zhenshan — Iron Palm Hall Master and enemy who vows revenge after Jin Shijie’s death; Chen Ping kills him after entering Qi Refining 35 47.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Lin Manor and Martial Beginnings

Chen Ping awakens Heaven Rewards Diligence, secretly trains martial arts, kills Wang Meng, and rises from book boy to foreman while maintaining a servant’s façade 1 8 11 13.

Imperial Military Examination

He uses the examination to escape slave status, conceals his strength throughout the tournament, undermines the Jin Family’s schemes, and earns third place as a military scholar 22 23 30 35.

Entry into Cultivation

After confronting an Evil Cultivator, Chen Ping obtains the Everlasting Spring Technique, draws Qi, defeats Jin Zhenshan, and begins pursuing the cultivation world beyond Qinghe County 44 46 47.

Taihang Market

Chen Ping establishes a talisman business, builds ties with Shen Qianji and Chun Sanshiniang, develops puppetry, and advances from low-level Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment while protecting Yun Niang 59 68 84 94.

Ye Family Conflict and Escape

He accepts Ye Family Guest Elder status as cover, exploits the Black Wind Forest conflict to obtain the Azure Wood Longevity Grass, secretly advances to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, and escapes the destruction of Taihang Market 96 109 111 122 128.

Golden Toad Island and Bihai Palace

Under disguises, Chen Ping develops his territory, infiltrates Bihai Palace, acquires the Dust-Falling Pill and Sea Moon Pearl, and prepares for Core Formation 136 140 143 148.

Golden Core Ascension

Chen Ping survives the Core Formation tribulations, becomes a Golden Core cultivator, establishes authority over Golden Toad Island, and strengthens its defenses through the Renshui Heavenly Thunder Array 151 152.

Notable Quotes

“The evil dragon is dead. Now, the dragon-slayer dwells in its lair.” 11

“The bird that sticks out gets shot. The tree that stands tall in the forest gets broken by the wind.” 23

“Mortals could slay immortals. Since he could kill one, he could take their place.” 44

“The path is beneath your feet, not in the heavens.” 91

“Inside the door, he was a mortal husband who doted on his wife. Outside the door, he was a cultivator, Chen Ping, who killed and plundered, schemed against others, and would do anything for longevity.” 105

Trivia

• Chen Ping’s preferred strategy is described as the “cowardly path”: conceal strength, borrow influence, prepare escape routes, and only reveal force when necessary 68 72.
• He considers lifespan a resource that can be spent on survival techniques because Heaven Rewards Diligence and the Everlasting Spring Technique can increase it again 82.
• Although he routinely poses as timid, Chen Ping’s public image later includes being a talisman master whose wealth allows him to overwhelm enemies with consumable talismans 99 106.
• He values Yun Niang over potential romance with Ye Hongling, regarding Yun Niang as his “root” and the light that grounds his path 91.