Lu Zhen

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Lu Zhen (陆真)
Alias(es)	Gu Chen; Faceless; Faceless Asura
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall; East City General Bureau; Mystic Sword Sect / Snow-Listening Cliff; Nine Provinces Academy; Mandate Army
Occupation/Role	Former rickshaw puller and ship guard; former Garrison Commander; Judgment Envoy of the Punishment Hall; Mystic Sword Sect foremost direct disciple under the identity Gu Chen; Grand General of the Mandate Army 109 281 351 479
First Appearance	Chapter 1, The Crippled Coachman

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Early Lianli Realm	2	Regains martial strength after the Daily Settlement Panel appears; can strike with roughly 200 jin in one arm.
Strong and Healthy Lv.2	10	Invests General Experience into Physique, approaching the threshold for a major physical breakthrough.
Tendon Stretching and Bone Strengthening Lv.3	12	His physique advances beyond mediocrity, improving aptitude and martial progress.
Mid Force Refining Realm	15	Demonstrates Triple Resonance in Iron Wire Fist and enters Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall's Inner Sect.
Copper Skin Iron Bone Lv.4	23	Spends 75 General Experience; expels impurities and gains bronze-colored, highly resilient skin and a more muscular frame.
Late Lianli / Force Refining	32	Reaches the late stage before the Soul-Falling Gorge expedition and earns fame by fighting water bandits with an iron staff.
Blood-Qi Like a Furnace Lv.5	40	Physique reaches the Bright Force foundation, requiring vastly greater quantities of experience and resources thereafter.
Bright Force, Early Stage	43–46	Reveals his breakthrough to Yan Tieqiao; later publicly confirms it by lifting a 5,000-pound stone lock.
Bright Force, Mid-stage	67	Advances while serving in the Garrison Bureau and raising his Daily Settlement level.
Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound Lv.6	87	His body develops beast-like internal resonance; he also gains mental control over throwing knives.
Control Realm	95	Perceives the nature of heaven and earth, giving him refined control and a decisive advantage over ordinary Bright Force martial artists.
Bright Force, Late Stage	115	Masters the Great Sun Pure Yang Technique through the Panel and advances his internal cultivation.
Dark Force, Early Stage	138, 143	Becomes a Dark Force Grandmaster, alarming Ocean City's major families; his physique is recorded as Diamond Indestructible Lv.7.
See God Indestructible Lv.8	150	Gains internal vision, complete bodily control, Precognitive Warning, and a base strength of 300,000 jin.
Dark Force, Mid-stage	170	Possesses a base strength of 500,000 jin; his Force Extreme Seventh Layer amplification raises his explosive output to 3.5 million jin.
Limb Regeneration Lv.9	195	Physique develops regenerative capability after continued resource-based cultivation.
Flawless Body Lv.10–11	201, 244	His physical cultivation reaches the Flawless Body stage while his martial arts are replaced by higher-grade sect techniques.
Dark Force, Late Stage / Control Realm Second Layer	250	Advances his control and internal cultivation before entering deeper sect conflicts.
Initial Transformation Force	273	Gains sharper perception of tiny particles and invisible forces; begins tempering his spirit in the Treasure Land.
Mid-@@REF_ENTITY_12332035@@ / Palm Realm	315	Reaches peak mid-stage combat power, wielding over 130 dragon-force and a Dharma Body exceeding 160 meters.
Mid-@@REF_ENTITY_12332035@@ / Intent Realm	332	Advances to Intent Realm; his physique reaches Glazed Jade Bones Lv.14.
Late Transformation Force / Intent Realm	356	Achieves Profound-level mastery across movement, blade, and sword-control arts; Glazed Jade Bones Lv.15 grants Blood Drop Rebirth.
Transformation Force Perfection / Spirit Fusion Realm	374	Forms an Inner Landscape and advances to Pure Yang True Body Lv.16.

Background

Lu Zhen was once among the better students in Jingcheng Middle School's Martial Arts Class and had crossed paths with fellow student Xiao Yuqing. His martial path ended after his meridians were damaged, leaving him crippled for more than a decade. He survived by pulling a rickshaw in Ocean City's Outer City while supporting his family and repaying debt to the Black Snake Gang 1 3 71.

His circumstances changed when he acquired the Daily Settlement Panel. Rather than rely on charity from his elder sister Lu Fang, he used his recovered strength to seek formal training, enrolling at Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall despite Yan Tieqiao's poor initial assessment of his age and potential 1 2 6.

Lu Zhen rapidly rose from an Outer Sect apprentice to an Inner Sect disciple through the Coiling Dragon Stake and Iron Wire Fist. His performance as a ship guard and in the battle at Soul-Falling Gorge established his reputation within the hall, despite persistent dismissal from younger, more conventionally talented disciples 15 21 32.

After entering Bright Force, he joined the Garrison Bureau for resources and a more stable base from which to cultivate. His battlefield achievements, leadership, and connection to Xiao Yuqing led to advancement from Squad Leader to Garrison Commander, while his masked identity, Faceless, operated separately against powerful enemies and foreign forces 47 81 104 109.

Later, Lu Zhen traveled under the identity Gu Chen, entered Three Sects City, and became involved with the Mystic Sword Sect and Snow-Listening Cliff. He refused Jiang Li's demand that he disperse his existing cultivation, choosing instead to serve as a Judgment Envoy in the Punishment Hall 216 231 281.

By the time his identity as Gu Chen was exposed, he had become the Mystic Sword Sect's foremost direct disciple. His rise continued through the Great Wilderness, Nine Provinces Academy, the Hundred Realms League, and eventually the Mandate Army, which he seized after executing Wang Meng and his loyalists 351 407 439 479.

Appearance

Lu Zhen initially has the weathered, rough appearance of a manual laborer, with a broad frame and heavily callused palms from years of rickshaw pulling. His cultivation gradually replaces his former hunched, impoverished bearing with a sharp, steady presence 6 15.

• Broad-shouldered, muscular build strengthened through body refinement.
• Resolute features and a clean-cut buzz cut beneath his ordinary identity 104.
• Wears black, gold-trimmed Inner Sect attire after joining Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall's Inner Sect 15.
• Uses the Faceless mask to adopt the appearance and presence of a dangerous, arrogant swordsman 104.
• As Gu Chen, later wears a purple-gold robe embroidered with nine swords, marking his status as a foremost direct disciple 320.
• Has also appeared in a moon-white Grade Eight dharma robe and Grade Eight longsword for Heavenly Ark Commerce Guild promotions 446.

Personality

Lu Zhen is pragmatic, cautious, and intensely focused on survival. His early experiences with poverty, debt, disability, and exploitation leave him unwilling to depend on empty promises or powerful patrons. He consistently values concrete resources, stable opportunities, and personal strength over status or rhetoric 31 63 476.

He is patient in cultivation and strategic in conflict. Lu Zhen conceals his full strength when useful, prepares escape routes and alternate identities, and avoids acting without evidence. At the same time, he can become extremely ruthless when authority, family, or principle is threatened, as shown when he executed two wavering head constables to stabilize his command 71 109 203.

Despite this pragmatism, Lu Zhen remains protective of those he considers family. He refuses to abandon fallen comrades' benefits, arranges martial training for Lu Wan and Shen Wan'er, and moves his household into the Xiao Family estate before facing Yang Chongwu alone 56 94 203.

His goals broaden over time. Initially driven by survival and cultivation resources, he comes to recognize the threat facing Huaxia's traditional martial arts and chooses to resist foreign exploitation rather than compromise his principles 43 124.

Abilities & Skills

Daily Settlement Panel

Lu Zhen possesses a system that records daily activities and converts them into silver, profession experience, martial experience, physique experience, and General Experience.

• Multiplies settlement rewards according to its level, beginning with doubled rewards and later reaching much higher multipliers 10 49 195.
• Allows General Experience to be assigned directly to physique, skills, techniques, and panel advancement.
• Records new techniques after he learns their principles and can replace inferior arts with compatible higher-grade methods 49 74 244.
• Preserves relevant martial foundations when replacing techniques, allowing him to skip much of the normal entry-level training process 49.
• At Level 15, undergoes a qualitative change and grants selectable characteristics rather than merely increasing rewards 406.

Body Refinement

Lu Zhen's Physique is the basis of his overwhelming physical power and survivability.

• Progresses from Copper Skin Iron Bone to Blood-Qi Like a Furnace, Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound, Diamond Indestructible, See God Indestructible, Flawless Body, Glazed Jade Bones, and Pure Yang True Body 23 40 87 143 150 201 315 374.
• See God Indestructible grants internal vision, complete bodily control, and danger warning 150.
• Blood Drop Rebirth allows severe physical damage to be rapidly restored 336 388.
• His Pure Yang True Body supports a self-formed Inner Landscape and recovery of his divine image within it 374 388.

Internal Cultivation

Lu Zhen progresses from Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall's external methods to increasingly advanced internal arts.

• Coiling Dragon Stake — Builds rooted stance, lower-body stability, and circulation of qi and blood 6 10.
• Three Yang Breathing Technique — His first major internal art after joining the Garrison Bureau; replaces the Coiling Dragon Stake on the Panel 49.
• Great Sun Pure Yang Technique — Dark Force-grade internal cultivation suited to his immense blood-qi; replaces Three Yang Breathing Technique 114 115.
• Bright God Martial Canon — Higher-grade cultivation art later recorded after entering Three Sects City 244.
• Heavenly Gang Fiend-Invoking Secret Art — A brutal qi-and-blood secret art that begins at Blood Ignition and later reaches Burning Meridians 345 356.

Blade Arts

Lu Zhen specializes in powerful blade techniques, combining physical force, refined control, and later Profound-level insight.

• Iron Wire Fist — His foundational hard-bridge martial art, capable of generating resonance through explosive force 6 15.
• Army-Breaking Eight Slashes — Garrison Bureau saber art that replaces Iron Wire Fist on the Panel 49.
• River-Severing Blade Art — Advanced blade art granted by Xiao Yuqing; it exceeds Army-Breaking Eight Slashes' Force Extreme Fifth Layer limit 71 74.
• Great Execution Tribulation Blade — Reaches Profound Entry after intensive cultivation and enables him to defeat a peak mid-stage Transformation Force Abyss Beast puppet 287.
• Great Wilderness Formation-Breaking Saber — Great Wilderness martial art later recorded at Nine Provinces Academy 409 410.

Mental Cultivation and Sword Control

Lu Zhen's spiritual arts let him control weapons remotely and wield large-scale sword formations.

• Nameless Spirit-Refining Art — Strengthens his spirit, allows mental control over throwing knives, and later enables communication attempts with animals 87 143.
• True Manual of Sword Control — Received from Jiang Li through Yan Kuan; enables refined flying-sword control through spiritual threads 259 260.
• Lesser Thousand Sword Formation — Controls up to a thousand flying swords; its completed third level forms an azure dragon capable of killing Military Shadow 321 326.
• Taiyi Light-Splitting Sword — Great Wilderness sword art through which Lu Zhen demonstrates “using profundity to wield Intent” and defeats dozens of refined iron puppets 409 422.
• His sword-control skill later reaches Ultimate Profound level, producing a major increase in attack power 399.

Movement Techniques

Lu Zhen possesses exceptional speed, evasion, and aerial mobility.

• Floating Light Gliding Shadow Method — Raises his speed by twenty percent at its second layer; after mastering the third layer, he can match Transformation Force Grandmasters in speed 149.
• Eight Wastes Wandering Dragon Step — Higher-grade movement art acquired in Three Sects City 243 244.
• Treading Air — Lets him evade constriction techniques and maneuver in the air 326.
• Wandering Dragon Sky-Treading Step — Great Wilderness successor technique used to evade high-speed assassin puppets at close range 410 422.

Disguise and Concealment

Lu Zhen maintains separate identities to prevent enemies from connecting his actions.

• Faceless — The mask suppresses his blood-qi and presence enough to evade patrols at close range 104.
• Faceless Asura — His feared assassin persona, associated with the death of Zheng Qianqiu and attacks on foreign enemies 184 203.
• Gu Chen — His independent-cultivator identity in Three Sects City and the Mystic Sword Sect 231 351.
• Uses altered appearance, masks, and cautious cover stories to compartmentalize his enemies and allies 120 334.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Faceless mask — Suppresses blood-qi and presence while transforming his appearance 104.
• Black Gold Long Blade — Heavy Garrison Bureau saber suited to his Bright Force strength 48 49.
• Nine Nether — Custom-made flying sword forged by Xiao Yuqing's Seventh Great-Uncle 150.
• Gilded Armor — Defensive treasure that initially weakens ninety percent of incoming force; later disperses ninety-nine percent 288 297.
• Black Mystic Horse-Slaying Blade — Extremely sharp heavy saber that can cut bluestone with physical force alone 297.
• Azure Frost Flying Swords — Weapons used with the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation 326.
• Space Ring — Stores weapons, medicinal herbs, Ancient Jade, and other resources 232 476.
• Hongmeng Seal — A treasure capable of simulating countless possible paths for his martial techniques up to the threshold of Subtle Intent 428.

Relationships

• Lu Fang — Elder sister. She tries to support Lu Zhen during his impoverished years, though he refuses her money out of pride 1.
• Lu Wan — Younger sister. Lu Zhen is protective of her and later arranges for her martial training and relocation to the Xiao Family estate 1 94 203.
• Shen Yun / Shen Wan'er — Widow whom Lu Zhen protects and brings into his household; their relationship develops into a tender domestic bond 10 23 45.
• Yan Tieqiao — Master of Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall. Initially dismissive of Lu Zhen's prospects, he later recognizes his growth and relies on him to protect the hall's legacy 6 33 44.
• Gu Yanzhi — Former fellow disciple and loyal friend. Gu Yanzhi provides resources, business opportunities, and support, while Lu Zhen respects his integrity despite his privileged background 16 31 45.
• Xiao Yuqing — Former schoolmate, Director of the East City General Bureau, and Xiao Family heiress. She recruits Lu Zhen, gives him the River-Severing Blade Art and an Inner City residence, and later agrees to marry him as part of an alliance 71 142 203.
• Chu Yunshu — Trusted ally who offers Lu Zhen resources and protection. She confesses her feelings for him; Lu Zhen tells her that she is family and entrusts his household to her protection 149 203.
• Jiang Li — Mountain Lord of Snow-Listening Cliff. She provides Lu Zhen with the True Manual of Sword Control and later offers him a place as a direct disciple, which he declines 253 259 281.
• Lei Zhen — Fellow martial artist and traveling companion in Three Sects City. He becomes one of Lu Zhen's dependable acquaintances despite initially doubting his confidence 216 233.
• Guga — Small demonic beast companion capable of mental communication and locating spirit herbs after consuming them 222.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Rise in Ocean City

Lu Zhen begins as a crippled rickshaw puller burdened by gang debt. The Daily Settlement Panel restores his path to martial arts, leading him to Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall, the Inner Sect, and combat work as a ship guard 1 2 6 15.

Garrison Bureau and Faceless

After becoming a Bright Force Martial Master, Lu Zhen enters the Garrison Bureau, earns Xiao Yuqing's patronage, and rises through its ranks. In parallel, he uses the Faceless identity to strike at threats without exposing his family or official position 47 71 104 109.

Defender of Traditional Martial Arts

The three-year pact and foreign pressure against traditional martial arts shift Lu Zhen's focus beyond survival. He resolves to protect Huaxia's martial legacy while targeting foreign experimentation and collaborators 43 124.

Gu Chen and Three Sects City

Disguised as Gu Chen, Lu Zhen joins the Longwind Chamber of Commerce caravan, reaches Three Sects City, enters the Mystic Sword Sect, and serves in the Punishment Hall while investigating smuggling connected to the Lin Family 216 231 281 282.

Sect Prodigy and National Conflict

Lu Zhen becomes the Mystic Sword Sect's foremost direct disciple, develops Profound-level blade and sword-control arts, and openly confronts Eastern Island forces under the Faceless Asura identity 335 351 357.

Great Wilderness and the Hundred Realms League

After reaching the Great Wilderness, Lu Zhen joins Nine Provinces Academy's elite class. He overturns expectations by scoring 892 points against refined iron puppets, then leads his squad through the Hundred Realms League with overwhelming individual strength 407 422 439.

Mandate Army

Lu Zhen rejects the White Lotus Sect's political and romantic offer in favor of Ancient Jade resources. When Wang Meng turns hostile, Lu Zhen kills him, purges his loyalists, and claims command of the Mandate Army as its Grand General 476 479.

Notable Quotes

“Only by keeping my life can I be qualified to talk about the future.” 10

“You... are family, too.” 203

“Those who surrender will not be killed.” 479

Trivia

• Lu Zhen and Xiao Yuqing were classmates at Jingcheng Middle School and had not met for twelve years before their reunion at Shiliupu Pier 3.
• He was thirty years old during his initial rise in Ocean City and thirty-one by the time he reached the Transformation Force stage 12 315.
• Shen Hao idolizes Faceless Asura without realizing that the masked hero is Lu Zhen himself 225.
• Lu Zhen names his small beast companion “Guga” after unsuccessfully trying to determine its rank through mental communication 222.
• After acquiring 9,850 Ancient Jade Coins from the White Lotus Sect, he rises to 412th among 15,000 Special Training Camp trainees 476.