Elder Duan

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Duan Xuanyuan (段玄元)
Alias(es)	Elder Duan; Senior Duan; “old woman”; “system”; Junior Sister Duan
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Azure Sun Hall (formerly); Jade Brocade Peak (formerly)
Occupation/Role	Puppet-path cultivator; former master; lender of construct artifacts
Status	Survived as a wisp of divine sense inhabiting a Wood Crow after her physical body was destroyed 28
First Appearance	Chapter 2

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Spiritual Pivot realm	4	Her puppet body was initially at the Spiritual Pivot realm and could not break Hou Ze’s fourth-rank Jade Soul Dark-Yellow Prison.
Creation realm	4	Broke through during her confrontation with Hou Ze; despite only newly entering the realm, she fought a peak Creation cultivator wielding a fourth-turn Yan artifact to a standstill.

Background / History

Duan Xuanyuan was a puppet-path cultivator of Azure Sun Hall who accepted only two disciples across a century: Yang Jue and He Chuan. Both were considered exceptional talents, but she later used the Reverse Celestial Order Instrument on He Chuan, transforming him into an Azure Attendant Female Puppet and possessing the resulting body. 27 28

She devised a scheme to fake her death, evade her debts, and claim sect death insurance through Yang Jue as beneficiary. The scheme failed when Hou Ze and Yang Jue confronted her in her cave abode. Yang Jue turned against her after learning that his junior brother had been refined into her puppet body. 2 4

During the battle, Duan Xuanyuan broke through to the Creation realm but could not overcome Hou Ze and the approaching Grand Elder. She activated the puppet body’s backup spiritual-power core, causing an explosion that collapsed Jade Brocade Peak. Her physical body was destroyed; only a wisp of her soul escaped, eventually possessing a Wood Crow. 4 28

While inhabiting the Wood Crow, she found Lu Li, whose earth-and-wood spiritual roots made him viable material for the Azure Attendant Female Puppet she sought to forge. She initially viewed him as a disposable stepping stone, but reassessed him after he independently forged the Qi-Combining Cauldron in ten days. 28

Personality

Elder Duan is sly, talkative, and opportunistic. She presents herself as Lu Li’s benefactor—at various times calling herself an immortal of White Jade Capital and a “system”—while openly operating a loan arrangement backed by bodily collateral. 9 10

She is deeply invested in the Dao of Constructs and regards replaceable bodies and implanted artifacts as a path toward longevity and Dao attainment. Her practical philosophy often conflicts with Lu Li’s suspicion of her motives and discomfort with her increasingly feminine construct-artifact offerings. 26 31

Despite her manipulative intentions, she recognizes Lu Li’s talent and takes pride in his accomplishments. She repeatedly attempts to have him acknowledge her as his master, partly to gain control of his body and accelerate the forging of the Azure Attendant Female Puppet. 28 44

Appearance

Before the destruction of her body, Duan Xuanyuan inhabited a white-haired female puppet body formed from her transformed junior brother. 4

• White hair. 4
• Flat chest. 4
• Her puppet body retained roughly a thirty-percent resemblance to He Chuan. 4
• After Jade Brocade Peak’s destruction, she existed only as a divine-sense remnant within a Wood Crow. 28

Abilities & Skills

Puppet-Path Cultivation

A former Azure Sun Hall cultivator who reached the Creation realm through a puppet body. 4

• Possessed a transformed human puppet body refined from her disciple. 4
• Fought Hou Ze, a peak Creation realm cultivator with a fourth-turn Yan artifact, shortly after breaking through. 4
• Could deploy ice spikes and use an ice-lotus spiritual-power core as a final self-destructive measure. 4

Reverse Celestial Order Instrument

Duan Xuanyuan possessed an artifact capable of reversing cause and effect and inverting yin and yang. 4

• Used it to transform He Chuan into an Azure Attendant Female Puppet. 4
• Used its mechanisms to arrange loans involving future-refined Puppet Devices. 21 28
• The instrument’s backlash could kill a borrower who failed to refine the borrowed artifact. 21
• Possession and forging in another person’s stead could avoid backlash, giving her a motive to control Lu Li’s body. 28

Construct and Artifact Knowledge

Elder Duan possesses extensive knowledge of puppet artifacts, spirit cores, arrays, construct bodies, and cultivation-world commerce. 10 24 31

• Explained first-turn arrays, array elements, and the requirements for refining first-turn mechanical artifacts. 10
• Identified the Treasure Flow River as one of the eighty-one spirit rivers branching from Skyfall Sea. 11
• Offered Lu Li multiple Puppet Devices, including Azure Underworld Painted Skin, Suspended Thread Ligament, Great Dream Mystic Pivot, and Ice Flesh. 28 30
• Claimed she could provide nearly twenty types of construct artifacts for Lu Li’s body. 31

Divine-Sense Remnant and Wood Crow Possession

After losing her body, Duan Xuanyuan continued acting through a Wood Crow and communicating directly in Lu Li’s mind. 9 28

• Found Lu Li after escaping the destruction of Jade Brocade Peak. 28
• Monitored, advised, taunted, and negotiated with Lu Li mentally. 9 17
• Expected her recovering divine sense to eventually become strong enough to forcibly possess Lu Li. 28

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Reverse Celestial Order Instrument — Artifact used in her transformations, loan arrangements, and puppet-body schemes. 4 28
• Azure Attendant Female Puppet blueprint — A sought-after blueprint needed to complete her intended construct body. 4 28
• Wood Crow — Her vessel after the destruction of her physical body. 28
• Qi-Combining Cauldron — The first Puppet Device loaned to Lu Li, replacing his lungs and windpipe. 9 21
• Azure Underworld Painted Skin — A first-rank Puppet Device offered as Lu Li’s second loan. 28 29
• Jade Soul Dark-Yellow Prison — Hou Ze’s fourth-rank puppet artifact, not Elder Duan’s; it temporarily imprisoned her Spiritual Pivot puppet body. 4

Relationships

• Lu Li — Intended Azure Attendant Female Puppet material, borrower, and prospective disciple. Elder Duan mentors and loans him artifacts while secretly seeking eventual possession of his body. 9 18 28
• He Chuan — Former disciple refined into an Azure Attendant Female Puppet; Duan Xuanyuan possessed his transformed body. 27 28
• Yang Jue — Former disciple who turned against her after discovering He Chuan’s fate. 4
• Hou Ze — Senior brother and peak Creation realm cultivator who confronted her over her fraud and forbidden puppet practices. 4
• Lu Ling — Connected indirectly through the secondhand metal spirit core in Lu Li’s Qi-Combining Cauldron; Elder Duan suggests Lu Ling’s soul may have been ground away or advanced into a second-turn puppet. 22

Story Role / Major Arcs

Jade Brocade Peak Incident

Duan Xuanyuan’s attempted insurance fraud and escape from debt culminate in her exposure by Hou Ze and Yang Jue. Her use of the Reverse Celestial Order Instrument and refinement of He Chuan establish her as a dangerous puppet-path cultivator. 2 4

Lu Li’s First Loan

As a Wood Crow-bound remnant, she offers Lu Li the Qi-Combining Cauldron in exchange for his lungs as collateral. She becomes his primary source of artifact knowledge while concealing her own motives. 9 10

Treasure Flow River Guidance

Elder Duan directs Lu Li toward the Treasure Flow River and advises him on spirit ore, purification, financial survival, and the ruthless logic of cultivation. 11 14 19

Attempt to Recruit Lu Li

After Lu Li forges the Qi-Combining Cauldron far faster than expected, Elder Duan offers to accept him as her disciple. He refuses, recognizing that her interest in him is tied to the Azure Attendant Female Puppet and her need for protection from pursuers. 27 28

Construct-Artifact Loans

She expands Lu Li’s options through further loans, pushing Azure Underworld Painted Skin and other body-modifying artifacts while defending her belief that an artifact spirit’s “true heart” determines identity rather than the body it inhabits. 29 31

Trivia

• Elder Duan initially claims to be an “immortal of White Jade Capital,” then awkwardly agrees to call herself a system after Lu Li describes what a system is. 9 10
• Lu Li nicknames her collection of sinister construct artifacts the “Southern Liang Arsenal.” 26
• She accidentally refers to Lu Li as a future “immortal maiden” or “demoness,” repeatedly fueling his suspicions about her plans for his body. 11