He Sheng

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	He Sheng (何胜)
Alias(es)	Xiang Yue; Water Palace Lord; Wu Feng; Xu Kun; “Lord Prefect”
Species/Race	Human cultivator
Gender	Male
Affiliation	He Family; Southern Mountain Society (Vice Leader); Primordial Mist Immortal City City Lord’s Manor (Elder) 100 102
Occupation/Role	Transmigrator; cultivator; artifact refiner; protector and covert power behind the He Family
Status	Alive; False Core cultivator 100
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Foundation Establishment Middle Stage	1	Awakens after transmigrating into Brother Piao’s corpse, inheriting its top-grade dual water-and-earth spiritual roots, cultivation, memories, and enemies.
Subtle Ripple Intent Realm	3	Uses it to extend divine sense, sense danger, and escape through water.
Foundation Establishment Late Stage	6	Breaks a three-year bottleneck by integrating the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm into the Clear Billows Water Origin Art.
Foundation Establishment Great Perfection	9	Raises the Clear Billows Water Origin Art to Great Perfection through the Time-Reversing Water Clock; mana rises to 9,600 drops.
First-Rank High-Grade Artifact Refiner	42	Refines the high-grade Cold Moon Arc Light Sword and develops the Stacked Refining Method.
First-Rank Top-Grade Artifact Refiner	59	Advances through repeated layered refinement of Cold Moon Arc Light Swords.
Water True Illusion Intent Realm	93	Comprehends the realm after advancing the Thousand Illusion Water Shadow Art to Transcending the Mundane and Entering Sainthood.
Second-Tier Mid-Grade Artifact Refiner	78	Uses Foundation Establishment Pills converted through the Water Clock to advance; the accompanying Treasure Vase method greatly strengthens his divine sense.
High-Grade Second-Tier Artifact Refiner	97	Gains the ability to forge prototypes of Dharma treasures and pursue the Thousand Waters Moon Condensation Sword.
False Core	100	Successfully forms a False Core; mana increases more than threefold and unassisted divine sense reaches roughly ten li.
Rudimentary Divine Power: Subtle Ripple	100	The Subtle Ripple Intent Realm evolves into a rudimentary divine power that remains even after he rolls back his cultivation art.

Background & Story Role

Transmigration and Flight

He Sheng is a transmigrator who awakens in the corpse and identity of the feared cultivator known as Brother Piao. He inherits the previous owner’s cultivation, memories, top-grade dual water-and-earth spiritual roots, and a legacy of tyranny that has made enemies across the Silver Sand River region 1.

After narrowly escaping Ye Shaochen, the sword cultivator who killed the former owner, He Sheng relies on the newly understood Subtle Ripple Intent Realm to flee through the Muddy Dragon River. Its expanded divine sense warns him that the pursuit remains dangerous even beyond his ordinary perception 3.

Seeking refuge, he enters Longevity Pool’s water manor and negotiates with the Star-Backed Black Turtle, a former spirit pet of a He Family ancestor. By gifting the turtle Star Swirl Sand and adopting a humble attitude, he gains a secluded cave, access to the manor’s hidden waterways, and a temporary refuge from pursuit 5.

Reclaiming the He Family’s Resources

He Sheng initially regards the He Family as strangers and refuses to inherit responsibility for Brother Piao’s misrule. He becomes involved only because the clan’s wealth, secret treasury, and survival are useful to his own cultivation—and because he finds the mistreatment of capable collateral disciples intolerable 12 24.

Disguised as an old man, he rescues He Ziyang from main-branch bullying at He Family Bay and recognizes the youth’s unusual sword-related potential. He later gives Ziyang the Thousand-Fathom Jade Severing Art, an Ever-Victorious Token, and access to the Returning Origin Cave 14 16.

After the He Family treasury is robbed, He Sheng cultivates the Soul Imprint Art to trace He Yiyang and Ji Yunlai. His investigation leads him into a prolonged conflict with Lin Wanrou and the Celestial Sea Commerce Association 16 18.

Infiltration, Retaliation, and Consolidation

Using the Flesh Rebirth Art, He Sheng impersonates Wu Feng and infiltrates the Lower River Branch of the Celestial Sea Commerce Association. He gathers intelligence from Kou Xiang’er, kills Elder Xu, and seizes the branch’s wealth, artifacts, and cultivation materials 25 30 33.

He later establishes the identity of Xiang Yue, a rogue cultivator and artifact refiner active in Primordial Mist Immortal City, while maintaining the Water Palace Lord identity for affairs involving Longevity Pool, the He Family, and the Silver Sand River 37 93.

When the Liu Family exploits the He Family’s instability, He Sheng intervenes at Linked Moon Lake. He destroys the Liu Family’s island formation, overwhelms Liu Qingsong with the Thousandfold Condensed Poison Dragon Break, and forces the family to withdraw from He Family affairs and return seized assets 61 62.

After comprehending the Water True Illusion Intent Realm, he attacks the Lower River Branch as Xu Kun. His water-shadow Dharma bodies defeat and kill both Chen Keshan and Lin Wanrou, ending the immediate threat posed by their investigation and schemes 93 94.

Artifact Refining and False Core

He Sheng chooses Longevity Pool as a long-term base because its second-rank spirit vein, spiritual springs, and water-aligned environment support both his cultivation and water-refining path 39 40.

He develops the Stacked Refining Method, then the Set Refining Method, allowing him to refine multiple connected artifacts and turn artifact creation into a major source of cultivation efficiency 42 70 78.

His growing reputation earns him a long-term commission from Ying Ruyue of the Moon Mist Sect. He eventually forges the Thousand Waters Moon Condensation Sword, a [True Water] Dao artifact suited to its fate 71 98.

Following extensive regression-and-recultivation through the Time-Reversing Water Clock, He Sheng forms a False Core. He accepts appointment as an Elder of the City Lord’s Manor and later becomes Vice Leader of the Southern Mountain Society after defeating Zhang Tuo’s challenge 99 100 102.

Appearance

He Sheng has no single stable public appearance. His Flesh Rebirth Art allows him to alter his face, bone structure, aura, and mana fluctuations, enabling him to maintain several distinct identities 14 37.

• Xiang Yue — a middle-aged Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator and artifact refiner operating in Primordial Mist Immortal City 37.
• Water Palace Lord — a stooped, aged figure used for matters involving the He Family and Longevity Pool 93.
• Wu Feng — a near-perfect impersonation achieved through altered physical features and borrowed clothing 22.
• Xu Kun — a late-stage Qi Refinement disguise used during his final attack on Lin Wanrou’s branch 93 94.
• His disguises are not foolproof: the Green Snake can identify him by scent despite changes to his appearance 32.

Personality

He Sheng is cautious, analytical, and highly adaptive. Rather than confronting threats beyond his strength, he studies their methods, retreats when necessary, and exploits disguises, information, terrain, and prepared artifacts to control the terms of conflict 3 12 51.

He is pragmatic about the He Family: he initially feels no emotional attachment to its members, but gradually protects it because its destruction would harm his plans, betray the Star-Backed Black Turtle’s assistance, and leave capable youths such as He Ziyang without support 24 40 56.

Despite his ruthlessness toward enemies, He Sheng repeatedly aids people he considers worthy. He protects He Ziyang, acknowledges He Jingxing after saving him from exile, rewards loyal subordinates, and responds to He Linxue’s desperate prayer 16 60 62 63.

Abilities & Skills

Time-Reversing Water Clock

A cultivation aid that records his proficiency and accumulated cultivation time across arts, methods, techniques, and skills.

• Allows He Sheng to regress cultivated abilities and reclaim their invested time as distributable cultivation time 8 76.
• Different disciplines yield different time-return rates; he exploits this by regressing and recultivating methods with more efficient outcomes 9 34.
• Foundation Establishment Pills can be converted into vast amounts of cultivation time by regressing and rebuilding his foundation 76 97.
• Lets him rebuild cultivation with greater mana purity rather than merely returning to his old state 17.

Subtle Ripple Intent Realm and Divine Power

A water-aligned Intent Realm that becomes the foundation of He Sheng’s combat, perception, cultivation, and later divine power.

• Extends divine sense far beyond its normal range and provides instinctive warnings of danger 3 7.
• Enhances Water Escape and allows him to evade stronger opponents through waterways 3.
• Accelerates mana recovery, improves mana purity, and breaks cultivation bottlenecks when merged with the Clear Billows Water Origin Art 5 7.
• Evolves into the rudimentary divine power Subtle Ripple after his False Core breakthrough 100.
• Processing excessive sensory information can overwhelm his sea of consciousness, so he relies on instinctive feedback rather than detailed perception at maximum range 3.

Water Arts

He Sheng’s water-element methods form his primary offensive and control techniques.

• Water-Gathering Break — a Transcendent Art used to destroy and overwhelm opponents, including the Treasure-Swallowing Snake and Elder Xu 21 30.
• Thousandfold Condensed Poison Dragon Break — an evolved form of the Clear Ripple Water Control Art that manifests destructive poisonous water dragons; it destroys the Liu Family’s central island 52 62.
• Clear Ripple Water Control Art — reaches Transcendence and Sainthood, granting microscopic control over water-element particles 65.

Soul Imprint Arts

A suite of divine-soul techniques derived from the Soul Imprint Art.

• Creates Blood Soul Imprints through life plaques to locate targets such as He Yiyang 16.
• Uses remnant souls to form Vengeful Soul Imprints and pursue linked individuals such as Ji Yunlai 18.
• Includes the Memory Retracing Art, allowing He Sheng to inspect past memories in detail 8 18.
• Soul-Scattering Thousand Stars and Scattered Stars provide divine-sense offense and defense 18 79.
• His soul techniques are limited by the strength of his divine sense, driving his pursuit of the Divine Artifact Treasure Vase Forging Method 18.

Thousand Illusion Water Shadow Art

An illusion and survival art advanced into the Water True Illusion Intent Realm.

• Creates nine water-shadow Dharma bodies, each possessing 30% of his strength 93.
• Can divide into twenty-seven weaker bodies when greater numbers are needed 93.
• Allows him to exchange truth and illusion between his real body and a clone, making it a powerful escape and deception method 93.
• Enables his decisive attack against Chen Keshan and Lin Wanrou 94.

Flesh Rebirth Art

A body-alteration art used for infiltration and continuous cultivation.

• Alters his appearance, aura, and mana fluctuations at the perfected realm 14.
• Can reproduce another person’s physical appearance closely enough to impersonate Wu Feng 22.
• Cultivates automatically while active, providing a continuing source of cultivation time 22 40.
• Does not conceal his unique scent, allowing familiar demon beasts such as the Green Snake to recognize him 32.

Artifact Refining

He Sheng is a high-grade second-tier artifact refiner specializing in water-aligned sword artifacts.

• Stacked Refining Method — refines multiple artifacts simultaneously, raising his cultivation efficiency to a stated time rate of 6.3 42.
• Set Refining Method — refines linked sword sets, eventually raising his combined forging-cycle efficiency to 9.4 70 78.
• Divine Artifact Treasure Vase Forging Method — strengthens divine sense through artifact refinement and supports his pursuit of higher Intent Realms 65 78.
• Produces Cold Moon Arc Light Swords, Water Moon United Heart Swords, Blood Poison Mother-and-Child Blades, and the Thousand Waters Moon Condensation Sword 60 78 98.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Time-Reversing Water Clock — records, regresses, and reallocates cultivation time across He Sheng’s disciplines 8 76.
• Blood Poison Mother-and-Child Blades — top-tier sentient magic artifacts; used alongside the Thousandfold Condensed Poison Dragon Break 60 62.
• Cold Moon Arc Light Swords — high- and fine-quality water-aligned sword artifacts refined through layered methods 42 44.
• Water Moon United Heart Swords — premium linked sword sets produced through the Set Refining Method 77 78.
• Thousand Waters Moon Condensation Sword — a [True Water] Dao artifact and vessel suited to the fate of True Water 98.
• Cold Soul Mystic Crystal Stone — third-rank treasure material gifted by the Star-Backed Black Turtle 6 12.
• Long Peachwood Myriad Union Spear — Dao-bearing artifact taken from Chen Keshan’s possessions 94.
• Five Thoughts Resonance Talismans — talismans capable of foretelling fortune and misfortune, used in dangerous exploration and preparation for False Core 85 99.

Relationships

• He Ziyang — Protégé and sword-cultivation disciple. He Sheng rescues him from abuse, provides his first cultivation method and refuge, and later guides him through his doubts about the He Family and his Dao path 16 63 96 98.
• Star-Backed Black Turtle — Former spirit pet of a He Family ancestor and He Sheng’s refuge at Longevity Pool. He Sheng earns its assistance with Star Swirl Sand, while the turtle later becomes Ye Shaochen’s subordinate 5 23.
• Green Snake — Informant, water-manor attendant, and trusted guard. It manages Longevity Pool affairs during He Sheng’s absences and recognizes him despite his disguises 32 44.
• Kou Xiang’er — Former maid of Lin Wanrou who becomes He Sheng’s source of intelligence and assistant during his infiltration of the Celestial Sea Commerce Association 25 28 30.
• Ye Shaochen — Mysterious Heaven Sect sword cultivator who killed Brother Piao and remains He Sheng’s greatest unresolved threat 3 26.
• Lin Wanrou — Celestial Sea Commerce Association manager who incited Ye Shaochen against Brother Piao for political and commercial gain; He Sheng later kills her 26 94.
• Heavenly Talisman Elder — Leader of the Southern Mountain Society, talisman master, business associate, and political ally who appoints He Sheng as Vice Leader 95 102.
• Ying Ruyue — Moon Mist Sect cultivator and long-term patron who commissions [True Water] sword artifacts from He Sheng 71 98.

Notable Quotes

“In my eyes, you are not even worth as much as the spirit rice beneath your feet.” 14

“People are bound together in a vast web. How many in this world can truly break free?” 96