Lu Chen

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Lu Chen (陆沉)
Alias(es)	“Blood Demon,” a designation used by the Nine Provinces Immortal Alliance after the Black Mud City incident 10
Species/Race	Human mortal; has no spiritual roots, dantian, spiritual qi, or divine sense 1 37
Gender	Male
Occupation/Role	Ultimate Dao body cultivator; guardian of A-Nan 37 78
Status	Active 96
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Ultimate Dao Furnace awakened	3	Awakens after he drinks Azure-Water Qilin blood; the furnace filters its spiritual energy into primordial vitality and reforges his body.
Iron Cloth Shirt — Tenth Layer, Mortal Iron Great Perfection	4	Reaches the former limit of the incomplete external art after absorbing Scalding Qilin True Blood; gains the strength to deform a flying sword with his bare hand.
Iron Cloth Shirt — Eleventh Layer	6	The Beast-Trapping Formation's multiplied gravity tempers his body and drives the technique beyond its traditional ten-layer limit.
Iron Cloth Shirt — Twelfth Layer	23	Breaks through after consuming a second-rank Rock-Cracking Bear to restore depleted qi and blood.
Thousand-Layer Iron Cloth Shirt / Thousand-Layer Black Iron	59	Survives and refines a heavenly lightning strike; his body develops resistance to immortal lightning arts.
Peak Thousand-Layer Black Iron	96	The hundred-thousand-jin Heaven-Suppressing Wilderness-Bone Primal Ferocious Stele transforms his physique to the peak state of the realm.

Background

Lu Chen lived in the mud alleys of Black Mud City's outer city with A-Nan, his blind younger sister. As a mortal, he was subject to the immortal sects' offering system and the threat of being expelled to feed demon beasts. He obtained the incomplete Iron Cloth Shirt manual from a dying famine refugee in exchange for half a stale bun, practicing it solely so the city guards could not break his bones with their whips. 1

When Azure Firmament Sword Sect cultivators slaughtered mortals in the alley, A-Nan was critically wounded. Lu Chen defended her against an Azure-Water Qilin, bit into its throat, and drank its blood. The resulting surge awakened the Ultimate Dao Furnace within him, allowing him to transform beast blood, flesh, and medicinal resources into physical power. 2 3

After reaching Mortal Iron Great Perfection, Lu Chen shattered Li Changfeng's flying sword and protective treasure barehanded, then fed A-Nan purified qilin blood to save her life. His subsequent destruction of Black Mud City's formations, guards, and Foundation Establishment stewards turned him into a target of the Immortal Alliance. 4 5 7 9 10

Appearance

Lu Chen is a broad, heavily muscled man whose body increasingly resembles forged metal as his cultivation advances. He commonly fights bare-chested, carries A-Nan against his chest in Netherwind Wolf hide, and bears the massive black stele on his back. 61 65

• Iron-gray skin at the eleventh and twelfth layers of Iron Cloth Shirt, later becoming black-iron in color. 6 37 59
• Dark metallic, dark-red, and dark-gold wilderness patterns emerge across his skin as his body strengthens. 23 63
• Thick callused hands and arms frequently wrapped in a century-old Black-Iron Chain. 26 37
• Short, coarse hair; after lightning tempering, his skin is harder than the chain around his arm. 59
• Often carries visible blood scabs and battle wounds, though his regeneration can rapidly restore damaged flesh. 67 93

Personality

Lu Chen is fiercely protective of A-Nan. Even in the mud alleys, he cleaned his hands before touching her; in battle, he consistently takes attacks himself while enclosing her in wolf hide and barriers of pure Yang blood qi. 1 63 81

He is openly defiant toward immortal sect authority and refuses to treat cultivators, artifacts, or cultivation manuals with the reverence they expect. He prefers direct action to negotiation, especially against people who threaten A-Nan or prey upon mortals. 37 65 78

Despite his brutality in combat, Lu Chen can be patient and gentle in private. He prepares medicine, food, clothing, and protective gear for A-Nan with painstaking care, and refuses to let Fourth Li's followers throw away their lives before they are strong enough to survive. 72 78 95

Abilities & Skills

Ultimate Dao Furnace

Lu Chen's body serves as a living furnace that consumes and refines blood, raw flesh, pills, and spiritual herbs into vitality and pure Yang blood qi. 3 21 38

• Converts dangerous spiritual medicines and beast blood into usable life essence rather than spiritual qi. 4 30
• Purifies blood and medicine before feeding their essence to A-Nan. 5 30 72
• Can extract the useful vegetation essence from cultivation pills while expelling their spiritual qi. 30
• Requires substantial blood food and medicine after extreme exertion; depleted qi and blood can leave him unable to continue fighting or pursuing enemies. 23 29
• Entering a full qi-and-blood circulation leaves him briefly unable to move or defend himself. 72

Iron Cloth Shirt

Originally a crude mortal external art, Iron Cloth Shirt evolves under the Ultimate Dao Furnace into Lu Chen's core body-cultivation method. 1 6

• Hardens his skin, fascia, bones, and muscles to withstand flying swords, wind blades, formations, and sword qi. 6 37 65
• Lets him shatter magic artifacts, crush formation disks, and tear apart protective barriers with raw grip strength. 5 29 37
• Produces immense pure Yang heat that can evaporate blood, dissipate low-level spiritual attacks, and neutralize poison. 6 27 95
• Develops substantial regeneration, knitting torn tendons and flesh back together even after severe injuries. 67 72 93
• Cannot make him completely invulnerable; Nascent Soul sword intent severely injures his back and disrupts his blood furnace. 81 82 83

Spiritless Body

Lu Chen's lack of a dantian and spiritual qi makes many conventional suppression techniques ineffective against him. 6 37

• Spirit-suppression formations cannot suppress power he does not possess. 6
• Spirit-Sealing and Blood Fiend formations cannot contaminate or disperse non-existent true essence. 37
• Remains capable of fighting in spirit-nullifying zones where cultivators lose access to spells, talismans, and flight. 26 50
• Cannot use ordinary cultivation arts, divine sense, flying swords, or spiritual artifacts as intended. 10 21 38

Stealth and Close-Quarters Combat

Lu Chen suppresses his heat, heartbeat, and blood vitality to avoid spiritual-sense detection, then relies on ambushes and overwhelming close-range force. 16 26 39

• Conceals himself in the shadows of the City-Guarding Stele or ancient trees, even from cultivators using spiritual sense. 16 39
• Uses falling attacks, terrain, chains, spears, and enemy weapons as extensions of his body. 17 26 27
• Can precisely restrain his force when A-Nan is nearby despite possessing hundred-thousand-jin strength. 39 93
• Defeated multiple Foundation Establishment cultivators through ambushes and direct hand-to-hand combat. 29 69

Blood Resonance

Lu Chen's pure Yang blood can resonate with others tied to the Ultimate Path. 66

• Fourth Li receives strength through resonance with Lu Chen's blood qi and survives an attack by crocodile-like beasts. 66
• The Heaven-Suppressing Wilderness-Bone Primal Ferocious Stele responds to Lu Chen's bloodline and to the awakening of body-cultivator inheritances in the Western Wasteland. 90
• A-Nan's same-source jade-bone light can stabilize Lu Chen's berserk blood qi and heal injuries caused by higher-realm cultivators. 67 72 83

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• City-Guarding Stele / Dao Stele — A thirty-thousand-jin black stele taken from Black Mud City. Its desolate aura suppresses nearby spiritual energy and can force cultivators out of flight. 8 9
• Heaven-Suppressing Wilderness-Bone Primal Ferocious Stele — The stele's later form. Its weight rises from sixty thousand jin to ninety thousand jin and eventually one hundred thousand jin; Lu Chen uses it as a shield, crushing weapon, and chained projectile. 81 84 85 91 96
• Century-old Black-Iron Chain — Wrapped around Lu Chen's arm or used to drag, swing, bind, and pull enemies from the air. 17 26 28
• Netherwind Wolf Hide — Used as A-Nan's bedding, sling, armor, and protective wrapping during combat. 16 63 78
• Blood-Jade Eye Cover — A wolf-hide eye band made with cold jade powder and Lu Chen's blood to conceal A-Nan's pupil-less spiritual eyes from spiritual-sense detection. 95
• Black-Iron Great Pill Furnace — Used to brew medicinal blood and food from demon-beast meat and spirit herbs. 71 72

Relationships

• A-Nan — His blind younger sister and the person he protects above all else. Lu Chen feeds her purified blood and medicine, shelters her through every battle, and later receives healing and stabilization from her jade-bone power. 1 5 67 93
• Fourth Li — A former mine slave and leader of Lu Chen's followers. Fourth Li receives Lu Chen's blood resonance, leads the blood disciples toward the Western Wasteland, and regards Lu Chen as his benefactor. 66 78 90
• Azure Firmament Sword Sect — Lu Chen's principal enemy. The sect massacres mortals, repeatedly hunts him and A-Nan, and issues a Blood Fiend Pursuit Order after he destroys its forces. 2 68 79
• Steward Zhao — A cruel Black Mud City guard who terrorized the mud alleys. Lu Chen cripples him after Zhao threatens A-Nan. 1 7
• Li Changfeng — Azure Firmament Sword Sect cultivator whose Qilin blood triggers Lu Chen's transformation. Lu Chen destroys Li's flying sword and protective treasure. 3 5
• Chen Yuanshan — Black Mud City's Foundation Establishment retainer. Lu Chen tears apart his defensive sword-qi barrier and kills him with a punch. 28 29
• Azure Firmament Patriarch — A Nascent Soul cultivator who traces Lu Chen through the sect's extinguished soul lamps and attacks him with pressure and Strangulation Needles. 88 89

Story Role / Major Arcs

Black Mud City Uprising

Lu Chen's attempt to save A-Nan from the Azure Firmament Sword Sect's massacre awakens the Ultimate Dao Furnace. He defeats Li Changfeng, destroys Black Mud City's formations and guards, uproots the Dao Stele, and uses it to kill a Foundation Establishment steward. 3 5 6 9

Immortal-Breaking Mountain

After escaping the city with A-Nan, Lu Chen uses the City-Guarding Stele as both shelter and a spirit-suppressing barrier. He survives demon beasts, ambushes Azure Firmament disciples, reaches the twelfth layer of Iron Cloth Shirt, and kills Chen Yuanshan's heavy-cavalry force. 11 17 23 29

Immortal-Breaking Mountain Black Market

Lu Chen enters the underground black market to obtain resources for A-Nan. He destroys Myriad Treasures Pavilion's killing formations, ignores cultivation manuals and artifacts, and takes raw meat, herbs, and life essence to strengthen himself and A-Nan. 31 37 38

Bloodrock Market and the Sect Pursuit

After surviving heavenly lightning and advancing to Thousand-Layer Black Iron, Lu Chen travels toward Bloodrock Market. He destroys the Azure Firmament envoy's suppression seal and warship, then escapes with A-Nan into the Wild Poison Miasma Forest. 59 67 68

A Thread of Sky Gorge

Lu Chen sends Fourth Li and the mine slaves west to train rather than die beside him. At the gorge, he faces three hundred Azure Firmament sword cultivators, shatters their formation, withstands a Nascent Soul sword talisman, kills a Golden Core Grand Elder with the ferocious stele, and leaves a corpse mound as a warning to the sect. 78 80 81 82

Poisonfire Spring Journey

While recovering from Nascent Soul sword intent and the Patriarch's Yin Curse, Lu Chen travels toward the Earth-Lung Poisonfire Spring. He protects A-Nan's exposed spiritual eyes with a Blood-Jade Eye Cover, reclaims the hundred-thousand-jin stele, and prepares to answer Fourth Li's danger in the Western Wasteland. 92 95 96

Notable Quotes

“I'll sever you first!” 9

“You want my head? Then get down here and see whether you old dog of an immortal sect have the good teeth for it!” 65

“As long as I've got one breath left, those immortal-cultivating mongrels won't touch a single hair on your head.” 78