Lu Chen

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Lu Chen’s soul transmigrated into the body of a menial disciple assigned to the Joyful Union Sect’s alchemy rooms. Before entering the sect, he and Liu Fuyao traveled together in search of cultivation; after she awakened a top-grade Heavenly Spirit Root, she became the sect’s Saintess while he was judged to possess a low-grade Five-Element Mixed Spirit Root and was reduced to menial work. 1

Liu Fuyao spent three final days with him before severing their engagement to cultivate the Ruthless Dao. She offered him spirit stones and urged him to leave the sect as a mortal, but Lu Chen refused after awakening the Yin-Yang Creation Cauldron. He accepted the stones, concealed the treasure, and vowed to surpass her. 1

His first successful experiment restored a discarded pill into a Qi-Gathering Pill, allowing him to reach Qi Refining Second Layer. This discovery gave him a path around the sect hierarchy: waste pills that endangered or disgusted others could become cultivation resources in his hands. 2 3

Manager Pang Yong repeatedly arranged for Lu Chen’s death through Hu Biao, Liu Heizi, and the servant-disciple competition. Lu Chen turned the contest’s outcome to his advantage, accepting blame for the contaminated soup so that Pang would assign him to guard the Waste Pill Repository—a position intended as a death sentence because of its pervasive Pill Poison. 7 8 9

Rather than die in Waste-Pill Valley, Lu Chen used its discarded pills and toxic environment to cultivate in secret. His survival of the poison released from Repository No. 18 further revealed that the cauldron could convert Pill Poison into usable spiritual qi. 9 10

Although the sect initially considered his Five-Element Mixed Spirit Root worthless, repeated refinement and body tempering transformed it. The Spirit-Testing Stele later identified him as possessing a Supreme Five-Elements Spiritual Root, making him both a rare cultivation talent and an extraordinarily valuable Furnace Tripod in the eyes of many Joyful Union Sect cultivators. 89 107

Ye Chenyu promoted Lu Chen to the Joyful Union Sect’s first male Inner Sect Disciple after the sect survived the Black Tortoise Sect crisis. The promotion ended his formal status as a menial disciple, but also made him a target of resentment, political scrutiny, and attempts to exploit his spiritual root. 84 85 86

Appearance

Lu Chen’s normal appearance is rarely emphasized because he deliberately obscures it whenever he operates outside the sect.

• Wears a bronze mask while acting as a mysterious pill cultivator in Hehuan Town. 13 21
• Uses a Form-Shifting Technique to alter his facial muscles and move through town without being recognized. 22 37
• His skin gained a bronze-like sheen during body cultivation, but returned to a normal appearance upon reaching the Peak Copper Skin Realm. 49
• His body later developed metallic and golden characteristics as his Iron Bone and Golden Body cultivation advanced, though he normally conceals these phenomena. 179 253
• While using the identity Lu Bufan, he changes his facial appearance and presents himself as an unremarkable independent cultivator. 172 179

Personality

Lu Chen is ambitious, opportunistic, and intensely resentful of the sect system that treats menial disciples as expendable. Liu Fuyao’s rejection and Manager Pang’s abuse drive his determination to become powerful enough to reverse the hierarchy around him. 1 29

He survives through concealment, deception, and practical bargaining rather than direct confrontation whenever possible. His masked alchemist persona is built on restored pills, controlled displays of wealth, altered appearances, and others’ assumptions about his expertise. 13 23 43

Lu Chen is also calculating in his relationships. He treats dual cultivation, rare pills, and protection as negotiable resources, but shows genuine concern for Xixi’s safety after claiming her as his disciple. 30 32 44

His growing power has made him more openly defiant toward powerful clans and sects. He refuses to submit to threats based on family status, particularly when facing the Black Tortoise Sect, Artifact Refining Sect, and Qin Household. 68 149 178

Despite his bravado, Lu Chen remains acutely aware of the danger posed by stronger cultivators. He repeatedly relies on disguises, misinformation, teleportation formations, and his Pill King reputation to avoid exposing the gap between his public spell-cultivation realm and actual combat power. 75 140 170

Lu Chen increasingly regards powerful opponents as whetstones for his body cultivation. His encounters with Qin Ziyi in particular draw out his competitive pride, battle instinct, and conviction that he is inferior to no one. 205 280

Abilities & Skills

Yin-Yang Creation Cauldron

An Imperial Artifact awakened within Lu Chen’s dantian. It is the source of his unconventional cultivation path. 1

• Restores waste pills into usable or higher-grade medicinal pills by consuming Yin-Yang Essence. 2 5
• Repairs damaged artifacts, including reforging the broken Black Tortoise Armor into a lower-grade Spirit Artifact. 22
• Can restore incomplete cultivation manuals and improve low-quality spirit herbs. 14
• Refines Pill Poison into spiritual qi without consuming Yin-Yang Essence. 10
• Identifies spiritual roots, bloodlines, pill quality, artifact condition, and a cultivator’s approximate lifespan. 15 24
• Conceals Lu Chen’s aura well enough to evade the detection of powerful cultivators. 6 23
• Contains an internal Yin-Yang Space for storing objects and cultivating spirit herbs. 35 41
• Requires increasingly extreme amounts of Yin-Yang Essence for higher-grade restoration; repairing a Spirit Transformation Pill fragment would require ten thousand strands. 43 44
• Protects him from oppressive Nascent Soul pressure and can suppress or absorb the power of hostile Spirit Artifacts. 76 179 180
• Can imprison and refine ghosts, demonic essence, corpse qi, and other negative energies; it refined the Thousand-Faced Ghost Consort into a Ghost Pill. 15 202
• Stores objects so completely that their owners can lose all sensory connection to them, as shown when Lu Chen seized Qin Ziyi’s seven natal flying swords. 179 180

Five Elements Swallowing Heaven Scripture

Lu Chen acquired and cultivated the foundational techniques of the Primordial Five Elements Immortal Sect. 19 21

• Absorbs ambient spiritual energy and Pill Poison, refining both into usable energy. 21
• Allows Lu Chen to withstand and absorb hostile energy, including demonic aura and Tu Wanshan’s attack. 15 38
• Includes the Five Elements Body-Refining Technique, which supports his physical cultivation. 19 35
• Includes the Five Elements Body-Refining Fist, used to temper his body and fight directly. 21
• Lets him devour and refine the cultivation of defeated Golden Core cultivators, enabling rapid advances in both spell and body cultivation. 172 176
• Can devour ghostly entities and refine their power, allowing him to consume the Thousand-Faced Ghost Consort and the Ghost Tribulation Corpse Pill. 202
• Supports the Five-Element Divine Fist, including Golden Dragon Shatters the Universe, a blood-qi fist technique capable of confronting Qin Ziyi’s Chaos Sword Qi. 280

Body Cultivation

Lu Chen’s body refinement allows him to fight far above his visible Qi Refining realm.

• His enhanced senses, speed, reactions, and physical strength let him overwhelm Liu Heizi despite the latter’s higher realm. 7
• Uses the Joyful Union Sect’s Mountain-Crushing Fist to kill Lin Shicai’s Qi Refining subordinates. 16
• Killed Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator Tu Wanshan with a single punch after breaking free of a Spirit Artifact’s restraints. 38
• At Peak Copper Skin Realm, his body can deform Vajra Jade flooring with a stomp and endure ordinary Spirit Artifacts. 39 49
• At the Iron Bone Stage, he could destroy attacks from Upper-Grade Spirit Artifacts, repel flying swords barehanded, and kill Golden Core cultivator Zhou Xianzong by extracting his Golden Core. 96 97 104
• At the Peak Iron Bone Stage, he defeated Peak Golden Core Qin Ziyi’s Chaos Sword Body and resisted her Chaos Sword Qi. 204 205
• His Golden Body grants metallic durability, rapid regeneration, and the ability to directly challenge Nascent Soul cultivators. 253 254
• Can manifest a Blood-Qi Dharma Form, a colossal golden figure formed from blood qi that can overpower Nascent Soul divine abilities and formations. 254 280 281
• Reached the Extremity Realm and gained Extreme-Breaking Power, allowing him to shatter Qin Ziyi’s Chaos Azure Lotus and contend with her as a Nascent Soul cultivator. 240 242

Yin-Yang Creation Scripture

Lu Chen’s dual-cultivation method produces Yin-Yang Essence while strengthening both participants. 44 46

• Martial cultivation involves intimate dual cultivation and has generated large quantities of Yin-Yang Essence from Bing’er, Yun Feiyan, Liu Yan’er, Li Yunsheng, and Jiang Yingyue. 15 37 39 75 82 104
• Literary cultivation circulates vital energy through linked palms and Greater Celestial Circuits without intimacy. 44 46
• Can strengthen a partner’s cultivation; Su Qingqing advanced from early to middle Foundation Establishment after eighty-one circuits. 46
• Lets Lu Chen perceive another participant’s vital-essence circulation and cultivation foundation. 47
• Can produce Yin-Yang Essence through the combination of his own vital essence with that of a female cultivator, reducing his dependence on conventional dual cultivation. 41
• Literary cultivation with Li Yunsheng and Helan Xue generated substantial Yin-Yang Essence while aiding their cultivation and removing Helan Xue’s seal. 82 140
• A shared Greater Celestial Circuit with Jiang Yingyue and Ye Chenyu demonstrated that Nascent Soul cultivators could each yield twenty strands of Yin-Yang Essence through literary cultivation. 98

Divine Sense and Spiritual Restraints

• Awakened divine sense upon reaching Qi Refining Fifth Layer, allowing him to inspect the Yin-Yang Cauldron’s inner space and identify ruined pills. 35
• Planted a God-Slaying Divine Sense Brand in Yun Feiyan’s Divine Aperture, giving him lethal control over her. 37
• Used the God-Extinguishing Forbidden Curse to force Liu Yan’er into submission. 39
• His divine sense later became strong enough to perceive invisible Chaos Sword Qi and monitor movements within a hundred zhang. 149 280

Yin-Yang Dao Eyes

A divine ability obtained through the Yin-Yang Creation Cauldron.

• Can inspect an individual’s concealed sex and physical condition, though extended use strains Lu Chen. 102
• Allows him to identify the weaknesses and trajectories of Spirit Artifact attacks, including Shen Kun’s Nine Sons Linked Flying Daggers. 149
• Reveals spiritual roots and special constitutions, including Qin Ziyi’s Supreme Chaos Spiritual Root and Chaos Sword Body. 180
• Enabled him to find the nearly imperceptible flaw in Qin Ziyi’s Chaotic Sword Ray. 281

Equipment / Items

• Yin-Yang Creation Cauldron — Imperial Artifact concealed in his dantian; restores pills, artifacts, techniques, and herbs. 1 35
• Bronze mask — Used to separate his sect identity from his masked pill-refiner persona. 13 21
• Portable teleportation platforms — A paired formation set given by Liu Yan’er; can transport a user up to five hundred li at the cost of six High-Grade Spirit Stones per use. 42
• Black Tortoise Armor — A damaged artifact Lu Chen restored into a lower-grade Spirit Artifact; it was later shattered by Liu Yan’er. 22 39
• Spirit Transformation Pill fragment — A defective fragment given by Jiang Yingyue; restoring it requires ten thousand strands of Yin-Yang Essence. 43 44
• Godslayer Dagger remnant — Tu Qianjue’s ruined weapon, which the cauldron identified as capable of being reforged into a Divine Artifact for six thousand strands of Yin-Yang Essence. 82
• Seven natal flying swords of Qin Ziyi — A set of supreme-grade, five-element, lunar, and solar swords seized from Qin Ziyi and stored within the Yin-Yang Cauldron. 179 180
• Supreme Fire Spirit Iron — Rare forging material obtained from Shen Li, which Lu Chen intends to use to forge a future bonded flying sword. 123
• Broken Immortal Artifact sword — A sword recovered from the Ancient Immortal Secret Realm; the cauldron identified it as an Immortal Artifact requiring one million strands of Yin-Yang Essence to reforge. 76
• Golden Cores — Lu Chen collects the Golden Cores of defeated enemies as cultivation resources for refining his Five-Element physique and advancing his body cultivation. 166 176 223

Relationships

• Liu Fuyao — Former fiancée and Joyful Union Sect Saintess. She severed their relationship to cultivate the Ruthless Dao; Lu Chen intends to surpass her and make her regret abandoning him. Her lingering concern and jealousy reveal that she has not fully severed her feelings. 1 33 145 152
• Pang Yong — Manager who confiscated Lu Chen’s reward, arranged multiple assassination attempts, and assigned him to the Waste Pill Repository hoping Pill Poison would kill him. 2 7 9
• Su Qingqing — Inner disciple who initially prevented Pang from whipping Lu Chen and later became an ally of Lu Chen’s masked persona after literary dual cultivation. She became Su Qingzhu’s personal disciple and openly protects Lu Chen in the inner sect. 1 46 85 87
• Zhao Hong — Lu Chen’s servant and protector. Zhao Hong reached Foundation Establishment through Lu Chen’s pill and manages many of his affairs in Hehuan Town. 26 33
• Bing’er — Ice Dragon-blooded Half-Demon rescued from the House of Ten Thousand Beauties; Lu Chen’s cultivation partner and a recipient of his protection. 15 28
• Huo’er and Qing’er — Fire Sparrow- and Black Flood Dragon-blooded Half-Demons respectively. They became Lu Chen’s cultivation partners and advanced through scholarly dual cultivation. Lu Chen selected the Nine-Yang Raging Fire Art for Huo’er. 15 33 44 91
• Yun Feiyan — Joyful Union Sect’s eldest senior sister. Lu Chen won their Nine-Turn Boundary-Breaking Pill wager, then bound her with a divine-sense brand. She remains politically hostile toward his ordinary identity while unknowingly respecting his Pill King persona. 35 37 85 91
• Liu Yan’er — Blissful Sect Holy Maiden who attempted to enslave Lu Chen, only to be subdued and bound by him. She later provides intelligence on the Black Tortoise Sect’s plans, advances to Golden Core with his pill, and learns that he is the Reclusive Pill King. 38 39 75 152
• Xixi — Young girl with a fire-aligned Heavenly Spirit Root whom Lu Chen claimed as his disciple. Her talent drew the attention of multiple sects and led to her abduction by Lei Xuan. Jiang Yingyue later became her registered teacher for three years while Lu Chen prepared for the Ancient Immortal Secret Realm. 30 32 76
• Jiang Yingyue — Joyful Union Sect Supreme Elder who believes Lu Chen is an unfathomable Pill King or Pill Sage after misinterpreting his improvised Dao teachings. She became his close dual-cultivation partner and is increasingly protective and possessive of him. 26 43 98 104
• Ye Chenyu — Joyful Union Sect Master. She promoted Lu Chen to the inner sect because of his apparent connection to the Reclusive Pill King, received a Nascent Soul Pill from him, and granted him a place at the Eastern Continent Cultivation Assembly. 84 98 145
• Li Yunsheng — A powerful Grand Void Immortal Sect successor and Nascent Soul Great Completion cultivator. She knows Lu Chen’s dual identity, uses this knowledge to pressure him into dual cultivation, and publicly denied that he was the Reclusive Pill King to preserve his secret. 82 141 142
• Shen Li — Artifact Refining Sect master’s niece and enemy of Shen Que. Lu Chen saved her repeatedly, received Supreme Fire Spirit Iron from her, and she knows his true identity as the Reclusive Pill King. 123 151
• Helan Xue — Donglai Sword Sect Holy Maiden. Lu Chen removed the seal on her body through literary cultivation, and she helps protect his identity despite the complications caused by her broken engagement to Donglai Yijian. 140 151 152
• Lei Ting — Thunder Clan prodigy and later ally within the Ancient Immortal Secret Realm. She repeatedly offers Lu Chen aid and risks herself to protect him against Qin Ziyi. 202 204 240
• Tang Xiaoman — Beast Taming Sect cultivator and companion during the Ancient Immortal Secret Realm expedition. Lu Chen gave her a Vermilion Bird Fruit to help awaken her ancestral bloodline. 166 227
• Qin Ziyi — Foremost genius of the Archaic Qin Household, possessing a Supreme Chaos Spiritual Root, Innate Sword Body, and Chaos Sword Body. Lu Chen stole her seven natal flying swords while disguised as Lu Bufan, creating an escalating rivalry; she does not know that Lu Chen and Lu Bufan are the same person. 179 205 280
• Qin Fan — Qin Household member and recurring enemy whose assassinations drove Lu Chen to retaliate against the Qin faction. He uses war-puppet clones and the Joyful Union Sect disciples as bait to trap Lu Chen. 74 170 223 243
• Su Mei — Former Joyful Union Sect elder and traitor allied with the Black Tortoise Sect. Lu Chen defeated her after she held Liu Yan’er, Shen Li, and Tang Xiaoman hostage. 76 166 176

Story Role / Major Arcs

Severed Engagement and Awakening

Lu Chen begins as an oppressed alchemy-room menial disciple whose former fiancée, Liu Fuyao, abandons him after becoming the Joyful Union Sect Saintess. The awakening of the Yin-Yang Creation Cauldron gives him the means to reject his assigned fate. 1 2

Waste Pill Repository Arc

After surviving Pang Yong’s assassination schemes and defeating Liu Heizi, Lu Chen secures the supposedly lethal post of Waste Pill Repository guard. The valley becomes his hidden cultivation base, providing access to Pill Poison, discarded pills, and isolation from the Servant Quarters. 7 8 9

Hehuan Town and the Masked Alchemist

Lu Chen descends the mountain behind a bronze mask, acquires damaged artifacts and incomplete manuals, and develops a reputation as a pill-refining master. His restored Foundation Establishment Pill allows Zhao Hong to advance publicly, transforming Lu Chen from an unknown servant into the town’s most sought-after masked cultivator. 13 14 23 26

Xixi and Sect Rivalries

After discovering Xixi’s fire-aligned Heavenly Spirit Root, Lu Chen claims her as his disciple. Her talent is exposed by the Lin Household, triggering a struggle involving the Joyful Union Sect, Sacred Pill Sect, and powerful elders who view her as a prize to be claimed. 30 31 32

Rise of the Pill King Persona

Lu Chen restores a Nine-Turn Boundary-Breaking Pill, wins his wager with Yun Feiyan, and becomes increasingly valuable to the Joyful Union Sect’s senior figures. His reputation grows despite his lack of formal alchemy knowledge, as Jiang Yingyue and Ye Chenyu begin viewing him as a potential solution to the sect’s Nascent Soul Pill crisis. 35 43 44

Looming Sect Crisis

Through Liu Yan’er, Lu Chen learns that the Blissful Sect has submitted to the Black Tortoise Sect, the Joyful Union Sect’s Nascent Soul ancestor has died, and an internal traitor exists. The Black Tortoise Sect plans to annex the weakened Joyful Union Sect after its Grand Tournament. 39 40

Sect Grand Tournament

Lu Chen enters the outer-sect Life-and-Death Arenas not for the prizes, but to confront Manager Pang and uncover which inner disciple ordered his death. At the same time, the sect’s internal instability becomes visible as Yun Feiyan and Lin Yue fight at Golden Core level on the summit. 50

Black Tortoise Sect War

When the Black Tortoise Sect attacks Joyful Union Mountain, Lu Chen kills Xuan Aotian despite threats from the latter’s Nascent Soul grandfather. Jiang Yingyue reveals her Nascent Soul cultivation and activates the Greater Celestial Circuit Joyful Immortal-Enchanting Array, overturning the invasion and preserving the sect. 68 70

Inner Sect Promotion

Following Ye Chenyu’s Nascent Soul breakthrough, Lu Chen becomes the Joyful Union Sect’s first male Inner Sect Disciple. The promotion raises his status dramatically, earns him opportunistic supporters, and makes him an object of envy, hostility, and interest among the female inner disciples. 84 85 86

Supreme Spiritual Root and Inner Sect Intrigue

Lu Chen’s Spirit-Testing Stele result reveals his Supreme Five-Elements Spiritual Root, overturning the sect’s assumptions about his potential. His first days in the inner sect bring an attempted assassination, conflict over Spirit Artifacts, and growing suspicion regarding his connection to the Reclusive Pill King. 89 91 92

Eastern Continent Cultivation Assembly

Ye Chenyu selects Lu Chen for the Joyful Union Sect’s delegation to the Eastern Continent Cultivation Assembly despite his low visible realm. In Void City, he humiliates and cripples Artifact Refining Sect disciple Shen Kun, attracting the hostility of rival sects while struggling to keep his identities hidden from Shen Li, Helan Xue, Liu Yan’er, and the Joyful Union Sect. 145 148 149 151

Thirteen Void Passes

Within the Thirteen Void Passes, Lu Chen uses the identity Lu Bufan, cultivates by devouring Golden Cores, and turns his apparent wealth into bait for enemies. His strength rises from Iron Bone cultivation to the Golden Body Stage, while his ruthless victories draw the attention of the Qin Household and other major factions. 166 172 176 223 253

Rivalry with Qin Ziyi

Lu Chen steals Qin Ziyi’s seven natal flying swords and repeatedly defeats her while disguised as Lu Bufan. Their conflict escalates after she reaches Nascent Soul, then Nascent Soul Great Completion, while Lu Chen develops his Golden Body, Blood-Qi Dharma Form, and Five-Element Divine Fist. Qin Ziyi ultimately confronts Lu Chen without realizing he is the same opponent she knows as Lu Bufan. 179 205 240 276 280 281

Ancient Immortal Secret Realm

After entering the Ancient Immortal Secret Realm, Lu Chen confronts Golden Core and Nascent Soul prodigies, distributes Vermilion Bird Fruits to allies, and harvests enemies’ Golden Cores to advance his Five-Element body cultivation. The realm’s ancient inheritances, ghostly dangers, and powerful factions force him to reveal increasingly extraordinary body-cultivation abilities. 202 223 227 254