Long Xuan

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Long Xuan awakens after transmigrating into the body of a handsome fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy of the same name. The original Long Xuan was an orphaned commoner and medicinal-garden worker who considered his ability to see the growth progress of all things useless. The transmigrated Long Xuan recognizes that it can expose incomplete Gu recipes and optimize the cultivation of spirit herbs, turning the garden into his first source of wealth. 1

His previous-life experience as an entomologist shapes his approach to Gu refinement. Rather than following orthodox recipes, he experiments with organisms’ survival traits, beginning with cockroach-based Gu intended to provide extreme regeneration and resilience. He sells his creations through disguises, avoids buying blood-contracted Gu from strangers, and gradually establishes a reputation in Far Western Market. 3 15

After refining the Eye of Heavenly Secrets, Long Xuan secretly studies Old Long’s alchemy and completes the Hundred Flower Pill formula that Old Long had failed to solve for ten years. His progress indicator makes herb purification and pill refinement unusually efficient, allowing him to become an alchemist despite his poor conventional cultivation aptitude. 17 18 20 21

Old Long’s explanation of the Ten Extremity Physique inspires Long Xuan to create a cultivation method suited to his own body. Drawing on the incomplete Sun-Moon Heart Scripture, he develops the Ten Absolutes Scripture and its five elemental Externalized Clones, overcoming part of his cultivation-speed problem while gaining a foundation for combat. 22 27 28

Long Xuan later learns that his mortal ancestry carries diluted Long Family blood. The Long Family historically abandoned descendants born to mortal women unless they displayed exceptional value, but Old Long recruits Long Xuan after discovering his clone technique and apparent potential. Long Xuan becomes Old Long’s medicine boy, registered disciple, and then personal disciple while secretly guiding his master to Third-Grade Alchemist status. 84

Though his Long Family connection grants him protection, Long Xuan remains wary of permanent obligations. He uses the family’s resources, status, and research projects to further his own Gu recipes, formations, and cultivation while repeatedly intending to retain the freedom of a Rogue Cultivator. 84 110 155

Following his rise to Gu King, Long Xuan increasingly operates beyond the Long Family’s territory. He builds mobile and commercial bases through the Heaven-Swallowing World Toad, Thatch Gu houses, the Divine Dragon Ship, Sin City businesses, and a growing network of talented allies. 251 275 354 500

Appearance

Long Xuan initially appears as a handsome adolescent of about fifteen or sixteen. A year of eating spirit-chicken eggs leaves his once-thin body noticeably fuller; years later, he is shown shaving, bathing, and changing into clean clothes before returning to the market. 1 2 49

• Often conceals his identity with masks, altered clothing, gloves, and disguises during transactions. 15 38 44
• Bears the concealed Eye of Heavenly Secrets in his glabella after forming a blood contract with it. 16
• Commonly presents himself as an ordinary, low-level Rogue Cultivator while hiding his Gu, wealth, formulas, and true combat strength. 15 34 38
• Uses identities such as Song Qian and Master Wei when operating businesses in Sin City, relying on disguise techniques and stolen memories to preserve his cover. 333 354
• His body is exceptionally formidable after repeated tempering by magma, Heavenly Flames, Tribulation Lightning, and the Ten Extremity Physique. On a cultivation-suppressing altar, this physical strength lets him overwhelm numerous Gu Kings barehanded. 458

Personality

Long Xuan is analytical, inventive, and obsessive about experimentation. He approaches Gu refinement, alchemy, formations, wine-making, and cultivation methods as research problems: observe a process, identify its measurable progress, test variations, and retain only what works. His previous-life scientific knowledge gives him ideas that local cultivators often consider impossible or unconventional. 1 16 18 26

He is ambitious but highly risk-averse. Long Xuan routinely disguises himself, uses clones as intermediaries, fabricates the impression of a powerful master, and prefers institutional protection from the Qian Clan Merchant Association over exposing himself in private deals. His refusal to enter the ancient tomb proves well founded when most of its Rogue Cultivator explorers die. 15 27 38 39

Despite calling himself a “grind emperor,” he is also pragmatic and comfort-seeking. Once his clones can cultivate for him, he delegates routine work so he can focus on research, treasure hunting, and leisure. He values longevity not merely as survival, but as time to enjoy food, wine, and a comfortable life. 28 33 46

Long Xuan’s caution does not prevent him from exploiting exceptional opportunities. He routinely hides completed research results to obtain more materials, uses family projects to subsidize personal experiments, and turns wealth, commercial enterprises, and allies into resources for his long-term plans. 155 275 500

He is capable of moral compromise when survival or secrecy is at stake. In Sin City, he maintains Song Qian’s identity, trades Xiangxiang’s corpse to Master Wei, and avoids confronting the city’s corruption so that he can remain hidden and acquire resources. 333

Although generally self-interested, Long Xuan protects people he considers important to his plans or personal life. He risks himself to rescue Long Ziyan from the Lei Clan, saves Qin Mingyue during the Xuanyuan Imperial House’s massacre, and carries Zhu Jiǔge away from the altar after securing divine treasures. 97 492 458

Abilities & Skills

Progress-Tracking Golden Finger

Long Xuan can perceive the growth or completion progress of living beings, treasures, spirit herbs, recipes, and certain processes. He uses this information to optimize cultivation, identify incomplete formulas, and test material combinations one at a time. 1 3 20

• Reveals the optimal dosage and timing for Ripening Liquid, reducing waste in medicinal-garden cultivation. 1 2
• Displays the completion of incomplete Gu recipes, pill formulas, cultivation methods, maps, and Spirit Flame formulas. 1 2 19 28 35
• Identifies hidden value in objects nearing transformation, including fossils containing spirit insects and rare materials. 3 13 37
• Allows him to recognize disguised people through their progress readings, since appearance-altering techniques do not significantly change a person’s progress. 41
• Has a major limitation: when multiple possible recipes use similar materials, it prioritizes the recipe with the greatest required number of materials rather than necessarily the most useful one. 15
• Lets him identify extraordinary hidden resources, including Spirit Springs, Earth Spirit Trees, Mithril Essence, and living fossils that other cultivators would overlook. 103 157 210 320
• Can prove whether a theoretical recipe is feasible even when its material count reaches extraordinary scales, such as the Calamity Poison Gu’s more than one hundred thousand materials. 214

Ten Extremity Physique

Long Xuan possesses the Ten Extremity Physique, a rare body with immense spiritual reserves, broad meridians, and exceptional same-stage combat potential. Its advantages are offset by an enormous Spirit Sea that ordinary techniques struggle to fill. 22 34

• Gives him spiritual power and attack strength far beyond ordinary cultivators of the same stage. 34
• Allows his divided Externalized Clones to retain combat power sufficient to injure Late Spirit Gathering opponents. 34
• Rejects ordinary cultivation methods because the specialized method once meant for the physique has been lost. 22
• Makes low-grade breakthrough medicines comparatively ineffective for him because of his unusually vast and solid spiritual foundation. 38
• Grants him overwhelming physical power, allowing him to defeat stronger cultivators in close combat and to remain dangerous even when Gu insects are suppressed. 292 294
• His body has been further tempered by magma, Heavenly Flames, and Tribulation Lightning, making his physical strength sufficient to dominate Gu Kings when cultivation abilities are sealed. 458
• His immense Spirit Sea makes realm breakthroughs exceptionally difficult, but also gives him extraordinary reserves and combat potential after each advancement. 103 505

Ten Absolutes Scripture

Long Xuan’s self-created cultivation method is tailored to the Ten Extremity Physique. Its first layer is designed for the Spirit Gathering Stage; it combines five-element spiritual power and a divine ability adapted from the incomplete Sun-Moon Heart Scripture. 23 28

• Creates five physical Externalized Clones: Metal, Wood, Water, Flame, and Earth. 28
• Each clone cultivates one elemental spiritual power and returns its gains to Long Xuan. 28
• Lets him divide into six combatants, including his main body, or retract the clones to concentrate his power. 34
• The scripture has eight total layers; the second layer is intended for the Marrow Cleansing Stage. 28
• Long Xuan eliminates the Sun-Moon Heart Sutra’s danger of clones replacing or rebelling against their creator by maintaining direct control rather than leaving them independent. 84
• The second layer produces five high-quality Mutated Spiritual Powers—Xin, Sen, Miao, Yan, and Yao—whose formation significantly improves the quality and offensive force of his spiritual power. 112
• His clones function as researchers, alchemists, laborers, escorts, combatants, and substitute cultivators, greatly expanding the number of tasks he can perform simultaneously. 110 210 228

Eye of Heavenly Secrets

The Eye of Heavenly Secrets is a supreme-grade Eye Gu refined through an enormous recipe and blood-contracted into Long Xuan’s forehead. Though initially at 0% growth, it grants extraordinary perception and an illusion ability called Origin Realm. 16 17 37

• Magnifies Long Xuan’s vision from the microscopic scale to bacteria, viruses, molecules, atoms, and atomic nuclei. 16
• Grants limited see-through vision through thin, low-density objects. 16
• Combines enhanced distance vision with magnification to produce Thousand-Mile Sight. 17
• Works with his progress-tracking ability to locate underground spirit-stone veins, metal deposits, fossils, and other concealed resources. 17
• Can analyze pills, poisons, spirit-insect feed, and other materials at a microscopic level. 16 19
• Requires further growth or metamorphosis before its long-distance sight can reach its projected potential. 17
• Allows him to perceive Dream Butterfly Gu in the ancient tomb and safely navigate dangers that force the major Lineages to abandon exploration. 104
• His later Moon’s Tear eyedrops improve the Eye Gu’s resistance to Illusion Techniques from higher realms. 340
• Its exceptional vision can expose concealed defects, hidden insects in pills, unusual bodily structures, and the methods behind artifacts. 333 360 489

Origin Realm

Origin Realm is the Eye of Heavenly Secrets’ illusion technique. It reproduces observed reality so perfectly that targets cannot identify flaws while inside it. 16 24

• Can recreate locations Long Xuan has personally seen, including the Qian Clan Treasure Pavilion. 24
• Pulls real beings’ consciousness into the illusion while leaving their actual bodies dazed and defenseless. 24 35
• Lets him test techniques and recipes in a simulated environment without consuming real materials or risking his real lifespan. 24 48
• Cannot independently create conscious beings or their possessions; larger scenes and powerful treasures take longer to reproduce. 24
• Leaves Long Xuan’s physical body vulnerable while he is operating within the illusion. 24
• Allows him to repeatedly explore lethal tomb chambers, learn from failure, and map dangers before attempting them in reality. 157
• Cannot replicate living creatures, making living fossils and other living treasures difficult to investigate entirely within the illusion. 157

Alchemy and Formula Reconstruction

Long Xuan learns alchemy by secretly observing Old Long through Thousand-Mile Sight and by using progress displays to monitor purification and pill formation. 18 20

• Completes the Hundred Flower Pill formula in two days after Old Long’s decade of failure. 19
• Refines eighty-one Hundred Flower Pills in his first complete attempt, producing no defective pills. 21
• Reconstructs low-grade formulas from defective pills and incomplete pill fragments. 21 38
• Refines Spirit-Gathering Pills, which increase the chance of reaching the Marrow Cleansing Stage by roughly ten percent for an average user. 38
• Stops large-scale pill sales when Gu refinement proves more profitable and less time-consuming. 21
• Secretly assists Old Long in refining Third-Grade Spirit Pills, enabling Old Long to become the Far West’s only Third-Grade Alchemist. 84
• Develops cross-grade pill-refining methods that rely on the coordination of his clones, eventually allowing him to refine Third-Grade Icefire Twin Extremes Pills despite his lower formal alchemy grade. 244 251
• Creates theoretical Heaven-Mending and Soul-Restoring Pill formulas after his body, aptitude, dantian, and soul foundation are damaged by the Life-and-Death Gate. 228
• Develops a Heaven Spirit Pill formula in less than a month, then conceals the accomplishment to continue receiving Di Xin’s spirit-herb resources. 500
• Develops a Reincarnation Pill formula intended to preserve memories through reincarnation and to generate Life-Forming Lightning for the Tribulation Gu. 510

Five Elements Jade

Five Elements Jade is the first supporting spiritual art created for the Ten Absolutes Scripture. It compresses and combines five types of spiritual power into destructive jade-like projectiles. 26

• Mutual Generation Cycle — emphasizes endurance and sustained power. 26
• Mutual Return Cycle — emphasizes direct offensive force and momentum. 26
• Mutual Overcoming Cycle — emphasizes explosive power. 26
• Extreme Jade — uses a single attribute for more specialized but weaker effects. 26
• Flame Jade, used by the Flame Clone, severely injures a Late Spirit Gathering opponent despite the clone’s lower cultivation. 34

Energy Bomb

Energy Bomb is a secret forbidden technique developed with the Cockroach Gu. It converts lifespan into destructive energy spheres capable of creating enormous explosions. 48

• Can severely injure Long Xuan himself as well as his target. 48
• Is reserved for desperate circumstances because lifespan is its fuel. 48
• Was tested extensively in Origin Realm, where the lifespan cost could be simulated without harming his real body. 48
• Long Xuan hides the manual rather than selling it, considering secrecy central to its value. 48
• He is willing to invest two hundred years of lifespan into a single Energy Bomb when he judges one hundred years insufficient to guarantee an opponent’s death. 69

Body Techniques and Martial Arts

Long Xuan progressively develops non-Gu combat abilities so that he remains dangerous when his Gu insects are suppressed or unsuitable for open use. 97 137 292

• Starstep — An unusual movement technique that lets him step on his own feet in midair. He uses it to carry Long Ziyan across a lava sea and escape the Lei Clan. 97
• Steel Fist — A self-created body technique whose incomplete form has no flaw detectable by the Evil Dragon Emperor Eye. At roughly thirty-percent completion, it defeats Long Biao with one punch. 137
• Ten Ultimates Saber Technique — A ten-form saber art Long Xuan completes after nearly two years of research. It is specifically suited to Xiaoyue’s ten sabers and includes the ultimate move Ten Forms Unleashed. 186 187
• Life-and-Death Gate / Eight Gates — A forbidden body-enhancement technique that can produce enough power to kill across major realms, but inflicts catastrophic backlash when fully opened. 228 292
• Bursting Fist — A physical strike used after opening the first four Life-and-Death Gates; it destroys a puppet general’s Top-Grade Spirit Stone core. 292
• Dharma Aspects — Long Xuan later possesses three Dharma Aspects, which greatly magnify his physical strength and allow him to shatter Xuan Yuan Yin’s arm under realm suppression. 492

Soul Arts and Formation Mastery

Long Xuan’s later research expands into soul cultivation and formation design, fields in which his clones, precise memory, and progress-tracking ability offer unusual advantages. 104 210 214

• Heavenly Demon Soul-Splitting Divine Art — A dangerous soul art Long Xuan begins mastering through Flame Clone because its cultivation is painful and hazardous. 210
• Soul Library — A supporting soul technique that provides perfect knowledge storage and can slow external time by a factor of three for research. 210 214
• Heavenly Demon Soul-Devouring Art — Lets Long Xuan’s Soul-Splittings overwhelm weak puppet souls and take control of their bodies. 294
• Five-Element Reversal Grand Formation — A defensive formation intended to protect his remote mountain, Spirit Spring, and Medicine Garden through five-element synergy. 105 110
• Immortal-Slaying Grand Formation — A later formation built with his five clones. It can simulate Sword Intent and gives Long Ziyan the opportunity to comprehend numerous Sword Intents. 191 214
• Rubik’s Cube Grand Formation — A complex map-based formation capable of trapping even Spiritual Sea Stage experts and mentally exhausting formation specialists. 137

Gu Insects

• Cockroach Gu — Long Xuan’s cockroach-based Gu creation, valued for resilience and regeneration. It can regrow severed limbs, but the process may take years rather than occurring instantly. 3 7
• Little Strong Gu — A popular product associated with surviving otherwise fatal injuries and exchanging wounds with opponents; its public success greatly increases Long Xuan’s sales. 15
• Eye of Heavenly Secrets — Supreme-grade Eye Gu that provides microscopic vision, Thousand-Mile Sight, hidden-resource detection, and Origin Realm. 16 17 37
• Wine Gu / Little White — A supreme-grade Gu refined from a Wine Worm and Four-Flavor Wine distilled to an unprecedented potency. 46 49
  • Slowing Domain reduces enemies’ movement speed within its range. 49
  • Acceleration Domain increases the movement speed of Long Xuan and his allies within its range. 49
  • Both domains can operate simultaneously. 49
  • Its domains later neutralize a puppet general’s arrow attacks, slow the puppet and its mount, and assist in killing Xuan Yuan Yin. 292 492
• Dragon Gu — A supreme-grade Gu whose recipe Long Xuan completes after months of research. It can teleport between enemies and rapidly kill or harass opponents in battle. 75 97 212
• Thatch Gu — Initially a house-building Gu, Thatch Gu evolves from Low-Grade to Mid-Grade after consuming Longevity Gu. Its Pyramid Hut can teleport living beings, and Long Xuan uses it to establish emergency escape houses and a transportation network. 186 191
• Medicine Gu — A green caterpillar Gu that produces Heavenly Creation Elixir. Each drop can accelerate a spirit herb’s growth by one hundred years, depending on the quality of leaves it consumes. 210
• Water Bear Gu — A regenerative Gu that keeps Long Xuan alive after the backlash of the Eight Gates. It later undergoes metamorphosis into a Spirit Gu through “Rebirth Through Destruction.” 228
• Xiaoyue / Blade Gu — Long Xuan’s ten-bladed Silvermoon Mantis Spirit Insect. After being refined and developed, it becomes an extraordinary Five-Hundred-Thousand-Tier Blade Gu and practices the Ten Ultimates Saber Technique. 147 186 187
• Calamity Poison Gu — A poison-eating Gu designed around the Ten Thousand Poison Pearl. It can convert poisons into Poison Spiritual Power and potentially reproduce every poison it consumes, but falls into a coma after consuming plutonium. 214 217
• Heaven-Swallowing World Toad — A wealth-dependent Gu with an internal world capable of storing Long Xuan’s mobile Medicine Garden and devouring enormous resources, including an entire Black Gold Vein. 275 496
• Book Gu — A Gu strengthened by the worldwide spread of Journey to the West. It advances two grades and unlocks a weakened Seventy-Two Transformations that changes how others perceive Long Xuan’s form. 482
• Tribulation Gu — A lightning-based Gu that grants Long Xuan a high-speed flight technique and continues evolving through increasingly powerful lightning tribulations. 333 510
• Gold-Eating Insects — Concealed insects used to pierce Jin Zidan’s defenses and force the Late-Stage Gu King to sever both legs. 514
• Longevity Gu — A single-use Gu refined to extend lifespan. Long Xuan first uses it to evolve Thatch Gu, then later develops a human-specific variant with results ranging from fifty to one thousand years of additional lifespan. 186 188

Equipment / Items

• Green three-legged pill furnace — Obtained from Little Medicine Boy in exchange for Cockroach Gu and waste pills; used for Long Xuan’s first pill-refining attempts. 19 20
• Insect-Rearing Pouch — Used to conceal and carry contracted Gu, including Little White. 20 49
• Treasure Map Fragment — A partially burned map restored through months of experimentation; it leads Long Xuan to the Fossil Ore Vein. 32 35 36
• Fossil Ore Vein map — Sold through the Qian Clan Auction House for 700 million Spirit Stones. 39 44
• Divine Ice Flame Formula — A self-created cold Spirit Flame formula requiring three hundred rare materials, including Millennium Ice Marrow; it remains unrefined because he cannot obtain the latter. 18 21 49
• World Tree Seed — A portable internal world into which Long Xuan relocates his Medicine Garden, Ice Bees, Golden Dragonfish, and other living resources. 251
• Ten Thousand Poison Pearl — A poison treasure Long Xuan uses as the central material for the theoretical Calamity Poison Gu. 214
• Thousand-Soul Banner — A ghost-controlling artifact recovered from a Ghost Cultivator’s storage pouch. Long Xuan considers using beast souls and the Repair Gu to develop or restore it. 348
• Golden Toad Fossil — A fossil Long Xuan obtains from Sky Island after using puppet control and the Life-and-Death Gate to breach its barrier. 294
• Other Shore Flower Seed — A living seed recovered from a withered Other Shore Flower, one of the eight great divine flowers. Long Xuan intends to plant it in his mobile Medicine Garden. 458
• Heaven-Imprisoning Staff — A Divine Artifact Long Xuan briefly possesses after Artifact Maniac’s death. He later trades it to Qian Changjiang for Triple-Origin Heavy Water after deciphering its forging principles. 458 489
• Triple-Origin Heavy Water — A unique Heavenly Water acquired in exchange for the Heaven-Imprisoning Staff. 489
• Demon-Slaying Blade — The Tu Family’s treasured Renowned Blade, claimed by Long Xuan after killing Tu Gang. 509

Relationships

• Old Long / Long Ao — Former employer, medicinal-garden owner, and unwitting source of Long Xuan’s early alchemical knowledge. After discovering Long Xuan’s apparent clone technique and Long Family bloodline, Old Long recruits him as a medicine boy and promotes him to personal disciple. Long Xuan secretly helps him become the Far West’s only Third-Grade Alchemist. 1 17 18 22 84
• Brother Chicken — A female spirit chicken Long Xuan humorously names “Brother Chicken.” It protects the medicinal garden from spirit insects and supplies eggs, while remaining fiercely protective of its own eggs. 2
• Old Daoist Li — Market acquaintance and occasional trading partner. His difficult-to-guard Gu indirectly motivates Long Xuan to develop microscopic vision; later, Li brings the incomplete Sun-Moon Heart Scripture that inspires the Ten Absolutes Scripture. 7 26 27
  • Li remains one of Long Xuan’s earliest friends. By their later reunion, Li has reached the Late Marrow-Cleansing Stage and still treats Long Xuan with familiarity despite their widening gap in status. 217
• Qian Duoduo — Qian Clan merchant and auction-house manager. He repeatedly underestimates Long Xuan’s knowledge but becomes a key intermediary for the Fossil Ore Vein auction. 9 38 39
• Qian Jinjin — Qian Clan figure whose Glow Gu competition gives Long Xuan access to the Stone King. Long Xuan later invades her awareness through Origin Realm, prompting her to investigate the unknown illusion-user. 12 24
• Little Medicine Boy / Little Apothecary — Clever alchemy assistant and recurring market rival. They trade a pill furnace and waste pills for Cockroach Gu, then later bargain over the damaged treasure map. 19 20 32
• Di Xin — Veiled Formation Raider and Treasure Exchange Fair host. She trades Long Xuan formation books and a substantial portion of his Divine Ice Flame materials in exchange for pills and spirit insects. 29 30 33
  • Di Xin becomes one of Long Xuan’s most important long-term allies, trading him living herbs, rare Spirit Insects, formation materials, and assistance during major expeditions. Her extraordinary formation attainments, thefts, and survival against overwhelming enemies lead Long Xuan to regard her as a “daughter of fortune.” 60 217 275 492
• Five Externalized Clones — Metal, Wood, Water, Flame, and Earth are Long Xuan’s physical elemental incarnations. They cultivate for him, perform assigned labor, refine pills, and fight as a coordinated force. 28 34 46
• Long Lie — A powerful acquaintance and creditor of Old Long who approaches Long Xuan after detecting the scent of his wine; he demands wine in repayment for Old Long’s alleged debt. 49 50
  • Long Lie is later revealed to be Long Xuan’s great-uncle and one of the last survivors of their fallen Long Family branch. 84
• Long Ziyan — Old Long’s daughter, Long Xuan’s senior sister, and a peerless Long Family genius who cultivates both Gu and sword techniques. Long Xuan rescues her in the Yaoguang Empress’s Tomb, and they later become dual-cultivation partners. 89 97 186
  • Her bloodline reaches the tenth grade and she advances to the Spiritual Sea Stage through dual cultivation. She later gains a Millennium Longevity Gu from Long Xuan and becomes a terrifying sword cultivator on the battlefield. 186 188 214
• Long Qilin — A Long Family acquaintance who introduces Long Xuan to family customs, gossip, and Long Ziyan. He later becomes heavily invested in the Thatch Gu house-building business. 85 110
• Long Qian — A Long Family formation expert and intermediary for major family projects. He recruits Long Xuan for the Blood Dragon Battle Gu research project and later assigns him to defeat Ye Xiu in the Mithril Ore Vein campaign. 147 210
• Long Wanli — Long Family patriarch who rewards Long Xuan’s Gu-creation talent, accepts his Thatch Gu business proposals, and supports his claim to a remote mountain residence. 110 191
• Qin Mingyue — A zither cultivator with the Heavenly Fragrance Physique. Long Xuan rescues her from Xuan Yuan Yin, later dual cultivates with her to break through to Gu King, and teaches her zither scores from his previous life to improve her future potential. 492 505
• Zhu Jiǔge — A highly promising cultivator burdened by the Misfortune Gu. Long Xuan rescues and carries her away from the Other Shore Flower altar, later delivering her to her master Qi Luoyou for treatment. 458 462
• Qi Luoyou — Zhu Jiǔge’s master and a powerful chess cultivator whose Board-Game Gu binds the fate of talented opponents he defeats. He identifies Long Xuan as an exceptionally valuable prospective chess piece. 462
• Long Dan — A Western Land genius with the Innate Limit Gu. Long Xuan’s former rival survives the Black Wind Kingdom conflict, joins the Dragon-Teng Empire, and remains deeply wary of Long Xuan’s strength. 482
• Dragon-Teng Empire — A powerful Long Family-led empire that seeks to recruit Long Xuan after he destroys the Tu Family and kills Tu Gang. Long Xuan agrees in principle in exchange for rare advancement materials for his Gu insects. 509
• Nie Qingcheng, Leng Yan, and Wu Yaoyao — Members or associates of Long Xuan’s Divine Dragon Ship crew. Long Xuan views the crew as long-term assets whom he intends to raise into Gu Kings and eventually place in command of resource-gathering fleets. 245 275
• Xiaoyue — Long Xuan’s Blade Gu and ten-bladed companion. He tailors the Ten Ultimates Saber Technique to her natural ten-saber talent and plans her future evolution around both Saber Intent and Sword Intent. 163 187

Story Role / Major Arcs

Medicinal Garden and First Fortune

Long Xuan converts a lowly medicinal-garden position into a research base. By optimizing Ripening Liquid, cultivating herbs efficiently, and using Brother Chicken to control pests, he builds the resources needed to begin refining Gu. 1 2

Market Inventor and Stone King

At Far Western Market, Long Xuan sells herbs, studies treasures through progress readings, and refines cockroach-based Gu rather than relying on dangerous secondhand Gu. His creativity wins the Qian Clan’s Glow Gu development contest, granting him the Stone King and the rare Eye within it. 3 9 12 13

Eye Gu and Alchemical Rise

Long Xuan refines the Eye of Heavenly Secrets, develops Origin Realm, spies on Old Long’s alchemy, and becomes an unusually capable pill refiner. He uses alchemy primarily to accelerate his own cultivation and fund more ambitious projects rather than to build a public reputation. 16 18 21

Ten Absolutes Scripture

Learning that his Ten Extremity Physique rejects ordinary cultivation methods, Long Xuan develops a bespoke scripture. Its five clones solve part of his cultivation-speed problem and make his hidden combat power far greater than his realm suggests. 22 28 34

Ambush, Map, and Fossil Ore Vein

Three Rogue Cultivators ambush Long Xuan after observing his wealth. He defeats them with his clones, Cockroach Gu, and Origin Realm, then devotes three months to restoring their damaged treasure map. The restored map leads him to a Fossil Ore Vein, which he sells to the Long Family for 700 million Spirit Stones. 34 35 36 37 44

Four-Flavor Wine and Wine Gu

Long Xuan spends two years designing superior sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy Spirit Wines to refine a Wine Gu. His heavily distilled wine leaves the Wine Worm unconscious for hundreds of days, but the experiment ultimately produces Little White, a supreme-grade Wine Gu with both Slowing and Acceleration Domains. 46 48 49

Long Family Apprenticeship

After Old Long exposes his clone disguise and reveals his Long Family heritage, Long Xuan enters the Long Family as Old Long’s medicine boy. He secretly guides Old Long’s Third-Grade alchemy breakthrough, becomes his personal disciple, and gains access to Long Family resources while concealing the true origin of the Ten Absolutes Scripture. 84 85

Yaoguang Empress’s Tomb

Long Xuan joins the Long Family’s raid on the Yaoguang Empress’s Tomb in pursuit of Spirit-Ascending Grass. He rescues Long Ziyan from the Lei Clan, escapes over a lava sea with Starstep, and learns that the tomb may belong to a failed clone created through the Sun-Moon Heart Sutra rather than the true Empress. 89 97

Spirit Spring and Formation Development

After advancing to the Marrow Cleansing Stage, Long Xuan claims a remote mountain containing a hidden Spirit Spring. He loots the abandoned ancient tomb, retrieves the demonic flower and other treasures, and begins developing increasingly powerful formations to secure his new Medicine Garden and concealed resources. 103 104 110

Blood Dragon Battle Gu Research

The Western Land Long Family recruits Long Xuan to repair the lost Blood Dragon Battle Gu recipe. He completes the substitutions in one month but falsely claims the task will take years, exploiting the family’s supplied materials to advance Xiaoyue and his personal Blade Gu projects. 147 155

Dual Cultivation and Marrow-Cleansing Advancement

Long Xuan modifies the Yin Harvesting Art into the mutually beneficial Yin-Yang Codex and ultimately forms a dual-cultivation relationship with Long Ziyan. He reaches the Late Marrow-Cleansing Stage, completes the Ten Ultimates Saber Technique, and helps Long Ziyan purify her bloodline to the tenth grade and advance to the Spiritual Sea Stage. 157 186

Western Land War and Soul Arts

During the war between the Western Land and Great Yin Dynasty, Long Xuan delegates many missions to his clones while researching soul arts and completing Medicine Gu. He personally joins the campaign for the Mithril Ore Vein to obtain Mithril Essence, kills Great Yin prodigy Ye Xiu, and rises on the Western Land Prodigy Rankings. 210 212 214

Endless Sea and Sky Island

Long Xuan forms the Divine Dragon Ship crew, gathers immense numbers of materials for the Heaven-Swallowing World Toad, and enters the Sky Island ruins. He uses Little White, the Life-and-Death Gate, Soul-Splittings, and his clones to defeat puppets, secure the Golden Toad fossil, and assist Di Xin against Gu Tianyi. 245 275 292 294

Sin City Businesses

While disguised as Song Qian and later Master Wei, Long Xuan operates Insect Armor and alchemy shops in Sin City. His puppet-produced limited-edition Insect Armor becomes highly sought after, allowing him to exchange crafted goods for rare materials while gaining practical experience and strengthening his state of mind. 333 340 354

Cangyue Imperial Mausoleum and Gu King Breakthrough

Long Xuan enters the Cangyue Imperial Mausoleum alongside Di Xin and other tomb raiders. When the Xuanyuan Imperial House massacres the competitors, he saves Qin Mingyue, later hides inside the Heaven-Swallowing World Toad, and becomes trapped in a barren world with Di Xin and Qin Mingyue. He uses the isolation to refine Heaven Spirit Pills and ultimately breaks through to Gu King. 492 496 500 505

Rise as a Gu King

After leaving the barren world, Long Xuan destroys the Tu Family by killing its Late-Stage Gu King ancestor, Tu Gang, despite initially appearing only as an Early-Stage Gu King. His strength draws the attention of the Dragon-Teng Empire, which seeks to recruit him as a future military powerhouse. 509 510

Central Region Escape

Long Xuan uses his clones, Divine Dragons, and Gold-Eating Insects to escape pursuing Gu Kings through a cross-region Teleportation Array. After reaching the Central Region, he immediately begins seeking rare medicinal resources in the Qian Clan Merchant Association’s Ten-Thousand Medicine Pavilion. 514

Notable Quotes

“Treasures were all well and good, but he had to be alive to spend them.” 27

“You like using numbers to bully the few? What a coincidence. So do I.” 34

“Keep cheating, keep feeling good.” 76

Trivia

• Long Xuan names a female spirit chicken “Brother Chicken” because of a naming habit from his previous life. 2
• He considers himself a “grind emperor” and is willing to spend months or years repeatedly testing formulas, maps, and techniques. 36 48
• Although he is cautious about exposing valuable creations, he once accidentally draws Qian Jinjin into Origin Realm during a private moment, creating rumors and a future investigation. 24 26
• Long Xuan’s preferred method of concealing his cultivation is to genuinely drain his spiritual power until he appears to be at the desired realm, though Old Long eventually sees through the disguise. 84
• He routinely uses “tax collection” as an excuse to harvest resources from his own Spirit Bees and other creatures. 76
• Despite his usual secrecy, Long Xuan’s growing combat record repeatedly makes him famous against his wishes, including his rankings among Western Land prodigies and his later reputation as a Gu King capable of killing above his realm. 210 509