Lin Xiaotian

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Lin Xiaotian transmigrates into an unfamiliar world and is immediately abducted by a severely injured martial artist. The man forces him into a mist-filled fissure whose corrosive fog dissolves ordinary people, then kicks him into its abyss. Lin survives when his Blood Qi absorbs the mist and restores his damaged body. Before abandoning him, the man warns him that his “sister” is scheming. 1

After repeatedly using the rift mist to heal injuries sustained while trying to escape, Lin concludes that Martial Dao training is necessary to expand his body’s capacity and develop his Blood Qi. He escapes the fissure through a difficult leap, walks seven days back to Long River Town, and reunites with Song Wanyan, the woman who took him in. 2 3

Although sixteen and considered too old to establish an ideal martial foundation, Lin insists on joining the Huang Family Martial Hall. Unable to pay its entry fee, he exploits Qin Ziyu’s jealousy over Song Wanyan, beats him, and obtains five taels of silver under the pretext of collecting a debt. 4 6 7

Lin passes the hall’s three-day Entrance Stake Method trial through his Blood Qi’s restorative effects. Aware that his apparent ease has drawn attention, he deliberately feigns injury after becoming one of only four successful applicants. 10 11

Song Wanyan’s divided nature eventually places him in direct danger. Her seductive demonic counterpart uses a prepared array to drain his vital blood, while the original Song Wanyan takes control long enough to escape with the entity through a Teleportation Talisman. She tells Lin that he must reach at least Hidden Force to activate the Secret-Treasure Array Pattern and rescue her; Lin subsequently resolves to surpass Hidden Force because of the scale of the powers surrounding her. 17 18 20 22

After his Skin Tempering breakthrough, Qin Yueyao confronts him over his treatment of Qin Ziyu, injures him while deliberately sparing his life, and provides several hundred taels for cultivation after ending the dispute. She identifies his suspected abductor as Ouyang Dongli and reveals that Song Wanyan’s supposedly well-known parents never existed. As memories concerning Song Wanyan begin to fade, Lin concludes that her influence had obscured important truths throughout the town. 21 22 26

Master Huang discovers that Lin’s seemingly ordinary Blood Qi conceals unusually vast reserves and secretly increases his medicinal broth allowance. Lin upgrades this broth and continues cultivating while concealing his progress. An Ouyang Household test exposes his Skin Tempering cultivation, but Master Huang’s intervention prevents the household from simply taking him away. Lin is instead offered a dangerous mine expedition as a reward and potential training opportunity. 22 23 24 25 26

Lin reaches Bone Tempering during his preparations. When the wounded Qin Yueyao falls into his courtyard, he shelters her, gives her an enhanced healing pill, and deceives Ouyang Nianci’s search party. Yueyao later recognizes that his supreme-grade medicine saved her life. 27 28 32

During the mine expedition, Lin learns Blood-Qi Resonance from Master Huang, gains combat experience against beasts, and bargains with Ouyang Nianci over information about Dongli. In the medicinal field, his Blood Qi absorbs medicinal aura and repairs neglected weaknesses in his foundation. He releases his Blood Tempering strength when the beast swarm becomes too dangerous to endure through regeneration alone. 34 35 37 38 39

The expedition collapses into conflict when Xiao Jingli intervenes and the Ouyang party attempts to silence Lin. Lin escapes through the beast tide, carries the wounded Nianci away, and later negotiates her release aboard an underground-river boat. Their first sexual relationship occurs under political and survival pressure: Xiao Jingli makes it a condition of her safe release, while Lin links her agreement to receiving the route map. Lin subsequently blocks Jingli from recapturing her and accompanies him to the Xiao Household. 41 43 44 45

At the Xiao Household, Lin investigates his Blood Qi’s connection to the Void and learns Gale Step and Bison Force. His unusual use of Gale Step during a contest with four young women draws the elders’ attention to Blood-Qi Resonance, making his teacher’s technique a central object of negotiation between households. 47 48 49 50 52 53

After learning that Xiao Jingli has been sacrificed in the households’ negotiations, Lin leaves to recover his body. At the Ouyang Household, he instead first rescues Nianci from confinement, kills Li Aihui, protects her External Force breakthrough, and ultimately kills Ouyang Fanke. Nianci then challenges the household elders on his behalf to secure Jingli’s body. 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 64 65

Nianci’s effort to prove herself burns her vital blood and threatens her cultivation foundation. Lin carries her away, later gathers medicines from the elders, and enhances them to support her recovery. After intimacy and treatment, she returns with a restored and stronger foundation, forcing the elders to agree that Lin may take Xiao Jingli’s body. The elders continue suspecting that Lin is responsible for her transformation, despite his attempts to deflect attention. 66 67 68 69 70 71

Appearance

Lin is sixteen when he first seeks martial instruction. After escaping the fissure and walking back to Long River Town, he is thin, exhausted, tattered, and resembles a beggar; after bathing, he regains a carefree and handsome appearance. 3 4

• Initially possesses an ordinary-looking, lower-middle-grade martial physique. 9
• His eyes can turn red while exerting himself under extreme pressure. 3
• A blood-red glow manifests around him when his Blood Qi absorbs mist or repairs injuries. 1 2
• His skin becomes thicker and harder after reaching Skin Tempering, accompanied by an overall improvement in physique. 21
• Intense Blood Qi circulation can produce a hazy layer over his skin or a conspicuous blood-red radiance. Under the seductive entity’s influence, a river-like manifestation of blood appears behind him. 17 28 39

Personality

Lin is pragmatic and survival-oriented. After transmigrating, he postpones investigating his origins and focuses first on escaping the fissure, obtaining martial training, and securing the resources needed to cultivate. 2 5

He is observant and analytical, recognizing the hidden principles of the Entrance Stake Method, studying the effects of food and pills, and testing the limits of his Blood Qi rather than relying blindly on luck. 8 16 19

Despite his caution about exposing his abilities, Lin can be brazenly opportunistic. He asks Senior Brother Tao for a loan as an “investment,” repeatedly coerces silver from Qin Ziyu through “friendly exchanges,” and uses Qin’s own desires as leverage. 6 7 19

Lin remains loyal to Song Wanyan despite warnings about her and the danger posed by the entity sharing her body. He chooses to become stronger rather than flee blindly, hoping to eventually rescue the original Song Wanyan. 14 18 20

His concealment becomes increasingly deliberate as his strength grows. He loses a spar on purpose, exaggerates injuries by biting his tongue and spitting blood, feigns exhaustion while retaining substantial reserves, and reveals only limited progress to observers. These performances allow him to manage jealousy, evade investigations, and preserve hidden advantages. 23 24 25 28 35 48

Lin can show loyalty and restraint even toward people who have treated him poorly. He protects the martial sister who previously challenged him, avoids killing ordinary Ouyang members following orders, and values Xiao Jingli’s care despite recognizing his allegiance to the Xiao Household. He condemns the households’ willingness to sacrifice their own members for techniques or political protection. 24 53 57 63 64

His romantic conduct combines attachment, self-control, opportunism, and possessiveness. He repeatedly suppresses desires stimulated by Blood Qi and worries that indulging every impulse would cost him his agency. Nevertheless, he participates in the pressured arrangement involving Nianci aboard the boat and initially treats it as a price for her earlier attempt to kill him. 44 49 53

His protection of Nianci is fierce but not uniformly selfless. He rescues her, supplies medicine, and supports her right to confront her relatives; however, when she risks her foundation to prove her usefulness to him, he recognizes the danger without immediately stopping her, and her sacrifice intensifies his possessiveness. His later efforts to restore her foundation demonstrate care alongside this troubling tendency. 59 60 61 65 66 67 69 70

Abilities & Skills

Abnormal Blood Qi

Lin’s Blood Qi awakened after exposure to the corrosive rift mist. It is the foundation of his survival, cultivation, and unusual physical recovery. 1 2

• Absorbs rift mist and uses it to heal damage. 1 2
• Repairs strained muscles and fractured bone damage during martial training. 9 10
• Resists and purifies the seductive entity’s mental influence enough to preserve his awareness. 18
• Requires substantial qi, blood, food, and medicinal resources; overuse causes dizziness and depletion. 19
• Intensifies instinctive reproductive urges while resisting external corruptive influence. 18
• Can appear ordinary on the surface despite concealing immense reserves. Master Huang detects its unusual depth only after examining Lin directly. 22
• Provides defense nearly comparable to Blood Tempering while Lin is still at Skin Tempering. 26
• Its reserves and recovery improve through supreme-grade medicinal nourishment; Lin estimates that cracked bones can eventually heal within a few breaths. 32
• Absorbs medicinal aura to repair old, inadequately nourished injuries and weaknesses in his physical foundation, rather than merely increasing cultivation. 39
• Gains increased absorption capacity at Blood Tempering, and Lin learns to partially regulate absorption speed to reduce visible abnormalities. 39
• Supports sharper reactions, heightened hearing, and exceptional endurance, though it does not make him immune to overwhelming attacks or cumulative injury. 39 48
• Does not eliminate the need for cultivation: Lin remains weaker in raw physical strength than External Force practitioners and relies on recovery, resonance, speed, and bodily tempering to contend with them. 47

Medicine Enhancement

Following the absorption of the Secret-Treasure Array Pattern, Lin’s Blood Qi can nourish medicinal pills and improve their quality. 18 19

• Raises a pale-yellow pill to vivid yellow after initial testing. 18
• Gradually upgrades a bright-yellow pill until it develops a golden halo. 19
• Produces a top-grade Blood Essence Pill capable of supporting his Skin Tempering breakthrough. 20
• Cannot be used freely, as pill nourishment consumes his qi and blood. 19
• Also enhances medicinal soup. The resulting golden-glowing broth replenishes vital essence, purifies Blood Qi, and strengthens his foundation beyond the ordinary soup’s effects. 23
• Enhances healing medicines and other cultivation supplements, including supplies obtained from Master Huang. 27 28 32
• Produces healing medicine powerful enough to save the gravely wounded Qin Yueyao. 28 32
• Removes impurities and supplies additional nourishment to medicinal materials, but cannot directly rewrite or upgrade a martial manual. 48
• Uses mysterious substances drawn from the Void after they have been assimilated and transformed by his Blood Qi. Lin identifies this mechanism only after his sensitivity increases. 70
• Becomes faster as his strength grows. Enhanced pills help restore Nianci’s burned foundation and trigger a cleansing that expels black impurities from her body. 70 71

Entrance Stake Method

The Huang Family Martial Hall’s entry technique regulates breathing and Blood Qi while forcing practitioners through movements that strain the body beyond ordinary limits. 7 8

• Allowed Lin to enter the martial path and become a formal disciple. 10
• Improves balance, skeletal endurance, flexibility, and Blood Qi circulation. 7 8
• Its true test requires performing the technique atop stakes rather than on flat ground. 9
• Lin’s Blood Qi compensates for his mediocre natural aptitude by easing strain and repairing training injuries. 9 10
• Its external form is flexible; breathing principles, the mnemonic, and key movements matter more than literal imitation of a fixed routine. Lin recognizes this during Tao’s demonstrations. 8

Eight Extremes Mountain-Shattering Force

A Huang Family Martial Hall cultivation technique theoretically capable of reaching Hidden Force. 15

• Used alongside the Entrance Stake Method to cultivate toward Skin Tempering. 17
• Requires force resonance before its training can complete the Skin Tempering stage. 17
• Lin uses it to circulate Blood Qi and ultimately breaks through to Skin Tempering after consuming his refined pill. 20
• Advances from minor to intermediate accomplishment during combat in the Ouyang mine. 38
• Remains a principal cultivation method during his stays with the Xiao and Ouyang Households. 47 68

Blood-Qi Resonance

Master Huang develops Blood-Qi Resonance after observing the unusual changes in Lin’s Blood Qi during his initiation and training. He teaches the insight to Lin before the dangerous portion of the Ouyang mine expedition. 34

• Amplifies force and transmits penetrating power into a target. 34
• Can be channelled through fists, palms, and weapons; adapting it to a blade initially presents an additional difficulty that Lin overcomes through practice. 34 35
• Can kill a beast through internal damage even when the visible blade wound is superficial. 39
• Enhances Gale Step and explosive movement as well as direct attacks. Lin estimates at least another ten percent improvement when adding it to his already enhanced Gale Step. 48 53 56
• Enables Lin to overpower the nearly late-stage External Force Ouyang Fanke despite remaining below External Force. 57
• Produces successive or layered waves of force. Lin kills Fanke with a second surge through his initial block and later uses resonance against an obstructing Ouyang elder. 62 67

Void-Derived Nourishment

While cultivating at the Xiao Household, Lin perceives his Blood Qi extending into an invisible nothingness and drawing nourishment from a mysterious source. He initially experiences this as intense heat, then discovers substances with other attributes while learning new techniques. 47 48

• Draws heat that makes his Blood Qi fuller and stronger. 47
• Can absorb attribute-specific substances, including a wind-like substance that removes Gale Step’s cultivation bottlenecks. 48
• Helps overcome techniques’ Root Bone requirements and indirectly enhances their practical effects without altering their manuals. 48
• Supplies nourishment that helps explain why enhanced medicines provide benefits disproportionate to Lin’s apparent expenditure. 27 28 70
• Becomes more perceptible after intimacy with Nianci and further Blood Qi purification. 47 48 68
• Is dangerous to investigate directly. Probing its root with his consciousness nearly burns his consciousness away and severely injures him. 47

Gale Step

A foundational Xiao Household movement technique supplied by Xiao Jingli. Lin masters it far faster than the household’s observers expect. 48

• Normally emphasizes a steady Blood Qi flow suited to sustained travel; the household’s original ambition of using it for nimble bursts had remained unrealized. 52
• Void-derived wind-like nourishment improves Lin’s version by roughly twenty percent and saves years of acclimation. 48
• Blood-Qi Resonance allows him to use it effectively in combat and for sudden acceleration. 48 53 56
• Lets him repeatedly evade four External Force young women during the Xiao Household’s evaluation, prompting them to recognize the technique’s unusual application and concede the contest. 50 52
• Further improves in speed and agility after later purification of his Blood Qi. 68

Bison Force

A foundational Xiao Household technique that imitates beast movements to generate protective force through Blood Qi circulation. Xiao Jingli provides its manual alongside Gale Step. 48

• Provides bodily protection without literally giving the practitioner a beast’s hardness. 48
• Void-derived nourishment initially strengthens Lin’s bones rather than directly increasing its protective force, making him much tougher than ordinary humans at the same level. 48
• Later gains stronger internal bodily-tempering effects, improving the resilience of his bones and muscles. 68

Intimacy-Related Blood Qi Effects

Lin discovers that his Blood Qi’s persistent sexual urges are partly related to a need for yin energy to harmonize its heat. Intimacy with Nianci reduces its dry, feverish impulse without eliminating it. 47

• Mutual affection and intimacy further purify his Blood Qi, improve its perception, and increase his ability to absorb mysterious nourishment. 47 48 68
• His Blood Qi responds selectively to different women rather than showing the same attraction to everyone. 50
• Appears to strengthen Nianci’s talent and cultivation foundation without immediately raising her realm. Lin later uses enhanced medicines to support her breakthrough and restore damage from burning vital blood. 59 60 70 71
• Can provoke an intense response in Nianci through contact, though the full mechanism remains unclear. 60
• Lin questions whether it has also intensified Nianci’s attachment to him. Her independent choices convince him that it has not reduced her to mindless obedience, but he does not establish whether it influences affection. 59 65
• Lin considers using it to help Nianci’s aunt but refrains because he fears provoking desire. 64

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Eight Extremes Mountain-Shattering Force manual — cultivation manual issued by Senior Brother Tao; theoretically reaches Hidden Force. 15
• Blood Essence Pills — medicinal supplements distributed by the martial hall; Lin later refines one into a top-grade pill. He subsequently receives additional pills from Master Huang and enhances them for cultivation. 16 19 20 27 32
• Secret-Treasure Array Pattern — an array left beneath his home by Song Wanyan and the seductive entity; it enters Lin’s body after the sisters’ escape. Song Wanyan associates its activation with reaching Hidden Force, while Lin aims to surpass that level to ensure he can help her. Whether the absorbed array can still be activated remains unresolved. 18 19 20 22
• Small gourd — used to discreetly carry medicinal soup away from the martial hall and nourish it with Blood Qi at home. 23
• Healing pills — medicines obtained from the Ouyang Household and Master Huang, then enhanced with Blood Qi. Lin uses a supreme-grade healing pill to treat Qin Yueyao. 26 27 28 32
• Dragon-Tiger Pills — cultivation supplements supplied by Master Huang; Lin enhances them and accumulates their medicinal power while preparing for the mine expedition. 32
• Short blade — a serviceable weapon given by Ouyang Nianci in the mine. Lin learns to infuse it with Blood Qi and transmit Blood-Qi Resonance through it. 34 35
• Route map associated with Ouyang Dongli — carries a marked route that may indicate Dongli’s destination. Lin shows it to Nianci and Xiao Jingli, who memorize it. 44 45
• Gale Step and Bison Force manuals — copies of the Xiao Household’s foundational techniques, provided by Xiao Jingli. 48
• Bloodburst Pill — a pill Lin gives Nianci that can burn Blood Qi for increased power. He recognizes that full use can damage her foundation so severely that recovery may be effectively impractical without extraordinary assistance. 66
• Medicines collected from the Ouyang elders — high-grade healing and qi-and-blood replenishment medicines acquired for Nianci after she burns her vital blood; Lin upgrades them before administering treatment. 69 70

Relationships

• Song Wanyan — His adoptive or acknowledged elder sister. Lin trusts her because she took him in and cared for him, but learns that her body is contested by opposing spiritual and demonic personas. He intends to save her original self. Her unexplained disappearance and the fading of fabricated memories make her hidden identity central to the households’ interest in him. 3 14 18 20 21 22 26 35
• Seductive sister/entity — A demonic personality or entity using Song Wanyan’s body. She views Lin’s vigorous Blood Qi as nourishment to heal herself and consume the original Song Wanyan. 17 18
• Senior Brother Tao — Instructor and mentor at the Huang Family Martial Hall. Tao recognizes Lin’s insight and potential, teaches him the Entrance Stake Method, and gives him the Eight Extremes Mountain-Shattering Force manual. Although increasingly displeased with Lin’s lateness, he publicly defends him against unfair gossip and emphasizes equal judgment through martial performance. 8 10 15 22 23
• Qin Ziyu — Young master of the Qin Household and Lin’s unwilling source of cultivation funds. Lin repeatedly beats him and calls the extortion a “friendly exchange.” Qin Yueyao later declares the dispute finished and warns Lin against further targeting her brother or household. 7 12 19 21
• Hall Master Huang — Master of the Huang Family Martial Hall. He secretly observes Lin’s entrance trial and later allows him to continue training under the hall’s normal rules. He recognizes Lin’s unusual Blood Qi, supplies extra nourishment and pills, fights Ouyang Zhentian over Lin’s protection, and teaches Blood-Qi Resonance. His support includes both genuine appreciation and personal ambition: Lin’s Blood Qi inspires his technique, while Dongli’s secrets may help him advance. 11 15 22 26 32 34
• Ouyang Dongli — The dying martial artist who abducts Lin and throws him into the rift. Lin initially suspects he is the vanished older expert connected to the Ouyang Household; Qin Yueyao later identifies the abductor as Dongli. Lin eventually tells the Ouyang party that the identification is about ninety percent certain and recalls Dongli’s experiments and purple blood. 1 15 21 37
• Qin Yueyao — Qin Ziyu’s elder sister, who initially punishes Lin for bullying her brother but also funds his cultivation and reveals information about Dongli and Song Wanyan. Lin later shelters her from Ouyang pursuers and saves her with enhanced medicine. Their interactions include hostility and intimacy under dangerous circumstances; afterward, her gratitude is accompanied by unfamiliar attraction. 21 28 30 32
• Martial Aunt / Master Huang’s wife — Quietly supplies Lin with extra medicinal soup under Huang’s instructions and later nurses his apparent injuries. Lin conceals the arrangement to avoid jealousy among the disciples. 23 25
• Unnamed Bone Tempering martial sister — Initially probes and challenges Lin, prompting him to deliberately lose. She later steps forward to defend him against Ouyang Nianci and demands medicine after he intercepts the attack intended for her. 23 24 25
• Ouyang Nianci — Initially an investigator, potential recruiter, and threat who attempts to coerce information from Lin and later tries to kill him to protect household secrets. Their first intimate relationship occurs under pressure aboard Xiao Jingli’s boat. Lin subsequently protects her escape, rejects marriage offers by invoking his responsibility to her, and rescues her from abuse at the Ouyang Household. They publicly acknowledge their relationship; he supports her cultivation and recovery, while she challenges her relatives to secure Xiao Jingli’s body for him. Her household loyalty remains a source of tension, and the possible influence of his Blood Qi on her affection is not fully resolved. 24 35 37 41 44 45 49 59 62 64 65 70 71
• Ouyang Zhentian — Ouyang Household head and Nianci’s father. He seeks control of Lin and information concerning Dongli, exposes Lin’s concealed Skin Tempering, and permits coercive plans against him. His declining cultivation drives the household’s desperation. After learning of Lin’s involvement with Nianci, he condemns him for taking advantage of her peril. 25 26 32 37 46
• Xiao Jingli — An External Force Xiao Household cultivator who initially pursues Lin and kills the Ouyang expedition’s four other members. He later becomes Lin’s guide, supplies techniques, and develops a friendly rapport with him despite their competing interests. Lin values his care and seeks to recover his body after the Xiao Household sacrifices him to satisfy the Ouyangs. 41 43 45 48 53 54 56 64 71
• Xiao Jingxin — Xiao Household head’s daughter and a potential marriage partner. She challenges Lin during his evaluation, is impressed by his combat use of Gale Step, and makes a conditional marriage offer. She later shows tenderness and vouches for his departure because of his loyalty to Jingli and Nianci. Lin is attracted to her but remains wary of Blood Qi-driven desire and further household entanglement. 49 52 53 54 56
• Xiao Wanyin and the other Xiao young women — Evaluate Lin as a potential husband and participate in the four-against-one contest that reveals his unusual use of Gale Step. Lin’s Blood Qi does not respond to Wanyin with the same desire it shows toward Jingxin. 50 52
• Xiao elders, including Uncle Ming, Uncle Hua, and Uncle Tian — Seek Blood-Qi Resonance through negotiations with Lin and his teacher. Lin rejects their attempts to justify Jingli’s sacrifice and refuses to provide the technique himself. 53 54 64
• Ouyang Fanke — Nianci’s hostile uncle, who accuses Lin of killing Ouyang core disciples, obstructs Nianci’s rescue, and attempts to stop her breakthrough. Lin repeatedly overpowers him, lets Nianci punish him, and then kills him after recognizing the malice beneath his feigned submission. 56 57 60 61 62
• Li Aihui — An Ouyang in-law connected through his branch to a County Town Lineage. Lin kills him while rescuing the chained Nianci from his threatened assault. 58 59 63
• Nianci’s aunt — Covertly helps Lin reach Nianci by staging a fight with him. Lin recognizes the performance, avoids injuring her unnecessarily, and later saves her from Fanke. He treats her warmly because of Nianci but declines to experiment with his Blood Qi on her because of its possible sexual effects. 58 61 63 64
• Nianci’s Second Uncle and the Ouyang elders — Political opponents who initially obstruct Lin’s recovery of Jingli’s body and undervalue Nianci. Lin challenges their treatment of her, while Nianci confronts them through strength. They later supply medicines and concede the body’s release but remain interested in Lin’s role in her transformation; Second Uncle privately considers using him to shield the household from further danger. 65 66 67 68 69 71
• Second Uncle’s wife — Establishes a cordial rapport with Lin when he requests medicine for Nianci. She appreciates his courtesy and inclusion of her in the discussion, while questioning her husband’s plan to exploit him. 68 69

Story Role / Major Arcs

Rift Survival

Lin’s transmigration begins with his abduction and near-death experience in the corrosive fissure. His Blood Qi awakens there, allowing him to survive, heal, and escape. 1 2 3

The rift later becomes a contested possible route beyond Internal Force. Lin recognizes that its mist is valuable to his own Blood Qi but lethal to ordinary townspeople, questioning whether County Town possesses methods to exploit it safely. 35 59

Entry into the Huang Family Martial Hall

Unable to afford tuition, Lin secures entry money from Qin Ziyu, studies the Entrance Stake Method, and passes the hall’s dangerous initiation trial. 5 7 8 10 11

Cultivation and Concealment

As a formal disciple, Lin receives the Eight Extremes Mountain-Shattering Force and medicinal resources. He conceals the true extent of his recovery and Blood Qi while studying pills, food, and martial progress. 15 16 19

Master Huang’s recognition brings additional medicinal broth, which Lin secretly upgrades. He deliberately loses to a senior disciple and later exaggerates injuries to preserve a weak public image. The Ouyang Household’s test nevertheless exposes his Skin Tempering cultivation, changing the disciples’ perceptions of him. 22 23 24 25

During later household visits, Lin continues revealing only selected improvements, using observers’ assumptions to preserve his strongest abilities as hidden advantages. 35 48 71

Conflict Over Song Wanyan

Lin discovers that Song Wanyan’s body contains a hostile seductive entity seeking to exploit his Blood Qi. The original Song Wanyan escapes with the entity, leaving Lin with the goal of reaching Hidden Force and ultimately surpassing it to save her. 14 17 18 20 22

The discovery that Song Wanyan’s parents never existed, followed by the fading of the town’s memories, links her disappearance to the households’ renewed awareness of concealed secrets. Lin becomes a target partly because of his relationship with her and his connection to Dongli. 21 26 35

Skin Tempering Breakthrough

Lin refines a Blood Essence Pill with evolved Blood Qi, delays using it to avoid suspicion, and then breaks through to Skin Tempering through its medicinal power and continued practice. 19 20

Qin Yueyao’s Intervention and Shelter

Qin Yueyao ends Lin’s extortion of her brother through a warning attack and financial support, then deepens his understanding of Dongli and Song Wanyan. When she later returns gravely wounded, Lin hides her from Ouyang investigators and treats her with supreme-grade medicine. Their uneasy relationship shifts as she recognizes that he saved her life. 21 28 30 32

Ouyang Mine Expedition

The mine expedition combines a cultivation opportunity with an attempt to extract Dongli’s secrets. Master Huang teaches Lin Blood-Qi Resonance, and Lin uses beast encounters to adapt it to weapons while feigning exhaustion. Negotiations with Nianci temporarily soften the hostility, but the medicinal field pushes him to reveal Blood Tempering power and exposes him to both beast swarms and renewed betrayal. 34 35 37 38 39

Xiao Jingli’s arrival turns the expedition into a struggle between households. Lin exploits the beasts and divided enemies to escape, then carries Nianci away before Jingli can finish her. 41

Underground-River Bargain

Aboard the boat, Lin negotiates over Nianci’s release and the route connected to Dongli. Xiao Jingli’s insistence on a sexual relationship as a condition of release, and Lin’s use of the map as leverage, create a pressured arrangement with lasting personal and political consequences. Lin then prevents Jingli from recapturing Nianci and proceeds to the Xiao Household. 43 44 45 46

Xiao Household Evaluation

Lin uses the Xiao Household’s hospitality to investigate the Void connection of his Blood Qi and obtain Gale Step and Bison Force. His rapid mastery and unusual movement technique overturn the young women’s expectations during their evaluation, while the elders become more interested in obtaining Blood-Qi Resonance than merely recruiting him through marriage. 47 48 49 50 52 53

The household’s bargain with the Ouyangs culminates in Xiao Jingli’s sacrifice. Jingxin supports Lin’s departure, and he goes to the Ouyang Household seeking Jingli’s body. 54 56

Nianci’s Rescue and Household Conflict

Lin interrupts Nianci’s abuse, kills Li Aihui, supplies supreme-grade pills, and guards her External Force breakthrough. He protects her aunt, defeats the attacking guards, and eventually kills Fanke after Nianci and her aunt decline to do so. These events expose the elders’ willingness to sacrifice household members for County Town connections and cultivation resources. 58 59 60 61 62 63

Lin rejects that logic and urges Nianci to leave, but she chooses to confront the household’s power structure rather than abandon it immediately. He allows her to take the lead in challenging Second Uncle for the right to recover Jingli’s body. 64 65

Nianci’s Foundation Restoration

Nianci burns her blood and qi to contend with Second Uncle, leaving her foundation endangered. Lin carries her away, and their intimacy further purifies his Blood Qi. He then acquires and enhances medicines that restore her foundation, expel impurities, and leave her stronger than before. 66 67 68 69 70

Her subsequent demonstration of strength forces the elders to honor the demand concerning Jingli’s body. Lin deliberately remains in the background, but her overnight transformation draws suspicion toward his abilities and their relationship. 71

Trivia

• Lin’s initial martial aptitude is described as lower-middle-grade or mediocre, making his Blood Qi and comprehension essential to his progress. 9 16
• His rapidly growing Blood Qi causes an extreme appetite, forcing him to seek more food, medicinal meals, pills, and silver. 14 19
• He considers his Blood Qi a secret important enough to hide even when revealing it might earn him benefits at the martial hall. 6 19
• He notices that medicine enhancement appears to violate conservation of energy before discovering the Void-derived substances involved in the process. 27 28 70
• His attempt to upgrade a martial manual with Blood Qi fails, distinguishing enhancement of nourishing materials from direct alteration of written techniques. 48
• He accidentally spends three days recovering after probing the mysterious source reached by his Blood Qi, initially failing to appreciate how severely he was injured. 47
• He dreams of defeating Song Wanyan’s seductive counterpart, marrying her original self, and having children, then wakes embarrassed and dismisses the dream. 22
• Lin’s ordinary Root Bone repeatedly becomes a bottleneck even while enhanced pills, recovery, and technique mastery give him combat ability beyond his realm. 28 32 47
• The Xiao and Ouyang households repeatedly offer marriage or household membership as ways to recruit and control him, but no formal enrollment in either is confirmed. 35 37 43 49 71
• Despite trying to conceal his role in Nianci’s restoration, he becomes the subject of the elders’ awkward questions about the couple’s night together. 69 71

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