Chen Yiming

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Chen Yiming (陈一鸣)
Alias(es)	Teacher Chen; Adviser Chen — professional forms of address 27 30
Species/Race	Human 10 13
Gender	Male 1
Affiliation	Praying Mantis Snake Sword Academy, East City Branch; Libei Martial Arts Training Center; formerly attached to a City Patrol squad 10 26 30 49
Occupation/Role	Martial artist; Provisional Core Disciple; part-time swordsmanship instructor; former City Patrol adviser and family-restaurant delivery worker 1 26 30 40 49
Residence	Quiet Lake Residential Community, East Lake City 41 42
Cultivation	Apprentice Realm, Sixth Body Metamorphosis 49
Talent	Level 2 Swordsmanship 49
Physique	Beginner Sword Body 49
Ranking	No. 87 on East Lake City’s Azure Dragon Ranking when advertised by Libei Martial Arts Training Center 26
Status	Alive; investigating Chen Shaojie’s disappearance 50
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “The Beginning” 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Level 1 Swordsmanship Talent	3	Spends three skill points. Basic sword moves become instinctive and precise, and he can freely combine them and mentally simulate counters.
Mastery of Mantis Snake Swordsmanship	10 11 12	Reconstructs the technique through observation, mental simulation, and academy murals. His performance reproduces its body-tempering rhythm, which Wang Bowen associates with great completion.
Apprentice Realm — First Body Metamorphosis	12	Occurs during sleep after his first day of academy training. He discovers the breakthrough after accidentally snapping his chopsticks; strength, reflexes, and stamina have improved.
Second Body Metamorphosis	13	Completes the transformation in his sleep after approximately one week of practicing Mantis Snake Swordsmanship.
Third Body Metamorphosis	13	Breaks through while asleep on the night before completing his first month at the academy. His body becomes resistant to ordinary blades and spears.
Creation of Chen-Style Swordsmanship	49	Combines four existing sword arts into a personal technique. Practicing it raises his skill-point gain from three to four points per month.
Fourth Body Metamorphosis	49	Advances secretly during his continued training. His panel records Level 1 Swordsmanship Talent and 12 skill points.
Sixth Body Metamorphosis; Level 2 Swordsmanship Talent; Beginner Sword Body	49	A later panel confirms all three developments, with three skill points remaining. No separate account of his fifth transformation or explanation of the new physique is given.

Background / History

Reincarnation and Academy Admission

Chen Yiming arrives in the life of a high-school dropout whose poor grades, troublesome behavior, and weak martial aptitude had disappointed his family. He inherits the original owner’s memories and physical limitations, helps with restaurant deliveries, and secretly practices basic sword moves to accumulate points through the Martial Arts Talent System 1.

He chooses the Praying Mantis Snake Sword Academy while observing its students during delivery work. As refugees, rationing, and wartime restrictions disrupt East Lake City, his family closes its restaurant. Academy membership becomes both a training opportunity and a possible source of protection for the household 1 3.

After unlocking his first talent upgrade, he demonstrates his progress by punching a hole through the family’s iron front door with a chopstick. His parents provide the 30,000-yuan enrollment fee, and he becomes the only successful applicant among eight candidates. Wang Bowen is assigned to guide his initial training at the East City Branch 4 8.

Concealed Growth and Paid Work

Chen’s early performances attract comparisons with the academy’s exceptional disciples and unsettle Zhang Youde, previously the branch’s best swordsman. Rather than cultivate that attention, Chen establishes a daily training routine, refuses a nominal position in a minor gang, and hides his physical breakthroughs 11 12 13.

He tells Wang Bowen that he has completed only his first transformation, although he has already reached the third. Wang offers advice on nutrition and access to restricted Mutated Beast meat. Chen later maintains the same disguise during sparring, controlling his strength against both Wang and Zhang 14 19 22.

After killing three men who ambush him, Chen discovers that they have ransacked a home and murdered a young woman. The sight prompts him to seek safer housing and greater income for his ordinary, vulnerable parents and sister 16.

He begins teaching at Libei Martial Arts Training Center, where an unauthorized promotional poster publicizes his Azure Dragon Ranking. His first payment—an advance salary and share of class fees—totals 180,000 yuan. He brings the money home and gives Yingying a portion for herself 26 27.

City Patrol and Family Security

Through Chen Shaojie, Chen joins a depleted City Patrol squad as an adviser for household-registration checks. The agreed bonus split gives him 50 percent, the captain 30 percent, and the remaining officers a combined 20 percent 20 29 30.

During an assignment, his group captures six robbers at the first and second Body Metamorphoses. Dong Fen surrenders hidden supplies, including Mutated Beast jerky, medicine, and a valuable map. Chen detects concealed associates nearby and brings them back with the group 36 37 40.

Chen uses the recovered resources to support Yingying’s martial training. He institutes morning practice, seeks Old Wang’s nutritional advice, and chooses a foundation-building plan priced at 32,600 yuan per day, trading his recovered meat at the stated rates. He also enrolls her in morning and afternoon swordsmanship classes with the highest-priced teachers 38 39 40 41.

The family moves into a rented apartment in the heavily guarded Quiet Lake Residential Community. Chen gives Yingying the long balcony for morning practice while continuing his own training at the academy 41 42.

Provisional Core Disciple and the Li Family Dispute

Following Wang Bowen’s recommendation, academy master Wan Rong makes Chen a Provisional Core Disciple. He receives Core Disciple benefits two years early, but must reach the Third Body Metamorphosis within that period or lose the privilege—a requirement he has already secretly fulfilled 13 40.

Zhang Youde subsequently introduces him to the struggle over the declining South City Li Family’s assets. Chen learns that the academy’s ordinary teaching omits the technique needed to reach the Warrior Realm, and that becoming a core disciple alone would not guarantee access. He resolves to seek an independent breakthrough method rather than expose himself as a potential successor 42 43.

After attending the Li Family banquet, Chen secretly follows and ambushes Tang Zhenfeng, a wounded independent swordsman at the Fifth Body Metamorphosis. He studies Mountain-Splitting Sword during their duel and ultimately kills Tang. He buries the body, covers the blood trail, and withholds the encounter from Zhang 45 46 47.

Chen and Zhang agree to place three acquired shops under a new company. His provisional status also grants access to the academy headquarters’ library and a monthly allotment of Gold-Eating Insect Eggs, although additional martial manuals remain beyond his immediate budget 47 48.

Independent Training and Shaojie’s Disappearance

Zhang’s deployment to the front cuts off Chen’s main route into martial-family disputes and opportunities to observe unfamiliar swordsmanship. Chen instead combines the techniques he already knows into Chen-Style Swordsmanship, practicing it privately while continuing Mantis Snake Swordsmanship at the academy 49.

His City Patrol arrangement ends after three months when Shaojie’s squad captain recovers. Later, Shaojie and his squad disappear during an assignment near Ma Village. Chen hires private detective Deng Hu and offers an additional 100,000 yuan for a lead 49 50.

Their search uncovers hidden patrol equipment, blood traces, and a trampled path through a cornfield. Deng concludes that the missing officers are probably alive. Chen begins weighing whether to rescue them openly or from the shadows; no rescue is completed in the provided account 50.

Appearance

• Height: Nearly six feet tall 2.
• Build: Initially young and fit; cultivation makes him noticeably sturdier, even beneath his training uniform 1 22.
• Eyes: His gaze develops a sharp, glaring quality associated with his growing martial presence 22.
• Usual training attire: Praying Mantis Snake Sword Academy uniform with a golden emblem 9.
• Attractiveness: Lin Jiaqi explicitly describes him as handsome, and several students become shy during his instruction 27.

Personality

Chen is disciplined but strongly motivated by measurable progress. He trains consistently because the system lets him see improvement, while admiring Wang Bowen for maintaining the same routine without that advantage. Skill-point accumulation remains more important to him than praise, romance, or public reputation 12 14 27.

His caution is deliberate rather than passive. He understates breakthroughs, stages believable sparring performances, questions recruitment offers, and avoids wilderness hunting until he considers himself sufficiently strong. Nevertheless, he takes calculated risks when they promise useful combat experience or new techniques, as shown by his ambush of the injured Tang Zhenfeng 19 22 23 45 49.

Family protection increasingly directs his decisions. He provides money, safer housing, and expensive training resources, but can be stern and insistent: Yingying’s reluctance does not stop him from imposing daily practice. He also recognizes when his exceptional personal progress has left him unqualified to advise an ordinary beginner and seeks outside help 27 38 39 40 41.

Abilities & Skills

Martial Arts Talent System

A secret system awards skill points through martial practice and allows Chen to improve his swordsmanship talent 1 3.

Training method	Documented skill-point gain
Basic sword moves	Approximately one point per month 1
Mantis Snake Swordsmanship	Three points per month 12
Academy practice combined with private Chen-Style Swordsmanship practice	Four points per month 49

• Level 1 costs three points; Level 2 requires 30 points 3 13.
• Chen estimates that practicing Chen-Style Swordsmanship all day could yield five points per month, but does not verify this rate 49.
• He keeps the system’s existence hidden from his family and fellow martial artists 1 13.

Observational Learning and Mental Simulation

His talent produces mental figures that break techniques into basic movements, recreate exchanges, and analyze unfamiliar sword arts 3 10 25.

• Reconstructs an improvised Mantis Snake technique from scattered observations and dream practice before formally enrolling 4.
• Learns Rainbow Swordsmanship during a spar with Zhang Youde, including identifying Zhang’s mistakes 25.
• Studies Mountain-Splitting Sword’s force generation and weaknesses while fighting Tang Zhenfeng 45.
• Recognizes how agility, defense, strength, and stamina affect style matchups 5.
• Understanding a technique does not guarantee safety: Tang’s sudden increase in power nearly strikes him despite his knowledge of its patterns 46.

Mantis Snake Swordsmanship

His academy’s primary sword art emphasizes concealment, speed, and decisive killing power through explosive, direct attacks 24.

• Coordinates force through the body and uses its distinctive rhythm for thorough physical tempering 10 11.
• Produces an explosive sword thrust on his first attempt after Wang’s explanation 10.
• Remains his main conditioning technique after he acquires other styles 28.
• Is less suited to pursuit and prolonged combat than Rainbow Swordsmanship 24.

Supplemental Sword Arts

Technique	Applications
Phantom Light Sword	Exploits vision and perception of light. Chen retains useful deceptive moves, but considers its body-conditioning value poor 5 28.
Rainbow Swordsmanship	Uses continuously changing attacks suited to pursuit and prolonged fights. Chen employs its agility against Tang Zhenfeng’s heavier strikes 24 25 45.
Mountain-Splitting Sword	A strength-focused technique studied during Tang’s attacks and later incorporated into Chen’s personal style 45 49.
Basic sword techniques	Uses precise fundamentals to counter Zhang’s unfamiliar attacks and teach thrusts, slashes, and correct weapon handling 24 26 27.

Chen-Style Swordsmanship

Chen’s self-created art combines Mantis Snake Swordsmanship, Phantom Light Sword, Rainbow Swordsmanship, and Mountain-Splitting Sword 49.

• Follows his plan to build a versatile personal technique from contrasting sword styles 46.
• Its higher skill-point yield leads him to judge it superior in grade to Mantis Snake Swordsmanship 49.
• By his investigation of Ma Village, he considers it better suited to him than the academy’s technique 50.

Physical Enhancement and Beginner Sword Body

Talent-enhanced training improves both his comprehension and his body’s suitability for swordsmanship. Early on, a one-hour nap completely removes the soreness from his morning practice 11.

• Three transformations sharpen his senses and make him resistant to ordinary blades and spears 13 26.
• He suspects unusually efficient food absorption is another benefit of his talent, but the system does not confirm this 18.
• At three transformations, he can contend physically with the injured Tang Zhenfeng at five, though Tang retains greater strength 45 46.
• At six transformations and Level 2 talent, Chen estimates he should surpass an eight-transformation fighter; this is his assessment, not a demonstrated victory 50.
• Beginner Sword Body appears on his panel, but its effects remain unexplored when Shaojie’s disappearance interrupts him 49 50.

Swordsmanship Instruction

Chen can quickly diagnose faulty basic movements and demonstrate corrections 27.

• Teaches an intensive class initially attended by 25 students 26.
• Explains how thrusts concentrate force and slashes emphasize cutting 26.
• Takes lessons seriously enough to extend a class rather than cut instruction short 39.
• Lacks detailed knowledge of foundation-building diets for beginners and consults Old Wang for Yingying’s needs 39 41.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Wooden sword — Early training and sparring weapon; also used against the three men who ambush him 16 19.
• Black-iron sword — Purchased for 13,000 yuan. Made from common Otherworld ore, it is heavier and sturdier than ordinary equipment without improved sharpness 29.
• Black outfit — Prepared for a concealed ambush after the Li Family gathering 45.
• Tang Zhenfeng’s greatsword — Recovered after the duel; used to dig Tang’s grave before being wrapped and taken home 47.
• City Patrol mobile phone — Restricted internal-use device supplied by Shaojie for coordination 29.
• Red Moon Stronghold map — Part of Dong Fen’s hidden supplies; retained for a future plan 36 37.
• Mutated Beast meat and medicine — Recovered from Dong Fen’s cache. Chen uses the meat to support Yingying’s foundation-building arrangements 36 37 41.
• Gold-Eating Insect Eggs — Monthly Core Disciple supplement associated with improved physique and burst movement. Elder Yin instructs him to take one before each morning, afternoon, and evening training session; Chen initially cannot judge its effect 48 49.

Relationships

• Chen Yingying — Younger sister and martial-arts pupil. He funds her training, supervises her practice, and wants her strong enough to protect herself and their parents 27 38 39 41.
• Chen Jindong — Father, a restaurant cook who provides enrollment money and helps arrange the family’s safer housing 1 4 23 30.
• Liang Xiumei — Mother. Initially skeptical of his promises, she becomes tearfully proud after his admission, while remaining concerned about both children’s safety 1 9 38.
• Wang Bowen — Senior brother, instructor, and principal mentor. Provides cultivation advice, resource connections, and the recommendation behind Chen’s provisional promotion 10 14 19 40.
• Wan Rong — Academy master. Passes Chen’s entrance test and later grants him Provisional Core Disciple status 8 40.
• Zhang Youde — Fellow student whose initial insecurity develops into recruitment efforts and a business partnership. Chen secretly learns his family’s Rainbow Swordsmanship 12 23 25 47.
• Chen Shaojie — Younger cousin and City Patrol intermediary. Works with Chen on registration checks; his later disappearance prompts Chen’s investigation 20 29 49 50.
• Old Wang — Resource supplier at Jihetang. Helps design Yingying’s Mutated Beast meat regimen and trades for Chen’s recovered supplies 39 41.
• Xie Xuejiao — Training-center receptionist who handles his classes and payment while secretly assessing him for the faction she scouts for 26 27 38 41.
• Zhao Jingru — Fellow student interested in Chen as a potential partner. His rapid rise leads her to seek information and reconsider her earlier aloof behavior; no romance is established 18 19 24 40.
• Zheng Xiaoli — Former classmate and the original Chen Yiming’s teenage crush. Chen politely avoids becoming involved in her relationship with Zhao Yuanfeng 28 29.
• Teng Zhihui — Third senior brother, introduced by Wang Bowen as an approachable source of guidance within their academy faction 48.
• Tang Zhenfeng — Independent swordsman whom Chen ambushes, studies, and kills after Tang is injured by Zheng Qiming 45 46 47.
• Deng Hu — Private detective hired to locate Shaojie’s missing squad. His tracking expertise complements Chen’s martial strength 50.