Zhou Changqing

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Zhou Changqing (周长青)
Alias(es)	Old Zhou; Master Zhou; Grand Weapon Refiner 30 110 119
Species/Race	Human; transmigrator from Earth 1 59
Gender	Male 1 4
Age	Fifteen at the beginning; appears approximately seventeen or eighteen when Hai Bodong meets him 4 118
Affiliation	Independent cultivator; ally of the Xiao Clan and Mittel Auction House; formerly held by the Snake-People Tribe 26 31 66 96
Occupation/Role	Blacksmith, pioneering weapon refiner, and cultivator 5 109 110
Cultivation Attributes	Metal and lightning 4
Highest Documented Realm	Peak Three-Star Dou Wang 115 132
Weapon-Refining Level	Capable of producing fifth-tier Spirit-Gathering Armaments 115 122
Status	Alive; fighting at the Misty Cloud Sect in the latest documented appearance 132
First Appearance	Chapter 1 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Begins Qi training	4	Starts cultivating at four years old.
Ninth Stage Dou Qi	4	Reaches this stage shortly after turning nine.
Dou Zhe threshold	4	Independently forms a Dou Qi vortex at nine without pills or treasures. Lacking a suitable cultivation method, he remains below a full One-Star Dou Zhe for six years.
One-Star Dou Zhe; attributed Dou Qi	4 6	Cultivates the Dormant Thunder Method and Steel-Condensing Force, converting his vortex into divided silver lightning and golden metal Dou Qi.
Five-Star Dou Zhe	8	Advances four stars in two months through cultivation alongside weapon-refining experiments.
Nine-Star Dou Zhe	21	Reaches Nine-Star after another four months, without pills or heavenly treasures.
Peak Nine-Star Dou Zhe	27	Confirms his peak cultivation to Xiao Yan; demanding dual-method forging also improves his control and cultivation.
Dou Shi	28	Liquefies his Dou Qi and successfully forms a golden Dou Qi Veil.
Five-Star Dou Shi	48	Retrospectively identified as the realm he reached a few days before the heavenly-lightning ordeal.
Eight-Star Dou Shi	48	Refines invasive heavenly-lightning arcs into Dou Qi, gaining three stars and a stronger physique.
Peak Nine-Star Dou Shi	53	Reaches the realm’s peak through continued lightning training; much of the absorbed energy goes toward balancing his attributes.
One-Star Da Dou Shi / Great Dou Master	53	Four days of focused cultivation compress his vortex into a gold-and-silver Dou Crystal. Unlocks Dou Qi Armor.
Seven-Star Great Dou Master	56	Advances six stars in five months using lightning tempering and cultivation resources, including third-rank pills.
Peak Great Dou Master	63	Reaches the realm’s peak while refining weapons for Yue Mei’s tribe; prepares to take a Spirit Ascension Pill.
Dou Ling	64	Absorbs the fourth-tier Spirit Ascension Pill and surrounding energy. His crystal becomes a nine-spiked Sea Urchin Dou Crystal.
Three-Star Dou Ling	72	Advances during three months in the Holy City, supported by pills, treasures, and study. Two crystal spikes disappear.
Eight-Star Dou Ling	78	Confirmed during Medusa’s strength test. His physique already equals approximately a Two-Star Dou Wang’s.
Peak Dou Ling	85	Yao Lao identifies his cultivation while watching him fight Feng Li, noting an exceptionally stable foundation.
One-Star Dou Wang	92 93 115	Heavenly lightning and ambient energy reshape his crystal into a perfect sphere. Unlocks Dou Qi Wings and enters enlightenment.
Peak Three-Star Dou Wang	115 132	Advances through continued cultivation and two Dou Ling Pills supplied by Medusa. His constitution permits the second pill to work, but he senses further doses will not help.

Background / History

Zhou Changqing transmigrated from Earth after a thunderbolt from a clear sky. Fifteen years before the opening events, Zhou Cai and Yu Li found him as a baby outside their home on a stormy night. The childless couple adopted him and named him Changqing, expressing their wish that he remain “evergreen,” healthy, and free from calamity 4.

Zhou Cai’s family had worked as blacksmiths for generations, and he taught Changqing the craft from childhood. Changqing’s early cultivation revealed exceptional talent and rare metal-and-lightning attributes, but his parents’ earth- and water-attribute methods were unsuitable for him 4 5.

His adoptive parents went hunting magical beasts to earn money for suitable methods and never returned. Their remaining savings sustained him through more than half a year of grief. He subsequently lived alone in Wutan City, cultivating without a method and earning money by forging weapon blanks 2 4.

At twelve, he met Xiao Yan after the latter caught a pickpocket stealing his money pouch. Changqing’s thank-you meal began their friendship. Although their shared Earth-born outlook helped them get along, Xiao Yan did not know Changqing was also a transmigrator 1.

Changqing considered joining a major faction, but rejected clan servitude and lacked the connections needed for sect admission. Jia Nan Academy’s rotating recruitment also proved inaccessible: its earlier Wutan visit came when he was too young, while later recruitment elsewhere required information, money, and dangerous travel he could not afford 31.

Appearance

• Build: Tall and well-proportioned; heavenly-lightning tempering later gives him a more muscular, balanced physique and a faint metallic sheen to his skin 13 48.
• Face: Exceptionally handsome, with slightly thick swordlike brows, bright peach-blossom eyes, a high nose, and soft lips 13.
• Hair: Long; initially tied and wrapped in coarse cloth while working, later secured beneath a crown 2 13.
• Clothing: Wears practical blue cloth garments for deliveries and flowing white robes on other outings 2 13.
• Bearing: His white-robed appearance is described as ethereal, contrasting with both the oversized bundles he once carried and his brutal efficiency in battle 13 36.

Personality

Changqing is hardworking and methodical. Even during six years of stalled cultivation, he continues training and builds unusually strong reserves. His refining research follows the same pattern: repeated trials, written records, and adjustments based on failure rather than guesswork 6.

He values friendship beyond its material benefits. Despite knowing Xiao Yan’s future opportunities, he refuses to exploit their relationship or ask for help while Xiao Yan is vulnerable. When Xiao Yan freely gives him cultivation methods, he accepts gratefully and promises support in return 3.

His easygoing behavior with friends coexists with pronounced caution. He investigates intruders before confronting them, hides useful capabilities, and abandons pride when negotiation offers a better chance of survival. He also dislikes favors that could leave him dependent on powerful factions 12 22 57 62.

Toward enemies, he can be vindictive and ruthless. His retaliation extends from killing attackers to targeting hostile families’ heirs and eventually destroying those families. Nevertheless, he does not blame the Xiao Clan for the danger arising from their cooperation, and his loyalty to allies survives his rise in strength 40 43 102.

He treats his knowledge of the original Battle Through the Heavens as reference material rather than a script reality must follow. To him, the continent and its inhabitants are real, and changing events is an unavoidable consequence of his existence 87.

Abilities & Skills

Metal-and-Lightning Dou Qi

• Metal attribute: Provides strong offense and defense through steel-like Dou Qi 4.
• Lightning attribute: Supplies destructive power, explosive acceleration, and speed 4 132.
• Early limitation: His original methods use incompatible meridian routes. He must cultivate and apply each attribute separately, spending additional time maintaining balance 7.
• Later integration: His self-created dual-attribute art resolves the inability to use both attributes simultaneously 49 53.
• Dou Wang advantage: His paired attributes complement one another in attack, defense, speed, endurance, and explosive power. At peak Three-Star Dou Wang, his Dou Qi capabilities alone can stand alongside a Seven-Star Dou Wang’s 132.

Heavenly Dipper Gold-Tempering Art

Version	Chapter	Development
Profound Tier Low Grade	48 49	Accidentally created during the lightning ordeal by merging the Dormant Thunder Method, Steel-Condensing Force, and knowledge from other arts.
Profound Tier High Grade	92 93	Improved by two grades during enlightenment following his Dou Wang breakthrough.

• Balances and links his metal and lightning Dou Qi within a single cultivation art 49.
• Enables him to refine external lightning while strengthening his body and increasing his cultivation 48 53.
• At its improved grade, ordinary cultivation rapidly draws in ambient energy from a hundred-meter radius 93.
• His own Dou Qi alone cannot reproduce the dramatic body-tempering effect; an external stimulus is necessary 49.

Heavenly-Lightning Body Tempering

• Begins when lightning arcs enter his body during a near-fatal strike; refining them repairs damaged flesh and strengthens his physique 48.
• Uses a lightning rod and iron-wire coils to reduce incoming lightning to a survivable level 51 75.
• Gradually shortens the coil as his body becomes capable of enduring greater lightning energy 75.
• Medusa later redirects successive lightning strikes into the apparatus, greatly improving training efficiency 77.
• Depends on thunderstorms and suitable equipment; the Tagor Desert’s lack of storms initially stalls his physical progress 53 72.

Documented Physical Strength	Chapter	Evidence
Comparable to a peak Dou Shi’s full physical effort	53	Overpowers a peak second-rank Gold-Binding Bear without relying on Dou Qi.
Near a newly advanced Dou Ling	56	Achieved through five months of lightning tempering near Water-Storage City.
Low-level Dou Ling combat power	63	Easily defeats Hacquis, a fellow peak Great Dou Master, using physical strength.
Approximately Two-Star Dou Wang	78	Medusa’s assessment after testing his body while his cultivation remains Eight-Star Dou Ling.

• Medusa notes that he can continue fighting without Dou Qi, making techniques that seal or disrupt it ineffective against his physical strength 78.
• At peak Three-Star Dou Wang, layering his powerful body with Dou Qi raises his actual combat strength to the mid-rank Dou Emperor level, as verified by Medusa 132.

Weapon Refining

Changqing develops weapon refining from inherited blacksmithing skills, formation theory, medicine-cauldron construction, and his understanding of modern energy circuits 5 17.

Refining Milestone	Chapter	Result
Successful metal-and-lightning tempering	6 7	Creates the Golden Lightning Weapon Refining Method and an iron-cleaving Ghost-Head Saber.
Improved Mortal Weapons	16	Produces four weapons in a month, nearly 20% better than earlier examples.
Forging-stage refinement	27	Applies metal Dou Qi to furnace-hot iron and lightning with hammer strikes. Doubles output from five to ten weapons monthly.
First true Magic Core Weapon	29	Constructs a heavy sword from a patterned inner sword and a precisely fitted outer shell.
Third-tier intermediate-grade armaments	56 61	Produces stronger magic-core weapons and integrates solid artifact-pattern circuits inside their material.
Tier 4 refining	62	Secretly makes a fourth-tier equipment set while letting the tribe believe his limit is Tier 3 high-grade.
Tier 5 Spirit-Gathering Armaments	115 122	Produces fifth-tier inner armor, a bow, and arrows; later accepts commissions at this tier.

• Mortal Weapons: Metal Dou Qi strengthens the material; lightning activates it and removes impurities. Early examples pierce Dou Shi defenses but cannot overcome Da Dou Shi armor 7 13.
• Magic Core Armaments: Artifact patterns channel magic-core energy, while the wielder’s Dou Qi activates their effects 17 60 61.
• Hidden circuits: His improved patterns become solidified metal-Dou-Qi circuits fused into the weapon. Even a Dou Emperor cannot detect them; a Dou Zong might 61.
• Refining cauldron: Can form a Golden Thunder Weapon-Refining Cauldron from Dou Qi to melt materials and inscribe patterns 60 113.
• Material limits: An attempt to combine two artifact patterns destroys a weapon blank because the available material cannot withstand them 96.
• Qualification requirement: Possessing his instructions is insufficient to reproduce his weapons without the necessary talent 40.

Soul Perception and Precision Control

• Possesses a powerful soul attributed to living two lives, allowing him to memorize both initial cultivation methods quickly 4.
• While still a Dou Zhe, his perception is comparable to a Dou Shi’s and detects an intruder inside his locked courtyard 11.
• Dangerous switching between cultivation methods during forging improves his concentration, perception, and Dou Qi control 27.
• Uses precise perception to inscribe concealed artifact circuits before molten weapon material fully solidifies 61.
• Before gaining flight, controls bursts of Dou Qi against the air to slow a fall and land safely 81.

Combat Techniques

Technique	Grade	Application / Notes
Gold-Crushing Elbow	Yellow Tier Mid-Grade	Offensive elbow technique; mastered sufficiently to shatter a brick with one strike 17.
Thunderclap Flash	Yellow Tier Mid-Grade	Movement technique acquired alongside Gold-Crushing Elbow 17.
Thunderclap Step	Profound Tier Low Grade	Purchased from Mittel; used to reach the wounded Flame Wolf rapidly 46.
Nine Slashes of Raging Thunder	Profound Tier Low Grade	Nine swift, powerful slashes intended for heavy weapons 57.
Flood Dragon Thunder, Ten Thousand Jun	Profound Tier High Grade	Self-created dual-attribute technique combining Thunder Python Mountain-Crushing Force and Thousand-Jun Severing Mountains. Changqing believes full mastery could rival an ordinary Earth Tier Low-Grade technique 93.
Ten Thousand Jun Force	Component of his combined technique	Shakes the Misty Cloud Sect’s barrier in a test using Dou Qi alone, without adding his physical strength 131 132.

Realm Abilities

• Dou Qi Veil: Forms a golden defensive barrier after reaching Dou Shi 28.
• Dou Qi Armor: Gains a patterned gold-and-silver armor at Great Dou Master, improving defense and combat performance 53.
• Dou Qi Wings: Gains flight at Dou Wang; his golden-lightning wings also support rapid movement 93 100 129.
• Enlightenment: Briefly enters extraordinary mental clarity after his Dou Wang breakthrough, improving his cultivation art, creating a combined Dou Technique, and deriving two artifact patterns 92 93.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Ghost-Head Saber — His first successful Iron-Cleaving Mortal Weapon. Sold to Wang Zhi for 4,000 gold coins, funding further development 7 11.
• Magic-Core Heavy Sword — Early personal armament built around a patterned inner sword and fitted shell. Cuts through enemies’ weapons and releases a ranged golden sword arc through its metal core 29 36 37.
• Magic Core Inner Armor — Produces a defensive membrane. He secretly layers low-grade third-tier armor beneath his second-tier armor; the concealed layer saves him from a Da Dou Shi attack but is destroyed 36 39.
• Glorious Thunder Tyrant Sword — Later personal weapon; he plans to upgrade it using dragonblood gold essence obtained from the Flame Python Bow auction 115 117.
• Fifth-tier Spirit-Gathering Inner Armor — Forged to reinforce his already formidable physical and Dou Qi defenses 115.
• Flame Python Bow — Fifth-tier auctioned weapon bought by Xiao Yan. The payment includes a sixth-grade pill and dragonblood gold essence 115 117 118.
• Storage Ring — His first ring has approximately three or four cubic meters of space and costs seventy or eighty thousand gold coins 28.
• Lightning rod and coils — Training apparatus used to moderate heavenly lightning; prolonged use eventually wears the metal toward scrap 51 53 75.
• Conjectures on the Feasibility of Weapon Refining — His book of research ideas, accumulated before he could properly cultivate attributed Dou Qi 5.
• Soft netherglass iron — Transparent, flexible metal suited to inner armor, received from Mu Ying as an apology gift 122.

Relationships

• Zhou Cai — Adoptive father and childhood smithing teacher. Went hunting to fund Changqing’s cultivation and never returned 4 5.
• Yu Li — Adoptive mother; raised him as her own child and died after accompanying Zhou Cai on the hunt 4.
• Xiao Yan — Closest friend and fellow Earth transmigrator, though unaware of Changqing’s origin. Gives him his first suitable cultivation methods; their insulting banter accompanies genuine mutual loyalty 1 3 123 124.
• Ya Fei — Auction partner, protector, and increasingly intimate companion. Shelters him in Wutan City, maintains their business relationship in the capital, and is later openly protected by him 22 26 104 107 119.
• Queen Medusa — Initially controls his freedom because she needs his unusual thunder qi. Later supports his lightning training, guards his enlightenment, and accompanies him after his release; their relationship develops warmth and protectiveness 66 77 85 92 93 96 98.
• Ling Sha — Captor and recurring rival. Preserves his treatment among the Snake-People but refuses to release him; their resentment develops into familiar teasing and a retaliatory confrontation before his departure 59 60 62 67.
• Yue Mei — Tribal chief who rewards his refining work while keeping him captive. Recognizes his rapid growth and brings him to Medusa 61 64 66 67.
• Hua She’er — Suspicious Snake Guard captain responsible for supplying resources during his Holy City stay. Resents his demands but complies with Medusa’s arrangement 67 72.
• Xiao Zhan — Supportive elder and political ally, addressed as “Uncle Xiao.” Arranges Xiao Clan protection and helps obstruct Changqing’s pursuers 26 32 43.
• Yao Lao — Indirect source of his initial cultivation methods and an admirer of his talent. Regrets that Changqing’s attributes do not meet the requirements for an alchemist apprenticeship 3 23 85.
• Mittel Teng Shan — Commercial ally who apologizes for hostile family members and helps publicize weapon refining as a profession. Treats Changqing as an equal and gives Ya Fei broad authority over their relationship 109 110 115.
• Wang Zhi — First documented buyer of an Iron-Cleaving weapon. His battlefield successes establish the weapon’s reputation among mercenaries 11 13 16.
• Hacquis — Rival over the tribe’s last Spirit Ascension Pill. Changqing defeats him easily and later beats him again before leaving the tribe 63 66.
• Che’erluo — Weapons monopolist, exploiter of Changqing’s blacksmithing family, and mortal enemy. Attempts to seize his craft, then prioritizes killing him before he grows stronger 2 23 28.
• Jia Lie and Ao Ba Families — Participate in the attempt to kill him. He retaliates against their heirs and later wipes out both families 35 43 102.
• Yun Leng — Misty Cloud Sect elder opposed during Xiao Yan’s forced detention. Changqing counters his surprise attack and defeats him in one blow 129 132.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Breaking Out of Poverty

Changqing initially sells 120 weapon blanks for ten gold coins and has only 480 coins saved toward a cultivation method. Che’erluo’s control of the local weapons trade prevents him from earning substantially more. Xiao Yan’s gift of two Yellow Tier High-Grade methods finally breaks the six-year cultivation bottleneck 2 3 4.

His first refining experiments turn inherited smithing into a new source of resources. Selling the Ghost-Head Saber begins his commercial rise, but also attracts Leli, who enters his courtyard intending to rob and kill him. Changqing kills Leli and quietly disposes of the body 6 7 11 12 13.

Wutan City’s Weapon Boom

Wang Zhi’s victories demonstrate the practical value of Changqing’s weapons, driving auction demand and drawing powerful factions’ attention. Che’erluo’s subordinate Steward Liu attempts to capture him, but Changqing kills the attackers and defeats the stronger Dou Shi despite suffering an elbow injury 13 16 18 19 21 22.

Ya Fei publicly places him under Mittel protection, and Xiao Zhan follows with the Xiao Clan’s backing. Changqing returns home and continues developing Magic Core Armaments rather than relying solely on that protection 22 26 29.

Assassination Attempt and Departure

A coalition connected to the Jia Lie Family, Ao Ba Family, and Che’erluo surrounds his courtyard. His Heavy Sword and concealed armor let him kill numerous attackers, but a stronger masked enemy inflicts internal injuries 35 36 37 39 40.

After recovering at Mittel, he refuses to let his allies settle the conflict for him. With information obtained through Xiao Yan, he kills Jia Lie Ao, Aoba Le, and Cheer Xu, then leaves for the Magical Beast Mountain Range. The Xiao Clan and Mittel prevent the family heads from immediately pursuing him 41 43.

Heavenly Lightning and a New Cultivation Path

His departure also serves a long-delayed attempt to avenge his adoptive parents. While pursuing that revenge and confronting a wounded Flame Wolf, he becomes caught in a heavenly-lightning ordeal 44 46 48.

Survival produces his first major body-tempering gains and the Heavenly Dipper Gold-Tempering Art. He then turns the accident into repeatable training with a lightning rod and coils, reaches Great Dou Master, and relocates in search of better materials and more thunderstorms 48 49 51 53 54.

Captivity Among the Snake-People

After five months near Water-Storage City, Changqing is defeated and captured by Ling Sha. His refining skill prevents his immediate death and earns him valuable resources under Yue Mei, but he remains unwillingly confined 56 57 59 61.

He secretly reaches Tier 4 refining, takes the Spirit Ascension Pill, and advances to Dou Ling. Medusa subsequently orders him brought to the Holy City, where his unusual thunder qi becomes important to her bloodline evolution 62 63 64 66 67 73.

Access to the tribe’s library and Medusa-assisted lightning training greatly strengthen him. He holds his own against the already injured Feng Li, though Medusa intervenes when Feng Li unleashes a lethal technique. His later Dou Wang breakthrough strengthens the thunder qi Medusa needs and grants him enlightenment 72 77 78 84 85 92 93.

Return and Recognition in the Imperial Capital

Following Medusa’s evolution, Changqing regains freedom of movement. A materials-related refining failure prompts him to leave the tribe; Medusa accompanies him 96 98.

He returns to Wutan City and destroys Che’er Mansion, the Ao Ba Family, and the Jia Lie Family, then visits the Xiao Clan as an ally. In the Imperial Capital, he reunites with Ya Fei, defeats hostile Mittel members, and secures Teng Shan’s cooperation in promoting weapon refining 100 102 104 107 109.

The auctions establish his public identity as a Grand Weapon Refiner. At the Nalan banquet, he effortlessly subdues Mu Zhan for attacking him over Ya Fei, then receives an apology and refining material from the Mu Family. Other factions begin commissioning fourth- and fifth-tier armaments 110 115 119 121 122.

The Three-Year Agreement

Changqing attends Xiao Yan’s confrontation with Nalan Yanran alongside Medusa. Beforehand, he warns her that intervention may draw out Yun Shan and makes clear that he will not stand aside if the sect targets Xiao Yan 123 124 125.

When the sect tries to detain Xiao Yan, Changqing intervenes, tests its defensive formation, and reveals strength far beyond his cultivation rank. He shatters Yun Leng’s Sword Stele and defeats him with a thunder flood dragon; Xiao Yan then calls for his help against three pursuing Dou Wangs 129 131 132.

Notable Quotes

“Rest assured. I'll avenge you both, even if I have to turn the entire Magical Beast Mountain Range upside down!” 4

“Treasure Weapons aren't something just anyone can forge after getting the instructions. Without the necessary qualifications, they couldn't make them even if I handed the method over for free.” 40

“Old Xiao and I are close. If the Misty Cloud Sect shamelessly goes after him, I can't just stand by and watch.” 124

Trivia

• He brews homemade Green Plum Wine, which Xiao Yan frequently visits to drink. He refuses to give away the family recipe 1 3.
• “Iron-Cleaving Treasure Weapon” is a sales label: Changqing privately calls these products Mortal Weapons and does not consider them true weapon refining 17.
• He initially refuses to keep the Ghost-Head Saber because he thinks its bulky appearance would clash with his flowing white-robed image 8.
• His strongest documented combat ability exceeds his formal realm: at peak Three-Star Dou Wang, his combined physique and Dou Qi reach mid-rank Dou Emperor combat strength 132.