Shen Laodao

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Shen Buyu 10
Alias(es)	Shen Laodao (申老道); Old Daoist Shen 13 14
Species/Race	Human 29
Gender	Male 10
Age	Eighteen according to the sect master’s examination, despite his elderly appearance and an earlier claim to have lived over forty years 10 12
Affiliation	Shen family’s dark-arts lineage; Carefree Sect during its Worry-Free Mountain period 12 29
Occupation/Role	Daoist-robed cultivator, trickster, and Yang Xiao’s adventuring companion 10 11 25
Cultivation Realm	Soul Seed Realm, established when the Corpse Lord and Soul Master are described as one realm above him 29
Status	Alive; returns to Slaughter Heaven City after helping Yang Xiao ambush Gongsun Tuo 50
First Appearance	Thrown out of the Perching Phoenix Pavilion in Falling Blossom City 10

Power Progression

The documented milestones concern learned arts and scripture access; no cultivation-realm breakthrough is shown for Shen 13 20 29.

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Introductory Earth Master art	13	Learns Gather Earth to Build a House after Yang Xiao reveals how to read the hidden introductory manual. His success earns access to the Scripture Pavilion’s first-floor Earth Master texts.
Rudimentary Heaven’s Eye Opening Technique	13	Forms a heavenly eye the size of an ordinary human eye after half a day of practice, exhausting his magical power. A later demonstration fails.
Carefree Heavenly Master Chapter studied	20	Meditates on the chapter recited within the hidden Spirit Sea. Despite lacking suitable aptitude, resolves to pursue Heavenly Master cultivation; no new rank is confirmed.

Background / History

Shen Family Heritage

Shen inherits a short staff from his ancestors and practices the Shen family’s Call-Dad-and-Die Technique. During the battle beneath Corpse Soul Mountain, the Soul Master identifies the family as the world’s foremost dark-arts lineage and claims that the gods jointly exterminated it after its technique cursed a god to death. Shen’s survival and knowledge contradict the Soul Master’s belief that the art had disappeared 19 29.

Meeting Yang Xiao and Joining the Carefree Sect

Shen meets Yang Xiao immediately after being thrown out of the Perching Phoenix Pavilion. He warns of a “bloody calamity” and demands a night at the pleasure house costing two hundred taels of gold to avert it. Yang Xiao initially dismisses him, but narrowly escaping a horse and an arrow makes the warning harder to ignore. Little Blue captures Shen after he tries to flee by flight; Yang Xiao then makes him provide directions to the Carefree Sect 10.

At the sect gate, Shen impersonates an elder and invents a recruitment test requiring demon-beast corpses. Applicants kill beasts—including their own mounts—and hand them over to him. He also steals Luo Kedi’s Windbreaking Spear while attention is elsewhere. Once exposed, he escapes the crowd’s combined attack 11.

Shen returns to request admission as a disciple. Although he looks elderly, the sect master verifies his claim to be eighteen and permits him to take the trial. He appears largely unaffected by the mountain climb’s increasing gravity and heat, while theatrically pretending to struggle 12.

Yang Xiao subsequently shares the secret of the introductory manual with him. Shen learns its basic arts more slowly than Yang Xiao but earns access to Earth Master teachings and later builds a residence beside the library 13 15.

Resource Hunting and the Hidden Spirit Sea

Shen accompanies Yang Xiao and Wang Huhu into the Linked Peaks Mountain Range. His attempt to seize a crystal deposit is twice repelled by an Earth Vein Grand Formation. Yang Xiao safely harvests the crystals and divides the proceeds equally; over the expedition, each receives three hundred low-grade and one mid-grade earth vein crystal 17 18.

A visit to Old Man Chen leaves Shen visibly frightened, though he refuses to explain what he knows. Later, the prospect of finding the Carefree Scripture persuades him to explore the mountain’s deep pool with Yang Xiao 19.

Beyond a hidden gate, Shen nearly falls victim to death-corrupted spiritual energy. He expels it from his body and warns Yang Xiao not to absorb it. Using his ancestral staff as a floating platform, the pair cross the Spirit Sea and reach a twelve-petal green lotus, where a dead Heavenly Master’s lingering obsession recites the Carefree Heavenly Master Chapter. Their meditation lasts a month without either realizing it 20.

Corpse Soul Mountain Expeditions

Shen joins the search for the missing Lei Miaoyan in exchange for Yang Xiao funding a stay at the Perching Phoenix Pavilion. He helps investigate deserted Chen Village, prevents Yang Xiao from killing a captive before questioning him, and defeats a Soul Seed Realm disciple using misfortune-inducing magic 24 25.

When Corpse Soul Mountain’s leader and spirit corpses pursue them, Shen flees at extraordinary speed, leaving Yang Xiao to escape separately. He nevertheless reports Yang Xiao’s danger to Chen Wuyou, prompting the sect to send disciples to search for him 26.

After Wang Huhu is abducted, Shen joins Yang Xiao and Dongfang Mingyue’s rescue party. His curses incapacitate guards during their infiltration. In the underground cavern, his rush toward the Nine Netherworld Divine Grass is stopped by nine Living Spirit Realm corpse guardians 27 28.

Against the Corpse Lord and Soul Master, Shen reveals the Call-Dad-and-Die Technique, temporarily lowering both enemies by an entire realm. The technique drains all his magical power, leaving the others to exploit the opening. After the Corpse Lord’s daughter awakens without memories, Shen falsely claims she is his bride-to-be; Dongfang Mingyue stops him 29.

Reunion in Slaughter Heaven City

Yang Xiao encounters Shen outside the Perching Phoenix Pavilion in Slaughter Heaven City, where unpaid debt prevents him from entering. Recognizing the usefulness of Shen’s inherited dark art against his institutional enemies, Yang Xiao agrees to settle the bill 48.

Shen then accepts two months of pavilion lodging in exchange for helping kill Gongsun Tuo. After watching the Earth Master Hall for seven days without finding an opportunity, he supports a plan to lure Gongsun outside the city. Shen weakens both Gongsun and the accompanying Heavenly Master Palace head, Feng Su, to the Soul Seed Realm, allowing Yang Xiao and Yang You’er to pursue them separately. Shen returns to the city with his companions after Gongsun’s death 49 50.

Appearance

• Elderly appearance: Looks like an old Daoist despite passing an examination that identifies him as eighteen 10 12.
• Tattered Daoist robe: Wears a ragged robe at his first encounter with Yang Xiao 10.
• Black short staff: Carries a grubby, dark rod, often concealed inside his robes 10 19.
• Contradictory religious mannerisms: Presses his palms together, says “Amitabha,” and calls himself a humble monk while dressed as a Daoist 10 11.

Personality

Shen is shamelessly opportunistic. He exploits applicants’ desire for the Carefree Scripture, steals a valuable weapon, and repeatedly tries to shift his pleasure-house expenses onto Yang Xiao. Treasure can override his caution: he insists on crossing the dangerous Spirit Sea and rushes toward the Nine Netherworld Divine Grass before its guardians are dealt with 11 20 23 28.

His bravado contrasts with a strong instinct for survival. He makes absurd excuses to avoid Old Man Chen, hesitates before entering dangerous areas, and escapes immediately when overwhelmed by stronger pursuers. Yet he also joins Wang Huhu’s rescue and reports Yang Xiao’s peril after their separation 19 26 27.

He enjoys boasting and teasing, especially about Yang Xiao’s cultivation and his own supposed stamina. He is less tolerant of insults to his inherited methods: Dongfang Mingyue calling his curse an “evil art” provokes an unusually angry response 13 18 27.

Abilities & Skills

Curse Technique

Shen’s spoken curses cause incapacitation and cascading mishaps rather than relying solely on direct attacks 25 27.

• Causes dizziness and vomiting during combat 25.
• Makes an opponent injure himself with his own Spirit Artifact 25.
• Renders two Sea Condensation Realm guards unconscious with a few muttered words 27.
• Shen explicitly distinguishes the technique from the “evil art” label Dongfang Mingyue gives it 27.

Call-Dad-and-Die Technique

An inherited Shen-family dark art performed by kneeling with his short staff between his hands and calling the targets “Dad” 29.

• Realm suppression: Drops the Corpse Lord and Soul Master from Living Spirit to Soul Seed, interrupting their attack 29.
• Multiple targets: Weakens two opponents at once, both beneath Corpse Soul Mountain and during the ambush outside Slaughter Heaven City 29 50.
• Duration: Its demonstrated effect lasts half a quarter-hour 29.
• Cost: Exhausts all Shen’s magical power during the Corpse Soul Mountain battle 29.
• Reputation: Wang Huhu calls it the world’s greatest dark art; the Soul Master attributes the Shen family’s destruction to its use against a god 29.

Earth and Heavenly Master Arts

Shen learns the Carefree introductory arts but struggles with their execution compared with Yang Xiao 13.

• Gather Earth to Build a House: Successfully casts the art and later constructs his own residence 13 15.
• Heaven’s Eye Opening Technique: Produces a small eye with considerable effort; later uses Heavenly Eyes with Yang Xiao to search for Lei Miaoyan 13 25.
• Heavenly Master aptitude: Remains poor enough that he cannot cultivate the Carefree Heavenly Master Chapter as Yang Xiao does, despite his vow to persevere 20 23.

Movement and Escape

• Flight: Flies while attempting to escape Little Blue and during later journeys 10 24.
• Shrinking Earth to Inches: Uses earth-based movement when returning from the hidden Spirit Sea and traveling to Chen Village 20 24.
• Rapid retreat: Escapes pursuit by Corpse Soul Mountain’s forces and returns unharmed 26.

Cultivation Knowledge and Deception

• Explains Soul Seed and Living Spirit cultivation, green-lotus grades, and the significance of a twelfth-grade lotus 20.
• Recognizes death-corrupted spiritual energy and expels it before it can overwhelm him 20.
• Uses information obtained from Li Xunhua to explain Corpse Soul Mountain’s two rulers 27.
• Successfully impersonates a sect elder long enough to collect numerous demon-beast corpses 11.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Ancestral short staff — Bears carvings of more than ten thousand people kneeling in worship. Transforms into a floating log large enough to carry Shen and Yang Xiao across the Spirit Sea; its material appears neither wholly wooden nor metallic 19 20.
• Storage Ring — Stores the beast corpses acquired through his recruitment scam and other possessions 11 23.
• Windbreaking Spear — High-grade Spirit Artifact stolen from Luo Kedi; later throws it to Yang Xiao while protesting his use of Void Stroll 11 23.
• Large saber — Wields one while chasing Yang Xiao after their visit to Old Man Chen and uses one to split the Corpse Lord’s daughter’s coffin 19 29.
• Skyflight manual — Possesses a flight manual and explains that using it at the Qi Gathering Realm would provide limited height while consuming magical power 14.
• Dragon Essence Tiger Vigor Pill — Claims to possess an ancestral pill, which he offers while teasing Yang Xiao outside the pavilion 23.

Relationships

• Yang Xiao — Fellow disciple and frequent adventuring partner. Their friendship combines bargaining, mutual teasing, guarded trust, and effective combat cooperation; Shen also relies on him to pay pavilion expenses 13 20 25 48 50.
• Wang Huhu — Fellow disciple and food-loving companion. She exposes his theft, bargains with him for meat, and later becomes the focus of a rescue mission he joins 11 13 27.
• Dongfang Mingyue — Rescue ally who distrusts his curses and restrains his predatory behavior toward the revived woman 27 29.
• Chen Wuyou — Carefree Sect master. Shen first exploits the sect’s name, then gains admission and access to its teachings; he later suspects Chen of staging the Scripture Pavilion attack to confiscate artifacts 11 12 13 16.
• Old Man Chen — A figure Shen visibly fears. He refuses to explain the reason and repeatedly tries to escape their meeting 19.
• Luo Kedi — Victim of Shen’s false recruitment test and theft of the Windbreaking Spear 11.
• Li Xunhua — Pavilion proprietor and source of information. She has Shen removed when Yang Xiao refuses to fund his stay; his later pavilion debt again requires Yang Xiao’s assistance 23 27 48.
• Tu Yuxuan — Quickly finds common ground with Shen; the two exchange furtive whispers and lecherous laughter during their carriage ride 49.
• Yang You’er — Accompanies Shen and Yang Xiao during the operation against Gongsun Tuo and Feng Su 49 50.

Notable Quotes

“If you want treasure, how can you expect to take no risks at all?” 20

“This poor monk thinks his aptitude as a Heavenly Master can still be salvaged. Once we return, I'll devote myself to Heavenly Master arts. I won't leave seclusion until I become a Heavenly Venerable.” 20

“Do you think this poor monk isn't human? Using the Call-Dad-and-Die Technique exhausted all my magical power. It's up to you now.” 29