Chen

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Chen Miao
Alias(es)	Mr. Chen; Water Bro; Chen Bai; Chen San Shui; Chen Ergou, later renamed Chen Yang 52 295 540 621 730 731
Gender	Male 6 103
Age	24 in the early notebook records; 25 approximately one year after obtaining it 6 302
Affiliation	Tianmen Funeral Home; Emergency Affairs Administration; Kong’s Paper Effigy Shop; Demon-Suppressing Bureau’s Indigo Cavalry 250 374 614 805
Occupation/Role	Funeral rites specialist, funeral-home director, Paper Effigy Maker, and cultivation instructor; later Honorary Consultant to Administration Headquarters and Director of its Tianmen County branch; Junior Banner Officer under the identity Chen Yang 103 252 302 614 621 805
Cultivation	Netherworld Realm, also described as Underworld Communion or Nether Communion 672 806
Status	Alive; identified by Kong Xunzhen as an Otherworldly Fiend and his former disciple 833
Education	Graduate of Lin’an Civil Affairs Vocational and Technical College; visiting student at Kyōraku University during an undercover assignment 210 539

Power Progression

The notebook’s statuses, learned arts, and physical training develop alongside Chen Miao’s formal yin cultivation. His notebook-assisted visits to the Mortal World are distinct from attaining the cultivation realm called Walking Yin, which lies beyond Gate Knocking 250 672 730.

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Initial professional skills	6	Notebook lists beginner Funeral Hall Arrangement and proficient Funeral Rites, Eulogy Writing, and Makeup.
Six Jiangzhen Secrets; Iceheart	9	Resolving Old Wang’s resentment grants the incantations. Experiencing his memory fragment grants a concentration-enhancing status.
Kindred connection; Zhong Family Talismans	19	Gains a relationship-dependent emotional and thought-sensing status, alongside a talisman inheritance.
Heart-to-Heart, demonstrated	23 24	Recognizes Xiang Shang through his thoughts; discovers that the ability reveals brief thoughts during emotional fluctuations.
Yin Gathering, demonstrated	69	Extracts yin energy from a formation that his Yin-Gathering Talismans cannot drain.
Improved talisman-making	81	Produces three responsive talismans from fifteen attempts, raising his reported success rate from 3% to 20%.
Horsemanship and motorcycling mastery	89	Receives both skills from Luo Yucheng’s gratitude after completing “Knightly Spirit.”
Temporary negative emotion storage	111	Sun Yi’s memories grant the ability to postpone the eruption of current negative emotions for up to one day.
Beginner carving; completed Seven-Star Peach Wood Sword	119	Three weeks of practice, four templates, and over forty ruined blanks prepare him to craft the real weapon.
Yin Gathering → Yin Absorption	167	After Wind Gate Village, discovers that he can store gathered yin energy inside his body.
All nine apertures opened	172	Attributes the unusual result to Yin Absorption. Initially, he can hold only one full portion of yin energy and needs about one minute to transfer it between apertures.
Extreme Yin Body-Refining Art begun	173	Initial practice causes severe cramping when dawn’s yang energy collides with accumulated yin.
Yin Bridge developed	175	Gains a short-range yin breath attack and reduces lengthy Jiangzhen incantations to approximately one second.
Yin-Yang Eyes developed	175	Can distinguish yin energy, ghosts, and ghost-countering objects through different colors.
Iceheart (II), documented	196 302	The upgraded concentration status is recorded among his growing collection of abilities.
Ghost Pattern Scorpion completed	215	Blood-based inscription establishes a bond allowing mental and spoken commands.
Heavenly Spirit Yin Aperture developed	216 217	Strengthens mental power, doubles Eyes-Closed Perception to twelve meters, and improves illusion resistance and several existing skills.
Heart Yin Cavity, documented	229	Listed among the hidden enhancements supporting his increased strength before the Curse Cult summons.
Perineal Life-and-Death Aperture developed	243	Its effect remains unclear. His body-protecting astral energy has also returned permanently, providing weak physical and supernatural defense.
Complete yin-cultivation inheritance acquired	252	The Spirit Effigy Sutra supplies the Paper Figure Yin-Congealing Method, replacing his reliance on scattered knowledge with a systematic cultivation path.
All nine apertures reach Aperture Awakening	253	The five hells half-immortal body accelerates development of his remaining Ghost Gate, Yin Well, and Yin Pivot apertures to one month.
Eight body-refining rounds; stronger soul	254	Can concentrate his protective aura over specific areas. Five Hells Soul-Refinement improves perception, thinking, and multiple statuses.
Accelerated aperture cultivation	278	Soul growth and a fine General Effigy raise his reported cultivation efficiency to thirteen and a half times the normal rate. His Ghost Meridian is approaching Aperture Nourishment.
Grade-C strength; Grade-B toughness assessment	332	Xi Sheng judges his physical strength comparable to his own, but his defenses and stamina superior to a Grade-C Investigator’s.
Iaijutsu and Yin-Yang Mirror Escape inheritances	344	Factory-battle rewards add fast-draw swordsmanship, mirror travel, defensive space, and illusion-related arts.
Spatial Perception	346	Gains a status that increases his understanding of space.
Copper Skin and Iron Bones; Sorrowful Wind and Wood (VII)	375	Reviews his improved physical-defense status. Seven sorrowful memory fragments provide grief-inducing wind and wood effects.
Iceheart (II) → Clear Heart, Mystic Mirror	425	Spends eight liang of yin virtue on a mental-state upgrade that sharpens clear-minded observation.
Nethermist Domain combat integration	468	Combines mist, illusions, mirror attacks, concealment, and Ape Arms, Bronze Body. He estimates that the combination lets him contend with Grandmaster-level opponents.
Water Binding → Crimson Abyss Locks the Nether	440	A one-jin upgrade adds direct ghost control and blood-red hair that forms protection and penetrating darts.
Water and Fire Immunity fusion	495	Water and fire damage is converted into Vital Blood loss; weaker flames cannot penetrate its resistance.
Good and Evil Perception → Mind’s Eye, Shattering Falsehood	537	Upgrades his detection after discovering that powerful opponents can conceal their malice.
Yin Absorption restored to peak second tier	540	Opens two Flying Jiangshi memory fragments during the flight to the Island Nation.
Third-tier Yin Control, demonstrated	543	Detects and manipulates individual yin-energy signatures, senses yin-rich surroundings, and conceals his internal yin energy.
Mimicry, demonstrated	581	His upgraded disguise ability changes his entire body, including height, to impersonate Honda Taichi.
Deeper Feng Shui mastery	619	Five skill transfers let him evaluate formation construction, operating requirements, optimization, and likely complications. No precise Feng Shui rank is established.
Netherworld Realm breakthrough	672	Advances through his fully solidified Heavenly Spirit Yin Aperture. Begins a bridge toward an underworld door; the aperture’s storage increases tenfold and it can operate alongside another aperture.
Combined ape-form enhancement	833	Deer Immortal, Fox Immortal, and No-Self improve his ape forms’ defense, speed, and combat options enough to threaten an ordinary Grandmaster.

Background / History

Chen Miao studied at Lin’an Civil Affairs Vocational and Technical College, where he became friends with Zhao Gongzi through their nearby dorm rooms. Before his supernatural career, his experience centered on funeral arrangements, rites, eulogies, and makeup 6 203 210.

His early notebook records show a 24-year-old funeral rites specialist afflicted with Old Wang’s resentment. After spending a night in cold storage and resolving that incident, he gains the Six Jiangzhen Secrets and Iceheart. He continues conducting memorial services carefully, including those of Qian Xiaomei and the twins who had previously endangered him 6 9 22.

His knowledge initially comes from rewards, memory fragments, experimentation, and Zhong Cai’s advice rather than a complete lineage. The Spirit Effigy Sutra changes this: its cultivation method gives him the foundation to become a proper yin cultivator, train disciples, and potentially establish an inherited tradition of his own 169 170 172 252.

Mortal World and Undercover Identities

Identity	Setting	Background and purpose
Chen Bai	Mortal World, Qingjiang Town	Occupies the identity of a Paper Effigy Shop apprentice. Learns that the original Chen Bai proposed exchanging younger brothers with Xia Lang to secure their respective entries into the shop and Yizhuang 295 296 297.
Chen San Shui	Island Nation	Cover identity for his visiting-student assignment at Kyōraku University. Gao Yue and Cai Yin pose as his uncle and aunt 539 540.
Honda Taichi	Kiyotaki Tunnel operation	Uses Mimicry, detailed interrogation results, and transferred yin-energy signatures to impersonate a captured organization member 581.
Ueda Yūya	Nine Chrysanthemum-related infiltration	Maintains another impersonation, but recognizes that an old acquaintance could expose differences in his behavior 594.
Chen Ergou → Chen Yang	Later Mortal World entry, Cangzhou	An orphan from a hereditary bamboo-crafting family indebted to the Kong Clan. Third Master Kong renames him Chen Yang and arranges his Bureau assessment 730 731.

• Status bonuses carry into new Mortal World identities. By contrast, the body-refining defenses of his real-world body must be cultivated again there 299.
• He uses the notebook’s advance account and information gathered through Blood Gate Apostles to avoid the fatal questioning that originally awaited Chen Ergou 730 731.

Appearance

• Trained physique: Becomes lean and compact through body refinement and martial practice, with eight sharply defined abdominal muscles 217.
• Variable face: False Face lets him sculpt and reproduce a different facial appearance. One tested disguise has sharp cheekbones, elongated eyes, a straight nose, and a severe jawline; this is not his natural face 424.
• Full-body disguise: Mimicry extends alteration beyond the face to height and overall build 581.
• Blood-red hair: Crimson Abyss rapidly lengthens and reddens his hair, allowing it to envelop and move his body 440.
• Ape transformation: Appears as a white-furred creature when intervening against Li Zhou 833.

Personality

Chen Miao treats funeral work as a responsibility rather than a routine to rush through. He honors the twins despite their earlier involvement in nearly killing him, and accepts gratitude for Luo Yucheng’s restoration while emphasizing the respect owed to the dead 22 89.

He is cautious, resource-conscious, and strongly inclined toward self-reliance. He practices on ordinary wood before using rare materials, preserves failed talismans for study, and tests unfamiliar abilities instead of assuming their effects. He abandons experiments when he cannot monitor the danger to another person 22 81 172.

His survival instincts can be ruthless. During the Curse Cult gathering, he plans to kill the woman the group intends to rescue if that is necessary to prevent his own death. As he becomes stronger, he also deliberately displays enough power to discourage attacks on his friends and family 231 526 537.

His protectiveness is especially pronounced toward Shi Manman and Xiao Bai. He equips his disciple, plans around her limitations, and accepts personal consequences to retaliate against her attacker. His generosity toward Xiao Bai includes the soul-crystal fragments needed to awaken Zhong Cai 274 383 470 526.

He retains a teasing, playful side with old friends and takes interest in techniques for convenience or amusement, not only combat. He also recognizes his tendency toward overconfidence and uses Clearheart to restrain excitement when his conclusions run ahead of the evidence 24 495 535 543 545.

Abilities & Skills

Supernatural Notebook

• Incident records: Notes on Achieving Divinity in the Mortal World records chapters, side stories, and afterwords associated with supernatural events. Advance information helps him prepare and alter dangerous outcomes 6 107 231.
• Settlements: Completed incidents grant yin virtue, materials, memory fragments, and inheritances. Later, the upgraded notebook can settle an incident once remaining circumstances can no longer affect it 344 495.
• Memory fragments: Experiences another person’s memories while asleep, gaining investigative clues and sometimes statuses 9 111 274 526.
• Storage and redemption: Stores tools, talismans, blood, and even wood scraps; exchanges yin virtue for supernatural supplies 22 81 119.
• Technique transfer: With sufficient yin virtue, uses transfers to deepen his understanding of recorded arts and impart techniques 614 619.
• Limit: As he grows stronger and encounters less danger, advance chapters become less likely. He expects the book eventually to function more as a retrospective battle record 195.

Six Jiangzhen Secrets and Funeral Rites

• Addresses the resentment or needs of violent-death victims, natural-death souls, suicides, infant spirits, unattended ghosts, and evil spirits 9.
• Uses transcendence rites to help departed souls pass on, earning yin virtue and gratitude-related rewards 75 254.
• The developed Yin Bridge shortens recitation by allowing him to speak the opening character of each line while completing the remainder mentally 175.
• The Divine Gaze form is used to perform transcendence rites for hundreds of Paper Offerings in the underground palace 464.

Yin Cultivation and Yin Control

• Nine-aperture access: Gives him a wider selection of abilities than cultivators who open only one aperture, but early energy limits prevent all nine from functioning effectively together 169 172.
• Extraction: Can draw yin from the surroundings, opened apertures, formations, and soul-suppressing fields 69 172.
• Signature tracking: Third-tier Yin Control distinguishes individual cultivators’ yin energy and can trace detached energy toward its owner 543.
• Signature imitation: Alters his own energy signature to resemble ambient yin or another cultivator’s, concealing identity and trails 543.
• Internal concealment: Hides his yin energy more effectively than his necklace, including during restrained use of abilities 543.
• Limits: Ordinary released signatures usually fade within half an hour. Yin Control does not conceal Vital Blood fluctuations 543.

Perception and Mental States

• Clear Heart, Mystic Mirror: Improves clear-minded observation, analysis, and development of applications for existing abilities 425 426.
• Heart-to-Heart: Receives brief thoughts when emotions rise; it does not continuously expose everything a person thinks 24.
• Mind’s Eye, Shattering Falsehood: Detects deeply concealed malice and pierces disguises of the heart, replacing the less reliable Good and Evil Perception 537.
• Yin-Yang Eyes: Sees yin energy as blue, ghosts as red, and ghost-countering objects as purple 175.
• Eyes-Closed Perception: After soul refinement, reaches three meters normally, nine with Iceheart (II), and eighteen with the Heavenly Spirit Yin Aperture also active 254.
• Gold in Stone: Selects the best-quality member of a category rather than transforming objects or revealing hidden value. Has a one-hour interval between uses; its criteria for judging people remain unclear 169 213.
• Broker: Prevents either party in a transaction from becoming hostile to him while he acts as a third party 274.

Emotional Control and Sorrow

• Negative Emotion Storage: Temporarily seals current negative emotions and lets him choose when they erupt, for up to one day 111.
• Uses stored sorrow to endure early body-refining pain, eventually developing enough endurance to dispense with it 175.
• Sorrowful Wind and Wood (VII): Creates controllable wind that draws out existing grief, or imbues wood with sorrow 375.

Body Refinement and Martial Arts

• Extreme Yin Body-Refining Art: Tempers the whole body through collisions between extreme yin and yang; its initial practice is intensely painful 172 173 175.
• Protective aura: Can shift and layer body-protecting energy to reinforce a specific area against an attack 254.
• Ironblood Eight Extremes: Learns Li Fu’s eight-move combat routine adapted from Baji Fist, including City-Breaking Spear and Mountain-and-River Suppression 215 216 217.
• Physical statuses: Copper Skin and Iron Bones improves toughness and strength; Ape Leap complements those gains. Later ape-form combinations add speed, defense, and combat options 375 833.
• Water and Fire Immunity: Converts harmful water and fire exposure into Vital Blood loss rather than physical injury 495.
• Demonstrated durability: Poison-infused wooden spikes shatter against him during Wan Chuan’s assassination attempt 637.
• Limit: Physical endurance does not automatically compensate for inferior fighting technique; Xi Sheng repeatedly outmaneuvers him during their spar 332.

Crimson Abyss Locks the Nether

• Nether Locking: Hair enters a ghost’s soul and controls it directly 440.
• Crimson Abyss: Absorbs nearby yin while draining his blood and qi; the resulting blood-red hair forms a protective outfit that supports his weakened body 440.
• Hair darts: Fused strands pierce stone and leave lasting damage on Scorpion Corpse 440.
• Trade-off: While relying on the hair to move his weakened body, his usual physical advantages become effectively unusable 440.

Mirror Arts and Nethermist Domain

• Yin-Yang Mirror Escape: Provides mirror-based movement and evasion, Yata Mirror Guard, Divine Mirror Reflecting the Heart, and Mirror Realm 344.
• Portable space: Experiments with storing compressed yin energy and forming “Soul Balls,” creating reserves for situations where manipulating ambient energy would expose him 381.
• Mirage Doppelganger Form: Extends his reach, but exceeding its normal range for roughly half a minute consumes a quarter of his Soul Power 425.
• Nethermist Domain: Combines illusions, concealed movement, physical attacks, hair, and hidden mirrors into an integrated combat environment 468.
• Limits: Mirror cultivation depends on spatial aptitude. Domain use can exhaust his soul body and require days of recovery 344 495 534 537.

Paper Effigies, Talismans, and Feng Shui

• Paper Effigy Maker inheritance: The Spirit Effigy Sutra combines ritual arts with a cultivation method extending through Nether Communion and instructions for later bridge-building and gate-knocking 252.
• Talisman craftsmanship: Draws protective and offensive paper talismans and crafts century-old peachwood talismans for friends and family 81 254 535 620.
• Peachwood categories: Studies personal protection, home protection, demon suppression, evil repulsion, spirit calming, feng shui, and overcoming evil 535.
• Feng Shui analysis: Evaluates how formations are built, balanced, maintained, and adapted rather than merely knowing their listed effects 619.
• Ghost-Blinding Formation: Can impose rules affecting ghosts, but requires careful testing to prevent protective rules from becoming dangerous 619.
• Planning rather than mastery: Recognizes the Yin Blood Art’s potential for remote talisman control and the Spirit-Burning Formula’s practical uses, but their study is not presented as completed mastery 535.

Corpse-Sewing and Remote Guidance

• Restores Luo Yucheng’s face through unexplained methods that prompt Shi Manman to seek instruction 89.
• Teaches Corpse-Sewing Art, including blind stitching, inspection, and corrective procedures to prevent resentment from producing ghosts 213 217.
• Blood Pupil: Helps Shen Xi recognize unfamiliar dangers and can control her body in combat, giving her access to his experience 650 685.
• Limit: Remote control cannot guarantee mission success; a badly mishandled Blood Gate mission could still end in exhaustion and death 685.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Supernatural notebook — Central record, inventory, redemption interface, and source of statuses and inheritances 6 22 302.
• Seven-Star Peach Wood Sword — Self-crafted from century-old peachwood using exact measurements, a Big Dipper pattern, blood channels, and ritual pigments. A mummy’s black handprint severely damages one sword, prompting him to salvage and replace it 119 213.
• Peachwood talismans — Passive safeguards distributed to people close to him. Early examples block one attack and then break; later inheritance offers more specialized and durable designs 31 189 535 620.
• Paper talismans and Jiangzhen Incense — Portable resources for spirit suppression, yin dispelling, evil breaking, and ritual work 23 81 133 254.
• Combined Soul-Calming Wood — Three interlocking cypress boards inscribed with the Soul-Calming Scripture. The field requires their original arrangement; deployment is slower and cinnabar joints need maintenance 214 215.
• Three-Tail / Ghost Scorpion — Cultivated creature directed through mental or spoken commands. Yin energy supports growth, his blood strengthens the bond, and selected scorpions improve its potential 213 215 252.
• Scorpion Corpse — Mummy controlled indirectly through Three-Tail; inherits some of the scorpion’s concealment and venom abilities 252.
• Centennial Heavenly Heart Fire — Gift from Xiao Bai that significantly improves his options against powerful enemies 252.
• Five Prisons Common-Faced God Shrine — Developed for remote influence and control; also considered as a possible means of investigating the Blood Gate 426 669.
• Kong Xunzhen’s effigy case — Stores yin energy and carries an armored close-combat effigy and a swimming turtle effigy. A full charge allows two deployments and two returns 425.
• Ghost Cubes, Support Spray, and Administration equipment — Obtained through trading and institutional access 216 492.
• Mortal Notes — His guide to past supernatural incidents and basic yin cultivation, given to Shi Manman as part of her preparation 274.
• Junior Banner Order — Received upon registering his promotion and joining the Indigo Cavalry 805.

Relationships

• Shi Manman — Disciple. Trains her in corpse-sewing and yin cultivation, equips her for emergencies, and retaliates against those responsible for her abduction 89 217 274 526.
• Zhong Cai — Friend and early cultivation mentor. Explains aperture risks and methods, gives him the Heavenly Heart Yang-Locking Art, and receives century-old peachwood in return 169 170.
• Xiao Bai — Close companion whom he treats with protective, uncle-like affection. Xiao Bai supplies talisman instructions and heavenly heart fire; Chen gives him ninety-nine soul-crystal fragments to complete the crystal needed to awaken Zhong Cai 250 252 470.
• Elder Uncle — Concerned family elder. Encourages family connections, worries over Chen’s disappearances, and helps maintain the funeral home during his absence 175 250 539.
• Xiang Shang — Childhood friend and later student. Their teasing relationship becomes intertwined with talisman practice and cultivation instruction 23 24 217 253 621.
• Zhao Gongzi — College friend. Receives protective talismans, helps with practical crafting matters, and quietly cares for Chen when he falls asleep from exhaustion 203 210 495.
• Li Fu — Martial instructor. Teaches Ironblood Eight Extremes for self-defense, warns against abusing violence, and admires Chen’s rapid improvement 215 216 217.
• Kong Xunzhen — Mortal World master. Protects Chen at the Paper Effigy Shop and provides tailored effigies. Their relationship begins with considerable caution; Chen later saves him and reveals his connection to the former apprentice Chen Bai 374 381 405 425 833.
• Ge Feng — Friendly fellow apprentice. Shares information and asks Chen to investigate Blind Wang; their easy relationship becomes more guarded as Chen’s standing changes 314 374 375.
• Chen Liu — Younger brother of the Chen Bai identity. Remembers his brother affectionately and interprets his former harshness as sacrifice for their family 298.
• Lei Zhan — Administration ally. Helps him obtain Temporary Consultant status, supports him during the Feng Ping incident, and offers institutional advice and future assistance 344 526 536 537.
• Zhang Huan — Investigator and mission leader. Tests Chen’s explanations, recognizes his investigative value, and brings him into the Island Nation operation 531 534 539 581.
• Qi Ning — Operational contact and trading intermediary. Helps arrange rewards and exchanges for supernatural equipment 173 216.
• Old Ghost — Coercive Curse Cult contact who later remains a source of cultivation knowledge. Chen restrains his soul with Ice Prison to prevent spying through Scorpion Corpse 231 243 278.
• Yang Jiuhua — Friend and talisman-sales intermediary. His audience supplies customers and potential supernatural cases; later joins Chen’s cultivation-training group 222 254 621.
• Xie Songde — Grateful client and practical supporter. Connects Chen to suppliers, construction crews, and people needing supernatural assistance 130 381 630.
• Kong Yue — Bureau squad leader under the Chen Yang identity. Supports his promotion and offers family assistance, but is disappointed when he leaves her squad for the Indigo Cavalry 739 757 805.
• Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi — Indigo Cavalry subordinates. Initially question his methods, then gain hope and respect after witnessing his swift success against hidden cultivators 806 807 808.
• Shen Xi — Blood Gate participant whom he assists remotely. Her mission reveals connections between the Blood Gate World and the Mortal World 650 669 685.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Funeral-Home Encounters and Zhong Fa

• Resolves Old Wang’s resentment and discovers that funeral work can lead to genuine supernatural consequences and rewards 6 9.
• Prepares his own peachwood weapons while investigating the attacks involving the twins and Zhong Fa’s shop, “Sever Yin and Yang” 22 23 24.
• Zhong Fa’s attempt to use a twin’s corpse and Heart-Linked Talisman fails because Chen has advance warning from the notebook 512.
• His successful detection of Zhong Fa’s plans leads Chen Guokun to seek his assistance locating a hidden threat in Longtang Town 52.

Wind Gate Village and Formal Cultivation

• Combines multiple modest arts to defeat an unfinished Flying Jiangshi, convincing him that versatility may suit him better than narrow specialization 155 167.
• Acquires body-refining, corpse-refining, soul-summoning, and Feng Shui techniques from the incident 165 167.
• Seeks Zhong Cai’s guidance before using Yin Absorption to cultivate, then discovers his unusual access to all nine apertures 169 170 172.
• Rejects an invitation to become an official Investigator, preferring independence and concrete rewards 173.

Curse Cult and Elder Bamboo’s Ritual

• Is drawn into a gathering intended to attack the Shannan Administration and rescue a Six Livestock practitioner 231.
• Studies Elder Bamboo’s reincarnation ritual and plans to free Zhong Cai so the Administration can enter the site and disrupt it 239 243.
• Returns to Tianmen Funeral Home after eighteen days away. Xiao Bai leaves to refine Zhong Cai’s corpse and gives Chen the promised talisman instructions 250.
• Gains the Spirit Effigy Sutra, Scorpion Corpse, and Centennial Heavenly Heart Fire, substantially expanding his cultivation and combat options 252.

Chen Bai and Kong’s Paper Effigy Shop

• Learns the disturbing circumstances behind Chen Bai’s entry into the shop and investigates his adopted identity’s family history 296 297 298.
• Navigates shop rules, competition, and Kong Xunzhen’s assessment while keeping his real abilities concealed 314 374 381.
• Receives tailored effigies and attends the Flying Corpse Lin Family ceremony, where Kong’s protection prevents the extraction of his vital blood and yin energy 425 452.
• His Blood-Haired Fiend identity later becomes a subject of Kong family discussion 462.

Shi Manman’s Abduction and Administration Inquiry

• Investigates his disciple’s disappearance and pursues Curse Cult members after discovering evidence of an attack 512 519.
• Kills Feng Ping and accepts confinement while using her memories to uncover the concealed Curse Cult mark 526.
• Supplies investigators with a verifiable explanation of her independent skin sheath and leads connecting her to cult activity 531.
• Accepts an Island Nation mission rather than six months of restricted Administration service 534.

Island Nation Infiltration

• Enters Kyōraku University as Chen San Shui and uses student life and folklore research to investigate supernatural connections 539 540 548.
• Deliberately presents himself as a gifted Feng Shui trainee to attract the Mountain Physiognomy Organization’s attention 567 570.
• Allows Honda Taichi to brand him with the Nine Chrysanthemum Mark while concealing his resistance to interrogation and imposed obedience 572.
• Connects the marks’ distinctive yin signatures to a possible central controller and chooses to remain for the Administration’s expanded offensive 580.
• Uses Mimicry to infiltrate the Kiyotaki Tunnel nursing home under a captured member’s identity 581.

Tianmen County Protection Network

• Deepens his Feng Shui expertise and prepares county-level protection against worsening supernatural incidents 619 621.
• Offers relocation, talismans, and smaller formations for his trusted group’s families 621.
• Limits each new learner to one cultivation art and one mystic art, encouraging complementary specialties rather than attempting to handle every incident himself 621.
• Gathers a local cultivation group as the Three Pagoda Tree Yin-Cleansing Formation is completed 631.

Blood Gate Research and Netherworld Breakthrough

• Helps Shen Xi survive a Blood Gate mission and finds that its geography, ghost lore, and cultivation methods closely resemble the Mortal World 650 669.
• Survives Wan Chuan’s assassination attempt without injury, exposing how misleading his apparent cultivation level can be 637.
• Advances through the Heavenly Spirit Yin Aperture rather than waiting over five more years to perfect all nine apertures 672.
• Begins building the underworld bridge but has not yet knocked on its distant door 672.

Chen Yang and the Indigo Cavalry

• Adopts Chen Ergou’s background, earns Third Master Kong’s trust, and receives the name Chen Yang 730 731.
• Enters the Demon-Suppressing Bureau and works under Kong Yue before choosing promotion over a offered Ghost Aspect advancement opportunity 739 805.
• Joins the Indigo Cavalry for greater independence and access to missions beyond the city, where he intends to earn yin virtue 805.
• Leads Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi through five Grade-D assignments, rapidly killing three hidden Netherworld Realm cultivators before approaching Purple Mountain more cautiously 806 807 808.
• Later intervenes against the transformed Li Zhou, saving Kong Xunzhen and revealing that the white-furred Otherworldly Fiend is his former disciple 833.

Notable Quotes

“We’re not the same.”
— To Xiang Shang, when asked how he learned so many arts 621.

“I do, but I want them to join my father in the grave even more!”
— As Chen Yang, choosing immediate execution of his father’s killers over personally taking revenge 731.

“I've only just found a lead, and I'm already dreaming about things that are nowhere in sight.”
— Checking his excitement after discovering yin-energy signatures 543.