Hui Mian

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Hui Mian (灰勉) 79
Alias(es)	Great God Yunlai; Senior Hui; Senior Gray 120 425 438
Species/Race	Marten spirit; usually appears as a small gray or gray-and-white marten 169 734
Gender	Male 810
Affiliation	Qiankun Lineage; Demon-Subduing Palace; associated with the Manifest Holiness True Lord 343 445 552 575
Occupation/Role	Yi Shuyuan’s traveling companion and lineage guardian; deity worshipped as Yunlai in True Lord Temples 343 387 699
Origin	Phoenix Mountain, where he cultivated for over two hundred years before meeting Yi Shuyuan 79
Status	Alive; accompanies Yi Shuyuan during Zhuo Qing’s departure into reincarnation 890
First Appearance	Chapter 79 79

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Phoenix Mountain spirit and local deity	79	Has cultivated for over two hundred years and knows several divine arts. Villagers erected a statue of him, but Yi Shuyuan judges his cultivation shallow.
Foundation correction	93	Studies Qi Gathering and corrects faulty Fire Control under Yi’s guidance; successfully lights an oil lamp without a firelighter.
Retraining in the Immortal Dao	119 120	Describes himself as an immortal cultivator after dispersing centuries of divine-path and demonic cultivation to follow Yi.
Growing magical ability	124 147	Magical power advances readily, though transformation remains his major obstacle. Later collects morning light and radiant dew, with his abilities noted to have grown considerably.
Divine assistance from Yi Shuyuan	298	Yi touches his forehead with a sword gesture, leaving a fleeting golden-red gleam and addressing him as Great God Yunlai.
Half-stage divine manifestation	333	With Yi’s borrowed magic, his divine seat, and the name Yunlai, transforms his divine-sense body into a radiant deity through Concentrated Divine Manifestation.
Active cultivation of immortal and divine paths	335	Earlier cultivation flaws have gradually faded. Recognizes that borrowed divine power is not his own attainment and resolves to continue cultivating both paths.
Divine-spirit projection	387	Sends his divine spirit out of his marten body and manifests as Great God Yunlai. Growing incense power supports the manifestation, but his transformation remains incomplete.
Continued rapid cultivation	518	Discusses his advancing cultivation with Yi while exercising restraint to keep his Dao heart steady. No new named realm is specified.
Recovered Demon Body and combat transformation	810	Unleashes powerful demonic aura in a feline body, withstands a Sword Immortal’s attacks, and transforms Golden Bristle into a bead carrying sword intent. Yi confirms that much of his former cultivation has recovered.

Background / History

Phoenix Mountain and the immortal painting

Hui Mian gained spiritual awareness on Phoenix Mountain and found an orthodox immortal text, the Five Elements Wonder Art, buried in his cave. Calling it a “family heirloom,” he pursued its teachings while also experimenting with divine cultivation. Yi Shuyuan later identifies this divided approach—and Hui Mian’s neglect of his foundation as a demon cultivator—as the source of many mistakes 79 93.

He formerly held the identity of Great God Yunlai of Phoenix Mountain. The Mountain and River Immortal Furnace Diagram haunted his dreams for more than a century; his longing for it contributed to dishonest schemes, including impersonating the Dragon King and stealing food 79 120.

Yi Shuyuan defeats Hui Mian’s panicked attack but spares him, returns his roast chicken, and warns him against wrongdoing. When Hui Mian reveals his obsession with the painting, Yi promises to obtain it or bring him close enough to see it. Hui Mian asks to accompany him and is told to address him as “Sir” 79.

Life beside Yi Shuyuan

Hui Mian comes to regard Yi as family and entrusts him with the Five Elements Wonder Art. Their instruction is not entirely one-sided: Hui Mian’s understanding of Water Control also helps Yi deepen his own cultivation 93 106.

During Yi’s Beginning of Spring tribulation, Hui Mian is thrown into a valley and left unconscious. A local Land God protects him until Yi finds him and removes the lingering tribulation aura. Hui Mian sincerely thanks his rescuer, then resumes traveling with Yi 107.

He becomes an intermediary between Yi and the growing household of cultivators. He encourages Qi Zhongbin to seek discipleship, stores the immortal painting when Qi cannot understand it, and later delivers Yi’s parting instructions to Qi and Mo Shisheng 120 129.

Return as Great God Yunlai

Yi helps Hui Mian resume the identity of Yunlai through divine-sense projection and Concentrated Divine Manifestation. Shao Zhen subsequently paints Yunlai as a deity whose flowing robes and bearing resemble an immortal’s 333 336.

Statues of Yunlai spread through True Lord Temples, supplying incense and prayer power. Hui Mian takes on duties connected with the Demon-Subduing Palace, enlisting ghosts to help with ceremonial work while preserving his place beside Yi 387 445.

His desire for a personal treasure is finally answered when Yi gives him the Cloud Register Brush. Yi had explained that he could refine its physical form, but Hui Mian needed to refine its spirit through his own divine cultivation and the wishes of Yunlai’s worshippers 441 509.

Later journeys and interventions

Hui Mian increasingly acts independently on Yi’s behalf. He conceals a dragon scale’s trail and delivers it to the North Sea Dragon Palace, later attends Ya Ci’s Dragon-Transformation Ceremony, and corrects exaggerated rumors about Yi’s supposed Dragon-Transformation Pill 641 643 713.

Alongside Qi Zhongbin, he helps confront a predatory mage in the capital and takes an interest in Yan Shouyun’s potential. His later discussion of fate earns Qi’s respectful bow 756 767.

In Pingzhou, Hui Mian survives a Sword Immortal’s killing attacks and fights back with his recovered demonic power. He returns to Yi convinced that he has won; Yi praises his final transformation rather than dismissing the battle as mere bravado 810.

Appearance

• Usual form: A small, furry gray or gray-and-white marten, often riding on Yi Shuyuan’s shoulder or hiding inside someone’s collar 80 121 734.
• Divine form: A radiant deity manifested under the name Yunlai. Shao Zhen’s portrait depicts him in flowing robes with an immortal-like bearing 333 336.
• Feline appearance: Early cat disguises are transformations performed by Yi. In Pingzhou, Hui Mian appears as a black-and-white cat with vertical pupils and fights using a feline Demon Body 151 159 810.
• Concealed garment: His Rosy Cloud Feather Garment merges into his fur rather than remaining visible as clothing 206.

Personality

Hui Mian is quick-witted, mischievous, and outspoken. He enjoys food, play, flattering titles, and teasing his juniors. His boasts about Yunlai can exceed his actual attainment, but he eventually treats cultivation as a way to make those boasts true 120 204 528 810.

His early confidence masks considerable fear of dragons, heavenly gods, and powerful demons. He tries to pass as an ordinary animal at the Martial Arts Gathering and initially worries that Huan Yulang has come to capture him. Even much later, he knows when an opponent’s perception makes careless speech dangerous 80 91 121 506.

His attachment to Yi is grounded in the latter’s consistent kindness toward spirits. Hui Mian worries over Yi’s condition, guards him during cultivation, and quietly prepares dew and dried fruit for him. His teasing relationship with Stoneborn likewise includes practical care and protection 88 94 106 147 211 240.

With experience, his appetite for recognition becomes more measured. He still enjoys respectful greetings at the Dragon-Transformation Ceremony but no longer deliberately seeks them out. He also develops a serious understanding of cultivation, emphasizing reverence, effort, and the limits of borrowed power 335 713 767.

Abilities & Skills

Spiritual Intuition and Perception

• Detects spiritual danger and unusual presences, including the deity residing within a roadside bodhisattva statue 98 169.
• Perceives the unity of music and sword intent in Yi’s sword performance despite his comparatively low cultivation at the time 166.
• His divine sense and spiritual intuition allow him to evade a Sword Immortal’s concealed attack 810.
• Regards his intuition and eyes as lifelong safeguards that have repeatedly warned him of danger 876.

Five-Element Arts and Wind Control

• Possesses substantial insight into Water Control, sufficient to guide Yi’s studies; can travel into a lake with a trailing current 106 183.
• Uses Fire Control to light an oil lamp after correcting earlier errors 93.
• Collects morning light and radiant dew into a bowl 147.
• Flies through Wind Control and can arrive as a breeze before taking marten form 387 641 734.

Divine Manifestation and Incense Power

• Projects a divine spirit from his animal body and manifests as Great God Yunlai 387.
• Draws power from mortal prayers connected to Yunlai’s statues in True Lord Temples 387.
• Creates golden roads and keeps track of the ghosts traveling along them 335.
• Uses divine power to clear mist and help move a crowd, but requires Stoneborn’s wind-and-fire assistance because his incomplete Divine Dao cannot support too many mortal bodies at once 392.
• His first divine-sense excursion requires Yi’s support; the projected body cannot use ordinary spells or magical qi and moves by thought instead 333.

Concealment and Illusions

• Suppresses his aura so thoroughly that nearby cultivators overlook him 192 734.
• Uses an illusion technique with Stoneborn to observe a private meeting 370.
• Leaves Yi’s bookstall without a suspicious sword cultivator detecting his departure 812.
• His disguises are not always self-produced: Yi explicitly transforms him into other appearances during earlier travels 159.
• Wishes to imitate Mili convincingly, though he doubts his illusions can match the Faceless Ghost’s; Yi judges him close to that level 861.

Demon Body and Sword Intent

• Releases suppressed demonic aura powerful enough to alarm Yu Xinmei and Pingzhou’s local gods 810.
• Uses shifting feline shadows and claw attacks to slash a Sword Immortal’s magical garment 810.
• Transforms Golden Bristle into a bead and draws upon Yi’s sword technique to generate sword intent 810.
• The battle costs him part of a claw, and the Sword Immortal ultimately leaves without finding him; Hui Mian considers the encounter his victory 810.

Guidance and Representation

• Advises Qi Zhongbin on securing discipleship and Chen Han on confronting the scrutiny of city gods rather than continually hiding 120 293.
• Identifies promising cultivators, including Yan Shouyun, and seeks opportunities for their growth 767.
• Represents Yi before divine visitors and Dragonkind, while protecting sensitive knowledge about Yi’s transformations 121 229 343 713.
• Knows that the Demon-Subduing Palace holds records of an Untransformable Bone and proposes consulting them 552.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Five Elements Wonder Art — Orthodox immortal text found in his cave. Contains foundational teachings and an overview of controlling the five elements; later entrusted to Yi Shuyuan 93.
• Portrait of Great God Yunlai — Painted by Shao Zhen and returned to Hui Mian. He hopes to use it for brief manifestations before completing his transformation 336 346.
• Rosy Cloud Feather Garment — Gift from Yi, adapted to his animal form by merging it into his fur 206.
• Cloud Register Brush — Personal magical treasure refined partly from his fur. Hui Mian immediately rides it through the air upon receiving it 509.
• Golden brush — Used to write magical characters, including “Mist Conceals Its Trail,” whose strokes form golden chains around a dragon scale 641.
• Golden Bristle — Transformed into a bead during his fight with the Sword Immortal and used to produce sword intent 810.

Relationships

• Yi Shuyuan — Mentor, traveling companion, and family in Hui Mian’s eyes. Corrects his cultivation, supports his divine manifestation, and trusts him to test his recovered Demon Body 93 333 810.
• Manifest Holiness True Lord — Hui Mian’s divine patron and source of borrowed power during his early Yunlai manifestations. Hui Mian helps conceal the True Lord’s connection to Yi’s Heavenly God Transformation 335 343.
• Qi Zhongbin — Junior whom Hui Mian encourages to seek Yi’s instruction. Frequently travels with him, helps him confront dangerous sorcerers, and receives his respect as a senior adviser 120 535 756 767.
• Stoneborn / Mo Shisheng — Junior and frequent teasing rival. Hui Mian protects him during the furnace tribulation, shares food with him, and accompanies his flight home 211 240 262.
• Zhuo Qing — Close companion whose affection he accepts. Distressed by her decision to reincarnate without consultation, he nevertheless leaves to give her privacy with Yi 890.
• Chen Han — Offers cultivation guidance and urges her to face divine scrutiny openly while helping people 293.
• She Changlai — Friend whom Hui Mian guides through the Dragon-Transformation Ceremony and later wakes from a prolonged daze with his brush 713 734.
• Du Xiaolin — Calls him Senior Gray and offers him pastries. Hui Mian playfully refuses to confirm her suspicions about his divine identity 425 438.
• Yan Shouyun — Recognizes his aptitude and wants to give him a chance to progress beyond wandering sorcery 767.
• Valley Land God — Protects Hui Mian after Yi’s tribulation; Hui Mian thanks him sincerely upon recovering 107.

Notable Quotes

“As the saying goes, to seek immortal affinity, you must give something up to gain something. Understand?” 120

“Rather than fixed fate, though, it is better called the principle behind the Heavenly Dao's cycles. Put plainly, it comes down to reverence and the will to strive forward.” 767