Lin Changheng

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Lin Changheng (林长珩)
Gender	Male
Alias(es)	Li Feiyu; Fang Yuan; Old Devil Fang; temporarily impersonates Blood Moon Cult disciple Li Hun 288 392 393 425.
Titles / Epithets	Ten Thousand Longevity, his chosen Daoist title; Pill Master Lin; Steady Pill Master; Peerless in Pill and Dao Arts 395 396 605.
Affiliation	Originally associated with the Xu Family; longtime Huang Household attendant; Great Shun Merchant Association attendant and patron; later an elder of the Luminous Jade Palace 43 421 523 571.
Occupation / Role	Cultivator, pill-refining grandmaster, artifact refiner, formation master, and geomancy master 571.
Cultivation	Third layer of Nascent Soul, the latest explicitly documented cultivation layer 604.
Spiritual Roots	Develops five-element spiritual roots; his fire root reaches the heavenly grade, and he also acquires a thunder spiritual root 294 484 519 529.
Age	Over 293 years old by Chapter 608 608.
Status	Alive; returns to the Song Region and sets out to retrieve Xu Hanji from an enemy-territory mission 629 631.

Power Progression

Cultivation, Body Tempering, and Spiritual Roots

“By” indicates that an attainment is documented retrospectively rather than that its breakthrough occurs in that chapter.

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Physical strength enhanced by Mighty Strength Otherworldly Art	139	Gains a thirty-percent strength increase and more efficient force application.
Evergreen Azurewood Body — third-layer peak	144	Uses second-tier dragonwood and first-tier Dewpine Spirit Liquid. With additional arts, his physical strength rivals a second-tier demon beast.
Qi Refining — ninth layer, approaching its peak	144	More than sixty percent of his dantian’s magical power has been purified toward Foundation Establishment requirements.
Mighty Strength Otherworldly Art — Clarity	153	Stacking the art brings his total strength enhancement to nearly double and improves precise control over that strength.
Foundation Establishment — early stage	157 292	Gaseous magical power becomes liquid and several times more potent. He later states that he established his foundation at age sixty.
Evergreen Azurewood Body — fifth level; mid-second-tier body tempering	178	Breaks through after two months of intensive cultivation; azure, tree-ring-like patterns appear on his bones.
Foundation Establishment — third layer	186	Eight years of accumulation culminate in a breakthrough and roughly thirty percent more magical power.
Foundation Establishment — middle stage	221	Uses Ice Pool Jade Spring and Azure Spirit Milk. Magical power becomes denser, and spiritual sense expands substantially.
Body tempering — late second tier, documented by this point	232	Combined with his magical cultivation and other arts, makes ordinary middle-stage Foundation Establishment opponents relatively unthreatening.
Foundation Establishment — fifth layer	261	Breaks through using prepared elixirs and two mid-grade spirit stones.
Foundation Establishment — sixth layer	292	Advances after two years; magical power increases by nearly thirty percent. His high-grade spiritual root improves cultivation efficiency.
Body tempering — second-tier peak; Foundation Establishment sixth layer — perfected	308	Completes another year of cultivation before seeking late-stage resources and a further body-tempering method.
Foundation Establishment — late stage; body tempering — early third tier, documented by this point	325	Reviews these attainments alongside his acquisition of Heaven-in-a-Pot and Core Formation ingredients.
Foundation Establishment — eighth layer, documented before his next breakthrough	352	This is his starting layer before secluded cultivation with Red Transparent Crystals.
Foundation Establishment — ninth layer	352	Nine months of crystal-assisted cultivation produce the breakthrough; another month exhausts the remaining fragments.
Fire-attribute earth spiritual root	364	Mystic Fire Rhinoceros Spirit Seizure sharply improves fire affinity, perception, and cultivation efficiency.
Core Formation — golden core, documented by this point	377	Gains Natal Pill Flame, completes his natal treasure sword, and measures a nineteen-li divine-sense range.
Core Formation — second layer	390 392	Advances while transitioning to the ancient Five-Qi Turtle Scripture of Returning to the Origin.
Core Formation — middle stage	435 445	Keeps the advancement secret because its speed could expose the quality of his golden core.
Thunder spiritual root; another cultivation-layer advance	484	Has acquired the root and two lightning techniques. The passage does not specify the newly reached cultivation layer.
Core Formation — late stage, confirmed by this point	510	Confirms the realm to Su Shuangjiang; his divine sense reaches sixty-five li.
Fire spiritual root — heavenly grade	519 529	His first heavenly spiritual root is documented; his later assessment identifies fire as his highest-grade root.
Nascent Soul — newly formed, documented by this point	570	Reports defeating veteran Ji Shan Devil Lord soon after forming his Nascent Soul, forcing the opponent’s Nascent Soul to flee.
Nascent Soul — second layer	579	Advances after an eight-year retreat, consuming substantial five-element resources.
Nascent Soul — third layer	604	Advances after nearly twenty years of seclusion, supported by spirit-plant harvests and extensive resources.
Body tempering — early fourth tier, in progress	604	Resumes the Sunken Earth and Wu-Earth Mountain-Transforming Body-Forging Scripture; mountain-vein patterns cover only about a tenth of the required area.

Craft and Technique Milestones

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Pill Dao — recognized ranked practitioner	43	Defeats Pill Master Lü and wins a middle-grade inheritance after twelve years tending alchemical fires.
Pill refining — second-tier work, documented by this point	153	Refines second-tier elixirs for six additional Foundation Establishment cultivators and deliberately builds his professional reputation.
Jade Void Radiant Scripture — Minor Attainment	186	Improves the method’s strength, intensity, and efficiency despite its considerable difficulty.
Qi-Reading Technique — Minor Attainment	241	Reaches this level in less than a day through fivefold enhanced comprehension.
Formation Dao — superior-grade first tier	246	Completes the breakthrough during a year of secluded study.
Illusion Otherworldly Art — Transcendent Mastery	265	Completes Spirit Seizure with Azure Rain Mist Toad blood; further transformation requires Nether Void-level blood.
Formation Dao — lower-grade second tier	292	Advances after closely observing Formation Master Wang’s installation work and reproducing its principles in private.
Qi Observation — Mastery	308	Develops a new framework combining four perception arts.
Pill refining — upper-grade second-tier production	310	Can produce one premium pill in a batch of ten upper-grade second-tier elixirs.
Light-Splitting, Shadow-Transforming Sword Manual — first layer	327	Successfully shapes sword qi into a fine Sword Ray.
Pill Dao — third tier, documented by this point	371	His achievement attracts visiting cultivators and spreads his reputation across neighboring territories.
Light-Splitting, Shadow-Transforming Sword Manual — seventh layer	381	Can make one sword-light image real; a second bonded sword increases his simultaneous genuine and deceptive attacks.
Five-Qi Turtle Scripture of Returning to the Origin — third layer	391	Completes the transition, purifying and balancing his five-element magical power. This is the method’s layer, not his cultivation-realm layer.
Artifact refining — superior-grade first tier	400	Advances from novice to crafting Fine Magic Artifacts in a few years.
Light-Splitting, Shadow-Transforming Sword Manual — eighth layer	404	His Origin Sword produces three true bodies, six true sword-light images, and three weak illusions.
Artifact refining — second tier	407	Breaks through while studying two upper-grade second-tier refining legacies.
Formation Dao — upper-grade second tier; Sword Manual — ninth-layer foundation	414	Formation advancement comes during an eleven-year retreat; both disciplines support his sword-formation studies.
Cloudsea Sun-Piercing Sword Formation — first level	415	Uses four swords and their projections to develop a sixteen-sword technique for defense, confinement, and concentrated attack.
Pill Dao — third-tier mid-grade	445	Conceals the advancement rather than immediately publicizing it.
Pill refining — fine-quality third-tier superior-grade; formations and artifact refining — third-tier low-grade	517	Artifact refining completes his attainment of three third-tier crafts.
Pill Dao — fourth-tier low-grade, documented by this point	571	Retains this level while improving his other disciplines during ten years of seclusion.
Artifact refining and formations — third-tier mid-grade; geomancy — third-tier low-grade	571	Sword reforging advances artifact refinement; Dual-Purpose Mind supports geomancy study.
Great Simplicity Soul-Settling Scripture — fifth layer	608	Soul-defense thickness doubles from eight to sixteen fen, with denser internal supporting structures.

Background / History

Lin Changheng retains memories of a previous life in which he received scientific research training. That background shapes his habit of testing mechanisms, revising techniques, and seeking useful combinations rather than accepting established arts unchanged 43 275.

His early work centers on alchemy. He is already a skilled apprentice in the earliest supplied passage, and later accounts describe him as having spent twelve years tending alchemical fires before entering the ranks of pill masters. His victory over Pill Master Lü gives him a valuable inheritance, but also the unwanted attention he spends much of his early career avoiding 3 43.

Although he begins with limited aptitude, he steadily improves his spiritual roots, physique, and technical understanding. Pill-making supplies income and connections, while essence-blood collection provides the resources for his beast-derived powers 67 144 364.

Appearance

• Youthful appearance: Conceals the real sources of his youthful looks and exceptional lifespan when meeting Puppet Master Yan’s household 144.
• Eyes: Described as clear black eyes during secluded cultivation 579.
• Clothing: Frequently appears in green robes; also adopts mystic-black robes when traveling under an altered identity 419 420.
• Body-tempering marks: Develops azure, tree-ring-like bone patterns through the Evergreen Azurewood Body and later mountain-vein patterns beneath his skin 178 604.
• Mutable appearance and presence: Changes his face, physique, aura, and apparent cultivation to separate his public life from covert activities 332 407 420.

Personality

Lin’s caution is practical rather than passive. He checks unfamiliar rooms for concealed threats and escape routes, shields himself before danger becomes obvious, and prefers prepared ambushes to fair duels. He also tests new powers carefully, distinguishing proven results from attractive but unverified possibilities 139 448 616.

He values freedom more than prestige. He repeatedly refuses recruitment and rejects Azure Mist Rogue Person’s offer of marriage, the Immortal City, and its cultivation grounds because he does not want the accompanying relationship or responsibility. Even after his fame becomes useful, he resists being turned into a standard-bearer for conflicts he has not chosen 395 571.

His generosity has boundaries. He rewards reliable service, protects old allies, and helps his companions advance, but refuses requests that would jeopardize his own Dao path or turn shallow business dealings into open-ended obligations. He likewise avoids involving friends too deeply in his political negotiations 67 357 417.

Lin is ruthless toward enemies without treating every life as expendable. He spares uninvolved witnesses, refuses to slaughter innocents to strengthen his Soul Banner, and will not feed humans to his corpse puppets. His refusal to exploit Huang Lingsu’s illness for blood illustrates the same boundary outside combat 333 393 468 604.

His pursuit of longevity does not erase affection or grief. He honors Xu Fugui and other deceased friends, personally buries Xiao Bai, and continues seeking ways to extend his companions’ lives 400 456.

Abilities & Skills

Origin Cauldron and Spirit Seizure

• Uses essence blood to obtain and develop treasure seeds carrying demon-beast gifts, otherworldly arts, demonic arts, and divine-ability potential 265 326 391.
• Improves spiritual aptitude alongside particular abilities, including his fire and wood roots 364 404 510.
• Higher transformations require rarer blood grades; insufficient Nether Void-level supplies repeatedly limit progress 265 310 509.
• His Origin treasure seed progresses from 547/1,000 to 838/1,000 Spirit Seizure accumulation 408 571.

Five-Element Cultivation

• The Five-Qi Turtle Scripture of Returning to the Origin gives him purer, mutually supporting elemental magical power 391.
• Combines human cultivation principles with beast-derived control gifts; Water Control lets him stabilize a fire–earth–water construct 391.
• Adding metal to that construct initially fails because he lacks a corresponding metal-control ability 391.
• The system provides unusually substantial magical power but consumes enormous quantities of five-element materials 579.

Fire Arts and Flame Fusion

• Wields Dark Radiance Mystic Flame, Nether Abyss Icefire, and Natal Pill Flame; the earlier Redcloud Mystic Flame also purifies his magical power 139 352 377.
• Uses the Mystic Fire Furnace Art to balance and fuse otherwise difficult flame combinations 364 377 418.
• Produces compressed Three-Colored Radiant Flame Blades and the explosive Threefold Treasure Flame Pearl 398 418.
• The pearl’s initial compression is only about sixty percent stable, but its test blast devastates an isolated lake and woodland 418.
• Uses opposing flames with precise control to destroy Su Shuangjiang’s internal demonic restriction without ruining her weakened foundations 377.

Body Tempering and Mountain-Bearing Strength

• Cultivates the Evergreen Azurewood Body, later the Crimson Emperor Fire Sovereign Body, and eventually a fourth-tier earth-based body-forging scripture 178 409 604.
• The Mountain-Bearing Divine Ability links strength-oriented arts, including Limb Hardening, Gold Devouring, and Golden Skin 474.
• Kills a late-stage Foundation Establishment opponent with one punch after the enemy commits to close combat 256.
• Strikes away and severely damages Teng Changfeng’s Prison-Suppressing Peak Embryo 318.
• Completed Golden Skin Demonic Art withstands unempowered strikes from his own bonded swords; an empowered strike leaves only a shallow, rapidly healing wound 510.
• Fourth-tier training remains painful and time-consuming, competing with magical cultivation for his attention 604.

Swordsmanship and Sword Formations

• His bonded Myriad Manifestations Origin Swords have Primordial Jianmu at their foundation, allowing them to incorporate and transform energies rather than merely serve as sharp weapons 310 381.
• The Light-Splitting, Shadow-Transforming Sword Manual turns deceptive sword-light images into genuine attacks as he advances 381 404.
• The Cloudsea Sun-Piercing Sword Formation can defend, confine enemies, and concentrate multiple swords into a powerful assault 415.
• The formation requires time to establish; restraint treasures and other techniques help him create that opening 417.
• Eventually reforges five life-bound swords with fourth-tier materials, emphasizing sharpness and offensive power 571.

Perception and Illusions

• Combines Qi Observation, other perception arts, divine sense, and Wind-Sensing Spirit Discernment to examine surroundings and detect danger 265 303 308.
• Incorporates Blue-Eyed Insight into Five-Colored Divine Light, revealing spiritual energy, qi, airflow, formations, hidden traces, and ordinary illusions 391.
• His Illusion Otherworldly Art improves both illusion creation and resistance to illusions 265.
• Later uses Seven-Colored Divine Light to monitor and adjust complex technique adaptations 608.

Documented divine-sense range	Chapter
Nearly nine li	357
Nineteen li after golden-core formation	377
More than twenty li	391
Sixty-five li at late Core Formation	510

Escape, Concealment, and Mist

• Fire Escape: Initially travels roughly ten zhang between flames at substantial magical-power cost; its transformed demonic version enables near-instant flashes and misleading afterimages 326 357.
• Extended Fire Escape: Sends compressed flame ahead to chain movement across several miles 357.
• Wood Escape: Blends into vegetation, passes through plants and wooden objects, and conceals his aura 404.
• Other escape methods: Uses Earth Escape, Wind Escape, Blood-Shadow Escape, Nether Shadow Void-Escaping Art, and thunder-based movement 303 403 445 484.
• Mist-Scattering Divine Ability: Supports concealment, divine-sense suppression, and environmental control 474.
• Multiple escape options let him retreat from threats his combat strength cannot safely overcome, including a Turbid Core ape and a mature Wood-Armored Dragon Lizard 327 403.

Candle Gaze

• Erases faint heavenly-secret traces left around a battlefield, reducing the risk of supernatural investigation tracing a killing to him 468.
• Supplements the technique with ordinary precautions, including evidence disposal and a deliberately conspicuous alibi 468.

Soul Arts and Spiritual Defense

• Soul search: Extracts enemy memories for intelligence, though damaged or incomplete memories can leave important gaps 197 248.
• Spirit-Sealing Life Spring: Preserves strands of soul and true spirit from Tantai Feiyue, Xu Hanji, and Yan Mingyi as protection against unforeseen disasters 516.
• Soulweaving Demon Butterfly blood raises the Life Spring’s capacity to ten slots 510.
• Great Simplicity Soul-Settling Scripture: Builds a dense soul-force defensive barrier 571 608.
• Wind God Thorn: Combines middle-stage Nascent Soul-level divine sense with Northwind’s Ten Thousand Cries; he deliberately avoids testing it against his own strongest soul defense 608.

Divine Blood Curse Seal

• After transformation with Red-Eyed Fire Ogre blood, the seal can be formed and released almost instantly 294.
• Can control up to six people and track those still connected to a seal 294.
• Uses controlled cultivators as hidden sources of high-level information across hostile factions 485.

Glorious Life and Heaven-in-a-Pot

• Glorious Life accelerates plant maturation and revives damaged or dead valuable plants 144 377.
• After Core Formation, revives third-tier treasure plants without a lifespan cost 377.
• Revives a fourth-tier desire-cleansing demon vine root at the cost of four years of lifespan 441.
• When activated with a first-tier Lifespan-Extending Pill, increases the gain from the standard five years to seven years 415.
• Heaven-in-a-Pot provides a personal blessed land for spirit plants, beasts, and stored resources 364 377.
• Geomantic improvements, spirit soil, spirit veins, and defeated cultivators’ remains enrich the land; by Chapter 604 it contains twenty-four spirit veins 326 579 604.

Command Thunder and Absorb Lightning

• Absorbs natural lightning into a dantian Thunder Nest, which converts it into stored lightning plasma 616.
• Can release the entire accumulated store in one attack; lightning is especially effective against ghosts and evil arts 616.
• Absorption takes time, has a per-strike limit, and is constrained by storage capacity 616.
• Its possible usefulness against heavenly tribulation remains a hypothesis, not a demonstrated result 616.

Pill Dao and Other Crafts

• Develops substitute ingredients for incomplete formulas, including the Spirit-Communing Pill, and helps complete an ancient formula for Sun Jingshan’s lineage 197 223 395.
• Refines premium pills, teaches other pill masters, and organizes crowdfunded batches with Bai Hengwan 248 404 415 418.
• Studies contrasting regional Pill Dao traditions for useful techniques and recipes rather than abandoning his established fire-method foundation 468 529.
• Uses artifact refining, formations, and geomancy to improve weapons, defensive sites, spiritual terrain, and his blessed land 407 571 579.
• Creates attendant puppets and strengthens corpse puppets, while refusing human feeding as a means of advancement 604.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Myriad Manifestations Origin Swords — Life-bound Jianmu-based swords; his principal sword weapons and the foundation of his sword formations 381 571.
• River-Calming Pearl — Ancient-treasure replica used for attack and suppression; commissioned under a Dao Oath and Tracking Mark to protect its secrets 407 409 431.
• Spirit-Binding Mirror — Ancient mirror used to slow hostile weapons and impede escape 381 417.
• Light-Settling Pearl — Slows, immobilizes, and weakens spells and magical artifacts 318.
• Black Seal Platform — Heavy offensive artifact strengthened through Mountain-Bearing power 248 318.
• Black Soul Banner — Captures slain enemies’ souls; by Chapter 468 it holds eight Core Formation souls, four beginning to become ghost kings 393 468.
• Bone Chain — Restraint treasure used in coordinated attacks and to prevent escape 393 403.
• Mixed Sand Bell — Interferes with senses and artifacts, complementing his mist techniques 425 431.
• Nine-Python Flame-Swallowing Furnace — Purchased for 6,300 spirit stones when his older furnace becomes unsafe for powerful second-tier medicines 178.
• Fourth-tier True Flood Dragon Armor — Forged by Old Ghost Jinlian; easily absorbs a test comparable to a late Core Formation cultivator’s full-force attack 513.
• Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse — Recovered unfinished demonic weapon, entrusted to Yan Mingyi rather than created through cruel rites; later completed 381 441.
• Supreme Yin Soul-Nourishing Wood — One of the Seven Divine Woods, given by Cook Zeng after his rescue 398.
• Minor Teleportation Talisman — Won by defeating True Person Huanshu 513.
• Restricted jade box from Azure Mist Rogue Person — Protected by third-tier superior-grade seals that Lin initially cannot open 445.

Relationships

Companions and Household

• Tantai Feiyue — Dao companion and accomplished talisman master. Lin treats her pill toxins, seeks longevity safeguards for her, and preserves part of her soul and true spirit 400 516 441.
• Xu Hanji — Dao companion and Xu Family leader. She refuses to exploit their bond for family advantage; Lin later personally sets out to retrieve her from a dangerous battlefield mission 441 631.
• Yan Mingyi — Dao companion, puppet master, and corpse-puppetry specialist. Their relationship begins through her grandfather’s hospitality; she later completes Lin’s Hundred-Grievance Blood Corpse 144 381 441.
• Su Shuangjiang — Trusted intelligence-gatherer and increasingly intimate companion. Lin removes her demonic restriction and treats her vulnerable Luan Song Body with restraint 377 381 511.
• Little Qing — Cherished spirit beast and combat ally, eventually a fourth-tier transforming Demon King. Lin supports her core purification and advancement and leaves her to guard the Xu Family 579 604 631.
• Xiao Hei — Spirit beast associated with the Black-Armored Earth Turtle. Lin supplies growth resources and supports its cultivation and bloodline improvement 144 468 579 604.
• Xiao Bai — Longtime spirit beast that retires with Yan Mingyi and later dies peacefully; Lin personally buries it 381 456.
• Truefire Flood Dragon / Old Jiao — Powerful, calculating ally bound to Lin by shared interests. Lin helps plan its recovery and is openly pleased when its revival begins succeeding 516 604 624.

Friends, Mentors, and Allies

• Xu Fugui — Loyal early friend who helps conceal Lin’s achievements and offers assistance with difficult requests. Lin later honors his grave with wine 43 67 400.
• Mo Zhaoli — Trusted friend, resource intermediary, and political backer. Supplies cultivation insights and helps protect him from attacks on sect-leased land 139 186 248.
• Deng Changsheng — Subordinate and essence-blood procurer. Lin expects self-reliance, rewards dependable service, and respects that Deng may keep private encounters to himself 186 210 223.
• Cook Zeng — Old ally and the main bridge to the Huang Household. Lin rescues him from imprisonment; Zeng repays him with divine wood and continued blood collection 294 398 418.
• Huang Lingsu — Treatment beneficiary and later ally. Lin finds a way to balance her Dragon Roar Body, negotiates cooperative repayment, and rescues her alongside Zeng 332 398.
• Bai Hengwan — Close friend, collaborator, and resource-network partner. Creates his Li Feiyu identity and works with him on pill ventures; Lin supports her city leadership but refuses an arranged marriage 288 395 418 445.
• Azure Mist Rogue Person — Powerful benefactor who recognizes Lin’s golden core, gives him rare materials, and arranges a staged public Core Formation announcement despite Lin rejecting his marriage proposal 395.
• Elder Kong — Pill Dao mentor whose teaching helps Lin approach third-tier proficiency 265 357.
• Zhu Fugui — Old merchant acquaintance and later loyal agent. Helps secure blood, refining legacies, and commissions; Lin eventually directs him to gain control within the Flowing Stone Merchant Guild 310 407 456.
• True Person Dong and Dong Lide — Great Shun’s leadership, dependent on Lin’s patronage. Gather cultivation resources and carry out his commercial strategy 391 510 511.
• Daoist True Heart and Boy Zhengwang — Azure Rosy Clouds Temple allies who exchange resources and support with Lin. True Heart later chooses friendship over mission restrictions to guide him toward Xu Hanji 404 408 631.
• Purple Thunder True Person — Friendly, perceptive fellow cultivator who recognizes Lin’s concealed strength and invites him into a secret-realm alliance 408 468.
• Palace Master Feili — Luminous Jade Palace adviser who admires his potential and provides information about methods, opportunities, and battle-merit rewards 570 616.

Adversaries

• Senior Sister Yang and True Disciple Wu — Sources of unresolved distrust. Yang admits leaking his information; Lin remains suspicious about a curse attack and resents Wu’s coercive handling of her apology 396 415 445.
• Daoist Mo Gu — Attempts to rob Lin with two Core Formation allies; Lin kills all three 393.
• True Person Lieshan — Imprisons Zeng and Lingsu over a rare treasure. Lin first defeats him in a contracted duel, then later kills the demonically altered cultivator to protect his associates from implication 398 523.
• Medicine King Valley and the Hehuan Sect — Hostile factions implicated in plots against him; Lin uses outward courtesy, infiltration, and hidden agents while preparing retaliation 469 485.
• True Lord Youtan and Jingyuan Daoist — Nascent Soul-level enemies associated with his flight from Yan and the suspected ambush at the ancient teleportation formation 523 629.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Rise within the Xu Family

Lin’s defeat of Pill Master Lü establishes his promise but threatens his preferred anonymity. With Xu Fugui’s help, he circulates exaggerated versions of the contest that shift attention away from him. He later works with Xu Xuzhong to secure Liu Family essence blood without appearing disloyal to the Xu Family 43 67.

Floating Life Immortal City and Foundation Establishment

After leaving the Purple Pole Sect, Lin travels south and survives a frontier ambush through advance shielding and a Sinking Sand Bag counterattack. In Floating Life Immortal City, patient cultivation, spirit-plant work, and professional relationships support his Foundation Establishment and body-tempering progress 139 144 157.

His increasing Pill Dao reputation brings both opportunities and danger. He helps develop the Spirit-Communing Pill, defends himself against assassins, and obtains the Li Feiyu identity to act without exposing his established household and connections 223 248 288.

Secret Resources and Golden-Core Formation

Lin gathers Core Formation ingredients, acquires Heaven-in-a-Pot, and develops his sword embryo and escape arts. His killing of Heavenly Gang Sword Sect cultivators yields suspicious cultivation crystals and raises concerns about the Jade Void Radiant Scripture. After forming a golden core, he completes his natal sword and gains Natal Pill Flame 325 352 377.

He separates the public Pill Master Lin from the feared Fang Yuan identity. Azure Mist later stages a supposed Core Formation breakthrough for his public persona, while Lin declines marriage, city authority, and sect recruitment 393 395 396.

Patron of Families and Merchant Networks

Lin rescues Cook Zeng and Huang Lingsu, strengthens the Xu Family, and supports its expansion without exterminating defeated rivals. He also turns Great Shun into a resource network, eventually defeating Huanshu and securing the surrender and absorption of Nine Seas 398 400 513 514.

Regional war makes those connections increasingly precarious. Before departing Song, he preserves his three Dao companions’ soul fragments and spends years building favors intended to protect the Xu Family during his absence 516 517 631.

Nascent Soul and the Luminous Jade Palace

As a newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator, Lin defeats veteran Ji Shan Devil Lord before completing the usual transition to higher-realm weapons and methods. He later improves his swords and crafts through a decade of seclusion, serves as a Luminous Jade Palace elder, and advances to the second and third Nascent Soul layers 570 571 579 604.

His victories and alchemy make him a major Inner Sea figure, but also a target of demon and demonic factions. He continues gathering resources and testing abilities while resisting public expectations that he lead their struggle 571 616 629.

Return to Song and the Xu Family Crisis

Lin repairs an ancient teleportation formation and returns to the Eight Kingdoms, surviving and dismantling a fourth-tier killing formation at the destination. He discovers a changed political landscape and reunites with Tantai Feiyue and Yan Mingyi 629 631.

Learning that the Extreme South Palace has repeatedly burdened the Xu Family and that Xu Hanji is operating in enemy territory, he reveals that his strength far exceeds Core Formation. He leaves Little Qing as the family’s protector and departs with Daoist True Heart to find Hanji 631.

Notable Quotes

“Make as many friends as possible, and as few enemies as possible.” 66

“As for enemies he truly could not win over, he would spare no effort and kill them cleanly.” 66

“That was neither his nature nor in keeping with his Dao heart!” — His refusal to repay an enemy’s hostility with kindness 415.

Trivia

• Lin is sixty when he establishes his foundation and 109 when he reaches Foundation Establishment’s sixth layer 292.
• Li Feiyu has a deliberately constructed history: a destroyed lineage, years abroad, and an eventual return with Foundation Establishment cultivation 288.
• The terrifying Old Devil Fang reputation spreads partly because Lin lets two innocent witnesses survive and recount his destruction of three Core Formation attackers 393.
• Floating Life Immortal City markets his former residences as landmarks; Cui’er writes and circulates brief biographies of him 420.
• His Luminous Jade Palace residence reproduces the Xu Family’s old Blackwater River scenery from a jade-slip record he supplied 566.
• He declines a Core Formation ceremony, preferring to reserve a celebration for Nascent Soul 403.
• Ordinary Lifespan-Extending Pills do not stack: only the first pill taken has an effect. Lin studies them because Glorious Life offers a different route to additional longevity 408 415.