Elder Sun

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Sun Shengcheng 139
Alias(es)	Elder Sun (孙长老)
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Dao Sect; Emerald Cloud Peak 139
Occupation/Role	Outer Sect elder; administrator of Emerald Cloud Peak during its peak master's absence; joint operator of Sun-Zheng Lending 14 70
Cultivation	Peak of the second layer of Foundation Establishment 140
Status	Dead; killed by Chen Yu with Poison No. 53. Initially reported within the sect as missing and presumed dead 144 146
First Appearance	First explicitly named in the supplied account during the registered-disciple assessment 11

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
First-layer Foundation Establishment peak	140	Reached a bottleneck forty years before his final confrontation with Chen Yu. His unsuccessful cultivation left him restless and nearly caused an inner demon.
Second-layer Foundation Establishment peak	140	After becoming an Outer Sect elder, gained access to spirit embryo essence as a reward for submitting spirit essence refined from indebted disciples. Improving his aptitude allowed him to overcome his earlier bottleneck.
Planned third-layer Foundation Establishment breakthrough	140 144	Believed one more absorption of spirit embryo essence would let him advance. Obtained the portion early from Elder Wu, but Chen Yu killed him before the breakthrough.

Background / History

Sun Shengcheng became Emerald Cloud Peak's Outer Sect elder after the previous elder unexpectedly died. Although the appointment offered no further advancement in office, it provided food, lodging, unrestricted access to the peak's cultivation manuals, and a means of obtaining spirit embryo essence to improve his mediocre aptitude 140.

By the end of his life, Sun claimed more than thirty years of service and nearly three thousand pieces of spirit essence submitted to the Inner Sect elders. These contributions came from refining disciples, including those unable to repay their debts 140.

During the peak master's absence, Sun handled new-disciple registration in Emerald Cloud Hall. Elder Li later described him as having enjoyed ten years of treatment comparable to a peak master's, contrasting Sun's freedom with his successor's subordinate position after the peak master's return 14 209.

Personality

Sun presents himself as calm and helpful when dealing with disciples he considers promising. He initially guides Chen Yu through admission, explains resource costs, and advertises his loan service. Once he discovers Chen's false spirit embryo, that warmth disappears: he dismisses Chen and abandons the remaining arrangements 14 16.

His treatment of disciples is openly transactional. He resents the death of a borrower who owed him spirit essence, steals mission rewards, and kills injured disciples rather than support their recovery. Even after recognizing Chen Yu's exceptional talent, he considers capturing him for a reward and extracting the secret of his disappearance technique 30 105 143.

Despite his experience and usually steady temperament, Sun becomes impatient when a breakthrough appears close. He dismisses signs of intrusion in his hut, assuming nobody would bother targeting a minor Outer Sect elder. During combat, humiliation repeatedly provokes him into anger and disrupts his composure 140 141 142.

Abilities & Skills

Spirit Essence Refinement

• Uses hand seals and true qi to envelop disciples and refine their bodies into spirit essence, leaving skeletal remains 33 104 137.
• Publicly refines a disciple who attempts to keep an Immortal Ruins treasure; the process takes less than three seconds 33.
• Applies the same technique to indebted disciples, unsuccessful mission teams, and severely wounded survivors 104 115 140.
• His attempt to refine Chen Yu is interrupted by an urgent summons from Elder Wu 137.

True Qi Control

• Restrains opponents with true qi and tightens the binding while interrogating them 141.
• Uses spiritual power to push reluctant disciples into the Immortal Ruins and immobilize a disciple attempting to evade inspection 30 33.
• Forms a sword of true qi during his confrontation with Chen Yu 142.
• His raw true qi is weaker than Chen Yu's, despite his higher cultivation layer; his combat expertise compensates for that disadvantage 141 143.

Martial Techniques

• Claims mastery of three mystic-grade martial skills and countless yellow-grade skills 139.
• Seamlessly combines movement techniques, swordplay, offensive martial skills, and sudden sword-qi bursts 143.
• Uses Fast-Slow Blade, an insidious technique whose shifting rhythm contributes to his unpredictable attacks 143.
• Forces Chen Yu onto the defensive through superior technique and experience, repeatedly making him retreat into the Immortal Ruins 143.
• A fully charged profound-rank martial skill dissipates after Sun inhales No. 49 Qi-Dissipating Powder 144.

Observation and Composure

• Accurately recounts each Emerald Cloud Peak disciple's treasures, number of ruin entries, and condition during Elder Wu's investigation 40.
• Recognizes the disguised Chen Yu through his voice and build 141.
• Deduces that Chen's disappearance method may require him to reappear in the same location and waits to intercept him 143.
• Uses the Heart-Calming Mantra to regain control after Chen provokes him 142.

Sun-Zheng Lending

Sun operates Sun-Zheng Lending jointly with Elder Zheng of Jade Yao Peak. The Scripture Repository guardian recommends it as comparatively good value, while noting that Chen Yu's false spirit embryo limits how much he can borrow 16 70.

Practice	Documented Details
Loan issuance	Transfers 300 Contribution Points directly into Chen Yu's token and records the transaction in a ledger 24.
Borrowing limits	Bases the limit on spiritual aptitude and the expected quality of spirit essence obtainable from the borrower. Chen Yu's limit is 300 points 114.
Early repayment	Demands a full year's interest on a loan repaid within its first year, making Chen's 300-point debt cost 330 points 114.
Payment restrictions	Requires the entire debt to be settled at once; refuses Chen's offer to pay the principal first and interest later 114.
Interest complaints	Drives away some petitioners seeking lower interest and refines others into spirit essence 115.
Tightened deadlines	Shortens the repayment deadline as part of increasingly harsh rules on Emerald Cloud Peak 136.
Refusal to accept repayment	Sends waiting borrowers away while preparing for seclusion, ordering them to return afterward 140.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Storage Ring — Contains roughly half the storage space of Chen Yu's ring. Its contents include three weapons and numerous pills 144.
• True Essence Pills — A bottle containing ten pills intended to assist Foundation Establishment cultivation 144.
• Other pills — Carries antidote pills, fasting pills, and Spirit-Calming Pills. Takes a Pain Relief Pill after being struck by a poisoned arrow 144 145.
• Spirit embryo essence — A blood-red substance obtained through contributions to the Inner Sect elders. Sun intends to use it to improve his aptitude and overcome his bottleneck 140.
• Green birchwood box — A hundred-year-old box in his legacy that preserves spiritual energy and contains the spirit embryo essence later absorbed by Chen Yu 146.
• Sect Master Chu projection talisman — Summons Chu's projection during a confrontation with Evergreen and Jade Void elders 104.
• Loan ledger — Records his lending transactions 24.

Relationships

• Chen Yu — Registers him as an Outer Sect disciple, becomes his creditor, and later attempts to refine him into spirit essence. Chen retaliates by assassinating him 14 24 137 144.
• Elder Wu — Superior who issues orders, questions Sun about the Immortal Ruins, and controls access to spirit embryo essence. Sun pays an additional fifty pieces of spirit essence to receive his next portion early 40 140.
• Elder Zheng — Joint operator of Sun-Zheng Lending 70.
• Peak Master Yuan — Sun handles registration duties in his absence 14.
• Ren Shaohua and Wu Wenjie — Returning mission participants whom Sun refines into spirit essence, citing Ren's damaged meridians and Wu's incurable poisoning 105.
• Lü Yanyan — A disciple subjected to his cultivation-inspection system. She survives her inspection but returns carrying Sun's summons for Chen Yu; later celebrates his disappearance 136 146.
• Elder Li — Successor in Emerald Cloud Peak's administration; demolishes Sun's thatched cottage and replaces it with a brick house 149 155.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Assessment and Outer Sect Admission

• Clarifies that reaching the third Qi Refining layer only grants registered disciples a chance to enter the Outer Sect, not automatic admission 11.
• Enforces an assessment in which registered disciples use wooden swords against armed Outer Sect opponents 11.
• Arranges Chen Yu's admission after Elder Wu delegates the task, then registers him on Emerald Cloud Peak 13 14.
• Loses interest in guiding Chen once his false spirit embryo is revealed 14 16.

Immortal Ruins Exploration

• Helps force ten Outer Sect disciples into the newly appeared ruins and pushes the badly wounded final survivor toward another entry 30.
• Oversees treasure inspections and rewards, executing a disciple who attempts to conceal a Top-Grade Origin-Nourishing Pill 33.
• Rewards another disciple fifty points for surrendering a Mid-Grade Spirit Sword 33.
• Reports the Emerald Cloud Peak exploration in detail when Elder Wu investigates the ruins' disappearance 40.

Netherdark Sea Mission

• Rejects an unsuccessful team's explanation of an ambush and refines all three members into spirit essence 103.
• Underreports Chen Yu's team's 182 stalks of heart-calming grass as 100, keeping the remaining 82 as an illicit kickback 105.
• Kills Ren Shaohua and Wu Wenjie after accepting their team's account 104 105.
• Refines dishonest teams and severely wounded survivors; only six of the fifty Dao Sect disciples sent on the mission remain 104.
• Attacks Evergreen and Jade Void disciples under the stated pretext of retaliation, then invokes Sect Master Chu's projection when their elders prepare to respond 104.

Escalating Conflict with Chen Yu

• Publicly reveals Chen's aptitude, borrowing limit, and recent earnings, drawing predatory attention from disciples looking for profitable sparring challenges 114.
• Blocks Chen's initial repayment attempt through interest and payment requirements 114.
• Offers a mid-grade piece of spirit essence suited to the fifth Qi Refining layer for 500 Contribution Points, while warning that Chen's apparent fourth-layer cultivation makes its use dangerous 117.
• Introduces monthly cultivation inspections; all three disciples inspected in the preceding month die 136.
• Attempts to refine Chen despite his apparent progress to the middle of the fifth Qi Refining layer. An urgent summons interrupts him, and he threatens to summon Chen again the following month 137.

Assassination and Aftermath

• Obtains spirit embryo essence early while preparing to break through, then dismisses warning signs of Chen's intrusion 140.
• Initially mistakes the concealed intruder for a senior cultivator, but identifies Chen and attempts to restrain him 139 141.
• Discovers Chen has reached Foundation Establishment and decides to capture him for his talent and mysterious escape technique 143.
• Falls victim to a layered poison attack: No. 57 provides paralysis, No. 49 dissipates his true qi, and lethal No. 53 kills him 142 144 145.
• Leaves behind spirit embryo essence that upgrades Chen's false spirit embryo into a five-attribute mixed spirit embryo 146.
• His disappearance prompts a sect investigation and celebrations among disciples hoping their debts will be forgiven. Chen conceals his responsibility 146 150.
• Elder Li assumes his duties, but administration initially changes little 149.

Notable Quotes

“If someone attacks you, can't you fight back? The sect has nurtured you all these years. Have you even cultivated seriously?” 103

“Consider yourself lucky this time. I'll summon you again next month.” 137

“Five hundred pieces of spirit essence for one portion of spirit embryo essence.” 140