Wang Yan

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Wang Yan was born into the Wang Household’s main family, but both parents died in the year of his birth. Sent to live among recruited outsider disciples, he was rejected by both groups: outsiders bullied him, while his blood relatives refused to acknowledge him as one of their own. Without an elder’s guidance, pills, or dependable support, his cultivation lagged despite years of effort 2 3.

His parents left him the name Yan, meaning “rock.” He interprets its character—a mountain above a stone—as their wish that he stand tall, remain strong, and endure without ostentation. Remembering that wish helps him resist despair and continue training 3.

As the only main-family disciple participating in the Back Mountain Trial, Wang Yan had to risk his life for resources that better-connected relatives received without entering. Other participants stole his beast cores and herbs, forcing him to climb a dangerous peak for replacements. There, he fought Wang Ziling and resisted surrendering the possessions that represented his chance of entering the inner clan 3 4.

Although Wang Yan discarded Ziling’s suspicious medicinal pill, he later followed the promise of herbs into a drugged-mist trap. Ziling robbed him, destroyed his dantian, and threw him from a cliff into a lake. Card Fairy saved him by embedding an incomplete Immortal Card Artifact in his abdomen, giving him a way to cultivate without a dantian 5 7 8 9.

Learning about Resurrection Cards gives Wang Yan a purpose beyond status or revenge. He resolves to restore his parents and the woman later referred to as Yun, whose death left him with enduring guilt. Because such a card requires the complete artifact, finding its scattered pieces becomes part of his long-term goal 13 14 281.

After establishing himself independently and forming lasting friendships, Wang Yan joins the Firecloud Sect. Yellow Cloud Peak and Venerable Gray Three give him opportunities and recognition absent from his childhood. His return to the sect eventually feels like coming home, although its hierarchy, wartime demands, and predatory senior cultivators also force him to protect his autonomy and secrets 144 236 243 248.

His later pursuit of the remaining elemental artifacts and ingredients to restore his original dantian takes him across the Thirty-Two Kingdoms Continent. In the Ding Kingdom’s Taiwu Mountains, he becomes trapped in an ancient Time-Control Formation. The confinement lasts more than a thousand years from his perspective, but sustained cultivation and research transform him into a great-perfection Nascent Soul cultivator before he finally escapes 300 301 302.

Even at that level, his resurrection goal remains distant. Card Fairy explains that refining a Resurrection Card requires True Immortal cultivation and is not guaranteed to succeed even then 302.

Appearance

• A boy with an ordinary, slightly pale face 2.
• During the Back Mountain Trial, wears a blue-gray disciple’s robe and carries a short sword on his back 2 3.
• After Card Fairy saves him, has a small red triangular metal plate embedded in his abdomen; he cannot remove it 8 9.
• Covers his face with gray cloth when attacking Ma Family cultivators who might recognize him 31.
• Becomes noticeably taller and sturdier after absorbing the Stonefire Spirit Beast’s Fire Spirit Liquid 110.
• Uses Phantom Face and later Immortal Cards to alter his appearance and conceal his identity during infiltration and foreign travel 169 201 301.
• Retains a youthful appearance when meeting Treasure-Seeking True Person after escaping the time formation 300.

Personality

Wang Yan is stubborn, proud, and exceptionally persistent. He refuses to surrender hard-earned resources even when injured and nearly out of magical power. His willingness to risk mutual destruction makes Wang Ziling retreat from their first direct confrontation 4. Card Fairy later comes to value his endurance and his ability to judge his own strengths and weaknesses more than his limited cultivation aptitude 14 18.

He is suspicious and quick-thinking, but not consistently cautious. He handles Ziling’s offered pill with his sword, avoids touching it directly, and eventually throws it away. Yet hatred repeatedly drives him into dangerous fights, while his teasing of Fairy Purple Mist nearly gets him killed. His confidence often conceals anxiety about his weak cultivation and the consequences of exposing the Immortal Card Artifact 5 31 33 48.

His attitude toward killing changes sharply. Early in the trial, he is horrified by murdered disciples and cannot bring himself to kill even former bullies. Later, he kills wounded enemies, uses corpses as bait or distractions, and frames rivals to provoke conflict. His hostility toward the Ma Family is particularly intense, though the full cause remains undisclosed 6 19 21 26 42.

Despite this hardening, Wang Yan retains a capacity for attachment. He warns a young vendor to leave a dangerous marketplace, offers payment rather than simply taking Ye Shisan’s valuable staff, and eventually helps Shisan cultivate. Being called a genuine “friend” affects him unexpectedly after years of isolation 36 43 46 50.

His later restraint is selective rather than absolute. He spares Qinghong and her companions, leaves them provisions, and investigates the Red Market instead of launching a reckless assault. He also avoids killing tournament opponents when doing so would create political trouble, withdrawing attacks after concessions 155 160 169.

Friendship becomes an important part of his identity. He regards the Zhang sisters primarily as trusted companions who have shared life-and-death dangers with him, rather than simply prospective dual-cultivation partners. He risks himself to draw Lingyunzi away from them and Ye Shisan, and later remains concerned for their welfare after centuries of confinement 249 286 302.

Wang Yan values consent and personal independence. He rejects the arranged partnership with Lin Juan despite her beauty and influential connections, arguing that a forced relationship would not be happy. His desire to prevent Card Fairy and the Medicine Sage from reading his private thoughts also motivates his Concealment Card research 288 289 291.

War briefly distorts his priorities. The rewards of killing, seizing treasures, and outwitting powerful enemies make him privately reluctant for the conflict to end. Card Fairy’s warning prompts him to recognize that survival and restoring Yun matter more than loot or the thrill of victory; this insight leads to Dao enlightenment 280 281.

He grows increasingly adept at managing attention. He hides his actual cultivation, declines pointless challenges, and eventually turns public victories into an opportunity to leave the sect before powerful elders can interfere with his plans. His fame is useful, but he treats it as a potential danger rather than an end in itself 285 291 295 298.

Abilities & Skills

Fire Art

Card Fairy creates this unnamed method specifically for Wang Yan; he casually calls it the Fire Art 10 14.

• Uses a simple route through twelve meridians to improve absorption at his cultivation level 10.
• Matches his relatively pure fire immortal root better than his former water-based method 9.
• Absorbs magical power several times faster than the Water Spirit Art and causes much less discomfort 11.
• Initially produces only sparks, sufficient to light a cooking fire; minor attainment allows flames and magical power to extend beyond his fists 11 15.

Immortal Card Artifact

The incomplete fire-type artifact initially replaces his destroyed dantian as a store of spiritual energy. He later obtains and repairs its water-type counterpart, and eventually restores his original dantian as well 9 235 301.

• Its surviving red piece accepts only fire-type spiritual energy. Attempting to use his old water method fails and causes pain 9.
• Two internal channels allow him to direct energy into it 9.
• Drawing power from it is slow at his low cultivation level, creating a disadvantage against ordinary cultivators 15.
• Initially enables unusually effective suppression of his magical aura, but cannot deceive a nearby Core Condensation Realm cultivator 41.
• Allows access to Immortal Cards; restoring its missing pieces is necessary for his hoped-for Resurrection Card 14.
• Partial restoration with Fire Spirit Liquid allows internal storage and refinement of fire-attribute Immortal Cards. This gradually restores their spiritual qi and improves their capacity and strength; it does not remove the need for activation incantations and hand seals 110.
• Continued internal refinement makes his card attacks substantially stronger and more efficient by the Four Peaks Competition 152.
• The Flame Spirit Pearl contributes to another repair and Card Fairy’s awakening. With one-third of the fire artifact restored, refinement becomes faster and the Backup Immortal Card Replacement Ability unlocks 163 166.
• By the Red Market infiltration, drawing most of his power into the artifact and concealing it with divine sense prevents cultivators below Golden Core from readily discerning his actual cultivation 169 170.
• The Water-Type Immortal Card Artifact supports water cultivation and the development of a combined water-fire method 235.
• Both water- and fire-type artifacts are restored by more than sixty percent during his long cultivation and repair work 301.
• Together with his repaired original dantian, the two artifacts allow simultaneous three-dantian cultivation. Its speed is described as three times an ordinary cultivator’s, with actual efficiency five or six times greater 301 302.

Immortal Card Spellcasting

Immortal Cards let Wang Yan cast sealed spells without personally learning them. They require little power to activate and release spells faster than ordinary chanting, hand seals, or talismans 13 14.

• Reusable: Cards hold magical power and can be recharged rather than consumed after one use 13.
• Fireball Spell Card: At minor attainment, releases fireballs comparable to an all-out attack by a cultivator of that stage. Rapid consecutive attacks allow him to exploit openings that would close during normal spellcasting 18.
• Water-Fire Blast Card: Combines cold blue flames and scorching red flames into an explosive attack. His first test blasts a crater nearly ten feet across a cliff 16 22.
• Energy cost: At minor attainment, one Water-Fire Blast consumes about half his reserves, limiting him to approximately two uses 16.
• Card switching: At that stage, he can activate only one card at a time; changing cards during combat leaves him unable to use both attacks immediately 21.
• Recharge time: Fully replenishing the Fireball Spell Card takes more than a day during his early beast hunts 18.
• Power recovery: He can recover roughly 70–80 percent of the magical power from a released card spell, unlike an ordinary cultivator who cannot easily retrieve a cast spell 31.
• Combined use: At full completion of the Cultivation Realm, he can combine the Ironwood Shield Card with certain other cards, though he can initially access only half the shield’s power 69.
• Four-card spellcasting: By Core Condensation, he can use four Immortal Cards at once and instantly release their spells together 153 166.
• Fire Fist Spell Card: Supports repeated powerful attacks with little expenditure of his personal reserves. Against Double-Sword Daoist, he releases two enormous flaming fists in succession, creating the misleading appearance of nearly limitless magical power 158 159.
• Fire Blast Technique Card: Stores a trap spell suited to ambushes. He later plants dozens along a gorge and triggers a destructive mountainside collapse against Lingyunzi 86 249.
• Expanded fire arsenal: Crafts cards for Fire Arrow Spell, Chain Fire Ring, Light of Flame, Explosive Fire Escape Spell, Firebird Spell, and Scorching Flame 167.
• Water-Fire Spirit Sword Card: An original mixed-element attack developed while researching how to reproduce the Water-Fire Blast Card. Its power is lower, but its piercing sharpness kills an early Core Condensation Four-Armed One-Horned Beast 238.
• Mountain-Moving, Sea-Overturning Card: Identified as the strongest of the five or six hundred Immortal Card varieties developed by the end of his time-formation confinement 302.

Martial Arts and Swordsmanship

Wang Yan’s diligent martial training makes him dangerous even without magical power 4.

• Catches a thrown medicinal pill on the flat of his sword with precision that impresses Wang Ziling 5.
• Uses close combat against a Ma cultivator whose protective ice armor hampers movement 31.
• Defeats Shi Nu by disarming him, kicking him into a wall, and holding a sword to his throat 45.
• Can catch fish without relying on cultivation 11.

Hunting, Traps, and Ambushes

Wang Yan compensates for inferior strength through preparation, terrain, and attacks on exposed weaknesses 17 18.

• Lures a White-Headed Wolf into a prepared pit and strikes its vulnerable belly with fireballs 17.
• Uses a falling log and vine snare to suspend a Black-Furred Ape, exposing its protected underside 17 18.
• Conceals his scent, blinds the Fang Bear Beast with ape blood, and attacks its open mouth using Water-Fire Blast 22.
• Defeats a Lü Household pursuer with a sleeping decoy, then cripples his feet before finishing him at close range 40.
• Uses a dead pursuer’s body to distract two other Lü cultivators before attacking their faces from behind 42.
• Secretly buries seven flying knives and draws Young Master Lei over them using Explosive Fire Talismans and calculated retreats 91.
• Lures five Red Market pursuers into a secluded valley, kills them, and burns their bodies to conceal evidence 171.
• Uses flight, pre-positioned Fire Blast Techniques, and a narrow gorge to counter Lingyunzi’s superior cultivation 249.
• Doubles back after ordering his companions to scatter, ambushing two Wicked Poison Sect Golden Core cultivators with the Black Evil King and Truefire Moon Wheel. The Black Evil King’s Soul Attack is crucial; the victory is not achieved through Wang Yan’s personal cultivation alone 277 280.
• After reaching Nascent Soul great perfection, single-handedly kills three Nascent Soul demonic beasts during exploration with Treasure-Seeking True Person, including the previously formidable Mountain Ridge King 304.

Heart-Control Art

Card Fairy translates and adapts a jade slip containing about one-third of this ancient mental cultivation technique 24.

• Intended to steady the mind, resist inner demons, and develop intelligence and spiritual sense 24.
• Mastery of its first level improves Wang Yan’s concentration and helps him understand formation fundamentals quickly 48.
• The art has twelve levels; Wang Yan eventually masters the seventh 48 301 302.
• The second level allows mental communication with Card Fairy and faint perception of her presence 86.
• Stronger spiritual sense improves his Immortal Card refinement success rate and permits the divided attention needed to control card puppets 183.
• Difficult sect missions and repeated combat help him reach the fourth level 238.
• Dao enlightenment brings the fifth level, greatly improves his divine sense, and raises his mental state beyond that expected of a Core Condensation cultivator 281 282.
• At the sixth level, his divine sense is five or six times stronger than an ordinary Golden Core cultivator’s. He can kill same-level cultivators through divine sense alone, while a Divine Sense Attack Card threatens stronger opponents 301.
• The seventh level gives exceptional comprehension and supports his Nascent Soul advancement. Card Fairy supplements his mental training with illusion formations when later bottlenecks arise 301 302.

Formation Arts and Refinement

Wang Yan studies formations, talisman crafting, and artifact refining because all three are prerequisites for making Immortal Cards 12 48.

• Learns the eighty-one basic formation characters and successfully inscribes a luminous rune 48.
• Begins material refinement with demonic-beast hides, bones, and tendons. After repeated failures, he produces several refined pieces of hide 18.
• Must improve artifact refinement and combine two formation characters into paired runes before learning to make the Spell Collection Card 48.
• Remains unsuccessful with the Spell Collection Card after four further months of practice, exhausting his remaining fire-type Spirit Stones 50.
• Subsequently uses Spell Collection Cards to learn Earth Blast and Fire Fist. By his pre-expedition preparations, he can craft Fireball Spell Cards and Magic Artifact Fusion Cards, producing Poison Flying Knife and Infinite Fire God Needle Cards 86.
• Repairs the Ironwood Shield and upgrades it from mid-grade to high-grade, nearly supreme-grade, by smelting in a small piece of black mother iron ore 148.
• Uses Magic Artifact Fusion Cards to expand his arsenal with flying rings, fire swords, a cauldron, and crystal shields 148.
• Studies Puppet Immortal Cards as a way to repurpose valuable metal-element artifacts that would be dangerous to sell openly. Their control requires sufficiently developed spiritual sense 181 183.
• Refines a flying boat himself, although the experimentation consumes materials sufficient for seven or eight such boats 238.
• Reaches master-level attainment in formations, artifact refining, and talisman refining during Core Condensation. With Card Fairy’s guidance, he breaks restrictions while deliberately concealing how readily he understands them 263 264.
• Completes a Concealment Card after four or five months of work, then continues studying the Ancient Treasure Refinement Card 291 298.
• After Golden Core advancement, successfully refines Ancient Treasure Refinement, Advanced Spell, and Flight Acceleration Cards 300.
• Prolonged research inside the Time-Control Formation raises all three supporting disciplines to supreme-grandmaster standing among cultivators of his realm and produces five or six hundred Immortal Card varieties 302.

Heavenburning Art and Water-Fire Cultivation

• Chooses the obscure Heavenburning Art, which uses 108 meridians, over a faster fifty-six-meridian alternative. Its slower cultivation is offset by purer, stronger magical power and improved long-term prospects for Golden Core advancement 144.
• Studies the art independently rather than relying on Card Fairy to explain it 144.
• Manifests Red-Light Flame upon entering Core Condensation and later uses it to overwhelm Yu Qian 144 160.
• After repairing the water artifact, combines water cultivation with Heavenburning Art to form a powerful water-fire method. The adaptation substantially increases his power and escape speed 235.
• Later supplements cultivation with the Five Elements Spirit Jade Mat, the Medicine Sage’s medicinal liquid and pills, his Cave Abode Secret Realm, and three simultaneous dantians 166 236 301 302.

Auxiliary Cards, Concealment, and Mobility

• Invisibility Card: Provides strong concealment using its own stored magical power and can be reused 238.
• Acceleration Card: A reusable support card developed alongside his other auxiliary cards 238.
• Surveillance Card: Part of his growing reconnaissance arsenal 238.
• Disguise Card: Conceals his true cultivation; he presents himself as an early Core Condensation cultivator despite reaching great completion and later great perfection 241 285.
• Concealment Card: Designed to block intrusive access to his thoughts and help contain heart demons. Its first successful test briefly shuts out Card Fairy’s voice 289 291.
• Cultivator Possession Card: Allows him to possess the body of a slain Ding Kingdom cultivator and travel as a local 301.
• Transformation and Stealth Cards: Provide alternative means of changing appearance or entering hostile territory unseen 301.
• Flight acceleration: Uses Azure Wind Wings in the battle with Lingyunzi and Clearwind Light Wings to escape unwanted challengers. Later refines Black Lightning wings, which more than double his flight speed 249 291 302.

Puppets and Sealed Entities

• Develops Puppet Immortal Cards and a Defense Puppet Immortal Card as his spiritual sense and refining skills improve 181 183 212.
• Uses five puppets during the war against Lin Nation to kill enemies and obtain merit points and spoils 271.
• Secretly controls Lingyunzi, giving Wang Yan practical command over the Vanguard Team while maintaining the appearance that the Golden Core cultivator leads it 272 273.
• Controls the Black Evil King through a sealing card, allowing him to summon and dismiss it rather than unleash an uncontrolled entity 277.
• Heavily modifies the Purple Mountain Medicine Sage’s puppet body. By the end of the time-formation confinement, the puppet has at least Nascent Soul-level power, reinforced by the Sage’s extensive experience 302.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Immortal Card Artifact — Red triangular artifact permanently embedded in his abdomen by Card Fairy; later substantially repaired and joined by a water-type counterpart 8 9 235 301.
• Fireball Spell Card — Made by Card Fairy from his demonic-beast-hide wristguards while she controls his body 12.
• Water-Fire Blast Card — Obtained through the Lottery Cube as a reward following his minor-attainment breakthrough 15 16.
• Original short sword — Low-grade magic artifact bought with nearly all his savings for the trial; stolen and used against him by Wang Ziling 4 7.
• Bone knife — Ground from a particularly hard demonic-beast bone; used for butchering beasts and killing enemies 18 19 21.
• Fire Spirit Sword — Used during his confrontation with Shi Nu 45.
• Storage Bags — Acquired from slain Ma and Lü cultivators after Ziling steals his original bag. He gives one to Ye Shisan to conceal the valuable staff 22 40 42 44.
• Thousand Spirit Arrow — A Spirit Artifact taken from a Ma cultivator. Compatible with magical power of any attribute, but requires at least the advanced stage of the Cultivation Realm to activate 23 34.
• Moon-Embracing Purple Mountain Map — Beast-hide map taken with the Ma cultivators’ belongings; its importance to the Ma Family becomes leverage in his scheme against Ziling 23 26.
• Heart-Control Art jade slip — Ancient Clerical Script fragment deciphered by Card Fairy 24.
• Purple-Spotted Bamboo Brush — Prepared with pills and beast blood, then used for formation-rune practice 39 48.
• Crafting supplies — Buys roughly three dozen talismans and four boxes of homemade cinnabar from a young vendor for fifty Spirit Stones 36.
• Creation Pill — A Lottery Cube reward following his major-completion breakthrough; later reserved to improve his prospects of forming a Golden Core and used in that advancement 49 272 300.
• Ironwood Shield Card — Third Lottery Cube reward, containing a mid-grade wood-type Spirit Artifact. Wang Yan later repairs and upgrades the shield to high-grade with black mother iron ore 69 148.
• Poison Flying Knife Card — Created using a Magic Artifact Fusion Card; many of its knives are later destroyed in the treasure land 86 110.
• Infinite Fire God Needle Card — Another artifact card made during his preparations for Cloud Mountain Treasure Land 86.
• Mother-and-Son Flying Rings — Two sets of top-grade magic artifacts used in the treasure land and Four Peaks Competition 110 158 160.
• Explosive Fire Talismans — Used in ambushes and distributed in large numbers to Ye Shisan and the Zhang sisters for protection 91 99.
• Truefire Moon Wheel — Supreme-grade Spirit Artifact initially loaned by Venerable Gray Three, with permanent ownership promised for a top-three tournament placement. Wang Yan receives it after the competition and continues using it in later battles 145 155 162 277.
• Fire Spirit Pearl / Flame Spirit Pearl — A high-grade Spirit Artifact awarded by Huang Ling after the Yue Yang victory; its use improves Wang Yan’s constitution, contributes to artifact repair, and helps awaken Card Fairy 155 163 166.
• Cave Abode Secret Realm Card — Lottery Cube reward providing a private cultivation space. Expensive to operate, but more than doubles his cultivation speed; later shelters the Zhang sisters 166 240.
• Phantom Face — Human-skin magic artifact that changes his appearance through magical power. Ordinary Core Condensation cultivators cannot readily see through it 169.
• Message-Transmitting Bell — Enchanted communication device used to coordinate with Ye Shisan during infiltration and later reunions 171 235.
• Black mother iron ore — Rare material used in improving his Ironwood Shield and concealed among his valuable possessions 110 148.
• Moon-Embracing Purple Mountain — The Medicine Sage’s movable Spirit Treasure, whose stores and cultivation environment support Wang Yan. Its capacity to consume spiritual energy becomes essential to breaking the Time-Control Formation 235 238 301 302.
• Five Elements Spirit Jade Mat — Cultivation treasure used with the Medicine Sage’s medicinal liquid to accelerate his progress 236.
• Gray Three’s sealed Storage Bag — Entrusted to him before the war; can be opened when its divine-sense mark disappears or when Wang Yan reaches Golden Core. Its intact restriction reassures him that his master remains alive 243 244.
• Azure Wind Wings / Clearwind Light Wings — Flight treasures used to evade Lingyunzi and unwanted challengers 249 291.
• Black Evil King sealing card — Enables controlled deployment of the entity and its decisive Soul Attack 277 280.
• Sealed golden chest — Obtained from Liu Wushuang; bears Silver Tadpole Script and powerful restrictions. Identified as one of an estimated seven or eight components needed to open a secret star realm 280 285 287.
• Divine Artifact Embryo Card — Lottery Cube reward containing rare materials already smelted into an unfinished, armor-like divine artifact embryo. Wang Yan must add runes and formations to make it usable; even a basic completion may surpass Spirit Artifact defenses 282.
• Purple Jade Spirit Pills — Gives three to Venerable Gray Three, each capable of extending lifespan by up to fifty years 288.
• Super Spirit Stone Cannon — Used unsuccessfully in attempts to escape the Time-Control Formation 301.
• Black Lightning wings — Newly refined flight equipment that more than doubles his speed after reaching Nascent Soul great perfection 302.
• Lottery Flying Boat — A breakthrough reward faster than ordinary Nascent Soul flying escape. Slower than Wang Yan’s full-speed flight, but more comfortable for sustained travel and cultivation 305.

Relationships

• Card Fairy — Savior, mentor, and constant companion. She is bound to him after absorbing his blood essence, and their fates are interdependent. Their argumentative exchanges gradually develop into familiarity and mutual appreciation 8 12 17 18. She later warns him against wartime greed, helps trigger his Dao enlightenment, and spends decades studying the Time-Control Formation to secure their escape. Wang Yan also hopes his growing mastery will help revive her; her recovering soul eventually allows her to appear outside his body 281 282 300 301.
• Wang Ziling — Former fellow disciple and principal rival. His theft, deception, and destruction of Wang Yan’s dantian prompt both direct revenge attempts and schemes to turn the Ma Family against him 7 26 29 31. Their later confrontation exposes the danger of Ziling’s stronger cultivation, and Wang Yan’s borrowed-blade scheme eventually fails when Ziling and Ma Ang cooperate. Ziling continues recovering through demonic cultivation and vows revenge after hearing of Wang Yan’s rise 127 205 277 298.
• Old Meat — Martial-arts teacher and Wang Household gatekeeper. Their rough banter conceals familiarity; he feeds Wang Yan, shares information about Ziling, and warns him to leave 27 28. Wang Yan later considers Old Meat the only person worth returning to the household for; both he and Card Fairy suspect the old man is not ordinary 201.
• Parents — Both died in his birth year. Wang Yan has no remembered image of their faces and hopes to resurrect them 2 14.
• Yun — The deceased woman initially left unnamed, a deeply missed loved one whose loss causes lasting guilt. Restoring her is a central reason for pursuing the Resurrection Card. During Dao enlightenment, Wang Yan reaffirms his desire to bring her back and give her freedom 13 14 31 281.
• Fairy Purple Mist / Purple Smoke — Powerful marketplace acquaintance whom he briefly passes off as his senior sister. Her status secures favorable prices for his goods, though she warns him against further provocation 33 34. Their later relationship becomes complicated: she attacks him after an encounter in which he claims to have saved her, and he continues thinking of her with attraction, jealousy, and apprehension rather than viewing her as an uncomplicated prospective partner 132 218 240 289.
• Lü Zijun — Hostile Lü Household scion. Wang Yan mocks him during their meeting and later suspects him of ordering the attack at the cave 34 39 40. He eventually kills Zijun during the conflict involving the Ma Family, Lü Household, and Purple Flame Sect 225.
• Ye Shisan — Rescued companion who calls him “Big Brother.” Wang Yan initially exploits his gratitude to seek black mother iron, but later helps him with cultivation by providing the Earthforce Art 42 43 44 50. They survive Red Second Madam’s pursuit together, cooperate in avenging the Ye family, and remain loyal through war and Lingyunzi’s attempts to divide them. Wang Yan deliberately avoids exhausting Shisan in the Four Peaks Competition so he can take first place, later supports his growth with pills, and plans to check on him after escaping the time formation 69 161 169 248 249 285 302.
• Ye Mingtian — Shisan’s father and Wang Yan’s host at Ye Family Stockade. Offers cultivation refuge while protecting the stockade’s secrets and testing Wang Yan’s motives 47 50.
• Shi Nu — Stockade guard who attacks him over the settlement’s secrecy. Wang Yan defeats him but stops the confrontation when Ye Mingtian intervenes 45 46.
• Zhang Qiulin and Zhang Qiulang / Linlang — Trusted companions from Cloud Mountain Treasure Land who save Wang Yan during the cliff ambush. He shares talismans, returns their stolen Mandarin Duck Scissors, and later shelters them in his secret realm from Lingyunzi. Their bond includes mutual attraction, but Wang Yan primarily values their friendship and shared survival experiences 99 100 240 249 286. He later intends to check on “Thirteen and Linlang” upon returning to the sect 302.
• Venerable Gray Three — Initially Wang Yan’s nominal master on Yellow Cloud Peak, later identifies him as his only true disciple. Provides Heavenburning Art, instruction, the Truefire Moon Wheel, and protection from an especially dangerous wartime assignment. Wang Yan develops genuine gratitude and gives him lifespan-extending Purple Jade Spirit Pills; Gray Three accepts his refusal of the Lin Juan match and later permits him to travel despite pressure from higher-ranking elders 144 145 243 288 298.
• Bing Ning — Gray Three’s attendant and Wang Yan’s sect acquaintance. Becomes increasingly courteous as she recognizes his master’s regard and Wang Yan’s rapid cultivation gains 144 145 236.
• Dai Hao — Yellow Cloud Peak acquaintance who exchanges congratulations with Wang Yan after both reach Core Condensation and later questions him about his tournament reward 148 162.
• Young Master Lei — Enemy encountered again in Cloud Mountain Treasure Land. Wang Yan kills him through a prepared flying-knife ambush despite threats invoking his powerful household 88 91.
• Red Second Madam — Enemy responsible for the destruction of Ye Shisan’s family and occupation of the stockade. Wang Yan escapes her pursuit, later infiltrates her Red Market, and helps pursue vengeance; her death is subsequently confirmed 69 169 171 181.
• Third Young Master — Powerful Wicked Poison Sect adversary whose treasures and cultivation make him a dangerous opponent. Wang Yan survives through schemes and obtains his valuable spoils; the death brings further pursuit from Elder Du 181.
• Ma Ang — Ma Family patriarch and Golden Core cultivator. Wang Yan approaches him under an assumed identity to obtain the Water-Type Immortal Card Artifact, selling a scroll for eighty thousand Spirit Stones before accepting recruitment. Their cooperation is marked by mutual suspicion and manipulation; Wang Yan eventually obtains Ma Ang’s spoils and the treasure mountain 209 210 211 214 233 238.
• Ma Laosan and Madam Ma — Ma Family associates whose plight draws Wang Yan into a rescue mission. Madam Ma’s account of Laosan protecting her from exploitation softens Wang Yan’s view of him, and Wang Yan both protects her and rescues her husband 214 218 225.
• Purple Mountain Medicine Sage — Initially attempts to take over Wang Yan’s body, but later becomes a vital collaborator. Supplies medicines, cultivation resources, dantian-restoring treatment, and the Moon-Embracing Purple Mountain; Wang Yan improves his puppet body and proposes trading pills for ingredients to sustain his work 230 236 280 301 302.
• Lingyunzi — Golden Core senior who pursues the Zhang sisters and targets Wang Yan. His tracking mark exposes their escape, and he tries unsuccessfully to turn Wang Yan’s companions against him. Wang Yan later controls him and uses his authority to direct the Vanguard Team before concealing the circumstances of his death 238 248 249 272 273 277 285.
• Liu Wushuang — Sect and wartime associate. Wang Yan respects his unexpectedly rapid progress while remaining wary of his insight. Obtains the ancient chest from him and arranges medicine to regrow his destroyed arm; Liu later thanks him and cultivates friendly ties 144 243 254 280 285.
• Lin Juan — Influential Yellow Cloud Peak cultivator proposed as his dual-cultivation partner. Wang Yan refuses for reasons of privacy, autonomy, and lack of mutual inclination. Her public confrontation fuels damaging rumors and challenges; her hostility is later attributed to emerging inner demons, which she overcomes through a dangerous breakthrough 287 288 289 290 297.
• Li Xiao — Challenger claiming to defend Lin Juan’s honor. Wang Yan defeats him and forces a heart-demon blood oath against further slander or appearances before him 291 293 295.
• Zhu Qian — One of the Main Peak’s three great disciples and Lin Juan’s close friend. Challenges Wang Yan, loses despite using more than eighty percent of her strength, and acknowledges that she cannot gauge his full power 296 297.
• Treasure-Seeking True Person — Rogue cultivator met after Wang Yan escapes the time formation. Initially suspects Wang Yan may be a Divine Communion cultivator, converses with him courteously, and later admires his combat ability and formation mastery during joint exploration 300 304.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Independent Beast Hunting

• Chooses not to return to the Wang Household after reaching minor attainment, expecting that continued service there would reduce him to hired muscle 16.
• Hunts demonic beasts for combat experience, card materials, and resources, relying on traps rather than direct contests of strength 17 18.
• Kills a recently advanced Core Condensation Realm Fang Bear Beast through an ambush. Card Fairy stresses that it was already wounded and depleted; the victory does not mean he could defeat a healthy beast of that realm 21 22.

Revenge Against the Ma Family and Wang Ziling

• Kills two wounded Ma cultivators after their failed beast hunt, then takes their equipment and discovers the Thousand Spirit Arrow, map, and ancient jade slip 19 20 21 23.
• Alters his Wang Household identity token to bear Ziling’s name, planting evidence intended to implicate his rival in the missing map 26.
• Sells information about Ziling to the Ma Family, exaggerating his importance to intensify resentment toward the Wang Household 28 29.
• Ambushes the Ma party, kills two members, and deliberately leaves a wounded survivor after impersonating Ziling 31.
• Finally accepts Card Fairy’s advice to postpone vengeance and prioritize cultivation and resurrection 31.

Lü Family Marketplace and Escape

• Uses the Lü marketplace to avoid recognition at Wang or Ma trading sites. Selling beast materials and unwanted loot leaves him with more than three hundred Spirit Stones 32 34.
• Purchases supplies for refinement, but recognizes signs that Lü Household men are watching him 36 39.
• Escapes the inn, lures a pursuer into a cave ambush, and leaves the marketplace region 39 40.
• Intervenes against three more Lü cultivators, saving the youth later introduced as Ye Shisan 41 42 43.

Ye Family Stockade

• Follows Shisan to the stockade after learning that his staff’s rare black mother iron came from local ore 43 44.
• Gains entry after defeating Shi Nu and explaining his rescue of Shisan, but remains wary that the residents may prevent him from leaving 45 46.
• Accepts Ye Mingtian’s offer to cultivate in the valley’s rich spiritual energy while concealing his interest in the ore 47.
• Reaches major completion and advances his study of mental discipline and formation runes 48.
• Declines a weapons-escort assignment presented as an invitation but intended to test his interest in the stockade’s Black Iron Divine Weapons. He avoids investigating the mine while continuing cultivation and card-refinement practice 50.
• After Red Second Madam’s pursuit, hides with Ye Shisan in an underground stream cave, advances to full completion, and obtains the Ironwood Shield Card 69.

Cloud Mountain Treasure Land

• Spends more than four months preparing in the Firecloud Sect’s temporary cave abodes, crafting spell and artifact cards and advancing the Heart-Control Art to its second level 86.
• Enters the treasure land alongside Ye Shisan and the Zhang sisters, immediately encountering Young Master Lei 88.
• Kills Lei with concealed flying knives, then joins his companions against the Hengshan Four Fiends while Double Happiness Sect cultivators watch for an opportunity to attack 91.
• Shares large quantities of Explosive Fire Talismans, returns the sisters’ stolen Mandarin Duck Scissors, and leads the group in gathering White Orchid Jade Herbs 99.
• Survives Lin Kun’s cliff ambush with the sisters’ help, strengthening his trust in them 100.
• Absorbs Fire Spirit Liquid, reaches the Cultivation Realm’s peak, and partially repairs his artifact. Rejoins his recovered companions after nearly ten days 110.
• Later faces the much stronger Wang Ziling and survives a hostile encounter with Fairy Purple Smoke 127 132.

Yellow Cloud Peak and the Four Peaks Competition

• Studies under Venerable Gray Three, chooses Heavenburning Art, and reaches Core Condensation after more than a year of preparation 144 145.
• Repairs and upgrades the Ironwood Shield, expands his card arsenal, and travels with Yellow Cloud Peak’s competitors to Firecloud Divine Mountain 148.
• Defeats Yue Yang through a concealed Truefire Moon Wheel strike, deliberately avoiding a fatal blow 155.
• Defeats Double-Sword Daoist with immense Fire Fist attacks whose stored card power leads observers to overestimate his personal reserves 158 159.
• Wins successive matches against Yu Qian and other contestants, then relies more on conventional artifacts to avoid exposing his cards 160.
• After six victories, deliberately avoids draining Ye Shisan’s power, intending to let him take first place 161.
• Receives the Truefire Moon Wheel permanently, uses the Flame Spirit Pearl to improve his constitution and repair the artifact, and resumes work with the awakened Card Fairy 162 163 166.

Red Market Infiltration and Ye Family Revenge

• Returns with Ye Shisan to investigate the former stockade, now the Red Market and a Wicked Poison Sect front 169.
• Spares captured youths, takes Phantom Face, suppresses his apparent cultivation, and enters alone rather than risking a direct assault 169 170.
• Learns that the Third Young Master’s presence makes an immediate attack too dangerous. Eliminates five pursuers outside the market and proposes waiting for his departure 171.
• Obtains the Third Young Master’s spoils after a dangerous battle, but recognizes that openly using or selling them could attract the Wicked Poison Sect’s powerful cultivators 181.
• Begins developing Puppet Immortal Cards to repurpose the treasures while improving the spiritual sense needed to control them 181 183.

Water Artifact, Ma Family, and Moon-Embracing Purple Mountain

• Traces the Water-Type Immortal Card Artifact to Azure Spirit Mountain and returns in disguise while Ma Ang confronts the Wang Household 201.
• Discovers that his earlier scheme has brought a Golden Core patriarch into the dispute, but watches it fail when Ma Ang and Wang Ziling join forces 202 205.
• Approaches Ma Ang as Wang Sanshi, offers a carefully constructed account of his rivalry with Ziling, and sells a scroll for eighty thousand Spirit Stones 209 210.
• Accepts recruitment under the name Ma Shi while both parties suspect ulterior motives 211.
• Accompanies Ma Laosan on a shipment-recovery mission that proves to involve a Lü Household ambush 214.
• Protects Madam Ma and undertakes a rescue, motivated by compassion, practical necessity, and old grievances against Lü Zijun 218.
• Rescues Ma Laosan, kills Lü Zijun and the Lü Household’s Fifth Elder, and seizes two Spirit Cannons while inflicting heavy losses on hostile forces 225.
• Survives the Purple Mountain Medicine Sage’s attempted possession and subsequently gains the Sage’s cooperation, resources, and treasure mountain 230 235 236 238.
• Repairs the water artifact, develops combined water-fire cultivation, reunites with Ye Shisan, and returns to the Firecloud Sect to fulfill his obligations 235.

Cultivation, Refuge, and the War with Lin Nation

• Uses the Five Elements Spirit Jade Mat and the Medicine Sage’s medicines to cultivate rapidly, then undertakes difficult missions that help him reach the Heart-Control Art’s fourth level 236 238.
• Shelters the Zhang sisters from Lingyunzi in his secret realm under strict access and secrecy conditions, then reaches great completion of Core Condensation 240.
• Gray Three initially keeps him behind to guard Yellow Cloud Peak and entrusts him with a sealed Storage Bag before departing for war 243.
• Later flees with Ye Shisan and the sisters after the sect assigns them to the dangerous Vanguard Team, insisting that he is not permanently betraying the sect 248.
• Lingyunzi tracks and attacks the group. Wang Yan draws him away and prepares a gorge ambush while his companions refuse to abandon him 248 249.
• Subsequently controls Lingyunzi and directs the Vanguard Team through him, winning repeated engagements and substantial rewards 272 273.
• Uses his formation knowledge and Card Fairy’s guidance to help unravel dangerous restrictions while concealing the extent of his expertise 263 264.
• Secretly ambushes two Wicked Poison Sect Golden Core cultivators, keeps their supplies, and plans to report the mission as a failure. His account of Lingyunzi’s sacrificial death draws immediate suspicion 277.
• Gains enormous wartime spoils and over ten million contribution points, including points secretly transferred from Lingyunzi 280 285.

Dao Enlightenment and Postwar Preparation

• Recognizes that war’s rewards have drawn him into dangerous obsession with killing and outsmarting powerful enemies 280 281.
• Reaffirms his original purpose of resurrecting Yun, experiences Dao enlightenment, and reaches Core Condensation’s peak together with the Heart-Control Art’s fifth level 281 282.
• Receives a Divine Artifact Embryo from the Lottery Cube and accepts the need to study formations and runes further to make it useful 282.
• Hides his great-perfection cultivation with a Disguise Card and postpones Golden Core advancement to avoid dangerous attention 285.
• Returns to the sect, investigates the ancient chest obtained from Liu Wushuang, and learns that it is one component of a treasure capable of opening a secret star realm 285 287.
• Refuses the proposed Lin Juan partnership and gives Gray Three three Purple Jade Spirit Pills in gratitude for his support 288.

Lin Juan Rumors and Public Duels

• Lin Juan’s confrontation at his cave abode sparks false claims that he exploited or abandoned her 289 290.
• Completes the Concealment Card and initially refuses challenges issued in the guise of defending her honor 291.
• Accepts Li Xiao’s renewed challenge after frustration over gossip and difficulty contacting the Zhang sisters 293.
• Defeats Li Xiao without using a treasure and compels an oath forbidding further slander, then defeats Huang Mang within five breaths 295.
• Defeats six Core Condensation challengers in succession before overcoming Zhu Qian, one of the Main Peak’s foremost disciples. Withdraws his decisive mixed ice-fire attack before it can kill her 297 298.
• Uses the resulting fame and interest from Nascent Soul elders as a reason to obtain Gray Three’s permission to travel, avoiding pressure to change masters or peaks 298.

Golden Core Travels and the Time-Control Formation

• Secludes himself on Moon-Embracing Purple Mountain and reaches Golden Core in just over a year using the Medicine Sage’s pills and a Creation Pill 300.
• Travels through the Thirty-Two Kingdoms Continent to broaden his experience, seek the remaining three elemental artifacts, and find ingredients to restore his original dantian 300.
• Enters the hostile Ding Kingdom through a Cultivator Possession Card and searches the Taiwu Mountains for rare medicinal ingredients 301.
• Explores ancient ruins, then follows a spiritual-energy phenomenon into an immense three-dimensional formation that traps him at its central hall 301.
• Learns that it is a Time-Control Formation. Neither repeated escape attempts nor his Super Spirit Stone Cannon can break it 301.
• Cultivates and studies through prolonged confinement; the Medicine Sage restores his original dantian, both elemental artifacts undergo extensive repair, and his Heart-Control Art reaches the seventh level 301.
• Advances through Golden Core and Nascent Soul, eventually reaching Nascent Soul great perfection with grandmaster-level technical skills and hundreds of Immortal Card varieties 301 302.
• Escapes through the combined efforts of Card Fairy, Wang Yan, and the Medicine Sage, whose Moon-Embracing Purple Mountain drains the formation over decades 301 302.

Return to the Wider World

• Meets Treasure-Seeking True Person and discovers that his more than a thousand years of confinement correspond to only a little over a hundred years outside 300 302.
• Plans to return to the Firecloud Sect to check on Ye Shisan and the Zhang sisters, but first seeks materials because his stores are nearly exhausted 302.
• Tests his Black Lightning wings and welcomes an attacking Nascent Soul bird as an opportunity to assess his new combat ability 302.
• Explores ruins with Treasure-Seeking True Person, single-handedly killing three Nascent Soul demonic beasts, including Mountain Ridge King 304.
• Collects nearly all the Taiwu Mountains’ accumulated valuable resources before departing in his Lottery Cube flying boat 305.

Notable Quotes

“I have to succeed... I have to...” 2

“Good! In this lifetime, I will definitely refine that Resurrection Immortal Card!” 13

“Using your weaknesses against an enemy's strengths would just be asking for misery, wouldn't it?” 18

“All right! I've decided. I'll leave that damned Wang Ziling alone for now! I'll focus on cultivating first!” 31

“Now? I'll head back to the Firecloud Sect first! I'll see how Thirteen and Linlang are doing!” 302

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