Zhou You

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Zhou You (周游)
Alias(es)	“Brother You,” used by classmates seeking his homework; “Do You Swim This Week,” his Cultivation Forum and QQ username 2 29 98
Species/Race	Human 13 28
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Carefree Sect; Class Three, Chang’an City No. 2 Middle School 6 8 20
Occupation/Role	Senior-year high school student; cultivator; Sect Master of the Carefree Sect; takes cultivation commissions 1 8 35 101
Cultivation Realm	Mid-stage Qi Refining, the latest documented realm 57 68
Status	Alive 107 108
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “My deskmate says she time-traveled” 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Qi Induction / “Half-step Qi Refining”	2	Draws spiritual energy into his body through Chu Xiaoyao’s interpretation of the Tao Te Ching. Initially feels healthier and more energetic without increased maximum strength. Overnight practice lets him briefly project the upper half of his soul. “Half-step Qi Refining” is a label invented by Chu, not an established realm.
Early Qi Refining	13	Advances after digesting a Sight-Obscuring Ghost. Gains improved strength, speed, and reflexes; can project his entire soul approximately three steps from his body and inspect his organs and meridians. Su Tingxue confirms the breakthrough with a one-handed bottle-cap test.
Successful skin tempering	43	Mosquito-based training, accelerated by spirit stones, produces a faint protective membrane. Ordinary mosquitoes can barely pierce his skin, and Chu Xiaoyao’s slap no longer hurts.
Peak of early Qi Refining	43	Describes himself as having reached the peak of early Qi Refining after sustained spirit-stone cultivation. This level is reaffirmed when he shifts his attention from skin tempering to soul training 48.
Mid-stage Qi Refining	57	Breaks through after a day of concentrated practice and absorbing nearly half a spirit stone. Gains finer movement control, faster perception, greater strength, a soul capable of physically hurting people, and a Soul Projection range of twelve and a half steps.

Background / History

Zhou You has known his deskmate, Chu Xiaoyao, since junior high. He once believed her claims about being an escaped superpowered person and sealing a Black Dragon, leaving him constantly afraid that her supposed enemies would find them. By the beginning of senior year, he treats her new claim of having returned from another world with skepticism 1.

Their shared copy of the Tao Te Ching was purchased with money Zhou lent her; she repaid him by taking over his classroom-cleaning duty for a month. Her interpretation of that book unexpectedly enables him to cultivate, reversing his skepticism and leading him to address her as “Great Emperor” 1 2.

Personality

Zhou You is practical, curious, and willing to experiment. He tests supernatural explanations rather than merely discussing them: he uses Soul Projection to examine his body, checks whether his soul can enter Great Stone Lake, and turns mosquito bites into a cultivation method. Although real results restore his faith in Chu Xiaoyao’s guidance, familiarity still allows him to recognize some of her exaggerated claims 13 23 32.

He expresses concern through practical help. He insists that Chu study, looks for ways to let Nuomi eat, promises to help recover her memories, and provides accommodation and financial support to Duan Yuxian. His kindness can misfire: trying to protect Tang Shiyin from gossip leaves her walking alone, while his attempts to help her apparent poverty bewilder the disguised Lian Yi 32 52 53 60 61 94.

He is not naturally belligerent and openly recognizes his lack of fighting experience. Nevertheless, he prefers investigating threats to waiting for another attack, learns quickly when taught, and remains loyal to the Carefree Sect despite recruitment offers from major sects. His blunt observations sometimes offend others even when he intends to help 7 19 65 68.

Abilities & Skills

Soul Projection

Zhou You can separate his consciousness and soul from his physical body while still at Qi Refining. Lian Yi and Duan Yuxian both consider this highly unusual for his realm 49 89.

• Ghost perception: Keeping his projected soul overlapped with his body allows him to see ghosts 4.
• Introspection: He inserts his soul into his own body to view his organs, blood vessels, and meridians 13.
• Intangibility: His soul can pass through tables, chairs, people, and other physical obstacles 57.
• Object interaction: Repeated visualization first enables him to make a pen wobble. At mid-stage Qi Refining, his soul becomes strong enough to deliver damaging punches 49 57.
• Invisible combat: He applies unarmed force-generating techniques through his projected soul, defeating Sun Cheng while his physical body appears stationary 65 67.
• Limits: His range increases from approximately three steps at early Qi Refining to twelve and a half steps at mid-stage. His first sustained soul-based fight leaves him exhausted 13 57 67.

Ghost Consumption

Zhou You can eat ghosts through his soul. Consuming a Sight-Obscuring Ghost strengthens his soul and feeds that improvement back into his body, producing his first proper cultivation breakthrough 11 13.

• Acquires Ghost-Covered Eyes after eating the Sight-Obscuring Ghost 18 19.
• Eats a Poverty Ghost and later demonstrates its money-spending ability 28 61.
• Experiences hunger toward the Sight-Obscuring Ghost but not toward Nuomi, whom he explicitly reassures he will not eat 13.
• Chu Xiaoyao calls the process “dietary therapy” and warns that careless consumption can have dangerous consequences 19.

Ghost-Covered Eyes

A ghost-derived technique that places Zhou You behind a target and covers their eyes, obstructing their vision 18 19.

• First manifests instinctively when the Mighty Warrior is about to strike him 18.
• Lets him disorient the Warrior and strike him across the ear; he subsequently uses it against the fleeing Mind Master 18 19.
• Is less decisive against versatile cultivators with defensive techniques. During his fight with Sun Cheng, Zhou concludes that it is better suited to opponents relying primarily on brute strength 67.

Poverty Ghost Ability

Zhou You can force a target to spend money through mobile applications without an obvious casting signal. Duan Yuxian cannot detect the spell despite her sensitivity to supernatural techniques 61.

• Works across multiple apps, including shopping and travel services 61.
• Causes Duan to purchase a Mount Wudang tour and a business-class train ticket 61.
• Can be withdrawn to restore the target’s ability to cancel an order, though ordinary cancellation fees may still apply 61.
• At full power, accidentally makes Duan buy one million copies of Einstein’s Brain for 100,000 yuan. The shipped, non-refundable order cannot be undone 61.
• Zhou does not regard it as a conventional offensive spell, but its financial consequences can be severe 61.

Ming King Body-Refining Art

Perfected Lord Wenchang’s body-refining technique, given to Zhou as thanks for his suggestion about pursuing elected office abroad 12 21.

• Begins with refining the skin, the body’s first defensive layer 22.
• Produces a thin membrane that cushions impacts and distributes force across his body 43 67.
• Withstands Sun Cheng’s sword-qi attack without injuring Zhou 67.
• Zhou studies the manual with ancient and modern Chinese dictionaries to understand its initial instructions 22.

Mosquito Body-Refining Method

Zhou’s self-devised training method uses the irritation of mosquito bites to stimulate his skin while spiritual power circulates through it 23 25.

• Requires enduring the bites rather than scratching them 23.
• Chu identifies the underlying idea as resembling the Gu Masters’ Myriad Poisons Body principle; Zhou is not shown acquiring that separate technique 24.
• Spirit stones greatly accelerate both this training and his ordinary cultivation 35 43.
• Successful skin tempering eventually makes ordinary mosquitoes largely ineffective at biting him 43.

Object Possession

Zhou can inhabit objects that Nuomi has possessed. His initial success with a gel pen, after failing to enter an eraser, leads him to investigate the dependence on her ability 95 96.

• Enters stationery and purpose-built miniature figures 95 96.
• Finds upright pens and erasers difficult to control; a simple paper body is too light and gets blown out a window 95 96.
• Builds Zhou You No. 2, a sturdier figure designed for movement and sparring 96.
• Discovers that moving inside the figure strengthens his soul 97.
• Spars with Nuomi under equal physical conditions, where his better technique gives him a slight advantage 97.

Unarmed Combat and Investigation

Duan Yuxian teaches Zhou her own universally applicable methods of generating force, rather than techniques belonging to the True Martial Hall’s protected inheritance 65.

• Learns breathing rhythm, coordinated movement, and transmitting force through his body into a punch 65 67.
• Progresses quickly enough that Duan invites him to join her sect 65.
• Identifies the predictable windup of his physical attacks and switches to invisible soul attacks against Sun Cheng 67.
• Exposes Yu Haochen by noticing inconsistencies in his account of Guoguo and the black screen during his supposed telephone call to the landlord 91.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Ming King Body-Refining Art manual — Wenchang’s gift, delivered by a carrier-pigeon spell that transforms into the book 21.
• Spirit stones — Supplies of spiritual energy that sharply accelerate cultivation and skin tempering; their rapid consumption motivates Zhou to seek paid commissions 35 43 57.
• The Vengeful Ghost Compendium — Purchased to identify and understand ghosts. It provides no explanation for Nuomi’s unusual nature 43 52.
• Introduction to Cultivation — Initially bought for Chu Xiaoyao; Zhou later exchanges the finished ghost compendium for it 43 52.
• Zhou You No. 2 — Approximately ten-centimeter vessel assembled from paper, adhesive tape, a piece of eraser, and a toothpick; used for possession training and miniature sparring 96 97.
• Empty pen refills — Saved since his first year of high school and later used as weapons during miniature sparring with Nuomi 99.
• Digital Sect Guide — Sent to him by Duan Yuxian after they exchange QQ details 98.

Relationships

• Chu Xiaoyao — Longtime friend, deskmate, cultivation teacher, and the Carefree Sect’s senior elder. Zhou trusts her cultivation guidance but also tutors her and challenges familiar tall tales. His closeness to her alarms agents who know her as Calamity 1 2 8 32 87.
• Nuomi — Ghost companion and deputy sect master. After their frightened first encounter, Zhou apologizes and invites her to the classroom. They later train together, and he promises to help recover her missing memories 4 5 8 53 97.
• Su Tingxue — Cultivation guide, ghost-hunting partner, and friend. She introduces him to the wider cultivation world and its forum, helps him obtain resources, and benefits from advice he relays from Chu. She later tries to recruit him to Dragon-Tiger Mountain 12 20 29 33 54 68.
• Duan Yuxian — Friend, houseguest, unarmed-combat instructor, and commission partner. Zhou provides shelter after his spell exhausts her allowance and respects her request to keep their acquaintance private. He declines her invitation to join the True Martial Hall 61 65 66 91 94 107.
• Perfected Lord Wenchang — Benefactor who rewards Zhou’s suggestion about overseas politics with the Ming King Body-Refining Art 12 15 21.
• Lian Yi / Tang Shiyin — Demon Alliance adversary secretly posing as his transfer-student neighbor and classmate. Zhou treats Tang as a vulnerable student in need of help, unaware of her infiltration, while her observations deepen her concern about the Carefree Sect 43 49 52 60 95 99.
• Wei Hang — Classmate and school-newspaper writer whose reports distort Zhou’s reputation. His gossip also becomes misleading “intelligence” after the Mind Master hypnotizes him 8 15 35.
• Sun Cheng — Giant Qu Gate disciple and devoted Duan Yuxian fan who challenges Zhou over a forum dispute. Zhou defeats him using body refining and Soul Projection 66 67 68.
• Mind Master and Mighty Warrior — Superpower Organization agents who ambush him. After learning about his relationship with Calamity, they repeatedly consider apologizing out of fear for their lives 18 19 32 87.
• Ghost King Zhenyue — Unrecognized forum client who hires Zhou to stand in for him after an online argument with the Soul King 101 102 103.

Story Role / Major Arcs

School Life and the Carefree Sect

• His new ghost perception brings him into contact with Nuomi in the abandoned dormitory. He strikes her while trying to protect Chu Xiaoyao, then helps resolve the misunderstanding 4 5.
• Chu founds the Carefree Sect and appoints him sect master after persuading him with spicy snacks. Nuomi joins as deputy sect master, bringing membership to three 8.
• Wei Hang’s newspaper article presents the sect as an acrobatics troupe after Zhou describes his “one-ox strength.” Chu later formalizes his appointment with the Jade Seal on the back of a quiz paper 15 48.
• Su and Duan both recognize his unusual talent, but he remains with the Carefree Sect rather than transferring to a major sect 65 68.

Ambushes and Superpower Organization Surveillance

• The Mind Master and Mighty Warrior target Zhou because they associate him with the Ghost King and Humanity’s Supreme Treasure. Zhou initially mistakes them for hired attackers sent by one of Su Tingxue’s jealous admirers 18 19.
• Investigating Wang Chong reveals a separate jealousy-driven ambush involving nine sports-school students. Zhou defeats them and establishes that Wang did not send the earlier, far stronger attackers 20 21.
• Chu identifies the first attackers as agents of the organization she left. Later surveillance repeatedly misreads Zhou’s friendships and Su’s duels with Nuomi as romantic conflict involving Calamity 19 35 84 100.

Commissions and Cultivation Resources

• Helps resolve a Poverty Ghost case, receives a share of the spirit-jade bounty, and enters the invitation-only Cultivation Forum 28 29.
• Pursues further commissions to fund spirit-stone consumption. His work brings him into conflict with Lian Yi and prompts him to study ghost-identification literature 35 43.
• Forwards a historical-information bounty to Su Tingxue and receives part of her reward, unknowingly benefiting from a bounty posted by Lian Yi 54 57.

Forum Rivalry and Sun Cheng’s Challenge

• A casual post supporting Su Tingxue attracts hostile messages from Duan Yuxian’s fans 51 54 64.
• Accepts a rooftop confrontation and trains with Duan beforehand. Against Sun Cheng, he combines Wenchang’s defensive art with newly learned punches and invisible soul attacks 64 65 66 67.
• After the victory, Su warns him about provoking in-person challenges and is astonished that he has already reached mid-stage Qi Refining 68.

Guoguo and Yu Haochen

• Investigates a supernatural apartment with Duan Yuxian and encounters Guoguo, a starving child corpse connected to the Demon Alliance 89 90 91.
• Detects Yu Haochen’s fabricated story and lures him to a secluded hill, where Duan attacks. Yu reveals that he buried Guoguo’s mother, Fang Qi, alive in a coffin 91.
• After the commission, Zhou helps Duan cope with its aftermath and entrusts a ghost-containing talisman to Su for passage during the Ghost Festival. He conceals the traumatic details from Chu and Nuomi with a false story blaming Lian Yi for nonpayment 94.

The Soul King’s Offline Argument

• Accepts a ten-spirit-jade commission to scare a supposed mortal on behalf of the forum user “Ghost King Town” 101 102.
• Meets the Soul King at Starbucks with Chu Xiaoyao and urges him not to turn online historical arguments into real-world fights. Their presence frightens the Soul King into immediately abandoning his position 103.
• The organization subsequently interprets Zhou’s ordinary remarks as coded warnings about Calamity and the Ghost King Zhenyue 104.

Trivia

• His offhand suggestion that Wenchang seek elected office abroad develops into Wenchang’s plan to pursue the United States presidency 12 15 34.
• A forum comment about mosquito training inspires Kunlun elder Lu Tianxing to investigate breeding Foundation Establishment mosquitoes for interrogating a body-refining prisoner 34.
• He initially leaves his phone at home to avoid distractions from studying and cultivation, but later finds the Cultivation Forum difficult to stop browsing 13 29 33 34.
• He rejects the Jade Seal’s dream offer of power because it cannot promise Immortal Emperor status or body tempering capable of surviving the collapse of all worlds 51.