Jiang Che

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Jiang Che (江彻)
Species/Race	Human; initially an ordinary mortal 3.
Gender	Male
Origin	A distant, unregistered branch of the Jiang clan of Willow Source County 2 15.
Affiliation	Azure Mystic Sect; promised entry to Jingxiao Peak upon reaching Qi Refining. He has severed ties with the Jiang clan 16 25 84.
Occupation/Role	Registered disciple of Azure Mystic; cultivator and swordsman 25 86.
Cultivation	Mid Embryonic Breath, at the Transforming Force stage; still below Full Aperture 28 80 90.
Status	Alive; investigating the circumstances surrounding Li Qiubai and Yan Shicheng 92.
Family	Father: Jiang He; mother: Wang Qin; clan uncle: Jiang Weichuan 2 22.
Special Circumstance	Transmigrator with access to a Pure White consciousness space and repeatable time-fragment instances 14 17 48.

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Mortal — initial physical enhancement	5	A Grade C instance reward supplies one wisp of Primordial Origin First Spirit, which enters his body and passively improves his physical condition.
Early Embryonic Breath — entry into cultivation	8 9 14	His two complementary breathing methods activate the dormant spirit essence, producing controllable inner force and greatly increased physical strength. Others describe this as a one-night breakthrough; Jiang Che considers the actual transition instantaneous.
Early Embryonic Breath — strengthened foundation	21	Consumes six wisps of Primordial Origin First Spirit over half a month. His inner qi becomes nearly comparable to Jiang Weichuan’s, though he has not yet reached Transforming Force.
Mid Embryonic Breath — Transforming Force	28	Breaks through after eight months using Transforming Force Powder and ten spirit wisps. The powder costs his entire savings of 400 spirit-stone fragments.

Background and History

Jiang Che is a transmigrator whose predecessor grew up at the Jiang ancestral estate. His branch had gone generations without producing another cultivator and gradually lost its recognized standing: his grandfather still received the generation name “Yun,” but his father was denied both a generational name and entry in the genealogy. Jiang Che likewise stood outside the clan’s naming order and register 2 14 15.

Jiang Weichuan brought him to Willow Source’s Azure Mystic establishment as an unranked disciple awaiting registration. This help arose from an old connection between Weichuan’s father and Jiang Che’s grandfather, reinforced by Jiang Che’s quick wit, sensible conduct, and sturdy constitution 2 13.

During the Willow Source crisis, the Jiang clan expelled Jiang Che’s parents, leaving them in a field cellar previously used to store sweet potatoes. After discovering their treatment, he collected them and moved them toward the county seat. The elders offered reconciliation once they learned of his cultivation and sect prospects, but he refused and formally severed his family’s ties with the clan 15 16.

Personality

Jiang Che is cautious about information, particularly when dealing with cultivators capable of detecting lies. He frequently tells technically accurate but incomplete accounts, allowing listeners to infer an explanation that conceals his consciousness space. When silence is safer, he accepts it rather than inventing a story 3 8 49 74 89.

He treats independence as worth material hardship. He rejects Jiang clan support because he expects the clan to exploit his reputation or burden him with obligations. His gratitude is directed toward individuals who actually help him: he protects Jiang Weichuan despite serious injuries, publicly credits his friends’ achievements, and gives Liu Mo room to demonstrate his abilities during an assessment 10 17 80 86.

His attitude toward instance participants depends strongly on their conduct. He admires Chunji’s compassion and wants to save him, while feeling no guilt about eliminating the hostile factions in Willow Source Old Dream. Although he respects Chunji as a teacher, he does not wish to emulate his absolute selflessness or become a monk 53 79 81 89.

Abilities and Skills

Pure White Space and Time Fragments

Jiang Che can send his consciousness into a pure-white space containing access points to repeatable historical instances. These journeys provide information about the past and graded rewards, including techniques, cultivation insights, and spirit essence 7 17 20.

• Energy cost: Willow Source Old Dream costs ten transmigration-energy points per entry; Little Hidden Temple costs thirty 72 84.
• Energy replenishment: He absorbs energy from recently deceased cultivators at Embryonic Breath or above, even when someone else killed them. Ordinary human deaths did not replenish him during his first battlefield test 10 11.
• Monster-derived energy: Embryonic Breath demon monsters also provide energy. Gains vary substantially by the deceased being’s strength and nature 54 59 72.
• Consumable preservation: Items brought into an instance remain unchanged in reality even if expended inside it. This permits repeated use of the same talisman and risk-free testing of spirit detonations within instances 21 28.
• Transfer limits: Chunji’s gift of Buddha nature does not itself carry into reality, but Jiang Che retains its remembered sensations and insight 54.
• Instance boundaries: Willow Source Old Dream ends at dawn or when he reaches its spatial boundary 20 81.
• Uncertain origin: He suspects instances may appear when a related disaster is about to threaten him, but has not established their formation rules 48 86.

Instance	Setting or access point	Documented gains and outcomes
Willow Source Old Dream	Liu Bingyuan’s escape from Willow Source forty years earlier; accessed through an azure-lit floor tile 3 17.	Provides breathing-method instruction, cultivation insights, a Blazing Fire Spirit Talisman, spirit wisps, and Spirit Sight of Subtlety. A Jia result can award nine wisps; both saving Liu Bingyuan and eliminating the escape party produce that rating 7 20 21 28 81 92.
Little Hidden Temple	Chunji’s confrontation with the Demon Sword fourteen years before Jiang Che’s Ailin mission 53 66.	Supplies Buddhist instruction, Candlelight Thousand-Jin Finger, Iron Body Without Leakage, and spirit wisps. Chunji’s sacrifice remains unchanged in the documented attempts 48 53 67.
Stone-cauldron instance	An ancient cauldron in Instructor Yan’s alchemy room; its historical events involve Li Qiubai and Yan Shicheng 86 89 91.	Jiang Che confronts Yan Shicheng and receives his cultivation insights, especially knowledge of opening apertures 91 92.

Primordial Origin First Spirit

This rare instance reward supports Jiang Che’s cultivation and can be expended for immediate combat power. Its demonstrated transformations extend beyond his ordinary wood-aspected cultivation 21 54 91.

• Cultivation aid: Helps him enter Embryonic Breath, strengthen his foundation, and reach Transforming Force 8 21 28.
• Combat restoration and enhancement: Detonating a wisp fills him with high-quality spiritual power, restoring his strength and amplifying techniques 21 56.
• Adaptive essence: Becomes wood-aspected essence, Sarira Sandalwood Chant Essence for the Bodhi Heart Lamp, and other essences suited to his sword and finger techniques 21 54 91.
• Concealment: Unconverted wisps remain intact inside him without a detectable aura, even before Foundation Establishment cultivators 81 84.
• Limits: Converted essence must be expended or absorbed into inner force; it does not remain stored like the original spirit. Real-world use consumes the resource 73 81.
• Unknown potential: Jiang Che suspects it can transform into every kind of spirit essence, but has not verified that full range 53.

Cultivation Methods

Jiang Che initially cultivates two closely related wood-aspected Embryonic Breath methods together. Their combined properties give him unusual speed, agility, and renewing inner force 8 10 21.

• Azurefall Wind-Dew Embryonic Breath Method: A middle eighth-grade instance reward, also called Azure Heaven Wind Dew in the supplied passages. Jiang Che initially fears that its connection to the defeated Sky Pillar Sect could expose him 7 20.
• Upper Azure Smoke Cloud Embryonic Breath Method: Azure Mystic’s introductory method, awarded by Du Yongchang for finding the concealed teleportation array 8.
• Upper Azure Expounding Heaven Method: Identified as Jiang Che’s practiced method by Li Qiubai during their later discussion; its acquisition is not described in the provided material 89.

Azure Torrent Sword Art

A twelve-form Embryonic Breath sword art assigned through Luo Wenling and demonstrated by Du Yongchang. Jiang Che grasps its principles of rooted force, continuous motion, and deceptive variation; by his third practice run, he shows genuine understanding 12 13 14.

Form	Documented application
Cloud-Wrapped Empty Valley	The art’s strongest defensive form; maintains a tight guard and redirects hostile force 24 65 90.
Smoke Across the Wild Ferry	Defense suited to multiple opponents 57.
Wind Leaves No Trace	Guides the body with the sword, enabling evasive movement and counterattacks 24 45 91.
Rosy Clouds Through the Gap	Elusive movement through crowded melees, supporting prolonged fighting 57 65.
Endless Rainy Night	Continuous attacks that wear down an opponent’s strength 57.
Returning Tides Fold Greenery	Turns Wan Xiaoxi’s retreating momentum against him 24.
Moonlight in the Forest	Delivers the decisive swordpoint finish against Wan Xiaoxi 24.
Mist Shrouds the Tower	Blends real and illusory movement to confuse an opponent’s senses 91.

• The art excels at defense, agility, and counterattacks, but initially leaves Jiang Che wanting a more forceful initiating attack 48.
• Cultivation insights from Jiang Yunwei accelerate his sword training despite Yunwei having practiced a different sword art 20.
• Spirit essence suited to the art strengthens its wind, cloud, mist, and rain characteristics 57 65.

Candlelight Thousand-Jin Finger

A seventh-grade Buddhist technique received after a D-Rank Little Hidden Temple attempt. The reward grants preliminary mastery, bypassing an entry hurdle Jiang Che believes could otherwise require years of Buddhist study 48.

• Supplies a concentrated killing strike that complements his more defensive swordsmanship 48.
• Kills Transforming Force demon monsters and, with Hu Yan’s support, seriously wounds a Gang Force monster at its weak point 56 59.
• Can threaten a Full Aperture cultivator when reinforced with suitable spirit essence 91.
• Force cost: At his strength during the patrol ambush, three full-power uses would exhaust his inner force 56.

Bodhi Heart Lamp

Chunji teaches Jiang Che this Buddhist art to help identify the Demon Sword’s accomplice. Jiang Che forms an unlit lamp by converting Primordial Origin First Spirit into Sarira Sandalwood Chant Essence; it ignites during the patrol ambush 52 54 56.

• Spiritual perception: Detects demonic, evil, and monstrous energy, as well as malicious thoughts 52 56.
• Combat awareness: Reveals murderous intent and helps identify a Gang Force monster’s weak point 59 91.
• Mental protection: Preserves clarity during Puxin’s fabricated-memory assault; an essence-powered surge burns away the false memories 65 66.
• Limited thought-reading: Initially sees only what a target is thinking at that moment. Detection by the target can interrupt the attempt and strain Jiang Che’s lamp 57.
• Resistance: It cannot automatically overcome a determined captive; Jiang Che needs Heart-Questioning Powder to create an opening against Zhang Guilu 61 74.
• Disclosure restriction: Chunhui places a restriction on Jiang Che forbidding him from divulging White Dragon Temple’s supreme arts 78 79.

Other Learned Arts

• Iron Body Without Leakage — Grade Seven: A Buddhist instance reward intended to improve physique, resistance to blows, and protective force. It is newly acquired and unusable in his immediate battle when awarded 67.
• True Dharma scripture: Chunji teaches him how to use the blood array and recitation near the Demon Sword to weaken its Evil Spirit. Jiang Che uses the Perfectly Adorned Sutra of Cyclic Transference and Prophecy to disrupt Puxin’s Reverse Dharma power 67 68.
• Spirit Sight of Subtlety: Learned from a Willow Source Old Dream reward, but not prioritized because Jiang Che regards the Bodhi Heart Lamp as more versatile 92.

Comprehension and Acquired Insights

Jiang Che distinguishes exceptional comprehension from innate constitution: he considers his root bone merely above average, with resources and special advantages making him appear more naturally gifted 89.

• Jiang Yunwei’s insights: Provide years of understanding concerning inner-force refinement, Transforming Force, and swordsmanship 20.
• Liu Bingyi’s insights: Obtained during his eight months of secluded sect training 28.
• Yan Shicheng’s insights: Particularly useful for aperture opening, with additional martial and alchemical knowledge 92.
• Historical investigation: Uses gazetteers, terrain observation, survivor inquiries, and repeated instance runs to connect past events with present threats 3 6 49 92.

Equipment and Items

• Iron sword: Gifted by Du Yongchang after the sword lesson. Its blade is over three feet long, with a hemp-wrapped hilt and pearl-like counterweight; it is a fine mundane weapon, not a magic artifact or spiritual weapon 14.
• Blazing Fire Spirit Talisman: A single-use reward that projects scorching gang force over thirty feet, equivalent to a Full Aperture cultivator’s strike. It can kill a Transforming Force opponent, but is not sufficient by itself against every Full Aperture enemy 20.
• Storage pouch: Given by Luo Wenling as an advance against Jiang Che’s earned prize 25.
• Disciple waist token: Issued at Verdant Mist Hall; permits collection of his allotment and entry to or departure from the lower compound 25.
• Transforming Force Powder: Purchased for 400 spirit-stone fragments and consumed during his breakthrough 28.
• Heart-Questioning Powder: Supplied by Du Yongchang for interrogating Zhang Guilu; used to break down the prisoner’s mental defenses 61.
• Tin Staff: Temporarily seized from Puxin’s blood formation and used in the scripture-based countermeasure 68.

Relationships

• Jiang He and Wang Qin — Parents. Jiang Che removes them from the clan estate after their expulsion and assumes responsibility for their welfare 15 16 22.
• Jiang Weichuan — Clan uncle, sponsor, and trusted supporter. Helps him find a livelihood, backs his explanations, supports his training, and promises to protect his parents 2 8 13 17.
• Jiang clan of Willow Source — Estranged lineage. Jiang Che rejects reconciliation and resources after the clan abandons his family during the crisis 16 17 28.
• Du Yongchang — First cultivation instructor and an initially frightening superior. Their relationship becomes warmer after Ailin, where Du protects him, delegates authority, and publicly defends his merits 8 13 73 81.
• Luo Wenling — Senior sponsor and escort to Azure Mystic. Secures his admission, protects him from local scheming, and later becomes a potential source of protection against a suspected senior adversary 12 24 25 92.
• Yu Cheng — True disciple who recognizes Jiang Che’s discovery and rapid entry into cultivation; his earlier selection helps establish Jiang Che’s claim to Jingxiao 12 79.
• Zhang Erguo — Close friend and life-and-death companion. Their first encounter involves attempted extortion, but they later face Ailin together and repeatedly aid one another 25 31 58 71 89.
• Hu Yan — Senior sister, trusted battlefield partner, and friend. Jiang Che helps save her from a Gang Force monster, while she protects him and supports him during the subsequent investigation 59 60 73 80.
• Chunji — Buddhist teacher encountered in Little Hidden Temple. Jiang Che trusts his compassion, learns several arts from him, and vows to alter his tragic ending 53 67 89.
• Li Qiubai — Historical cultivator whom Jiang Che regards as a potential kindred spirit. Their discussions are mutually inspiring; Li’s premature death strengthens Jiang Che’s determination to survive 88 89 92.
• Yan We iwan — Sect acquaintance and dining companion who seeks his help over Zhang Erguo’s dangerous plans and later admits him to her father’s alchemy room 29 31 86.
• Yan Shicheng — Superior opponent within the stone-cauldron instance. Jiang Che defeats and interrogates him, but Yan commits suicide before disclosing the full truth 90 91.
• Puxin — An innocent novice in the temple’s past and an evil monk in the present. His corrupted Buddhist arts nearly overwhelm Jiang Che, who ultimately helps bring about his defeat 53 65 68.

Story Role and Major Arcs

Willow Source Investigation and First Cultivation

Jiang Che compares the county gazetteer’s account of Liu Bingyuan’s death with what he witnesses in the past. Repeated journeys reveal the Jiang brothers’ rebellion and allow him to memorize the escape cave’s surroundings. He uses that information to guide the real-world search to a concealed Sky Pillar teleportation array on North Luan Mountain 3 6 7 8.

The discovery earns him Du Yongchang’s cultivation method and a prospect of sect admission. He enters Embryonic Breath, survives his first deadly fight by closing inside a spear-wielder’s reach, and discovers that recently dead cultivators replenish his world-crossing energy 8 9 10 11.

Clearing Willow Source Old Dream

Once trained in swordsmanship, Jiang Che repeatedly revisits Liu Bingyuan’s escape. He eventually intercepts Liu Bingyi’s betrayal and uses the Blazing Fire Spirit Talisman to kill him. Keeping Liu Bingyuan alive until dawn earns a Jia rating and nine spirit wisps 17 18 20 21.

He later discovers a second successful route: manipulate the factions into destroying one another, then kill the remaining participants. This also earns Jia, making Willow Source Old Dream an efficient source of spirit essence 81 84.

Admission to Azure Mystic

Jiang Che’s special admission displaces the Wan clan’s expected nomination berth. Wan Xiaoxi challenges him, but Jiang Che withstands the assault, exploits his impatience, and ends the duel with a sword at his throat. Luo Wenling then escorts him to Azure Mystic, where he is registered under ordinary disciple rules 22 24 25.

Eight months of cultivation, modest sect chores, and instance rewards culminate in his Transforming Force breakthrough. With his savings and cultivation aids largely exhausted, he chooses to join the hazardous Ailin assignment 28 31.

Ailin, Little Hidden Temple, and the Demon Sword

The Little Hidden Temple instance gives Jiang Che both Buddhist techniques and evidence that the Demon Sword’s calamity follows a seven-year cycle. Suspecting another disaster, he recruits Hu Yan and Zhang Erguo to investigate despite being unable to disclose his true source 48 49.

A coordinated patrol ambush exposes army officers allied with demon monsters. Jiang Che’s newly lit Bodhi Heart Lamp reveals Qian Ze’s betrayal, and the survivors trace the orders toward Zhang Guilu and the hooded Master, Puxin 56 57 58 60 62.

Against Puxin, Jiang Che returns to Chunji for a countermeasure. The resulting scripture weakens Puxin and the Evil Spirit, helping the senior cultivators seal the Demon Sword. Jiang Che’s accumulated energy reaches 525 points, but his unexplained knowledge also subjects him to official questioning 67 68 71 72 73.

He survives that inquiry through carefully limited truths. Chunhui subsequently restricts disclosure of the Buddhist supreme arts, while Azure Mystic’s elders compete to recruit Jiang Che. His existing ties to Yu Cheng and Luo Wenling secure Ji Qi’s promise of entry to Jingxiao once he reaches Qi Refining 74 78 79 84.

Stone Cauldron and Li Qiubai’s Fate

After returning from Ailin, Jiang Che excels at the branch academy assessment and discovers another instance through an ancient stone cauldron. Within its historical setting, he befriends Li Qiubai and confronts Yan Shicheng, using spirit-enhanced techniques and his talisman to overcome the stronger cultivator 86 89 90 91.

Yan’s suicide leaves the underlying betrayal unresolved. Jiang Che studies the aperture-opening insights awarded afterward, replenishes his resources through Willow Source Old Dream, and sends inquiries to Du Yongchang and Luo Wenling. His theory that Yan betrayed Li to obtain help for his pregnant wife remains a conjecture, not an established fact 92.