Guan Liang

Biodata

Background / History

Service under Xianyu

Guan Liang accompanied Xianyu from his time as the Yaoqing General through his tenure as Marshal. He witnessed Xianyu’s first battle as general, when Xianyu fought Golems for three days and nights despite repeated fatal injuries. His duties also included mediating civilian disputes, sometimes spending an entire day resolving arguments over a few Credits 329 369 372.

His working relationship with Xianyu combined extraordinary trust with recurring frustration. Guan Liang began drafting a resignation letter while Xianyu was still a general, then continued revising it for so long that he forgot when he had started 369.

Illness and Hua’s Recruitment

While Guan Liang was bedridden and nearing death, Xianyu offered him three alternatives: death at Xianyu’s hands, mechanical ascension through Marty’s proposed technology, or memory erasure by Hua. Guan Liang categorically rejected the first option, unwilling both to die and to make Xianyu kill a subordinate who had served him for thousands of years 222 223.

When he learned how Xianyu had recruited ten-year-old Hua, Guan Liang criticized his threats and failure to ask what she wanted. He subsequently spoke to Hua alone, apologized for frightening her, and explained that memory erasure could help people suffering from mara. Hua agreed after understanding that she could save someone 223 224.

Guan Liang continued advocating for Hua’s childhood and freedom of choice. He persuaded Xianyu to postpone taking her out of school from twelve to fourteen and supported having the generals teach her. Before her coming-of-age ceremony, he warned her that the generals’ devotion to Xianyu would not automatically transfer to his successor 236 254.

Concealing the Marshal’s Blood

The Cauldron Master’s research revealed that the Marshal’s blood could address mara-struck symptoms and the immortality curse. Guan Liang agreed to conceal the discovery, fearing that Xianyu would blame himself for earlier deaths and harm himself to provide a cure 239 240 300.

The concealment required more than suppressing a report. Guan Liang burned bloodstained medical supplies and traded Xianyu’s worn clothes for supplies that officials had kept as treasured possessions. He then covered the missing clothes with a claim that they were disposable and arranged replacements 240 242 243 244.

He also tried to improve Xianyu’s mental state through hobbies, rest, and travel. These efforts included purchasing a guqin, researching calming activities, and secretly arranging for the Astral Express to receive a Planet-Buster Weapon before Xianyu’s journey 233 234 252.

Suspension and the Marshal’s Departure

Xianyu suspended Guan Liang with pay for twenty-one days after recognizing his involvement in concealing the blood’s properties. Guan Liang lost his official access, could not contact Hua or Lan, and could no longer deploy troops during the suspension 275 276 277.

Immediately after reinstatement, Guan Liang traced Xianyu to Xuling through transactions made under his travel identity. There, he learned that Xianyu had left approximately one hundred milliliters of blood for someone to collect. Furious at the implication that Xianyu intended to die, he initially sought to continue the pursuit 281.

Lan explained that the suspension and withdrawal of protective personnel were intended to keep Guan Liang and other subordinates from being held responsible for the Marshal’s departure. Guan Liang accepted the need to erase evidence of his visit, though he subsequently continued searching in secret 281 283.

Disappearance and Funeral

Guan Liang and Hua prepared for the Marshal’s presumed death while controlling when others learned the truth. He persuaded Marty to erase the Neutron Gun’s tracking data, helped compile the funeral guest list, and reported the disappearance to the assembled generals on Xuling 293.

He distributed Xianyu’s farewell letters and read the public letter aloud, including its request that no one investigate the truth or assign blame. Together with Hua, he arranged a ten-day funeral. Lan’s insistence that Xianyu would return frustrated Guan Liang, who feared leaving the generals waiting indefinitely for someone he believed dead 294.

Return, Reconciliation, and Retirement

After Xianyu’s return, Guan Liang again tried to prevent him from leaving with Zandar. Xianyu accused Guan Liang and the Cauldron Master of betrayal and challenged their right to stop him when he had left them a means of freeing themselves. Guan Liang refused to move until Zandar pushed him aside 330.

Their trust nevertheless survived. Xianyu later explicitly identified Guan Liang as “one of us” and affirmed that he trusted him. Guan Liang began cooperating with Zandar when their shared goal became helping Xianyu consider his wedding to Jingliu 345 347.

At the wedding banquet, Guan Liang acknowledged that immortality, accepting death, retaining Xianyu’s blood, and abandoning his own plans to die had all been his choices. He distinguished his resentment toward the Marshal from his feelings toward Xianyu and asked him to “treat me like a person” 362.

Guan Liang eventually retired and planned to return to Yaoqing. He still performed the groomsman’s duties at Xianyu’s wedding and used his remaining administrative access to remove Xianyu from the Luofu Divination Commission 373 374 382.

Appearance

• Usually wears wide-sleeved robes; their roomy sleeves allow him to conceal the Neutron Gun 369.

Personality

Guan Liang is openly critical of Xianyu in his thoughts, frequently swearing at his superior’s recklessness, dark humor, and tendency to decide other people’s futures without consultation. Despite knowing exactly how to wound Xianyu emotionally, he refuses to attack his vulnerabilities merely for the sake of hurting him 223 224.

His concern for Hua is markedly gentler. He explains what Xianyu fails to communicate, reassures her when she is distressed, and argues for giving her time before imposing adult responsibilities. His approach is not entirely selfless: he also fears becoming Marshal himself if Hua refuses the position 224 236 241.

Protectiveness can make him coercive. While searching for Xianyu on Xuling, he threatened hotel staff with interrogation by the Ten-Lords Commission and had a guard hold a sword to the butler’s throat. Lan directly criticized him for involving innocent bystanders 281.

Guan Liang initially considers himself less dependent on Xianyu than the Marshal’s other devoted subordinates. The funeral forces him to recognize that he is equally attached—and capable of the same selfishness and willfulness he condemns in his superior 362.

Abilities & Skills

Strategy and Administration

Guan Liang’s expertise lies in coordinating personnel, managing information, and handling the consequences of Xianyu’s decisions.

• Handles the Marshal’s correspondence with national leaders and wealthy figures across the Starsea 283.
• Coordinates funeral logistics and a potentially enormous foreign guest list 293 294.
• Proposes stricter procedures for lost Jade Abacuses to protect access to Cloud Knight and Six Commissions facilities 371.
• Uses an extreme opening proposal as a negotiating tactic to secure a compromise 371.

Investigation and Concealment

He combines official resources with a detailed understanding of Xianyu’s habits.

• Traces Xianyu through transactions under the Eric identity when he lacks authority to inspect the Marshal’s own account 281.
• Recalls guard patrol routes well enough to avoid them while disposing of medical evidence 240.
• Negotiates shared access to surveillance information from Xianyu’s Jade Abacus and Neutron Gun 267.
• Conceals sensitive discoveries through destroyed supplies, misleading explanations, and altered tracking records 240 244 293.

Reading Xianyu

Thousands of years of service give Guan Liang insight into Xianyu’s emotional defenses and likely decisions.

• Recognizes Xianyu’s concern for Hua even when it is expressed through threats or poor explanations 224.
• Coordinates with Lan to overwhelm Xianyu with sincere praise, knowing that he struggles to respond to it 254.
• Recognizes the risk that knowledge of his blood’s properties will drive Xianyu into guilt and self-destructive decisions 240 300.

Immortality and Combat Limits

Guan Liang’s long life is treated as an undying curse, not a documented cultivation rank or combat advancement 223.

• His immortality does not prevent severe illness or the threat of mara 223 224.
• Mechanical ascension and memory erasure are offered as alternatives; neither is shown being completed in the supplied passages 223.
• He cannot overpower Xianyu: he fails to move a guqin held down by him and later admits that he is no match for him in a fight 233 326.
• He relies on Lan to physically incapacitate Xianyu when intervention becomes necessary 244.

Equipment / Items

• Jade Abacus — Used for official access, communications, investigations, and personal notes; confiscated during his suspension 276 281 369.
• Marshal’s Jade Abacus — Entrusted to him for diplomatic correspondence; later contains Hua’s recorded birthday greeting and Xianyu’s final route data 281 283 293.
• Combination-lock case — Carries a sample of Xianyu’s blood during his meeting with Zandar 347.
• Neutron Gun — Temporarily receives it from Aha, conceals it in his sleeve, and returns it to Xianyu 369.
• Annual-party prizes — Wins fishing grounds, real estate, and a Stellar Destroyer 226.

Relationships

• Xianyu — Long-serving superior and trusted confidant. Their bond survives concealment, suspension, accusations of betrayal, and persistent mutual teasing 277 330 345 362.
• Hua — Successor whose education and emotional well-being he helps protect; later works alongside her as Marshal 224 236 293 371.
• Lan / Mountain Breeze — Former subordinate and colleague before becoming an Aeon. Guan Liang cared for Lan’s mother during his forced slumber and feels little reverence toward him as a god 281.
• Former Cauldron Master — Co-conspirator in concealing the Marshal’s blood. After his death, Guan Liang anonymously supports his grandson’s clinic and seeks photographs and information for a memorial statue 239 240 372.
• Marty — Technical collaborator in surveillance and data concealment; their cooperation often requires argument and persuasion 267 281 293.
• Zandar — Initially hostile enough that Guan Liang sends battleships after him under the pretense of an escort. Later cooperates with him over Xianyu’s marriage, while admitting that he cannot match his intelligence 305 347.
• Jingliu — Xianyu’s wife. Guan Liang welcomes someone capable of keeping his former superior in check and assists at their wedding 345 374.
• Aha — The Aeon whose trick led Guan Liang and Xianyu to eat the fruit of Abundance; Guan Liang later exchanges barbed remarks with him and insists that visiting Aeons follow Xianzhou rules 362 369.

Alternate Timeline

“Blasphemy” IF Side Story

• Visits the Luofu to help Xianyu through the Wardance preparations and questions Teng Xiao about the hastily assembled Guard Corps 413.
• Removes activities involving bloodshed, mara-struck individuals, or Abominations of Abundance from Xianyu’s itinerary 413.
• Investigates Jingliu’s upbringing while trying to understand her interest in Xianyu, then teases him after finding her cloak at his residence 413.
• Is assigned to receive Zandar at the Wardance 413.

Notable Quotes

“Is something wrong with you? Can’t I just stay alive?” 223

“He’s domineering and stubborn, self-centered and willful, but there’s one thing I won’t deny. In all these thousands of years, no one could have done better than him.” 254

“Treat me like a person, Xianyu.” 362

Trivia

• Initially rejects divination, horoscopes, and karmic predictions. Exposure to Xianyu gradually changes his attitude, and the Tarot Reader’s warnings about grief convince him that an unfavorable reading can be accurate 239 240.
• Xianyu addresses his farewell letter simply “To the Chief Strategist”, having forgotten Guan Liang’s name while writing it 289.
• Despite repeatedly denying any affinity with Marshal fanatics, he poses as one to recover bloodstained medical supplies 243.
• After ten beagles sent by Xianyu wreck his garden and koi pond—and one produces ten puppies—he proposes a “Xianyu Victims’ Alliance” 384.
• Plans retaliation by donating eight hundred billion to install statues of Xian Zhiyu throughout the Xianzhou’s cavern abodes; Hua agrees to proceed 384.
• A story read by Xianyu depicts Guan Liang dying, but the narration explicitly distinguishes that fictional death from the living Guan Liang raising a beagle on Yaoqing 393.