Gu He

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Reputation in the Jia Ma Empire

Gu He’s position as the empire’s only sixth-grade alchemist made his services exceptionally valuable. The Jia Ma Imperial Family spent enormous sums on ingredients and fees to obtain eight Dou Ling Pills from him, completing the undertaking after three years 26.

Both the imperial family and the Misty Cloud Sect had previously tried to recruit him with generous resources, but neither succeeded. Jia Xingtian nevertheless introduced him as “Guest Elder Gu He” during their visit to the Snake-People Holy City 28 40.

Heavenly Flame Negotiation and Capture

Gu He accompanied Jia Xingtian and Emperor Jia Ye to the Holy City, where the imperial delegation delivered the eight Dou Ling Pills. His own purpose was to investigate reports that the Snake-People Tribe had discovered a Heavenly Flame in the Tagor Desert 28.

He offered one Transformation Pill and four Emperor’s Extreme Pills for the flame, then increased the latter to five. Chen Xuan refused and demonstrated alchemy through a newly refined Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill. Recognizing an apparent peak fourth-grade alchemist in Queen Medusa, Gu He accepted that she had reason to retain the flame and abandoned the negotiation 29.

After his departure, Chen Xuan sent Snake Ji, Ji Xuan, Yue Mei, and Mo Bass to capture him alive. Gu He briefly evaded their senses with a Concealment Pill and fled toward a human city, but the two Dou Emperors and two Dou Wangs caught and surrounded him. His offer to surrender his valuable pills in exchange for release was rejected 30 31.

Joining the Snake-People Tribe

Brought back with his cultivation sealed, Gu He initially refused to join a nonhuman faction. His attitude changed when Chen Xuan showed him a beast-skin scroll containing a ninth-grade alchemist’s refining insights and promised further knowledge in return for service 32 33.

Gu He knelt and accepted the offer, weighing both the opportunity to advance his alchemy and his fear that refusing after learning such a secret would cost him his life. Chen Xuan granted him honored-guest status equal to the Eight Leaders. Gu He then offered his remaining pill collection to the tribe 33.

Chen Xuan allowed him to retain an Emperor-Breaking Pill and one Emperor’s Extreme Pill for his own advancement, while granting him alchemy insights covering work up to the seventh grade 34.

Service and Growing Loyalty

During the next three months, Gu He divided his time between refining pills for the tribe and studying the scroll. He found that the snake-people respected him rather than discriminating against him. His pills reduced injuries associated with hunting expeditions and improved breakthrough success rates, earning widespread gratitude 38.

Gu He subsequently helped prepare for the absorption of the Green Lotus Core Flame. He identified Gute as a source of the missing Ice Spirit Cold Spring, accompanied Medusa and Yue Mei to Black Rock City, and used his Alchemist Guild acquaintances to locate him. After the spring was seized, Gu He successfully refined the Blood Lotus Pill 39 40 42 47.

He later accompanied Chen Xuan to Mo City and witnessed Hai Bodong’s submission and restoration. When Chen Xuan extended the same thirty-year service arrangement to him, Gu He gladly accepted the prospect of eventual freedom alongside the promised rewards 48 50.

Appearance

• Wears an alchemist’s robe bearing a sixth-grade insignia with six markings. Black Rock City onlookers recognize him from this badge and his unique standing within the empire 41.

Personality

Gu He is proud of his professional standing and initially treats recruitment by the Snake-People Tribe as unthinkable. His earlier rejection of offers from major human powers reinforces that independence. Under threat, however, he is pragmatic: he attempts concealment, escape, bribery, and finally cooperation rather than fighting opponents he cannot overcome 31 32 40.

His dedication to alchemy can overwhelm his composure. Reading the ninth-grade master’s insights leaves him trembling with excitement, and he values the possibility of learning from them above even obtaining a Heavenly Flame 32 33.

His allegiance develops beyond reluctant submission. Respectful treatment, improved skills, and the tribe’s unity lead him to admire Medusa’s leadership. By the time Hai Bodong joins, Gu He confidently predicts that her name will resound across the Northwest Continent within ten years; Hai Bodong notes that Gu He is not normally a flatterer 38 50.

Abilities & Skills

Sixth-Grade Alchemy

Gu He is the only documented sixth-grade alchemist in the Jia Ma Empire during these events 26 40.

• Pill refinement: Produced the imperial family’s eight Dou Ling Pills and later successfully refined the Blood Lotus Pill needed for Heavenly Flame absorption 26 47.
• Quality assessment: Recognized Chen Xuan’s Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill as freshly refined, with quality approaching the fifth grade 29.
• Flame and ingredient knowledge: Identified the significance of Chen Xuan’s tangible flame and knew that Gute possessed Ice Spirit Cold Spring 29 39.
• Improved technique: Studying the inherited insights sharpened his temperature control, flame control, and pill-refining procedures without a confirmed promotion to seventh grade 38 40.

Dou Wang Cultivation

• Can manifest Dou Qi Wings and travel through the air when his cultivation is unsealed 32 39.
• His late-stage Dou Wang speed is insufficient to escape pursuing Dou Emperors 31.
• Chen Xuan considers him close to reaching Dou Emperor, but he remains a Dou Wang when Hai Bodong’s strength is restored 34 50.

Pill-Assisted Survival and Combat

• Concealment: Uses a Concealment Pill to temporarily hide his presence from Snake Ji and the other pursuers 31.
• Emergency reserves: Carries pills for healing, restoring Dou Qi, and enhancing strength 33.
• Combat potential: The tribe’s experts judge that his pill reserves could make a desperate counterattack dangerous even to stronger opponents. This is an assessment, not a demonstrated Dou Emperor breakthrough 33.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Storage Ring — Holds roughly a dozen medicine bottles when he presents his reserves to the tribe 33.
• Beast-Skin Scroll — Contains a ninth-grade alchemist’s insights covering refinement up to seventh grade; access to further knowledge is promised in exchange for service 33 34.
• Transformation Pill — A seventh-grade pill capable of granting human form to a magical beast below Dou Zong. Offered during the flame negotiation, then surrendered to the tribe and given to Yue Mei 29 33 34.
• Five Emperor’s Extreme Pills — Each can raise a Dou Emperor’s cultivation by one star. Chen Xuan lets Gu He keep one and distributes four to the tribe’s elders 29 33 34.
• Emperor-Breaking Pill — Increases a peak Dou Wang’s chances of reaching Dou Emperor; retained for Gu He’s own advancement 33 34.
• Burning Qi Pill — A peak sixth-grade pill that temporarily brings a Dou Wang to peak Dou Wang or raises a Dou Emperor by three stars. Gu He possesses one but is not shown using it 33.
• Supporting pills — His offerings include Spirit-Restoring, Recovery, Dragon Strength, Qi-Nourishing, and Qi Cultivation Pills 33.

Relationships

• Chen Xuan / Queen Medusa — His recruiter and superior. Gu He understands the person directing his recruitment as Medusa and does not demonstrate knowledge of their shared body. His initial resentment becomes admiration through access to alchemy knowledge, respectful treatment, and promises of a future Heavenly Flame 32 33 38 39 40.
• Yue Mei — Fellow servant of Medusa with equal standing. She participates in his capture, later thanks him for the Transformation Pill, and accompanies him on subsequent missions 31 38 39 48.
• Snake Ji and Ji Xuan — Elders who lead his capture. Snake Ji seals and later restores his cultivation 31 32.
• Jia Xingtian and Jia Ye — Members of the imperial delegation he accompanies to the Holy City; the imperial family had paid for his refinement of the eight Dou Ling Pills 26 28.
• Frank and Otto — Alchemist Guild acquaintances who help locate Gute. Both are astonished to learn that Gu He has joined the Snake-People Tribe 40.
• Gute — Possesses the Ice Spirit Cold Spring Gu He unsuccessfully sought to purchase with an Emperor-Breaking Pill. Gu He later accompanies Medusa when she takes it by force 39 42.
• Hai Bodong — Recognizes him in Mo City and becomes a fellow servant of the tribe. Gu He encourages him to view his submission as a decision he will eventually appreciate 48 50.

Notable Quotes

“A fine bird chooses its tree to roost in. I've joined the Snake-People Tribe. I'm no longer the Pill King Gu He whose name resounded throughout the Jia Ma Empire!” 40

“Rest assured, Your Majesty. I, Gu He, swear that for these thirty years, I will bend my back and exhaust every ounce of strength in service to the Snake-People Tribe!” 50

Trivia

• In an author’s note, the writer acknowledges forgetting that Gute was Gu He’s older brother in the source novel and states that this adaptation changes that part of the character setting rather than revising the existing scenes 40.