Wang Dun

Biodata

Background / History

Alchemy ambitions

Wang Dun hoped that his metal, fire, and wood spiritual roots would allow him to become an accomplished alchemist and make cultivation easier. He purchased an alchemy furnace for over fifty spirit stones, but several attempts convinced him that he lacked the aptitude. Despite regretting the expense, he kept the furnace because he still hoped to succeed someday 35.

Recruiting He Pingsheng

Wang Dun met He Pingsheng at the Outer Sect Hall while seeking someone to tend Spirit Medicine Valley’s Blazing Sun Flowers. Initially doubtful that a fourth-level Qi Refining cultivator could handle the work, he reconsidered after inspecting He Pingsheng’s unusually pure fire spiritual power. A second test in the valley revealed high-grade fire spiritual power—better than that of some previous candidates at the seventh or eighth level 28.

He brought He Pingsheng before True Person Withered Wood, who authorized him to finish the flowers’ remaining three-month season. Wang Dun then explained the formation, pollen harvesting, and cave accommodation, offering thirty jin of spirit rice each month if He Pingsheng needed it 28 29.

Pollen test and market journey

Before leaving the sect, Withered Wood instructed Wang Dun to accompany He Pingsheng to Horsehead Mountain and deliver the final pollen harvest to Abundant Harmony Manor. Wang Dun periodically checked on He Pingsheng during the elder’s absence 30.

After the harvest, Wang Dun proposed secretly keeping half a bottle and sharing the proceeds. When He Pingsheng rejected the plan, citing the risk of discovery and the pollen’s short shelf life, Wang Dun revealed that the offer had been a loyalty test. He handed over three spirit stones prepared by Withered Wood and warned that failure would have earned He Pingsheng a severe beating 30 31.

Wang Dun flew them to Horsehead Mountain on a Paper Crane and introduced He Pingsheng to the market. At Abundant Harmony Manor, Shopkeeper Liu valued their eleven containers as ten and a half bottles of low-grade pollen, worth 1,008 spirit stones, and issued a signed, sealed receipt 31 32.

Loan and farewell

While browsing the market, Wang Dun wanted to buy twelve low-grade Qi-Gathering Pills for twenty spirit stones. He borrowed three stones from He Pingsheng and, upon returning to Spirit Medicine Valley, left his alchemy furnace as collateral 32 33.

When He Pingsheng’s seasonal work ended, Wang Dun reassured him that Withered Wood was not rejecting him and promised to select him again if a caretaker was needed the following year. He left the furnace in He Pingsheng’s care, insisting that he would redeem it once he could repay the loan. Four months later, he still had not contacted him 35.

Death and legacy

He Pingsheng learned of Wang Dun’s death while trying to send him a message about using the furnace. An Outer Sect Hall disciple said that Wang Dun had been killed in a fight outside and that the killer was reportedly an Inner Disciple from Bamboo Peak. The informant did not know the killer’s identity and described Wang Dun as having no master or protection 37.

He Pingsheng abandoned the debt and felt no pleasure at acquiring the furnace. Wang Dun’s death, following Hao Yun’s, deepened his bitterness over the treatment of Outer Disciples. He wondered whether Linglong was responsible, but her involvement was not established 37.

After confirming the death through further inquiries, He Pingsheng enhanced Wang Dun’s furnace with the Treasure-Gathering Basin. It became two supreme-grade furnaces, enabling his subsequent pill-refining efforts 37 38.

Appearance

• Plump build: His hand is described as small and chubby, and the flesh on his face twitches when he discusses the cost of his furnace 32 35.

Personality

Wang Dun is approachable and willing to teach. He answers He Pingsheng’s questions about pollen and talisman ink, offers help with food, reassures him during his first flight, and comforts him when his valley assignment ends 29 31 35.

He is also cautious about theft and market risks. He monitors the pollen work, carries out Withered Wood’s loyalty test, warns against intrusive divine-sense probing, and stops He Pingsheng from impulsively buying seeds of uncertain authenticity 30 31 32.

His ambitions are constrained by money. He envies He Pingsheng’s reward, longs for a Storage Bag, and borrows spirit stones to buy cultivation pills. Nevertheless, he provides valuable collateral and repeatedly stresses that he intends to honor his debt 30 32 33 35.

Abilities & Skills

Spiritual Plant Care

Wang Dun understands the Blazing Sun Flowers’ maintenance requirements and trains their replacement caretaker 28 29.

• Explains how fire spiritual power sustains the flowers through a formation’s energy hub 29.
• Identifies the hub’s replenishment intervals: crimson lasts one day, yellow three days, and gold seven days. He does not know the purple state’s duration 29.
• Instructs He Pingsheng to harvest pollen every three to five days, grind it, and surrender the entire yield to Withered Wood 29.
• Knows that the pollen is mixed with beast blood to make ink for second-grade Blazing Fire Talismans 29.

Paper Crane Control

• Activates a Paper Crane with spiritual power and controls its speed and direction while carrying He Pingsheng 31.
• Plans the market round trip within a single activation’s one-day duration to conserve uses 32.

Cultivation-World Knowledge

• Explains Horsehead Mountain’s role as a market for the Daoist Profound Alliance’s sect disciples and rogue cultivators 31.
• Warns that casually probing strangers with divine sense can provoke fights, sometimes fatal ones 31.
• Describes Storage Bag capacities, the adjustable internal space of advanced bags, and Spirit Beast Bags used to carry immortal pets 32 50.
• Recognizes that genuine Blazing Sun Flower seeds would still require suitable growing conditions, not merely fire spiritual power 32.

Equipment / Items

• Alchemy Furnace — A palm-sized bronze, low-grade magical artifact with one layer of restrictions. Purchased for over fifty spirit stones and pledged against a three-stone loan; it remained with He Pingsheng after Wang Dun’s death 33 35 38.
• Paper Crane — Given to him by Withered Wood for the pollen delivery; used for the journey to Horsehead Mountain and back 30 31 33.
• Qi-Gathering Pills — Bought twelve low-grade pills for twenty spirit stones after borrowing from He Pingsheng 32 33.

Relationships

• He Pingsheng — Junior sect brother, trainee, traveling companion, and creditor. Wang Dun introduces him to valley work and Horsehead Mountain; He Pingsheng grieves his death and retains his pledged furnace 28 29 31 33 37.
• True Person Withered Wood / Kumu — The elder overseeing Spirit Medicine Valley. Wang Dun recruits a caretaker, administers the elder’s loyalty test, and handles the pollen delivery under his instructions 28 30 31.
• Shopkeeper Liu — Market contact at Abundant Harmony Manor who assesses the pollen shipment, supplies its receipt, and watches Wang Dun’s Paper Crane while he shops 31 32.
• Unidentified Bamboo Peak Inner Disciple — Reported killer; the account given to He Pingsheng does not identify the disciple by name 37.