Du Shu

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Qing City and the Eastern Domain

Du Shu belongs to a merchant lineage that established itself in Qing City through generations of trade. The family invested its growing wealth in cultivation resources and martial experts, eventually becoming the city’s unrivaled power. As a talented member of its younger generation, Du Shu carried considerable expectations to succeed in the Martial Dao 179.

He ranked second among the Eastern Domain Four Princes. During the tournament, he exchanged dozens of moves with Wan Fei, but her increasingly rapid and powerful martial techniques prevented him from mounting an effective response. He ultimately lost after she overwhelmed him with successive attacks 117.

While traveling with Tang Yan’s group, Du Shu and Fang Xuan defeated an attacker and followed Tang Yan’s example by taking the opponent’s supplies. When Du Shu tried to help Lin Dongxue and Wan Fei with their own opponent, Tang Yan stopped him, explaining that they needed independent combat experience to improve 128.

Choosing Commerce

At Azure Dragon Academy, Du Shu was badly beaten after arguing with students who mocked Tang Yan. Fang Xuan later told him that Tang Yan had defeated Sun Xiaolong and Qin Sheng in retaliation 174 179.

When Tang Yan asked about his ambitions, Du Shu admitted that he preferred commerce to martial cultivation. His dream was to accumulate enough wealth to offer prices that even Heaven Tier experts could not refuse. He nevertheless feared that abandoning martial training would betray his family’s expectations 179.

Tang Yan promised to support his cultivation with pills and help him reach Heaven Tier before forty. Du Shu chose to trust him. The same discussion prompted Fang Xuan to propose a faction that could provide the business, security, and logistical support needed for everyone’s ambitions 179.

Building Reach the Summit

Du Shu served as auctioneer for Reach the Summit’s early pill auction, which raised 126,900 Star Value. Rather than rely on occasional auctions, he proposed a permanent retail business serving Azure Dragon Academy’s students 183 187.

His plan used Tang Yan’s rare pills to attract customers, while recruited Alchemy Masters supplied ordinary pills for regular sales. He also proposed opening discounts and prepaid-credit bonuses to encourage repeat purchases. Tang Yan supported the plan and formally assigned him responsibility for all of Reach the Summit’s business operations 188 197.

Tang Yan later entrusted Du Shu and Fang Xuan with pill formulas, internal points, profits, and the faction’s development during his seclusion. He explicitly encouraged them to act on reasonable plans without fearing failure 227.

Within more than six months, Du Shu reported that Reach the Summit had achieved its initial goal of overcoming Azure Dragon Academy’s competing alchemy factions and had expanded into Ming City. Tang Yan advised establishing a strong presence in a major city before spreading into nearby smaller markets 309.

Imperial City Expansion

Du Shu helped turn the Imperial Pill Pavilion’s Alchemy Masters into a production base for Reach the Summit. He organized sales plans and explained contribution-point requirements for obtaining new formulas and rewards 335 338.

At the Imperial City shop opening, he publicly guaranteed that the advertised Peerless Divine Pills were genuine and available, with refunds and compensation if their effects failed to match the claims. Common pills were offered at market prices, while membership points governed access to special products 342.

He also negotiated an alliance with the Wonderful Elixir Workshop against the Heavenly Pill Palace and the Left Chancellor’s forces. After initially offering the workshop ten percent of profits from pills made using Reach the Summit’s formulas, he settled on a twenty-percent share. The agreement required the workshop to produce requested pills and offered access to markets across the Five Kingdoms 357 359.

Northern Spirit Realm

After arriving in the Northern Spirit Realm, Du Shu revised his expansion strategy around its larger markets and higher pill standards. He proposed establishing footholds in regions comparable to Southern Wilderness City before advancing into more competitive markets 393.

His earlier expansion across several kingdoms supplied the capital for a massive purchase from the Xiao Lineage. The procurement reached a total value of forty billion taels of silver, including orders for one hundred thousand plants of each of 217 second-tier and 159 third-tier herb varieties 395 396.

During a public sales demonstration, Du Shu stabbed a dagger through his waist to prove the upgraded Blood-Coagulating Pill’s effectiveness. The bleeding stopped within one breath, convincing the crowd, but Tang Yan angrily warned him against risking his life for publicity 400.

Du Shu subsequently refused to let Ye Liangchen and the Zhong Family bypass waiting customers. His insistence on first-come, first-served sales earned public support, but a Ye Family guard attacked him, throwing him through a Crystal Window and injuring him 414 415.

Training Partnerships and New Markets

As Reach the Summit expanded, Du Shu identified shortages of Alchemy Masters and the danger of infiltrators as obstacles. Tang Yan proposed training smaller alchemy organizations and outsourcing ordinary pill production to them; Du Shu agreed to prepare the plan 492.

He persuaded the Yang Pill Sect to attend free training, with participants covering their own ingredient costs. He offered to buy its upper-grade pills at eighty percent of the regular price and said the training could raise its upper-grade success rate above eighty percent. A few dozen sects and more than five thousand people were expected to participate 521.

Du Shu also investigated the Spirit Pet market after learning how valuable trained low-tier beasts could be. He purchased a female Snow Monkey from Qiu Guangqiong for two hundred million taels of silver to study the business 581.

Pure Pill Workshop and the Demon Sect

After losing contact with Tang Yan, Du Shu and his companions traveled to the higher realm to search for him. Their early negotiations with the Myriad Pill Tower and Pill Alliance ended with Du Shu and Heavenly Enchantress being beaten out, prompting him to approach the struggling Pure Pill Workshop 728 861.

Du Shu and Fang Xuan secured a partnership with Yue Dongli, accepting forty percent of profits after initially seeking sixty percent. Du Shu immediately consolidated operations by closing shops in three cities, recalling the Alchemy Masters, and concentrating on Scorpion City 729.

The success of Pindanpin drew the Demon Sect’s attention. When the sect forcibly recruited him, Du Shu threatened to take his own life to protect the Yue Lineage and urged Yue Dongli to relocate rather than pursue revenge. Yue Dongli credited him with saving the lineage 758 862.

Lu Fengzong and Ma Tengyun appointed him head shopkeeper of the Myriad Pill Tower. Although his initial demand for a profit share was rejected, he obtained operational authority subject to Ma Tengyun’s early oversight 760.

Under Du Shu, the notorious Demon Sect pill business became an honest enterprise praised by customers. His results eventually earned him five percent of the Myriad Pill Tower’s profits, in addition to his salary 803 818.

The Great Age and Human Alliance

Du Shu urged the Demon Sect to stop plundering, forbid harm to common people, and improve its reputation through visible good deeds. He later argued that the sect remained part of the Human Clan and should resist the Other Races rather than become their subordinate 761 822.

Believing Tang Yan had died, Du Shu resolved to carry on his wish for humanity’s safety. He opposed conquering the Great Houses by force, warning that an internal war would benefit the Other Races, and instead proposed cooperation that could earn Lu Fengzong legitimate support as Human Emperor 835 836.

His grief briefly drained the meaning from commerce: after fulfilling Tang Yan’s wish, he contemplated returning to Qing City. Nevertheless, he continued advocating action, including non-aggression treaties and preemptive attacks against hostile races before the Great Age’s barriers disappeared 836 838.

Lu Fengzong considered him a suitable successor and potential Human Emperor, but Du Shu declined, insisting that his ambition remained business. After Tang Yan’s return and acceptance as Human Emperor, Du Shu publicly revealed his and Fang Xuan’s Reach the Summit membership and explained how their search had led them into the Demon Sect 848 861.

Appearance

• Youthful face: The Imperial City opening crowd was surprised by how young the shop’s overseer looked 342.
• Authoritative bearing: Even early in his expansion efforts, observers noticed his distinguished manner and emerging air of command 357.
• Intimidating gaze: His look alone silenced Su Ruyan’s guard, who felt pressure comparable to facing a family head 450.
• White clothing: Wore white during the Blood-Coagulating Pill demonstration; the garments became soaked with blood after he stabbed himself 400.

Personality

Du Shu’s strongest motivation is the process of building a business. He becomes visibly energized when discussing commercial plans and repeatedly imagines markets far beyond his current reach. His enthusiasm for wealth is often comic, including a declared ambition to build an entire city from gold bricks so he could sell pieces of it if he ever went bankrupt 309 404 761.

His merchant persona is outspoken, theatrical, and sharp-tongued. Fang Xuan remarks that entering business seemed to awaken a side of him hidden during his serious martial-training years. Du Shu uses ridicule, public pressure, and threats of commercial exclusion against opponents 205 251 359.

Despite his money-grubbing reputation, he values loyalty and recognition. He defends Tang Yan against insults, acknowledges Ma Tengyun’s unpublicized support, and distributes his Demon Sect earnings among members rather than retaining them. His later campaigns combine genuine concern for humanity with a deliberate effort to win influence 205 807 836.

He is willing to take extreme risks for a sale, but his ambition does not translate into a desire for political rule. Even when offered a path toward leading the Demon Sect or becoming Human Emperor, he maintains that commerce is the pursuit he loves 400 848.

Abilities & Skills

Commercial Strategy

Du Shu designs expansion plans around local demand, production capacity, and competitive advantages.

• Uses rare specialty pills to attract customers who may also purchase ordinary products 188.
• Proposes discounts and prepaid-credit bonuses to cultivate repeat shopping habits 188.
• Concentrates resources in promising markets rather than maintaining weak, scattered outlets 393 729.
• Identifies manufacturing shortages and staffing risks before further expansion 492.
• Explains Pindanpin’s success as convincing customers that it offers the best value 760.

Negotiation and Procurement

He combines research, bargaining, and competitive pressure to obtain favorable terms.

• Negotiates production contracts and profit-sharing agreements with established alchemy organizations 359 729.
• Uses the Zhong Family’s purported offers to pressure Gao Jinsong into paying more and reimbursing the shop’s purchase cost 402.
• Organizes large-scale herb purchases across multiple tiers, prioritizing urgently needed high-tier ingredients 395.
• Secures an exclusive ten-year manufacturing agreement with the Artifact Pavilion for Reach the Summit’s Good Fortune Machines 492.

Marketing and Public Speaking

Du Shu can turn technical product claims into persuasive public demonstrations.

• Conducts auctions and explains unfamiliar pills to large audiences 183 187.
• Presents quality guarantees, prices, and membership rules at shop openings 342.
• Counters Shao Jiacai’s criticism by distinguishing powerful medicinal energy from dangerously violent energy 399 400.
• Demonstrates pill efficacy on himself, though Tang Yan condemns the danger involved 400.

Administration and Political Persuasion

His influence extends beyond shopkeeping into organizational reform and alliance-building.

• Oversees Reach the Summit’s sales and helps administer formulas, profits, and internal points 197 227.
• Implements Tang Yan’s customer membership system and explains contribution-based rewards to Alchemy Masters 197 338.
• Builds relationships from senior leadership downward to avoid appearing to organize a hostile faction among subordinates 807.
• Persuades Demon Sect leaders to cooperate with the Great Houses against the Other Races 835 836.

Martial Cultivation

Du Shu begins as a recognized regional talent, but commerce increasingly displaces deliberate martial training.

• Ranked second among the Eastern Domain Four Princes 117.
• Relies heavily on pills after taking charge of Reach the Summit’s shop, leaving his foundations weak enough to require corrective training 260.
• Later advances unusually quickly despite limited cultivation practice 437 558.
• Possesses an unexplained aura of wealth and prosperity in his Dantian; Tang Yan finds no immediate harm but advises him to stop cultivating if abnormalities appear 437.

Equipment / Items

• Dagger — Used to pierce his own waist during the upgraded Blood-Coagulating Pill demonstration 400.
• Female Snow Monkey — Purchased for two hundred million taels of silver to investigate Spirit Pet commerce. The first-tier beast understands speech and can bow in greeting 581 582.

Relationships

• Tang Yan — Close friend, faction leader, and commercial backer. His promise of pill-supported cultivation enables Du Shu to pursue commerce; he also repeatedly intervenes when Du Shu’s behavior becomes dangerous 179 188 227 400.
• Fang Xuan — Close friend and management partner. The two coordinate Reach the Summit’s affairs, negotiate together, and frequently exchange insults in private 227 582 729.
• Du family — His lineage’s investment in his martial future initially prevents him from openly choosing commerce 179.
• Wan Fei — Companion and former tournament opponent. She defeats him through rapid, escalating martial techniques 117.
• Lin Dongxue — Longtime companion. When Du Shu learns that she has left the academy with Leng Ning, he gathers a group to follow 255.
• Lu Fengzong — Demon Sect leader who comes to value his business judgment and character, supports his ambitions, and considers him a successor. Du Shu nevertheless refuses political leadership 804 836 848.
• Ma Tengyun — Senior overseer and supporter at the Myriad Pill Tower. Du Shu credits his willingness to share authority as essential to the Tower’s commercial success 760 807.
• Yue Dongli — Pure Pill Workshop partner. After Du Shu protects the Yue Lineage during the Demon Sect crisis, Yue Dongli pledges lifelong gratitude 729 758.
• Ji Li — Wonderful Elixir Workshop negotiating counterpart, ultimately agreeing to a production alliance with a twenty-percent profit share 359.

Notable Quotes

“My dream is to earn so much money that even Heaven Tier experts won't be able to resist the prices I offer!” 179

“My goal is the stars and the sea! Hahahahaha...” 803

“Whoever gets in the way of my business, I'll take them down!” 848