Shopkeeper Qiu was a man with very little presence in Qingliang Commandery, but a great deal of seniority.
Although Xu Bangzi had now risen to become the Park District's star salesman and had even visited the Emperor's Tomb with the Little Bad King, gaining considerable experience, strictly speaking, he was not Ren Ye's first Attendant.
Shopkeeper Qiu was. He was the first person Ren Ye had killed while exploring the Seven Families Town Secret Realm in search of Tang Feng, and Ren Ye had also used the Human Emperor's Attendant Secret Method to forcibly recruit him to Qingliang Prefecture.
He had originally been a Remnant Soul manifested by the Heavenly Dao, playing a "character" in the story's conflict within the Seven Families Town Secret Realm. On the surface, he was the shopkeeper of a Wang Family business, but in truth, he was the Zhou Family's ace mole. After lying low for over twenty years, he had finally been activated... only for his work to end.
Among the countless Secret Realms, Remnant Souls like Shopkeeper Qiu were as numerous as the stars, but very few were as lucky as him.
Had Shopkeeper Qiu remained in Seven Families Town, he might never have awakened, only continuing to play his assigned role under the Heavenly Dao's manifestations.
But after Ren Ye forcibly recruited him to Qingliang Prefecture, it was as though he had forcibly dragged him out of the predetermined "Heavenly Dao script," allowing him to see the world beyond Seven Families Town and understand the relationship between Secret Realms, the Heavenly Dao, and Cultivators.
Thus, not long after leaving the Secret Realm, he had fully awakened, evolving from a Remnant Soul into a true Cultivator, a true "person."
When Shopkeeper Qiu first arrived in Qingliang Prefecture, he had been terrified of this