Yunqi

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Yunqi grew up in Camphor Fragrance Town under the care of Mr. Cheng and his wife. Mr. Cheng, who had served in the Hanlin Academy and as a prefectural deputy, gave him an extensive education. Yunqi was literate at one, practiced exercises at two, remembered what he read at three, and had exhausted his father’s teaching by ten 9 21.

His mother died when he was eleven. Mr. Cheng fell ill from grief and died a month later, leaving Yunqi a house and the townspeople’s goodwill. From eleven through fourteen, his neighbors celebrated his birthdays with him 1 34.

When Three Pure Ones Mountain announced an examination for a single disciple, Yunqi left town after carving seventeen protective plaques as farewell gifts and visiting his parents’ joint grave. The townspeople unexpectedly gathered at Rainfall Temple to see him off 1.

After passing Sukong’s soul examination, he became her registered disciple and received a room in Bingchen Courtyard on Lantern Street. Formal initiation, a Dao name, and entry into the Mansion Register of Fates were conditional on opening his Heart Mansion 3 4.

Appearance

Yunqi is described as fresh and handsome, with peaceful features and a clear-minded, spirited bearing 5.

• Build: Lean and muscular from daily exercises, boxing, and sword practice 21.
• Height: Slightly under six chi when he returns home after his first year in the sect 21.
• Developing features: A soft trace of beard appears on his chin shortly before his sixteenth birthday 34.
• Travel attire: Carries Autumn Water on his left and a ribbon-hung golden seal on his right; his cloud mount can appear as an embroidered red dragon on his clothing 20 31.

Personality

Yunqi is modest and courteous, repeatedly asking fellow disciples to call him by his name rather than “young Daoist master” or “young Daoist lord.” Public acclaim embarrasses him, especially the nickname “Cheng Southern Dipper,” since four cultivators still rank ahead of him 2 4 5 20.

His curiosity is unusually broad: he studies history, spells, swordsmanship, talismans, alchemy, and artifact refinement. He can become so absorbed in reading that he loses track of days, but distinguishes enthusiasm from cultivation priorities. He eventually decides that expensive, time-consuming alchemy and artifact refinement can wait until later realms 6 19 28.

He is cautious without being unwilling to act. Historical accounts persuade him to avoid imperial politics and unnecessary karmic entanglements; nevertheless, he chooses dangerous borderlands for genuine cultivation experience. At Poyang Lake, he assesses a confrontation before intervening from concealment, while a dying child’s condition prompts him to reveal his abilities immediately 6 20 25 38.

He remains affectionate toward ordinary people despite their treating him as an immortal. On returning home, he breaks the townspeople’s sudden formality with a playful height comparison and prepares medicine for them 21 22.

Abilities & Skills

Five-Character Mantra and Qi Circulation

The Five-Character Mantra uses breathing, incantations, and bodily movements to consume qi corresponding to the five organs and elements 9.

• Selects cultivation sites and times deliberately: mineral veins for metal, forests for wood, rivers for water, sunlight for fire, and other suitable ground for earth 24.
• Converts absorbed qi into magical power through lesser celestial circuits guided by thought 18 24.
• Benefits from stronger, tougher meridians developed through childhood Pure Spirit Qi practice, rather than an extraordinary innate constitution 8.
• Visualization later enables uninterrupted magical-power generation, but his unopened Heart Mansion limits storage and powerful spellcasting 49.

Bright Palace and Inner Landscape Cultivation

Yunqi constructs Bright Palace as a mental Dao Palace and selects the Hairy Head Sun Star Lord as his intended Heart Mansion deity 17.

• Uses detailed architectural visualization to condense and direct his thoughts 14 17 18.
• Studies a rooster’s dawn crow and the rising sun to develop his deity visualization 39.
• Pursues solar yang bing fire for his heart and chooses taiyin xin metal for his future Lung Palace 24 42.
• Sukong warns that Hairy Head Sun’s high celestial standing and Buddhist connections may complicate later deity choices 17.

Incantations and Combat Spells

Yunqi studies the Guangcheng Edict of Emptiness Wish-Following Mantra, whose jade slip contains forty-nine incantation characters 18.

Great Sun Radiance Mantra

Yunqi comprehends the Great Sun Radiance Mantra himself for inner sight and combat, then attempts to teach it to Jiang Nanjing 31.

• Its outward-casting form uses a hand seal and the single-character incantation Zhao 31.
• He experiments with a longer invocation when Nanjing cannot produce light 31.
• Jiang Yanxing orders others to remain at least eight hundred paces from their practice site 31.

Fire Arts and Purification

Yunqi’s fire cultivation supports practical refinement, protection, and purification 23 38 42 49.

• Melts metal essence to feed Autumn Water 23.
• Uses three-flavored true fire to warm a cave during heavy snow 42.
• Uses Solar Bing Fire to remove Corrupting Spirit Water from Guai Xiyin’s hammer without damaging it 49.
• Burns away inferior metal impurities during purification, improving the hammer’s magical-power flow 49.

Talismans and Protective Pictures

Talisman drawing becomes Yunqi’s principal means of supporting his studies after his reward money runs out 19.

• Creates Rooster God Manifestation Pictures for Chestnut Creek Stockade and promises periodic replacements 39.
• Draws a Yangfire Demon-Breaking Talisman that releases two fire dragons and melts nearby ice and snow 49.
• Learns how talisman arrows combine a talisman, Recording Conch, and supporting materials, allowing remote activation 29.
• Values talisman arrows as practical protection despite his sect’s low opinion of them 29.

Swordsmanship

Yunqi reveres Patriarch Lü and aspires to excel in both alchemy and swordsmanship, but initially lacks the money for a magical sword 19 20.

• Practices ordinary sword movements with a wooden branch before obtaining Autumn Water 19.
• Frequently attends lectures at Sword-Casting Mountain 21.
• Receives instruction from Daoist Zhenwei on flying swords, spell swords, and body swords, without deciding that one tradition is inherently superior 22.
• Learns to strengthen a hand-wielded sword by feeding it compatible metal essence 23.

Medicine and Alchemy

Yunqi knows basic medicinal preparation, although he acknowledges limited alchemical skill and little knowledge of soul healing 22 38.

• Gathers herbs and prepares medicinal pills for Camphor Fragrance Town 22.
• Refines Fleeceflower Root into spiritual liquid to save Donghuo Nai’s dying child 38.
• Recognizes the root through his earlier soul examination, rather than specialist medical training 38.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Autumn Water — Daoist Zhenwei’s treasured sword, gifted with his remaining metal-essence ores. About three feet six inches long, with a dark scabbard and silvery cloud-and-water fittings; favors xin metal and gui water 23.
• Dragon Chariot — A crimson, fire-aligned cloud originally named Cinnabar, bought from Pu Jixuan for one tael of Fangzhu gold. Can become an embroidered dragon on his robe and warm his Heart Mansion 13 14.
• Void Grotto Stone / Cave Stone — Jiang Nanjing’s gift, containing a storage space roughly three zhang square. Crossing its boundary with his awareness gives Yunqi insight into principles of the void 29 30.
• Golden seal — Received through Jiang Nanjing’s gift of a Seal Knob; worn by a ribbon on his right side 29 31.
• Green chi scale — Given by the Green Chi-Dragon before his departure; Yunqi believes it is intended to protect him 19.
• One-Horned Rhinoceros Golden Beetle corpse — A dead juvenile given by Sukong. Yunqi later considers its metal affinity and corpse-controlling nature relevant to his proposed Lung Palace cultivation 20 42 43.
• Jade assistance bell — Issued before traveling. Requires clear spiritual magical power to ring and serves to call for help from nearby fellow disciples 20.
• Sect identity pendant — Bears his name in blood-ink Cloud Clerical Script and retains his blood-essence aura. He leaves it in Bingchen Courtyard while traveling 4 9 31.
• Crane-shaped lamp — He Bingkun’s welcoming gift, accompanied by refining instructions 6.
• White Tiger Seven Lodges rubbing — A fragmentary Warring States rubbing purchased for deity-visualization research 14.
• Cultivation jade slips — Three slips left by Sukong after his qi-circulation lesson; their contents are protected by a circuit-route key and must not be passed to outsiders 18.
• Poyang Lake Territory Map — Jiang Yanxing’s farewell gift, marking factional boundaries, secret realms, and dangerous places 33.

Relationships

• Mr. Cheng and his wife — Parents and childhood caregivers. His father educated him, and Yunqi explicitly wishes to live up to their hopes 1 2 21.
• Wen Sukong — Teaching master and sponsor within Bright Governance Mountain. Guides his qi feeding, inner landscape, and cultivation choices; repeatedly emphasizes survival during travel 4 9 17 18 20.
• Feng Ji Hu — Daoist brother who escorts him into the sect and arranges his lodging. Yunqi later asks about Ji Hu’s travel route because his infrequent letters worry their friends 4 20.
• He Bingkun — Roommate and close Daoist brother. Helps him settle in, provides transport and a lamp, celebrates his qi-consumption achievement, and shares his own Water Palace breakthrough 5 6 8 10 19.
• Green Chi-Dragon — Cultivation companion at Pine Green Lake. Her presence improves his water-qi absorption three to fivefold; he plays music for her, practices spells with her, and receives a scale at parting 17 19.
• Daoist Zhenwei — Rainfall Temple master and old acquaintance of Yunqi’s father. Teaches him sword principles and entrusts Autumn Water to him 21 22 23.
• Jiang Nanjing — Young Golden Aspect Sect cultivator whom Yunqi saves. Gives him valuable gifts in gratitude and becomes his pupil in the Great Sun Radiance Mantra 27 29 31.
• Sang Munai / Elder Munai — Chief of Chestnut Creek Stockade. Hosts Yunqi, explains local protective traditions, and helps distribute his rooster pictures 35 39.
• White Dragon / Wait-Wait — White Dragon puppy accepted as a traveling companion after the child’s rescue. Its keen hearing warns of mountain dangers, and it finds shelter during heavy snow 38 39 42 46.
• Lang Shanliu and Hu Jinliu — Redwood Ridge cultivators who explain the regional conflict and escort him to Azure Dragon Cave 45 46 47.
• Tian Fang — Sukong’s old acquaintance, who recognizes Yunqi’s disguised affiliation and brings him into Azure Dragon Cave 47 48.

Story Role / Major Arcs

First Year at Three Pure Ones Mountain

• Studies sect texts and history while settling into Lantern Street; resolves to avoid dynastic struggles after reading about vanished cultivators and immortal calamities 6.
• His six-breath qi-consumption achievement earns public recognition, but the celebratory trip to claim his reward becomes a confrontation with Ancient Vine Street 9 10.
• Buys a cloud mount to reach better qi-gathering sites and researches architecture and deity images for his mental palace 12 13 14.
• Learns magical-power cultivation, then finances further practice through talisman barter as his reward money dwindles 18 19.

Homecoming and Poyang Lake

• Leaves the sect to gain experience near the Southern Wastes and Miao Borderlands, with the additional hope of encountering Ji Hu 20.
• Returns to Camphor Fragrance Town, visits the family graves, prepares medicine, and receives Autumn Water 21 22 23.
• Intervenes against the Gaunt Daoist at Poyang Lake and saves Jiang Nanjing, earning the Golden Aspect Sect household’s hospitality 25 27 29.
• Investigates talisman arrows, acquires spatial storage, and teaches Nanjing before resuming his westward journey 28 29 30 31 33.

Chestnut Creek Stockade

• Reaches the Miao Borderlands after two months of travel and is welcomed when the stockade’s rooster identifies him as an excellent guest 34 35.
• Gains a broader understanding of fire through the villagers’ household lamps and communal bonfire—not merely the distant sun, but light held in human hands 36.
• Saves Donghuo Nai’s child, accepts White Dragon, and creates new protective rooster pictures 38 39.
• Prepares an alternative route toward nurturing his Heart Mansion deity through the Twelve-Storied Tower 40.

Azure Dragon Cave and Seven-Mile River Market

• Travels south through dangerous mountains and settles on yin xin metal for his future Lung Palace, studying corpse-nourishing possibilities 42 43.
• Learns about Redwood Ridge’s war with Hundred Barbarian Mountain and reaches Azure Dragon Cave with Lang Shanliu and Hu Jinliu 45 46.
• Introduces himself as Cheng Qieqing of Azure Cloud Abbey on Green God Mountain, only for Tian Fang to recognize the affiliation 47.
• Accepts assignments to supply talismans, cleanse filth, and slay twenty demon soldiers 48.
• His successful hammer purification and fire-talisman demonstration attract crowds and orders at Seven-Mile River Market 49.

Notable Quotes

“But my parents bestowed this name upon me, and I ask only that I spend my life living up to their hopes.” 2

“My dear brother, how can you shout out your own Dao Path like that?!” 19

Trivia

• His name comes from a Bai Yuchan poem: “Lightly I ride the cloud-breath, bowing my head to gaze upon the mortal world” 1.
• Despite aspiring to alchemy and swordsmanship, his early reputation rests chiefly on incantations and talismans—the pursuits he can afford 20.
• Elder Munai mistakes “Yun” for his surname and calls him “Priest Yun”; Yunqi does not correct him 35.
• His anonymous traveling affiliation uses Green God Mountain, an established alias for Bright Governance Mountain. Tian Fang points out that the name is already too famous to make an effective disguise 13 47.