Cheng Xinzhan

Biodata

Power Progression

Main Body

Incarnations and Primordial Spirits

Background / History

Origins and Imperial Ancestry

Cheng Xinzhan was an orphan raised and educated by adoptive parents surnamed Cheng. At the Fengyang Imperial Tombs, Jin Mingzi recognized his Zhu bloodline despite his use of a Soul-Returning technique and a substitute body. His resemblance to Emperor Taizu's eldest son identified him as a descendant of Crown Prince Yiwen 84 371.

Cheng rejected the idea that this ancestry defined him, insisting that his surname was Cheng. He deliberately avoided investigating his birth because histories of cultivators entangled with worldly dynasties had convinced him that imperial connections could create dangerous karmic bonds. A later divination forced him to reconsider those origins and their connection to the Emperor Corpse guarding Earth Yin Island 84 371.

Training at Three Pure Ones Mountain

After opening his Heart Mansion, Cheng formally entered his master's tutelage, received the name Xinzhan, and settled in a cave beside a deep pool in Bright Governance Mountain's Water-Tear Bamboo grove 72.

His early talent prompted the sect leader to arrange two years of unrestricted instruction: Thunder Arts on Pivot Mountain during each month's first ten days, swordsmanship on Sword-Casting Mountain during the middle ten, and artifact refining on White Tiger Mountain during the final ten. Every department was ordered to teach him as a True Disciple without withholding its methods 103.

Wen Sukong later revealed Bright Governance Mountain's hidden duty: it was the sect's mausoleum, and its disciples were tombkeepers responsible for awakening sealed predecessors when the sect needed defending. Cheng eventually inherited the mountain's responsibilities, receiving its jade key, mountain-guarding mirror, and yellow-stone Treasure Casket 106 441.

Appearance

Cheng's undisguised features include phoenix eyes, sword-straight brows, and a cool white complexion. He regularly alters his face and clothing while traveling under assumed identities 121 230.

• Everyday clothing: Usually wears the lake-blue outer robe and pale peach underclothes issued when he joined the sect; he keeps numerous identical replacements 343.
• Scripture Master attire: Wears a purple robe before changing into blue-green clothing for a more reclusive traveling identity 230.
• Northwestern disguise: Lengthens and narrows his brows and eyes, makes his nose more pronounced, slims his face and figure, and conceals his Heavenly Venerable Prison-Breaking Daoist Robe as ordinary indigo clothing 488.
• Nascent Soul: Resembles his six-year-old self, the age he remembers most fondly because his parents were still alive and his childhood was carefree 445.

Personality

Cheng's purpose in cultivation develops beyond longevity and personal freedom into slaying demons and defending the Dao. His experiences in demonic strongholds convince him that good intentions require sufficient strength: lesser demons can be killed without entering the Third Realm, but great evils cannot be stopped that way. Even when praised for his potential to ascend, he remains committed to an Earthly Immortal's work of cleansing the mortal world 167 582.

He is an eager, practical learner who treats combat as instruction. He deliberately prolongs the Thunderstorm Sea melee to study enemy bloodlines and improve his handling of multiple opponents. Against Gong Zhengyu, he accepts wounds while learning how to combine physical swordsmanship, spells, seals, and footwork 164 510.

His boldness is paired with preparation. Rather than attack the Five Poisons Heavenly King's fortified stronghold alone, he recruits allies and arranges borrowed treasures and escape measures. Before deliberately triggering the Three Calamities, he spends years studying sect records and predecessors' cultivation notes 324 326 446.

Cheng repays assistance with gifts, teachings, and a share of the gains. After the Dragon-Tiger Mountain conflict, he distributes valuable spoils among supporting sects, returns their borrowed treasures, and undertakes another lecture tour 572 576.

Abilities & Skills

Inner Landscape and Spirit Preservation

His foundational cultivation emphasizes visualization and Spirit Preservation rather than conventional breathing exercises. Inner Landscape Deities handle much of his internal qi circulation and aperture-opening work 449.

• Continuous recovery: An Inner Landscape Deity allows him to absorb qi constantly and replenish magical power unusually quickly 116.
• Five Elements cultivation: Multiple Inner Landscape Deities and his high-grade Golden Core give him far greater magical reserves than many cultivators of the same realm 193.
• Three Luminaries Divine Illumination Method: A self-created method that refines his distinctive Three Heavenly Light Primordial Spirits 556.
• Body–spirit balance: Values his body and Primordial Spirit equally and refuses a cultivation path that would abandon his body 556.

Swordsmanship and True Martial Arts

Cheng practices Body Sword, Dharma/Spell Sword, and Flying Sword arts. His early Body Sword foundation combined techniques and footwork learned at Azure Dragon Cave with sword manuals and the Astral-Stepping Art 113 225.

• Adaptive sword qi: Uses the five elements, wind, and thunder, and can learn an opponent's methods during an exchange 99.
• Grand Unity Light-Splitting Sword Art: Splits Nether Capital into multiple strands of sword wind 308.
• True Martial Taijiquan and Taiji Sword: Learned from Heavenly True Boy after Cao Jin exposed his weakness in close combat 194 195.
• Softness against force: Taiji Sword lets him redirect powerful blows and compensate for movement slowed by an enemy Dao Domain 498 499.
• Integrated sword arts: Incorporates Gong Zhengyu's coordination of sword, seals, spells, and footwork, then adds Taiji's changes of speed, hardness, and softness 510.
• Limits: He initially lacks the physique and footwork to withstand superior close-range specialists. Even after improving, he prefers ranged methods against Green Robe rather than gambling on Body Sword combat 194 498.

Thunder Arts

Daoist Jianxian introduces Cheng to Thunder Dao by teaching him to tame thunder slurry and circulate it through his bamboo body. He later joins the Five Thunder Court to cultivate all Five Thunders 77 106.

• Five Thunders Method: Receives extensive personal instruction from Fu Shouzhen, who treats him as an inheritor 405.
• Dragon Thunder: Uses it as a concealed killing method in the Thunderstorm Sea 164.
• Dragon-Screaming divine ability: Comprehends this Life Treasury ability and teaches it to fellow disciples because of its suitability for Dragon Thunder arts 174.
• Tribulation refinement: Uses repeated incarnation tribulations to deepen his Thunder Arts and obtain lightning for alchemy 427 533.
• Five Thunders Altars: Conducts rites for attacking hostile strongholds, breaking temples, and destroying evil altars 405 422.

Incantations, Five Elements, and Eye Techniques

Cheng combines elemental principles, short incantations, and specialized perception in battle 108 122 479 499.

• Suppress: Greatly strengthened by visualizing the True Forms of the Five Great Mountains Diagram. It consumes substantial magical power and Primordial Spirit strength 108 259.
• Fix: Freezes incoming attacks during his mistaken reception as a demon threat at White Cloud Mountain 410.
• Burn / Yang Fire: Releases golden fire capable of consuming Bo Wuqing's Red-Powder Skeletons 164.
• Rend: Finds a target's weak point through perception or contact and strikes it with metal intent or a metal implement. Cheng incorporates it into Autumn Water and his sword qi 499.
• Five Fingers Become Mountains: A joint divine ability of his left hand's five fingers; removes Green Robe's purple thunder from his chest 463.
• Five Elements Annihilation Divine Light: Possesses his own version and studies the Qian Clan's version. His teaching emphasizes using Five Elements principles to preserve life rather than merely cause harm 479.
• Cinnabar Eye: Also named the Nine Yang Returning-Form Golden-Pill Eyes; exposes disguises and develops the ability to perceive souls and Primordial Spirits and suppress ghosts and dead things 122 320.

Incarnations, Transformation, and Void Arts

Cheng can operate separate bodies through divided spirits, deploy them together, and reunite them afterward 221 252.

• Body substitution: Conceals a switch from flesh to bamboo with a light incantation, allowing the bamboo body to receive an otherwise dangerous strike 116.
• Two-body combat: Escapes the Tang sisters' formation with his bamboo body while his original body remains inside, then attacks Monk Kongse from both sides 252.
• Independent deployment: Leaves his Bamboo Body at a temple while his original body travels to Tengchong 317.
• Size alteration: Shrinks Bai Yuhua for transport through his growing understanding of the body's Life Treasury, Void Arts, and the Guangcheng mantra 314.
• Short-range movement: Demonstrates a technique capable of crossing a dozen or so paces, useful for surprising and intimidating enemies 319.
• Composite concealment: Combines Curse Arts, Talisman Arts, painting, Void Arts, and the Retrospection Method in a single concealing art 553.

Alchemy and Artifact Refining

Cheng studies external alchemy under Ren Wushi and artifact refining through the Weaponry Academy 103 140.

• First successful batch: Produces five good Eight-Treasure Flesh-Regenerating Pills during his first day of practical alchemy lessons 140.
• Celestial Yellow Detoxification Pills: Identifies the plague insects afflicting Redwood Ridge and refines pills that cure the survivors 179.
• Corpse Liberation pills: Progresses from refining Lesser Corpse Liberation Pills to producing a Great Corpse Liberation Pill 390 533.
• Individualized refinement: Re-refines Yixuan's pill with Yin and Yang Metal Thunder to suit his lightning-Dao Primordial Spirit and improve his chances against the ascension tribulation 533.
• Treasure advancement: Raises Peach Capital and the Red Wart Gourd to immortal artifacts, several other treasures to half-immortal artifacts, and all his remaining treasures to at least the Fourth Realm 450.
• Fifth Realm limitation: Ordinary pills no longer effectively replenish the essence of his flawless, leakless body; Immortal Elixirs are too scarce to serve as a routine cultivation resource 556.

Altar Rites, Deliverance, and Earth Qi

Cheng's ritual inheritances span corpse restoration, deity invocation, soul deliverance, calamity relief, and thunder rites 405.

• Yin-Yang Altar: Bright Governance Mountain's rite for restoring the dead to life 405.
• Manifesting Deities Altar: Juqü Mountain's method of invoking gods and dispatching spirits 405.
• Qinghua Altar: A Taiyi inheritance for delivering souls and dispelling calamities 405.
• Corpse rehabilitation: Secures ritual masters to cleanse Heavenly Scabbard Mountain and later helps establish a sect dedicated to guiding Yin Corpses toward goodness 221 361.
• Mountain and river observation: Uses Qi Observation to identify spiritual terrain, dragon veins, and suitable altar sites 221 405.
• Large-scale restoration: Links Qinling mountain altars into an Azure Dragon formation that restores earth qi and sends a cleansing breeze toward Mount Wudu 615.

Fifth Realm Dao Integration

Cheng chooses the Territory-Occupying Method, strengthening himself through union with multiple suitable places rather than developing only one foothold 556.

• Five established unions: Had already united with five places when his Fifth Realm cultivation is discussed 556.
• Requirements: Each site or phenomenon must fit his Daoist arts and satisfy the necessary heavenly timing, earthly advantages, and human harmony 556.
• Difficulty: The method is regarded as exceptionally demanding because finding even one appropriate place can exhaust a cultivator's opportunities 556.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

Principal Weapons and Treasures

• Peach Capital — Yang sword of his paired Yin-Yang flying swords; foremost among Shushan's Seven Xiu Swords. Its Heavenly Rooster Sword Soul counters the five poisonous creatures. Later refined into an immortal artifact 319 331 450.
• Nether Capital — Flying sword used to kill fleeing enemies, break formations, and execute divided sword-wind attacks. Later becomes a half-immortal artifact 164 252 308 450.
• Autumn Water — Body Sword used in close combat; later reforged to combine his Metal Sword and Body Sword with the intent of the Rend incantation 164 499.
• High Truth — Dharma Sword blank obtained from Sword-Casting Mountain. Cheng engraves it with a Numinous Inspiration Thunder-Inducing Talisman to guide Thunder Dao 76 77.
• Three-Five Evil-Slaying Female Sword — Celestial Master legacy sword acquired during the Dragon-Tiger Mountain conflict. As a numinous treasure, it must be persuaded to cooperate rather than treated as an unthinking weapon 573 575.
• Red Wart Gourd — Storage treasure whose fiery prison can refine hostile Primordial Spirits; later becomes an immortal artifact 289 313 450.
• Mysterious Female Pearl — Formerly used by Green Robe and Xinchenzi, then purified by Heavenly True Boy. Cheng accepts it as a sixty-year loan 285.
• Myriad Phenomena Heaven-Netted Kerchief; Four-Colored Feather Fan — Both raised to half-immortal artifact level 450.
• Water-Moon Illuminating Spirit Mirror — Murong Yan's captured Life Treasure, refined as the foundation for a Yin-Yang Mirror 502.
• Snow Toad Spirit Pearl — Produces a moonlike Radiant Light Barrier when driven by Great Yin magical power; later given to Lion 503 661.
• Cave Stone — Stores belongings, but cannot hold living creatures 289 314.

Tools, Books, and Special-Purpose Items

• Revealing Form — Sword-Nurturing Gourd that also serves as a wine vessel and vessel for Thunder Dao 77.
• Mountain-Cleaver — Engraving knife gifted by Elder Jingsi. Its Third Realm pangolin-claw blade is sharp enough to engrave High Truth 77.
• Golden Talisman Book — Elder Jingsi's loaned text on summoning spirits and commanding myriad arts 77.
• Thunder Chariot and Fire Banner Circulation Art — Diagram and method used in his initial thunder cultivation 77.
• Expansive Record of the Land — Listed among his Dharma books 289.
• Heaven and Earth Formation Diagram — Immortal-bestowed formation implement used to remove Gu Yi from a tower despite its void-realm restrictions 313.
• Leopard Pouch — Given by Zhou Qingyun; unlike an ordinary Cave Stone, it can transport living creatures such as his lion mount 326.
• Bright Governance Mountain heirlooms — Jade key, mountain-guarding mirror, and yellow-stone Treasure Casket received when taking responsibility for the mountain 441.

Relationships

• Wen Sukong — Master and central guide in Bright Governance Mountain's cultivation and duties. Reveals the mountain's mausoleum and tombkeeper lineage to him 106 316.
• Daoist Jianxian — Introduces him to Thunder Dao and teaches his first thunder-slurry circulation 77 405.
• Fu Shouzhen — Principal Five Thunders instructor, who treats Cheng as an inheritor and rushes to protect him during dangerous tribulations 405.
• Ji Hehe — Sect leader, adviser, and supporter of Cheng's techniques and alchemy. Promises assistance in finding materials for the True Corpse-Liberation Pill 316 390 556.
• Ren Wushi — Alchemy teacher; later accepts Zhaoli as a disciple at Cheng's request 140 316.
• Jiang Weishan — Refining instructor who praises Cheng's steadiness and aptitude. Helps guide Bright Governance Mountain's demons in choosing Life-bound Dharma Treasures 108 316.
• Heavenly True Boy / Daoist Tianzhen — Rescuer and True Martial teacher. Teaches Taijiquan and Taiji Sword, lends the Mysterious Female Pearl, and recognizes Cheng's Golden Immortal potential 194 195 285 466.
• Zhu Jianmo — Fellow disciple who regards Cheng as a clan brother despite Cheng's indifference to imperial ancestry; frequently brings him handmade puppet trinkets 84 103.
• Gu Xinshu / Qin'er — Junior sister. Cheng guides her cultivation, gives her the Nine-Holed Dustless Lotus Incarnation, and rescues her father Gu Yi 174 313 317.
• White Dragon — Initially arranged as Cheng's nominal disciple pending his advancement to the Fourth Realm. Cheng later asks Ji Kaiming to watch over White Dragon's travels 316 583.
• Zhaoli — Companion whose formal alchemy training Cheng arranges under Ren Wushi 316.
• Shen Zhaoming — Friend and frequent ally in water-related operations. Decades after burying plum wine together, Cheng retrieves a jar and sets out to reinforce him at Tiger Gate 179 184 410.
• Song Jishu — Gezao Mountain ally who assists with coordinated operations and introduces Cheng to the Numinous Treasure Sect's leadership 179 221.
• Feng Ji Hu — Close friend skilled in medicine; assists with the successful rescue of Gu Yi 313 336.
• Zhou Qingyun — Combat ally who lends Moon Soul and a defensive shield and gives him the Leopard Pouch for the Dragon Cave operation 252 326 331.
• Shi Tongxuan — Co-founder of the Illuminating Clarity Sect: Shi serves as Sect Master and Cheng as Vice Sect Master. Credits Cheng's devotion to the mortal world with influencing his own choice to harmonize with earth qi 361 582.
• Lion — Mount and combat companion, carried in the Leopard Pouch when necessary; later receives the Snow Toad's internal core 326 661.
• True Person Yixuan — Recipient of Patriarch Jianhong's returned remains and a specially refined Great Corpse Liberation Pill for an attempted ascension 390 533.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Early Reputation and Cultivation

• White Jade Capital and Western Kunlun: Makes his name in the First Realm through the three sword disciplines, then gains wider recognition for his talisman arts 225.
• Dragon-Tiger Dharma Assembly: Reunites with fellow disciples and old acquaintances while considering how Gang and Baleful Intent might strengthen both weapons and divine abilities in the Second Realm 130.
• Thunderstorm Sea: Fights a crowd of demons while concealing his strongest methods, kills several opponents, and escapes the reef after releasing golden Yang Fire 164.
• Third Realm recognition: Becomes known as a Golden Core Feathered Immortal, Sword-Dueling Gathering champion, and practitioner of talismans, weather prayers, and manifested Dharma Aspects 175.

Deliverance and Sect-Building

• Redwood Ridge and Lost-Trace Lake: Cures a plague among survivors, then helps coordinate mist and flood formations for an attack on Yao Kaijiang 179.
• Heavenly Scabbard Mountain: Obtains the Mountain Lord's seal and control over its corpse-nourishing grand array. Recruits Numinous Treasure ritual masters to help suppress and cleanse its corpse hordes 220 221.
• Book of the Earth project: Settles at Eastern Sun Terrace on Yanhuai Mountain and seeks local records and stories for a geographical compilation 232 242.
• Gu Yi's rescue: Enters the tower, proves his connection to Qin'er, and uses the Heaven and Earth Formation Diagram to extract her father. Reports Gu Yi dead to conceal the rescue 313.
• Zhuanxu Dragon Cave: Enlists Qionghai Sword Pavilion's support, coordinates the sealing of entrances with Lu Linqing, and leaves after fulfilling his wish to slay the devil 324 326 331.
• Overseas infiltration: Pretends to be a newly advanced, inferior Golden Core cultivator, leads a Funiu Guard team against nearby islets, and conceals his actual strength 356 357 358.
• Illuminating Clarity Sect: Helps establish a sanctuary for guiding Yin Corpses toward goodness and recruits Corpse Nourishing and Corpse Suppression disciples from Southern Jiangxi's Four Great Families 361.
• Return to Bright Governance Mountain: Leaves the True Intent Sect in trusted hands, returns unclaimed remains, restores his ancestor's Emperor Corpse to the tomb array, and reveals his success with Lesser Corpse Liberation Pills 390.

Grand Master and True Lord

• Tiger Gate reinforcement: Returns to Yuyang after more than thirty years and travels south to support Shen Zhaoming against demons advancing from the Southern Sea 410.
• Inheritance and Great Dao: Takes responsibility for Bright Governance Mountain, forms his sage infant, and survives the combined thunder ordeals that establish his Great Dao 441 445 450.
• Northern campaign: Fights Murong Yan and Gong Zhengyu, develops his integrated swordsmanship, and begins refining captured mirror treasures 498 499 502 510.
• Yixuan's ascension attempt: Provides a Great Corpse Liberation Pill and improves it with thunder from his incarnations' tribulations 533.
• Calling Dragon-Tiger Mountain to account: Confronts the Zhang Family over alleged abuses, resists Zhang Xianyu with the borrowed Jingyang Sword, and acquires the Celestial Master Female Sword. Afterward, he shares spoils with the assisting sects 559 569 572 573.
• Qinling restoration: Completes an Azure Dragon formation through mountain altars, revives the range's earth qi, and directs a cleansing wind toward Mount Wudu 615.
• Wave-Suppressing Tower: After killing Green Robe and the Black Dragon, accepts Li Zongyuan's invitation and learns of the family's ancestral connection to Chentang Pass 683.

Notable Quotes

“I'm an orphan, raised and taught by my adoptive parents. My surname is Cheng. My only connection to the Zhu Clan is that my mother's surname was Zhu. The rest has nothing to do with me.” 84

“But righteousness and evil cannot coexist, and my heart will not settle for a sheltered peace. There is nothing for it but to slay the demon.” 326

“Everyone present gets a share. Besides, treasures belong with the worthy. Only in the Divine Empyrean School's hands can this Immortal Treasure regain its splendor. Leaving it with me would merely let it gather dust.” 572