Lin Shisan

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Lin Shisan’s mother died giving birth to him, leaving Lin Qinghan to raise him alone. Under his father’s influence, he dreamed of cultivating to immortality from childhood. His false spiritual root prevented ordinary sect admission, despite Lin Qinghan exhausting his wealth and connections on his behalf 1.

At sixteen—the Tai Chi Hall’s maximum admission age—Lin Shisan received his final opportunity. Lin Qinghan obtained a third-tier demon core to secure admission for his son, but another beast ambushed him during its extraction. He returned home mortally wounded and died within three days, first entrusting the core to Lin Shisan 1.

Grand Elder Qin Xun accepted the core as a meritorious contribution but judged Lin Shisan unsuitable for outer discipleship. Given a choice between becoming a servant disciple and leaving with twenty spirit stones, Lin Shisan chose to remain 1.

Appearance

Lin Shisan is introduced as a dark-faced, gaunt boy who is little more than skin and bones 1.

• Build: Slender, including after his recovery from the conflict with Chen Yang 41.
• Expression: His brows form three deep vertical creases when distressed or frightened 4 28.
• Clothing: Initially receives blue-green servant clothes; later wears gray robes when leaving the Azure Cloud Mountains 1 41.
• Habitual gesture: Frequently scratches his head when embarrassed, uncertain, or speaking deferentially 23 30 41.

Personality

Lin Shisan is normally quiet, reserved, and courteous. He bows readily, remembers instructions carefully, and initially suppresses his anger toward stronger cultivators to survive. His politeness does not mean he trusts them: he recognizes Chen Yang’s attempts to shift blame onto him while outwardly expressing obedience 1 10.

His cultivation discipline persists despite years without progress. He practices whenever he has spare time and repeatedly tests possible solutions to his depleted dantian, completing ten greater celestial circuits in one night even when none produces a visible result 2 45. Although he eventually considers abandoning the sect, the restoration of his cultivation persuades him to stay 46.

Filial devotion often overrides opportunity. He spends most of his savings on his father’s memorial tablet and refuses to remain at Jade Maiden Peak if doing so means abandoning it 1 29 30. He also repays kindness: he shares Body Tempering Liquid with Ning Hao, tries to protect Mu Ling at the cost of his own life, and cares for the injured Feng Qingye 15 37 38 49.

When pushed beyond endurance, his restraint turns into fierce resistance. He refuses to kneel on shattered knees, bites off half of Chen Yang’s ear, and openly condemns an outer disciple for bullying pavilion workers over a failed purchase 34 37 46. By contrast, romantic attention leaves him visibly bashful and easily flustered 27 28 30.

Abilities & Skills

Nine Heavens True Dragon Art

Lin Shisan discovers the Old Madman’s instructions within the cauldron-altered cultivation scroll. The art becomes central to his lightning training and the development of his Jiaolong True Spirit 18 25 26.

• Uses plant essence, metallic baleful energy, and star power to temper the body; its instructions specify reaching the ninth level of Body Tempering 18.
• Allows lightning-bearing plants and animals to substitute for the thunder of the nine heavens, prompting him to experiment with thunderwood 18 19.
• Develops his ability to withstand electricity, helping him collect spirit fruit amid lightning 24 25.
• Does not make him immune to lightning: training shocks incapacitate him, and a genuine lightning bolt overwhelms his resistance 19 26.
• Later instructions describe “self-castration” figuratively as discarding existing cultivation and draining the dantian, not physical mutilation 44 45.

Jiaolong True Spirit

A dragon-shaped true spirit forms within Lin Shisan’s dantian during his ordeal in the thunder orchard. Its development is directly associated with his cultivation breakthroughs 26 34 35.

• Supplies flood-dragon power accompanied by lightning, improving his physical sturdiness, spiritual energy, and spiritual sense 35.
• Roars as Feng Qiufeng attacks from behind, coinciding with Lin Shisan sensing the danger and evading the sword 35.
• Empowers his movement while he attempts to escape with Mu Ling 37.
• Retreats when his dantian dries up, then returns after the dantian is revived 44 46.
• Stops feeding him power after his rapid return to the third layer; he cannot force it to continue 47.

Cultivation and Spiritual Perception

Lin Shisan practices true-qi circulation and greater celestial circuits despite lacking a Dao Seed. His father’s instruction also enables him to understand the general meaning of the ancient characters in the altered scroll 2 18.

• Uses cultivation to ease pain and support recovery after injury 6.
• Extends spiritual sense into a found ring to examine its storage space and contents 7.
• Uses a dagger and thunderwood in desperate close-range fighting, rather than relying on a documented formal combat technique 35 37.

Little Black Cauldron–Assisted Enhancement

His most important resource advantage comes from the Little Black Cauldron, whose effects he discovers through repeated experiments 2 5 16 18.

• Improves fruit, food, and drinking water, replenishing strength and assisting cultivation 3 5 7.
• Restores a ruined Body Tempering Pill into a plump, two-pattern pill 16.
• Alters the Tai Chi Body Tempering Manual into a restored scroll titled the Nine Revolutions Star Art 18.
• Requires time: Lin Shisan initially estimates at least four hours for improvement, while the pill takes ten hours 5 17.
• Its true classification remains uncertain. Lin Shisan alternately regards it as an immortal treasure and fears that others might identify it as a demonic artifact 5 44.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Little Black Cauldron — Enhances resources and cultivation texts. Later disguised as an incense burner beside his father’s memorial tablet 16 18 47.
• Lin Qinghan’s memorial tablet — A purple-sandalwood tablet commissioned with most of Lin Shisan’s savings; eventually housed in his study at Deer Gate Peak 1 47.
• Locator Ring — Stores work materials and personal belongings; Zhou Xiaotian examines it to confirm that the required bamboo and thunderwood have arrived 7 9.
• Found Storage Ring — Discovered in Thunderclap Ravine; larger and better-quality than his Locator Ring, containing twenty spirit stones and two bottles of Body Tempering Liquid 7 8.
• Storage Ring from Han Yansong — Given to him before he leaves the Azure Cloud Mountains 41.
• Crescent Chopping Axe — Used to harvest black maple bamboo and thunderwood 4 7.
• Thunderwood — Used both for lightning-resistance training and against pursuing Inspection Team members 19 24 37.
• Barbed, double-edged dagger — A three-inch weapon given by Mu Ling; used to kill Feng Qiufeng 35.
• Sea-Sound Conch — Given by Mu Ling alongside the dagger 35.
• Body Tempering Liquid — Eases the pain and numbness caused by thunderwood shocks; he also shares it with Ning Hao 15 19.

Relationships

• Lin Qinghan — Father and first cultivation mentor. Dies securing the demon core that enables Lin Shisan’s admission; his wishes and memorial tablet remain central to Lin Shisan’s decisions 1 2 30.
• Mu Ling / Tiny Waist — Caregiver, rescuer, and romantic attachment. Lin Shisan promises to marry and practice dual cultivation with her, then repeatedly tries to protect her from punishment. No marriage or completed dual cultivation is established in the supplied chapters 27 30 37 38 41.
• Ning Hao — Trusted friend who interrupts Chen Yang’s attack, supports Lin Shisan’s recovery, and helps him work while injured 14 15 19.
• Feng Qingye — Pavilion steward and later friend. Explains the repository’s hazards, shelters Lin Shisan after an attack, receives his care while injured, and urges him to escape danger 42 44 46 49 50.
• Chen Yang — Abusive Pill Hall overseer and principal early antagonist. Exploits Lin Shisan, attempts to seize his pill, and repeatedly tries to kill him 9 13 14 34 37.
• Han Yansong — Mu Ling’s father. Pressures Lin Shisan to leave her but also arranges his placement at Deer Gate Peak and gives him a Storage Ring 41 42.
• Zhou Xiaotian — Initially nearly kills him with a tornado; later saves him using Tie Dan’s treasured red essence mushroom. Mu Ling offers to become Zhou’s disciple on condition that he also accepts Lin Shisan 9 40 41.
• Li Qingfeng — Fellow orchard worker whom Lin Shisan helps; killed while trying to shield him from lightning. Lin Shisan bows in farewell before leaving the orchard 24 26 29.
• Niu Shan — Fellow servant killed by the spirit cat. Lin Shisan buries him, visits his grave, and assumes one fifth of his materials quota 4 6 7.
• Zheng Qian — Discarded-pill trader who sells Lin Shisan a ruined pill and later offers a discount on another. Distances himself when the conflict with Chen Yang becomes dangerous 16 19 31 37.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Pill Hall Service and the Little Black Cauldron

Assigned to Chen Yang’s Pill Hall workforce, Lin Shisan discovers that the Little Black Cauldron improves his father’s peach offerings. Further tests with fruit lead to his first breakthrough in five years 1 2 3 5.

Niu Shan’s death exposes the servants’ vulnerability and strengthens Lin Shisan’s determination to control his fate. After an unexplained beating by a disciplinary disciple, he completes his bamboo quota and enters Thunderclap Ravine for part of Niu Shan’s assignment, finding a valuable Storage Ring despite severe lightning injuries 4 6 7.

During pill refining, Chen Yang repeatedly shifts responsibility onto him. Zhao Xun stops Chen Yang from killing him after a furnace explosion and later treats Lin Shisan as a lucky mascot, giving him temporary protection. When Chen Yang tries to take his Body Tempering Pill, Lin Shisan smashes it rather than surrender it; Ning Hao’s arrival interrupts the resulting attack 9 11 12 13 14.

Lin Shisan subsequently confirms that the cauldron can repair ruined pills and transform cultivation texts. Starlight reveals writing in the altered manual, introducing a Dao Seed–independent cultivation possibility and the Nine Heavens True Dragon Art 16 18.

Jade Maiden Peak and the Thunder Orchard

Taken to Jade Maiden Peak with nine other servants, Lin Shisan witnesses two deaths before the group reaches its quarters. After days of confinement and hunger, the survivors are ordered to collect Heartless Azure Spirit Fruit without touching it 22 24.

His thunderwood training makes him unusually effective in the lightning orchard, drawing the attention of a languid older woman. Her test immobilizes him beneath five lightning bolts; Li Qingfeng dies trying to intervene. The ice-sculpture beauty protects Lin Shisan, but a genuine lightning strike still leaves him unconscious 25 26.

After recovering under Mu Ling’s care, he is offered orchard work. He leaves rather than abandon his father’s memorial tablet. Mu Ling rescues him from pursuing women after obtaining his promise of marriage and dual cultivation, then accompanies him back toward the Azure Cloud Mountains 27 28 29 30.

False Death Report and First Kill

On returning, Lin Shisan learns that he has been reported dead and that the Servant Hall has reclaimed his courtyard. The confrontation with Chen Yang escalates into an attempt to force him to kneel, but he remains standing despite grievous leg injuries 31 34.

His Jiaolong True Spirit’s breakthrough raises him to the third layer. When Feng Qiufeng attacks from behind, Lin Shisan evades and kills him with Mu Ling’s dagger—his first kill 35.

Attempts to spare Mu Ling fail, leading Lin Shisan to fight the Inspection Team and mutilate Chen Yang. He later shields Mu Ling from a bone whip. Zhou Xiaotian ultimately saves him from death, while Mu Ling retaliates against those responsible 37 38 40 41.

Deer Gate Peak and Cultivation Recovery

After Han Yansong urges him to separate from Mu Ling, Lin Shisan accepts a temporary placement at the Scripture Repository · Yellow Pavilion. Feng Qingye gives him quarters and explains that disappointed visitors frequently abuse the pavilion workers 41 42 43 44.

His dantian dries up, and repeated attempts to revive it fail. Just as he prepares to leave the sect, he confronts an outer disciple attacking Feng Qingye. The resulting assault unexpectedly revives his dantian, allowing the Jiaolong True Spirit to restore his cultivation rapidly to the third layer 44 45 46 47.

Lin Shisan then takes over the pavilion’s work while Feng Qingye recovers from Bai Wuqi’s beating. After Lei Shi’s visit, Feng Qingye warns him to leave immediately before curfew; the supplied passage does not establish whether he escapes 49 50.

Notable Quotes

“Only by becoming the strongest can I finally take control of my own fate.” 4

“Yes. My father's memorial tablet is still in the Azure Cloud Lineage. No matter what, I can't abandon him.” 30

“Honored stewards, this was my affair to begin with. I'm willing to shoulder everything alone. Please don't implicate someone innocent.” 37

Trivia

• His father named him after thirteen stars that aligned on the day of his birth. Lin Qinghan interpreted the event as a sign of the Heavenly Emperor and Great Sage, but Lin Shisan regards the claim as his father’s hopeful dream rather than an established identity 27.
• A woman speculates that his lightning affinity might indicate a Five Elements Thunder Spirit Body, then questions the idea because he has no Dao Seed. The constitution is not confirmed 25.
• The altered cultivation scroll initially appears blank; its golden writing becomes visible when starlight enters its pages 18.