Gu Yi

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Transmigration and Rise as Demon Venerable

Gu Yi was an ordinary college junior before falling down a school staircase and awakening inside a novel. His assigned character was a demonic antagonist destined to die by the male lead’s sword five years after his arrival 1 2.

Determined to return home, he spent three years cultivating and completing system missions. He reached peak Tribulation Transcendence, unified the demonic sects, and signed the Peace Agreement Between the Righteous and Demonic Paths. His rapid cultivation resulted from relentless training and the system’s guidance, not the patronage later attributed to Jing Yuan in sect gossip 1 33.

Betrayal at Heaven-Reaching Peak

After the system announced that his main quests were complete, Gu Yi prepared to leave through a transport portal at Heaven-Reaching Peak. Righteous cultivators surrounded him, the portal closed, and the system stopped responding after reporting an error 1.

His subordinate He Yan had colluded with the attackers and poisoned him. He Yan stabbed Gu Yi and offered to spare him only if he submitted as a male concubine and cultivation vessel. Gu Yi instead pulled the sword from his chest and detonated his spiritual power, killing many attackers, badly injuring He Yan, and falling into the abyss. He Yan survived and took leadership of the Demonic Cult 1.

Survival with Lin Yuan

Gu Yi survived the fall and awakened inside a spatial barrier occupied by Lin Yuan, who had been blinded and imprisoned there for three years. His shattered meridians and destroyed spiritual core left him close to death. Recognizing Lin Yuan as another doomed antagonist, Gu Yi sympathized with him while concealing his own identity as the Demon Venerable 2 3.

Lin Yuan repeatedly sustained him through soul cultivation. Their subsequent dual cultivation repaired Gu Yi’s body and extended his life, but their relationship also involved pressure and coercion: Lin Yuan threatened to force him when he refused to continue 6 7 9.

After a year together, Lin Yuan’s Golden Core tribulation broke the barrier. Gu Yi initially escaped, then returned when Lin Yuan faltered and helped take the final lightning strike. He carried the unconscious Lin Yuan to safety before leaving, hoping their debts were settled and asking Lin Yuan to forget him 11.

Life as Ye Yiyi

Gu Yi adopted women’s clothing and the alias Ye Yiyi to conceal his survival. He originally intended to join the Shenxing Sect, whose disciples specialized in escape techniques. Instead, after helping Yezi evade pursuers, he was drugged and substituted for her as the Ye family’s daughter and prospective Tianmu Sect disciple 16 17 18.

Too weakened to escape and unwilling to invite questions about his real identity, he accepted the substitution. He became Wen Daochen’s second disciple and explained his damaged meridians as the result of qi deviation. Three years of treatment largely restored his health, although his cultivation remained stalled at Foundation Establishment 17 18.

As Ye Yiyi, he became a celebrated beauty and attracted Jiang Lingzhou’s persistent courtship. His new life also gave him a legitimate identity, shelter, and medical care—benefits he acknowledged despite resenting Yezi’s deception 18 24.

The Friendship Conference and Secret Realm

Gu Yi traveled with Xie Wenyun and Jiang Lingzhou to the Orthodox-Demonic Friendship Conference, intending to retrieve his Life Lamp from the Illusory Demon Sect. Its continued existence threatened to expose that the Demon Venerable was alive 20 28.

In Nansi City, Lin Yuan repeatedly tested whether Ye Yiyi was Gu Yi. The azure sky jade pendant concealed his spiritual aura, while a concealed vial of Lin Yuan’s blood allowed him to falsify a Chaos Immortal Grass test for past dual cultivation 25 28 31.

During the conference’s beast hunt, Gu Yi rescued Lin Yuan from Chu Jing. When his pendant was cut loose, his aura became recognizable, forcing him to admit his identity. He subsequently entered Lin Yuan’s sea of consciousness and removed the inner demon formed around his departure three years earlier, then fled again while Lin Yuan slept 37 38 39.

Gu Yi later searched for the missing Xie Wenyun and Jiang Lingzhou. At Vine Cliff, Love Vines drained his spiritual power and induced hallucinations; Lin Yuan sustained severe injuries rescuing him. Gu Yi subsequently faced his own Golden Core tribulation with Lin Yuan’s assistance 44 45 46.

After the group reunited, a vine demoness attacked them. Gu Yi caught a poisonous thorn aimed at the unconscious Jiang Lingzhou, injuring his hand. Lin Yuan defeated the demoness and passed Xie Wenyun the flower needed to neutralize the poison 48 49.

Appearance

Gu Yi has fair skin, long black hair, gentle features, and a slender waist. His appearance as the Demon Venerable is described as closer to a frail scholar than a stereotypical demonic cultivator 1 13 16.

• Demon Venerable attire: Blue-and-white robes, a white fox-fur cloak, and a mask concealing most of his face 13 38.
• Ye Yiyi disguise: Elegant dresses, loosely pinned hair, and carefully applied makeup 16.
• Voice and scent: An attractive, unhurried speaking voice and a distinctive fresh scent of grass and trees, both remembered by Lin Yuan 5 16.
• Light-sensitive eyes: Bright lighting and fireworks cause discomfort; even moonlight can trouble him 17 28 29.
• Beauty Rankings: Listed tenth as the masked Gu Yi and later second as Ye Yiyi 13 18.
• Disguise limitations: His height and comparatively large feet draw Lin Yuan’s attention 44.

Personality

Gu Yi’s original driving goal is returning home. He neglects comfort to cultivate and finish missions, then becomes disillusioned when those efforts end in betrayal. After settling at the Tianmu Sect, he prefers safety, treatment, and a peaceful remaining lifespan over renewed ambition 1 18.

He is wary of strangers after He Yan’s betrayal and frequently tries to avoid trouble. Nevertheless, compassion repeatedly overcomes that caution: he returns during Lin Yuan’s tribulation, tries to help the dying A Ke despite their earlier fight, and intercepts a poisoned thorn for Jiang Lingzhou 11 17 35 49.

His gentle manner coexists with a sharp temper and irreverent internal commentary. He retaliates physically when A Ke insults and attacks him, and later deliberately grinds mud onto Lin Yuan’s shoe after being dropped on the ground. He also shows practical resourcefulness, most notably when falsifying the Chaos Immortal Grass test 31 34 44.

Abilities & Skills

Cultivation and Spellcraft

Gu Yi retains broad magical knowledge from his years in the Demonic Cult, even after losing his former cultivation 18.

• Creates protective barriers around people and locations 37 46 49.
• Uses cleansing spells, flight, and voice transmissions 11 28 43.
• Wields a sword and employs palm strikes in combat 37 45.
• Avoids recognizable demonic techniques while maintaining his orthodox identity 18.
• His barriers are not impenetrable: the vine demoness’s poisoned thorn bypasses one 49.

Divine Sense and Inner-Demon Removal

His former Tribulation Transcendence cultivation left him with powerful divine sense despite his reduced realm 39.

• Enters Lin Yuan’s sea of consciousness and confronts his inner demon 38.
• Removes the inner demon in approximately two hours using a Demonic Cult cultivation technique 39.
• The procedure exhausts him, leaving him vulnerable to Lin Yuan’s pursuing divine sense 39.

Soul and Dual Cultivation

Cultivating with Lin Yuan is central to Gu Yi’s survival and renewed advancement 6 9 40.

• Soul cultivation nourishes his damaged meridians and spiritual core 6.
• Dual cultivation repairs his body, extends his lifespan, and eventually loosens his cultivation bottleneck 9 40.
• He initially possesses theoretical knowledge from a manual but no practical experience 7.
• Ordinary cultivation fails to produce progress during his three years at the Tianmu Sect; Gu Yi suspects dual cultivation may be his only viable route forward 18 40.

Disguise and Deception

Gu Yi combines an assumed identity, concealed spiritual energy, and improvised explanations to hide his survival 17 18 31.

• Uses Yezi’s ancestral bangle to authenticate his identity as the Ye family’s daughter 17 18.
• Attributes his shattered meridians to qi deviation 18.
• Substitutes Lin Yuan’s stored blood for his own during the Chaos Immortal Grass test, preventing the plant from revealing their shared cultivation history 31.
• His aura becomes recognizable to Lin Yuan when the concealing pendant is removed 37.

Knowledge of the Original Novel

Gu Yi remembers the novel’s cultivation system and several major character trajectories 2 28.

• Recognizes Lin Yuan as an antagonist destined to die over his pursuit of the female lead 2.
• Identifies Yezi and Mu Yang as the female and male leads 28.
• Understands the purpose of Chaos Immortal Grass from its role in the original plot 31.
• His knowledge is incomplete because he only skimmed the novel, reading Lin Yuan’s portions more closely out of sympathy 28.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Qiankun Ring / storage ring — Holds medicines, bedding, clothing, a cultivation manual, and other supplies 2 3 7 17.
• Azure sky jade pendant — Gift from Jiang Lingzhou that conceals spiritual power; its removal exposes Gu Yi’s aura to Lin Yuan 20 37.
• Ye family jadeite bangle — A small defensive artifact and proof of identity, left by Yezi when she substituted him for herself 17 18.
• Cultivation manual — Obtained from the Illusory Demon Sect and consulted before teaching Lin Yuan dual cultivation 7.
• Vial of Lin Yuan’s blood — Originally kept against possible instability in his borrowed spiritual power; later used to falsify the Chaos Immortal Grass test 31.
• Mask and fox-fur cloak — Characteristic items associated with his public appearance as Demon Venerable 13.
• Eye-covering sash — Gift from Jiang Lingzhou; used to shield his sensitive eyes during his Golden Core tribulation 46.
• Sword — An unnamed weapon used against the Love Vines and summoned during the vine demoness encounter 45 49.
• Life Lamp — Kept at the Illusory Demon Sect. Gu Yi seeks to retrieve it so others cannot use it to prove he survived 20 28.

Relationships

• Lin Yuan — Cultivation partner, rescuer, and obsessive romantic pursuer. Gu Yi feels sympathy, attraction, gratitude, and fear toward him; Lin Yuan’s coercive behavior and Gu Yi’s knowledge of his original villainous fate complicate their intimacy. Gu Yi repeatedly saves him but also repeatedly leaves him 2 9 11 28 39.
• He Yan — Former subordinate and betrayer. Poisoned Gu Yi, helped arrange the ambush, and sought to possess him as a male concubine and cultivation vessel. Gu Yi remains intensely fearful and resentful of him years later 1 32.
• Yezi — Recipient of Gu Yi’s reluctant help, then the architect of his substitution as a Tianmu Sect disciple. He resents being drugged and manipulated, while recognizing that the resulting refuge benefited his health 16 17 24.
• Xie Wenyun — Senior fellow disciple under Wen Daochen and a devoted caretaker. Loves Gu Yi as Junior Sister Ye, while Gu Yi does not reciprocate his courtship 18 20 23.
• Jiang Lingzhou — Persistent suitor of Ye Yiyi. Arranged a marriage proposal through his father and gave Gu Yi useful gifts; despite finding him annoying, Gu Yi later risks poisoning to protect him 18 20 49.
• Wen Daochen — Master at the Tianmu Sect. Accepts him as his second disciple under Yezi’s identity and arranges treatment for his damaged body 18.
• Mu Yang — The original novel’s male lead. Gu Yi recognizes his exceptional combat advantages and later works with him to search for missing companions, finding him reserved but kindhearted 36 41 42 43.
• Jing Yuan — Successor as Illusory Demon Sect leader and the subject of rumors claiming that Gu Yi loved him and benefited from his patronage. Gu Yi rejects the claim that Jing Yuan was responsible for his cultivation achievements 32 33.
• The system — Former quest provider and cultivation guide. Stops responding after the failed departure; Gu Yi later suspects it abandoned him, but its actual fate is unconfirmed 1 18 33.

Notable Quotes

“I unified the Demonic Cult sects. I signed the Peace Agreement Between the Righteous and Demonic Paths. All I ever wanted was to go home. What exactly did I do wrong?” 1

“Tsk! Yezi, you really outdid yourself!” 17

Trivia

• Gu Yi devised Ye Yiyi while still trapped in the barrier. He formed “Ye Yi” from parts of the characters in his own name, then repeated “Yi” because it sounded better 16.
• The age of sixteen that he gives Xie Wenyun belongs to Yezi’s assumed identity, not his established actual age 18.
• He tells Lin Yuan fairy tales from his original world, including Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood; Lin Yuan responds by criticizing their characters’ naïveté 6.
• Years after his presumed death, Gu Yi observes that the peace between orthodox and demonic factions has largely endured, apart from minor friction 23.