Sun Chen

Biodata

Power Progression

The early advancements below are recounted retrospectively; Sun Chen is already a True Person when he meets Ao Ding.

Background / History

Direct-Lineage Training and Estrangement

Sun Chen trained under a True Person from childhood and ranked among the True Disciples of the Six Sects. His education followed the main sects’ direct-lineage methods rather than the deliberately restricted instruction used by some branch lineages 3.

He had visited Jiaxia Kingdom three thousand years before traveling there with Ao Ding. At that time, its inhabitants were earth dragons rather than Beauty Ants 6.

Sun Chen later broke away from the Pure Tenuity Sect. His departure angered eminent True Persons of the Six Sects, and his master publicly severed their relationship. The reason for the break is not given in the supplied account 20.

He also fought the Nethermoon Wolf Court, losing one of his three protective Dharma Treasures. By the end of his life, he needed protection during Liberation by Violence, when his enemies would have an opportunity to attack 20 26.

Recruiting Ao Ding

Sun Chen initially sought the Seven Spirits Sect’s assistance. The sect declined because of both the Wolf Court’s hostility and his estrangement from Pure Tenuity 20.

After watching Ao Ding use hell-derived spells in the sect’s kitchen garden, Sun Chen offered Deputy Sect Master Wu three Purple Leopard Mystic Gang Purity Pills in exchange for taking the boy away and assuming his karma. He also recognized that Ao Ding’s apparently blind left eye could see 1.

Ao Ding agreed to become his protector after requesting an oath upon Sun Chen’s Great Dao True Nature. Their bargain required Sun Chen to teach him Daoist arts and give him half his possessions. Sun Chen hurried away when he sensed Wang Weilong emerging from seclusion, placing himself beyond the sect master’s ability to track 2 19.

Teaching During Their Travels

Sun Chen taught Ao Ding the Golden Light Breathing Technique, corrected his cultivation bottleneck, and placed the scripture and his insights directly into the boy’s Niwan Palace. He then took him through Yin Chimei’s residence in the Yellow Springs, where Ao Ding’s fear-driven cultivation produced another breakthrough 3 4.

Their journey to Jiaxia Kingdom sought the Innate Divine Spring to restore Ao Ding’s body and nourish his spiritual eye. During the Golden-Peng Pheasant affair, Sun Chen repaired the volunteers’ equipment, supplied protective talismans, and cursed the agreement securing their rewards. The supposed longevity medicine could replenish deficiencies but could not extend his allotted lifespan 6 7 8.

At Lingcheng County, Sun Chen refined the Lin family’s Dark Sweet Wine Flask so that Lin Bai’s father could become a Wine Immortal after death. He also took Ao Ding and Lu Xiu to Azure Pool Immortal Market, teaching them how to obtain supplies and preparing their routes to future teachers 14 15.

The confrontation with Old Daoist Qi became a practical lesson in justice. Sun Chen stopped Qi’s planned plague attack, allowed him to reclaim what he had given the Wang family, and then sent him to Heavenly Prison for judgment. He used the affair to distinguish legitimate grievances from indiscriminate retaliation 18 19.

Final Instruction at Qianling Mountain

After arranging Lu Xiu’s departure for the Heavenly Stone Sect, Sun Chen brought Ao Ding to his Immortal Tomb. Exhausted by his use of Divine Abilities, he remained in the burial chamber while teaching through a projected image 19 20 21.

He supplied orthodox scriptures, personally recopied cultivation texts, and helped Ao Ding develop the Cloud Aspect Primordial Truth Mirror. Their discussions covered true nature, cultivation traditions, the powers of True Persons, and why destroying life could be easier than controlling natural phenomena 21 23.

Sun Chen’s original plan had required Ao Ding to risk his life by briefly delaying the Wolf King with his eye and a Dharma Treasure. After recognizing the boy’s potential, he abandoned that plan and chose to bear more of the danger himself 26.

Liberation by Violence

When seven demon ghosts entered the tomb, Sun Chen confronted them while Ao Ding operated its restrictions and lowered the Dragon-Severing Stone. The tomb itself was part of his final trap for the Nethermoon Wolf King 24.

As his strength failed, Sun Chen summoned manifestations of two previous incarnations. The female manifestation’s Ten Thousand-Colored Heavenly Splendor destroyed five demon ghosts and gravely wounded the fleeing Wolf King. Sun Chen could no longer pursue him, but Ao Ding’s Golden Spear Cave Lock killed the Wolf King at the tomb’s exit 26.

Sun Chen successfully departed into reincarnation, while the wolf curse transferred to Ao Ding. In his farewell message, he directed Ao Ding to seek his next incarnation among the poor and lowly on Cangluan Continent, using the Qianling Mountain-Calming Pearl as a guide. He expressly forbade taking that incarnation to the Pure Tenuity Sect 26 27.

Appearance

• White-haired elderly Daoist: The travelers shelter behind him during the Golden-Peng Pheasant’s fire attack 7.
• Walking stick: Frequently taps his cane while speaking or casting spells 1 6.
• Beard: Strokes it while observing the Lin household 14.
• Damaged spiritual condition: When Sun Chen opens Lu Xiu’s perception, the youth sees him as a dim ball of light covered in cracks 11.

Personality

Sun Chen is a meticulous teacher whose care extends well beyond imparting techniques. He prepares supplies, introductions, defensive spells, fallback teachers, and useful friendships for Ao Ding. Although he explicitly says they are not truly master and disciple, his instruction increasingly resembles the devoted guidance of a formal lineage 17 19.

He dislikes branch-lineage schemes that intentionally obstruct students before allowing main-sect teachers to correct them. Nevertheless, he can acknowledge their results: after Ao Ding’s rapid breakthroughs, he privately credits the momentum created by Wang Weilong’s years of suppression 3 5 9.

His compassion is not pacifism. He accepts decisive revenge but condemns harming unrelated people; during Qi’s retaliation, he does not intervene when several Wang descendants suffer broken legs. He then insists that Qi answer for his own wrongdoing before Heavenly Prison 18 19.

He often teases Ao Ding’s fearfulness, yet does not consider cultivators inherently obliged to seek combat. His decision to abandon the dangerous protector plan shows that the boy’s future ultimately matters more to him than making his own reincarnation easier 4 8 26.

Abilities & Skills

Golden Light and Protective Arts

Sun Chen uses golden light for movement, protection, and combat.

• Earth-Traversing Golden Light Art: Escapes with Ao Ding after sensing Wang Weilong’s emergence 2.
• Long-distance flight: Carries Ao Ding through the sky in a dragon-like streak of golden light, crossing a thousand li in an instant 19 20.
• Protective immortal Gang: Makes the Golden-Peng Pheasant’s flames bend around him, leaving a fire-free space three zhang across 7.
• Combat transformations: Turns the golden dragon into a treasured sword during the tomb battle 26.

True Person Perception and Authority

His attainment allows him to perceive realities hidden from ordinary observers.

• Sees through Jiaxia Kingdom’s Dharma Realm and steps out beneath the Xuanjia Immortal Tree 8.
• Opens Lu Xiu’s perception to the tides of vital energy 11.
• Communicates with Qingji through resonance between their true natures, despite not understanding their speech 13.
• Possesses words capable of carrying heavenly authority; an uncontrolled remark once injured a turtle, requiring three days of restorative work 12.

Divination and Curses

Sun Chen reads karmic opportunities and uses curses for enforcement and protection.

• Divination: Investigates Lin Bai’s family circumstances and detects that Old Daoist Qi’s revenge threatens an entire city 14 17.
• Anti-divination: Scatters pine needles to confuse Wang Weilong and Yin Chimei’s attempts to locate him 5.
• Binding agreement: Places a curse on the Jiaxia reward contract that will activate if its terms are violated 8.
• Hundred-Curse Fortune-Gathering Secret Rite: Teaches Ao Ding to gain fortune through helping others, rather than extracting ruinous repayment 15 18.
• Yin-Falling Curse: Passes on a last-resort means of locating the Ghost Gate. He warns that careless use can rupture the boundary between yin and yang and release ghosts into the human world 19.

Artifact Refining and Practical Spells

His repertoire includes restoration, construction, restraint, and artifact consecration.

• Restores broken weapons and removes damage from a hoe with a gesture 8.
• Draws life-preserving talismans on the demon-bird expedition’s volunteers 8.
• Refines the Dark Sweet Wine Flask into a jade vessel capable of housing Lin Bai’s father as a Wine Immortal 15.
• Teaches the Pure Tenuity Sect’s Heavenly Heart Artifact Refining Art through mind-to-mind transmission 17.
• Turns fallen leaves into a rope to bind Old Daoist Qi 18.
• Repairs a crooked hut and teaches the House-Building Technique 20.

Consciousness Projection and Instruction

Sun Chen teaches without leaving his burial chamber.

• Uses a strand of divided consciousness to create an image with his appearance and voice through the Spirit Aspect Light and Shadow Technique 21.
• Transmits scriptures and cultivation insights directly into Ao Ding’s Niwan Palace 3.
• Provides the Mystical Perfection Formula and supporting texts, while acknowledging that he does not himself understand the formula’s operation 17 21.

Past-Life Manifestations

His final reserve consists of spiritual manifestations from two previous lives.

• Male manifestation with a sun disc: Temporarily replenishes his failing yang qi 26.
• Female manifestation with a moon disc: Uses Dao Domain: Ten Thousand-Colored Heavenly Splendor, destroying five demon ghosts at once 26.
• Limit: Their intervention does not restore his lasting combat strength; afterward, he cannot pursue the wounded Wolf King 26.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Mysterious Fire Nine-Spirit Ring — Protective Dharma Treasure used to restrain a bone snake during the final battle; Sun Chen recalls it when the snake and fox demon overwhelm it 26.
• Azure Jade Golden Dragon Banner — One of his two surviving protective Dharma Treasures, left with Ao Ding for protection before the final confrontation 26.
• Qianling Mountain-Calming Pearl — Quintessence of Qianling Mountain’s earth veins. Entrusted to Ao Ding for the tomb operation and later designated as a guide to Sun Chen’s reincarnation 24 27.
• Water-Moon Robe — Given to Ao Ding before Sun Chen confronts the invading demon ghosts 24.
• Immortal Tomb — Both his final residence and a prepared killing ground, with restrictions and the Dragon-Severing Stone intended to imprison his enemies 24.
• Letters of introduction — Leaves Ao Ding five routes to Guangfa-affiliated teachers and gives Lu Xiu letters for the Heavenly Stone and Jade Cauldron sects 19.

Relationships

• Ao Ding — Contracted protector who becomes his closely cared-for pupil. Sun Chen exceeds their bargain through extensive instruction and safeguards, then removes him from the most dangerous part of his reincarnation plan 2 19 26.
• Lu Xiu — Junior whom he guides onto the cultivation path. Arranges safe transport, a Heavenly Stone Sect introduction, and a Jade Cauldron Sect fallback 15 19.
• Yin Chimei — Junior sister and old friend whose Yellow Springs residence he visits. She disapproves of the Seven Spirits Sect’s treatment of him 4 20.
• Wang Weilong — Junior he looked after in youth. Wang declines to protect him but later acknowledges how generously Sun Chen treated Ao Ding 20 34.
• Seven Spirits Sect’s previous sect master — Long-standing friend from his younger days; Sun Chen hopes Ao Ding and Lu Xiu can develop a comparable bond 19.
• His Pure Tenuity master — Teacher from childhood who later publicly severs their relationship. Sun Chen nevertheless continues drawing on remembered lessons when teaching Ao Ding 3 17 20.
• Lin Bai and Lin Rulong — Beneficiaries of his guidance and artifact refining; he also establishes their family as a future connection for Ao Ding 15 19.
• Nethermoon Wolf King — Enemy who attacks during Liberation by Violence. Sun Chen’s tomb trap and past-life powers cripple him before Ao Ding delivers the killing blow 24 26.

Notable Quotes

“Cultivating truth, cultivating truth—what we seek is that one word: ‘truth.’” 10

“Repay hatred with vengeance and settle grievances, but never implicate the innocent.” 19

“In my next life, I shall be born into a debased caste—remember, once you have guided me, do not take me to the Pure Tenuity Sect.” 27