Jian Ran

Biodata

Power Progression

The documented progression concerns training and recovery rather than named cultivation realms.

Background / History

Original Life

Before transmigrating, Jian Ran was an actor approaching a best-actor award and a practitioner trained in the Mystical Sect. He entered the sect at thirteen and spent years cultivating in seclusion. Despite his divination skills, he failed to foresee the car accident that killed him 2 44 45.

Transmigration and the Substitute Role

Jian Ran entered a melodramatic romance novel after its original Jian Ran had died by suicide through an overdose of sleeping pills. The character was a financially struggling entertainer used as a substitute for Zhong Fanrui, whose appearance he closely resembled 2 29 177.

The Transmigration System forced Jian Ran to imitate Zhong Fanrui’s habits and perform the role of a desperately infatuated substitute. Electric shocks punished deviations, compelling him to endure several months of mistreatment from wealthy suitors 2 5.

When the system left to pursue a relationship of its own, Jian Ran abandoned the submissive performance. He began demanding payment, retaliating against insults, and earning money through his supernatural skills 5 69 139.

Appearance

• Face and eyes: Porcelain-white skin, amber eyes, and strikingly attractive features 2 7 12.
• Build: Tall and slender, with long legs, proportionate fingers, and visible strength beneath understated muscles 7 19 31 97.
• Resemblance: Looks sufficiently like Zhong Fanrui to attract the attention of Zhong’s admirers 29.
• Public disguise: Begins wearing sunglasses outside after fans chase him through the streets 68.

Personality

Jian Ran is irreverent, foul-mouthed, and openly retaliatory. He refuses to excuse mistreatment on the basis of gender, wealth, or social standing, treating “getting even” as a personal motto. His threats are frequently backed by physical force or accurate divination 69 143 177.

Money strongly influences his decisions, but it does not buy unquestioning obedience. He insists on being paid for his expertise, resists exclusive employment, and refuses dangerous commissions—including Wang Pangzi’s offer of two hundred million to search for an imperial seal 38 46 96 201.

The narration explicitly describes him as having a personality disorder involving emotional indifference and difficulty empathizing with others’ suffering. This detachment helps him resist the resentment within supernatural domains. Nevertheless, he repeatedly protects others, finances Wei Qin’s treatment, and refuses to let innocent people die through possession 45 145 165.

His confidence falters most noticeably around Lu Yanting. Although quick to recognize schemes elsewhere, he becomes embarrassed by Lu’s affection and repeatedly yields to coaxing or feigned vulnerability 108 131 160 201.

Abilities & Skills

Divination and Supernatural Perception

Jian Ran uses finger calculations, facial readings, and divination tools to identify danger, assess fortunes, and locate targets 2 145 176.

• Predicts an electrical accident and recognizes Lu Yanting’s recurring dreams and disturbed sleep 2 4.
• Identifies a suspicious Buddhist shrine and detects dangerous romantic luck in Jian Dan’s future 25 145.
• Calculates Lu Yuhuan’s death date and uses divination to search for Enjoying Prosperity 143 176.
• Limit: His master taught that beings several cultivation levels above a practitioner can be difficult to detect; Jian Ran fails to sense the presence Lu Yanting recognizes at the hospital 110.

Talisman Craft

He draws talismans using yellow paper, a weasel-hair brush, and cinnabar diluted with alcohol. His work visibly acquires mystical power during preparation 48.

• Protection: Supplies talismans against supernatural attacks and makes Life-Saving and Calming Talismans 51 122.
• Enhancement: Uses talismans to strengthen physical attacks, including a kick that breaches the hospital’s supernatural operating room 114.
• Restraint and demolition: Immobilizes an animated severed hand, blasts open a sealed iron door, and seals Zhong Zehui inside a coffin 131 136 207.
• Specialized commissions: Sells Pregnancy-Protecting, All-Things-Go-Smoothly, and Everlasting Youth Talismans 122.
• Blood empowerment: Virgin blood produces stronger effects than cinnabar alone; he marks talismans to distinguish those made with his blood from Lu Yanting’s 52.
• Limits: Noncombat talismans improve existing circumstances rather than guaranteeing wealth, luck, or longevity. His talismans also fail to activate during one encounter in the Mass Grave 122 206.

Five Thunder Spell

An offensive spell used with talisman paper to destroy supernatural targets 55 131.

• Threatens Li Zongsheng’s grave with it to compel him to reveal the rest of his story 55.
• Prepares a virgin-blood-enhanced version during the confrontation with Mother Liu 60.
• Detonates an animated severed hand aboard the cruise ship 131.

Resentment Domains and Supernatural Visions

Jian Ran can enter Resentment Domains and experience events connected to the dead. His emotional detachment makes him unusually effective at resolving or eliminating these domains 43 44 45.

• Experiences Liu Ying’s confinement in a metal cabinet from within the victim’s body 43 44.
• Enters the Southern City crisis to stop the Empress from using Nuo Xiaolan’s body to repeat her suicide 165.
• Sees past events after touching human remains and Zhong Zehui’s black blood 198 207.
• Limits: Inside Liu Ying’s memory, he cannot control the body he inhabits. His master warns that insufficient cultivation can leave practitioners consumed by resentment or permanently mentally damaged 43 44.

Exorcism and Soul Deliverance

Jian Ran can expel possessing entities, restrain monsters with golden righteous energy, and guide souls toward rest 117 170 201.

• Ends Wei Yuxi’s possession and helps free Nuo Xiaolan from the Empress’s Wraith 166 201.
• Delivers the Empress after seizing a moment when her original appearance resurfaces 170.
• Golden Light Rain: Uses Taixu’s Mystical Sect’s ultimate secret art to release the souls trapped in the Death Forest. The golden rain clears the forest’s white mist 210.
• Earlier produces a vast golden talisman and falling golden light over the Deserted Village and Mountain Villa 60.

Martial Arts and Swordsmanship

His training includes rooftop movement, wall-scaling, close combat, and spiritually empowered swordplay 51 52.

• Runs at exceptional speed while carrying a heavy hoe 26.
• Cuts an attacking paper figure in half with a glowing peachwood sword 51.
• Slaughters enough Hell Apes to frighten the survivors into retreat, then strikes back toward their summoner with his Golden Light Sword 185.
• Uses agility, talismans, and coffin sealing when direct sword attacks prove insufficient against Zhong Zehui 207.
• Limit: The Hell Ape battle exhausts him to the point of collapse; he remains asleep for three days and two nights 185 187.

Acting and Deception

Jian Ran’s professional acting experience enables him to sustain roles contrary to his natural temperament 2 45.

• Performs the system-mandated role of an emotionally dependent substitute 5.
• Feigns drunkenness to encourage an old kitchen worker to reveal information 152.
• Continues working in film and variety television while using supernatural investigations to rebuild his public reputation 62 100 122.

Drowsiness Spell

• Uses a Drowsiness Spell to slip away at night and approach the Prince of Zhennan’s tomb. Lu Yanting remains conscious but temporarily unable to move 169 171.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Peachwood Sword — Glows with golden light during attacks; used against paper figures and the flesh-eating child associated with Liu Ying 51 53.
• Golden Light Sword — A luminous weapon used against Hell Apes and later supernatural threats; its material is obscured by golden light 185 206.
• Talisman-making supplies — Yellow paper, cinnabar, alcohol, and a weasel-hair brush 48.
• Divination tools and old books — Kept at his apartment alongside his other ritual supplies 176.
• Yun Ying’s notebook — Retains it after the hospital investigation, hiding it in his suitcase when Yu Zhuo visits 120.
• Second-hand Hongqi car — Obtained through Xu Xuda after his growing popularity makes ordinary outings difficult 68.

Relationships

• Lu Yanting — Initially a talisman customer, then an investigative partner and romantic partner. Jian Ran becomes increasingly protective of him and explicitly rejects the system’s intended plot to keep him alive. Their relationship is public by their return from the Death Forest 5 181 206 210.
• Jian Dan — The original owner’s younger brother. Initially resentful over abandonment, he eventually recognizes that Jian Ran has changed and accepts him as his brother after Jian Ran acknowledges that the former occupant is dead 144 177.
• Wei Qin — The original owner’s mother. Jian Ran pays her outstanding hospital fees, arranges better treatment, and provides money for medicine and living expenses 145.
• Xu Xuda — Agent and career intermediary. Negotiates show appearances and fees while frequently struggling with Jian Ran’s unpredictable conduct 8 62 69.
• Transmigration System — Enforces his substitute role through electric shocks. Jian Ran later turns its workplace misconduct against it, defies its plot instructions, and ultimately secures its unbinding 5 139 206 210.
• Zhong Fanrui — Cousin and the beloved figure Jian Ran was forced to imitate. Their relationship becomes openly hostile; Jian Ran distrusts his later display of remorse 5 128 176.
• Yu Fengyi, Ji Yuanming, and Bai Jingchuan — Former partners who treated him as Zhong Fanrui’s replacement. Jian Ran rejects their renewed interest rather than returning to his assigned role 29 96 182 212.
• Yu Shan — An older friend and supernatural-investigation contact. Offers help against the Master, but Jian Ran refuses recruitment into the Cultural Relics Bureau 181 182.
• Yu Zhuo — A police investigator connected to the hospital case. After apologizing, she becomes a customer for his protective talismans 112 120 122.
• Old Master Lu — Welcomes Jian Ran into the Lu household and enthusiastically supports his relationship with Lu Yanting, proposing overseas marriage registration 142 210.
• Prince of Zhennan — A dangerous spirit Jian Ran investigates and attempts to negotiate with. The Prince mistakes him for Sheng Le; Jian Ran explicitly denies being that person 169 170.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Notable Quotes

“I earn money with my own skills.” 46

“Getting even is my motto.” 177

“Whoever backs down loses.” 185

“Whoever wants to be a stand-in doormat can go right ahead. I’m keeping the Villain alive!” 206

Trivia

• Fans chant “When Jian Ran appears, all ghosts steer clear!” and “Talisman Paper in hand, fair deals for young and old!”—slogans he finds alarming rather than flattering 68.
• The cry “Jian Ran is invincible, may he live as long as heaven!” makes him worry that his following is beginning to resemble a cult 122.
• Despite his money-making ambitions, he enjoys spending successful paydays lying in bed, eating takeout, and doing nothing 122.
• His appetite repeatedly interrupts serious situations: he asks for another chicken drumstick during the hospital shoot and adds several dishes while questioning Yu Zhuo 102 173.