Chen Xuan

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Original Body and Enslavement

The original Chen Xuan lost his parents to famine at three and was adopted by the merchant Ye Tiancheng. After Ye died during a debt-collecting trip, Chen Xuan’s stepmother, Liu Qingyan, sold the family businesses and then sold her fifteen-year-old stepson to the Marquis of Zhenbei’s Residence for fifty taels of silver. His lifetime bondage contract made him his master’s legal property under Great Qian law 3.

For three years, he tended horses, cleaned stables, carried water, and chopped firewood while enduring abuse and reduced rations. Although household slaves were permitted to practice the Boulder Art, he failed to sense Qi and eventually abandoned his hope of escaping slavery through martial cultivation 3.

Transmigration and Secret Training

Xiao Yuxuan accused Chen Xuan of staring at his newly purchased concubine, Chu Miaoyin, and whipped him in the street with an iron-barbed whip. The original body died from the beating; the transmigrated Chen Xuan subsequently inherited its memories and lingering hatred. In his previous life, he had been an advertising-company employee accustomed to extreme overtime 1 3.

After awakening his Heaven Rewards Diligence fate trait, Chen Xuan cultivated through the night and healed before the servants arrived to dispose of his supposed corpse. He concealed his recovery from Steward Zhao De and returned to stable work, maintaining the appearance of a frightened, powerless servant 3 4 5 6.

Tea service at the training grounds gave him the opportunity to steal the Eight Desolations Prison-Suppressing Yang Gang from Xiao Yuxuan’s demonstrations. He chose the permitted Boulder Art as his public cover and reserved the restricted Yang Gang art for secret use 9 12.

After reaching Early-stage Bright Force, he endured Liu San’s whipping without revealing his strength—even tearing his own shoulder to produce convincing wounds. He later injured Liu San’s leg under the guise of an accidental slip, then recognized that his rapidly increased strength required finer control 15 17 19 20.

Rescue and Promotion

When poisoned thorns caused Treading Snow to run wild with Xiao Ling’er mounted, Chen Xuan seized the reins and stopped the horse just before a narrow bridge beside a deep lake. He then caught Xiao Ling’er as she fell from the saddle. His explanation that he had learned useful footwork while fighting stray dogs concealed his abilities from her, but Su Wanqing detected powerful Qi and ordered a discreet investigation 24 25 28.

The household rewarded him with ten taels of gold and a Blood-Gathering Pill. At Xiao Ling’er’s request, he was transferred from the stables to become her personal guard. He hid the gold and consumed the pill before Liu San and Xiao Liuzi could confiscate his rewards on Zhao De’s orders 31 32 33.

The pill brought him to Middle-stage Ming Jin, but he told Xiao Ling’er that it had merely allowed him to enter Early-stage Bright Force. His concealment survived her pulse examination, persuading her that she had acquired a loyal guard with unusually strong potential 33 34 37.

Western Market Confrontation

At Listening to Rain Pavilion, Chen Xuan countered Chun Tao’s attempt to scald him and then pleaded for leniency, allowing Xiao Ling’er to punish her without appearing excessively harsh. He subsequently accompanied his mistress to inspect shops in western Qingzhou City that had suffered repeated disturbances 41.

Outside the Cloud Silk Fabric Shop, he protected Xiao Ling’er from Scarface Liu Heng. Concealing his true cultivation, he deflected Liu Heng’s saber and counterattacked, presenting the victory as a desperate early-stage fighter’s use of techniques learned through carrying water 44 45 46.

The Black Tiger Gang then surrounded the street with fifty or sixty swordsmen. Chen Xuan deliberately enraged its Second Boss, Lei Hu, into committing to an airborne attack. Using both cultivation arts, he shattered Lei Hu’s hundred-jin spiked club, broke his arms, and killed him with a blow through the chest, while outwardly maintaining the appearance of a weaker cultivator overexerting himself 47 50.

Appearance

• Before cultivation: Rough, callused hands and a sallow, undernourished body marked by years of menial labor 3 34.
• After marrow cleansing: Firmer, finer skin, broad shoulders, and increasingly dense musculature 15.
• After the Blood-Gathering Pill: Sharply defined chest, abdominal, and arm muscles; skin with a warm, bronze-jade luster 34.
• Usual disguise: Shabby gray work clothes, hunched shoulders, lowered eyes, and bloodstained bandages concealing already-healed injuries 16 34.

Personality

Chen Xuan treats cultivation with the same relentless work ethic he brought to advertising deadlines. He trains overnight, circulates Qi during chores, and continues practicing on horseback rather than leaving usable time idle. Visible proficiency gains strengthen his enthusiasm for this constant effort 3 13 21 42.

His submissiveness is largely calculated. He uses flattery, tears, exaggerated pain, and declarations of loyalty to survive scrutiny and gain resources. He explicitly draws on his experience handling difficult clients, and will accept humiliation—or injure himself—rather than expose a useful secret prematurely 11 17 34 37.

Beneath that restraint, he is vindictive and ambitious. He regards the original owner’s suffering as a debt he has inherited, intending not merely to escape control but to take Xiao Yuxuan’s power, position, and women. His attraction to Xiao Ling’er also leads him to exploit moments of physical closeness and test how far her growing favor will protect him 3 4 25 46 47.

Abilities & Skills

Heaven Rewards Diligence

A fate trait that converts sustained effort into measurable cultivation progress and presents proficiency through a mental panel 3.

• Technique assimilation: Imprints the Boulder Art’s instructions into his mind and corrects its circulation route 3.
• Observational learning: Allows him to acquire Yang Gang by watching Xiao Yuxuan practice 9.
• Enhanced results: Produces marrow-cleansing effects beyond the ordinary expectations of the rudimentary Boulder Art 14.
• Effort-dependent growth: His advancement still requires practice; medicinal resources and extreme physical pressure can accelerate it 24 33.

Boulder Art

A basic external cultivation art available to the residence’s menial slaves. Chen Xuan uses it to temper his body and explain his publicly visible martial ability 3 12.

• Strength and durability: At Early-stage Bright Force, his punch leaves a crater more than three inches deep in a rammed-earth wall, and Liu San’s ordinary whip fails to break his skin 15 17.
• Recovery: Heals severe whipping injuries overnight; later cultivation restores rein wounds that had exposed bone 4 34.
• Heightened senses: Hears whispered conversations through a thick wall from thirty paces away and distinguishes nearby animal sounds and scents 14 15.
• Limitation: The ordinary art is described as having a ceiling of An Jin, unlike the Xiao family’s higher-level Yang Gang art 8.

Eight Desolations Prison-Suppressing Yang Gang

The Marquis of Zhenbei’s restricted direct-lineage art, secretly acquired from Xiao Yuxuan. It offers a path toward Hua Jin and the peak of Gang Jin; Chen Xuan has not reached those realms 8 9.

• Offensive force: Supplies the domineering internal power he reserves for decisive attacks 12 50.
• External projection: At Minor Accomplishment, he condenses pale-red, scorching Qi over his knuckles 34.
• Transmission through objects: Channels combined force along Treading Snow’s reins to restrain the runaway horse 24.
• Secrecy requirement: Unauthorized study risks severe punishment; even a concubine-born Xiao son could have his tendons severed for learning it without approval 12.

Dual-Art Resonance

The Boulder Art’s external tempering and Yang Gang’s internal circulation reinforce one another when practiced simultaneously 21.

• Allows substantial proficiency gains during ordinary physical labor 21.
• Accelerates further under extreme strain, as demonstrated during the horse rescue 24.
• Lets him refine the Blood-Gathering Pill through both techniques at once 33.
• His expectation that additional arts could multiply this effect remains a theory, not a demonstrated ability 21.

Breath and Cultivation Concealment

An innate method associated with his fate trait suppresses blood, Qi, and Yang Gang within his marrow and dantian 29 33 34.

• Can hide his cultivation entirely or display only an early-stage fluctuation 29 34.
• Conceals his true Middle-stage Ming Jin foundation during Xiao Ling’er’s pulse examination 37.
• Requires supporting deception: healed wounds, unusual vitality, and unexplained feats can still arouse suspicion 22 28 34.

Force Control and Combat Tactics

• Redirection: Catches falling tea without spilling it and sends concealed force back through Chun Tao’s tray 41.
• Unarmed defense: Deflects Liu Heng’s saber by striking its broad side, exposing the attacker’s chest 45.
• Provocation: Uses insults to make Lei Hu commit to an attack with no immediate opportunity to recover his force 50.
• Blood-Qi massage: Sends carefully moderated Qi through his palms into Xiao Ling’er’s tense calf muscles to relieve soreness 39.
• Early limitation: Initially underestimates his own strength and injures Liu San more severely than intended 20.

Equipment / Items

• Boulder Art manual — Retrieved from beneath the bedboards after the original owner had abandoned training 3.
• Blood-Gathering Pill — Awarded by the First Madam and consumed to achieve his Middle-stage Ming Jin breakthrough 31 33.
• Ten taels of gold — Two five-tael ingots hidden in a stable-wall cavity, with horse dung used to disguise the hiding place 32.
• Bloodstained cloth bandages — Used to maintain the appearance that his hands remained wounded after they had healed 34.
• Weapons — Carries no iron weapon during the confrontation with Liu Heng, relying on barehanded techniques 45.

Relationships

• Ye Tiancheng — The original owner’s adoptive father, who took him in after his parents died; later died while collecting debts 3.
• Liu Qingyan — Stepmother who sold him into lifetime slavery. Chen Xuan explicitly marks her betrayal for future revenge 3.
• Xiao Yuxuan — The heir whose whipping killed the original body. Chen Xuan conceals his hatred while stealing his martial art and planning to strip him of his privileges 1 3 9 12.
• Xiao Ling’er — Mistress and patron who secures his promotion after he saves her. His protection, apparent devotion, and concealed strength earn her trust, while their encounters develop an increasingly flirtatious tension 24 32 37 46 47.
• Su Wanqing — Xiao Yuxuan’s wife; intervenes against his abuse and later suspects Chen Xuan’s hidden abilities, ordering Jinshu to investigate him discreetly 10 28.
• Zhao De / Steward Zhao — Suspicious household steward who has Chen Xuan watched and orders subordinates to seize his rewards 16 17 33.
• Liu San — Abusive stable overseer. Chen Xuan secretly injures his leg while preserving the appearance of an accident 17 19 20.
• Xiao Liuzi — Zhao De’s watcher and Liu San’s accomplice in the attempted confiscation of Chen Xuan’s pill and gold 17 33.
• Qiu Yue — Explains the rules of Listening to Rain Pavilion and attends Xiao Ling’er when Chen Xuan reports his supposed breakthrough 36 37.
• Chun Tao — Hostile maid whose attempt to scald him backfires; his calculated plea for mercy helps bring about her punishment 35 41.

Notable Quotes

“No rush. Mark it down for now. As long as I’m still breathing, sooner or later, we’ll settle this account, principal and interest together!” 3

“I’ve got two cultivation arts in hand: the Boulder Art to keep me alive and provide cover in public, and the Eight Desolations Prison-Suppressing Yang Gang for killing and plundering in secret!” 12

“From this day forth, these fists of mine will swing for Third Miss alone.” 37