Jiang Chen

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Jiang Chen was stolen by a child trafficker while still in swaddling clothes. His parents, Jiang Lei and Shen Qiuye, failed to find him for twenty-five years and poured their affection into their adopted son, Jiang Yantian. Before his recovery by the family, Jiang Chen lived as a rogue cultivator 193.

In his previous life, he returned hoping to gain a loving home. He quietly helped his five older sisters succeed, but Jiang Yantian received the credit. His family repeatedly neglected, berated, and beat him, while Yantian exploited his unfamiliarity with the household. Jiang Chen eventually died through Yantian’s schemes, with his corpse left exposed in the wilderness 188 193.

After regressing, Jiang Chen resolved to reclaim his opportunities and make the Jiang Lineage regret its treatment of him. Because his cultivation was still insufficient, he initially concealed his hatred behind filial behavior and planned to use his memories to secure treasures before openly retaliating 193.

Appearance

• At his return: Appears to be in his twenties, with a resolute face, sharp eyes, and a youthful appearance offset by unusually seasoned composure 193.
• Initial clothing: Wears a simple belted outfit, tied-back hair, and worn boots stained with yellow earth 193.
• Later injury: Loses a finger after cutting it off to demonstrate his resolve before the supposed supreme expert he accepts as his master 252.
• Banquet disguise: Wraps himself head to toe in a cloak while attempting to conceal a persistent foul smell 214.

Personality

Jiang Chen’s revenge is inseparable from his desire for recognition. He repeatedly declares that family affection means nothing to him, yet remains deeply hurt when his parents and sisters favor Yantian. His plan to help his sisters openly, make them dependent on him, and then withdraw his support shows that he wants them to acknowledge what they lost 201 202 206 235.

He is hardworking and capable of prolonged restraint. He cultivates and studies formations intensely, recruits household assistance, and suppresses his anger when retaliation would jeopardize his position. However, his reliance on previous-life memories also makes him overconfident: he assumes Yantian’s visit to Huancai Pavilion must have followed the same pattern as before and walks into a public reversal 197 204 205 243.

Pride and sensitivity to humiliation make him particularly vulnerable to Yantian’s provocations. Even after suffering abuse, he initially wants to ruin the lineage and force its regret rather than kill his relatives. Near the end, he wishes he had remained an independent rogue cultivator instead of returning to the family 272 273 275.

Abilities & Skills

Regression and Previous-Life Memories

Jiang Chen retains knowledge of his former life and uses it to plan his revenge 193.

• Locates the hidden chamber beneath the estate’s dry well where he previously obtained the Spirit-Charging Cauldron 200.
• Anticipates opportunities and household incidents, including a scheme against Jiang Yunyun’s reputation 206 262.
• Limitation: His memories do not account for Jiang Yantian deliberately changing events or replacing treasures before he reaches them 194 200.

Formation Arts

He begins studying formations to overcome the protection around a supposed treasure beneath the dry well 200 212 213.

• Uses previous-life experience to learn the basics unusually quickly 213 246.
• Forms seals and manifests formation patterns around himself during combat 246.
• Limitation: Cannot initially break the intricate third-tier formation guarding the underground box 200 213.

Spirit-Herb Cultivation

• Gives Jiang Yunbing practical advice on cultivating spirit herbs and personally tends them using spirit liquid 201.
• Uses the task to make his contributions visible, unlike the anonymous assistance he provided in his previous life 201.

Combat and Artifact Flight

• Uses hand seals, a red-and-yellow ranged attack, and a scorching fireball while fleeing pursuers 276.
• Flies on the artifact he believes to be the Spirit-Charging Cauldron 250 276.
• Maintains his distance from pursuers led by an Early Golden Core cultivator for six hours, eventually outlasting their chase 276.
• Limitation: Cannot overcome their leader’s protective barrier and notices that he has become weaker than before 276.

Unusual Cultivation Response

In the ruined temple, Jiang Chen discovers that hearing—and later watching—sexual activity greatly accelerates his Spiritual Qi absorption 250.

• Reports expansion of his sea of Qi and increasing compression of true essence toward Core Formation 250.
• Recovers most of his injuries during the session 250.
• Uncertainty: He speculates that he has awakened a special physique or enhanced senses. The passage also shows his uranium meteorite emitting radiation, but does not confirm his explanation 250.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Supposed Spirit-Charging Cauldron — The secret treasure responsible for his rapid progress in his previous life. In his second life, Jiang Yantian takes the genuine jade cauldron before Jiang Chen arrives and substitutes a chamber-pot artifact. Unaware of the exchange, Jiang Chen attunes to the substitute and uses it in combat and flight 193 194 200 246 250.
• Image-Recording Stone — Used in his attempt to document the wine-drugging incident. Jiang Yantian confiscates and crushes it after Jiang Chen loses consciousness 220.
• Golden powder — Given by his supposed master with claims that it can cleanse his sinews and marrow. Jiang Chen later adds it to bathwater and drinking water to treat his injuries 248 255.
• Heaven-Reaching Rope — Another purported supreme treasure from his master. He later shrinks it and uses it to make a necklace with the uranium meteorite 248 255.
• Uranium meteorite — Presented as an extraordinary stone from beyond the heavens. It makes him dizzy on contact and later emits radiation from his storage pouch 248 250.
• Dagger — Supplied by Jiang Yantian when ordering him to die; Jiang Chen uses it to stab his dantian and throat 282.

Relationships

• Jiang Yantian — Adopted younger brother and principal enemy. Jiang Chen blames him for his first death; in the second life, Yantian sabotages his opportunities, impersonates his master, engineers his disgrace, and orders his death 193 200 247 274 282.
• Jiang Lei — Biological father and head of the Jiang Lineage. Repeatedly punishes Jiang Chen after accepting Yantian’s version of events, though he also helps shield him from apparent heavenly punishment and provides medicine for his injured hand 193 232 252 273.
• Shen Qiuye — Biological mother. Welcomes him tearfully but repeatedly sides with Yantian, later participating in his punishment and confinement 193 232 235 255.
• Jiang Yunbing — Older sister whose recognition he tries to win through spirit-herb cultivation. She instead defends Yantian and eventually supports expelling Jiang Chen 201 271.
• Jiang Yunyu — Older sister who accuses him of hurting Yantian and interprets his involuntary barking as an attempt to evade marriage 195 225.
• Jiang Yunyun — Older sister whom he helped expose a reputational trap in his previous life, only to be suspected of complicity. In the second life, she calls for his expulsion 262 271.
• Nanny Gui — Household ally and adviser. Monitors inner-household affairs for him and recommends securing his parents’ trust before confronting Yantian 197.
• Su Jinrou — Romantic interest. He believes he deserves her and initially agrees to marriage because he mistakenly thinks she is the intended bride; she is uncomfortable with his staring 220 225 240.
• Su Qian — Unwanted wife. He reluctantly accepts the marriage while considering how to use her jealousy against Yantian; he later kills her during his breakdown 241 260 278.
• Tie Ma, Bing He, and Meng Lai — Rogue cultivators who rescue him after a beast attack and shelter him in a ruined temple 249 250.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Return and Household Struggle

• Returns as the Jiang Lineage’s recovered biological son, concealing his intention to take revenge 193.
• Loses the first confrontation when Yantian crushes his hand during a handshake, secretly heals it, and makes the family believe Jiang Chen injured him 195.
• Recruits Nanny Gui and retrieves the substituted cauldron from beneath the dry well 197 200.
• Fails to expose Yantian through the Huancai Pavilion accusation and the ancestral-hall dispute, further damaging his standing with the family 204 207.

Su Household Banquet and Forced Marriage

• Attends Marquis Yongning’s banquet under a cloak, only to be forced to reveal his soiled clothing before guards and young nobles 214 217.
• Switches wine cups in an attempt to reverse a drugging scheme, but loses consciousness. Yantian destroys his recording stone and moves him and Su Qian into a storage room 220.
• Agrees to take responsibility while believing he will marry Su Jinrou, then discovers that the bride is Su Qian. A Dog Barking Pill prevents him from explaining his objection 225.
• Ultimately compromises to avoid expulsion and preserve his chance for revenge 241.

The False Master

• Responds to an imperial summons for people born in the month, day, and hour of Chen, hoping to become a supreme expert’s disciple 243.
• Accepts the disguised Jiang Yantian as his master and receives three supposedly extraordinary treasures 247 248.
• Becomes famous throughout the Martial Capital, unaware that Yantian is inflating his reputation to attract envy and danger 249 251.
• Accepts further humiliation as a supposed test of forbearance, allowing Yantian’s instructions to silence his defenses against accusations 251 252 253.

Wedding and Reputation Collapse

• Reluctantly marries Su Qian amid a series of humiliations, including an uncontrollable horse and an undergarment scandal involving Chujiu 260 265.
• Suffers a catastrophic stomach incident at the wedding banquet that launches him into the air; guests initially mistake it for an extraordinary breakthrough 268.
• Finds the capital selling products and telling degrading stories under his name. Suspecting that Yantian has also regressed, he returns to confront him 272.
• Begins Core Formation after another beating, but his disguised “master” sabotages the breakthrough and extracts a Blood Oath forbidding betrayal or murderous intent toward him 273 274.

Breakdown and Death

• His renewed intention to kill Yantian triggers heavenly punishment under the oath 274.
• After killing Su Qian, exposes Yantian as an outsider during an erratic breakdown. Yantian’s system manipulates his mental illness, while remnants of the Heavenly Dao’s will speak through some of his accusations 278.
• Learns directly that the current Yantian is not the Jiang Lineage’s original adopted son 279.
• Is further isolated when Yantian shows the family manipulated visions portraying him as their future destroyer; these are not an account of events Jiang Chen actually completes 281.
• Before dying, asks Yantian to spare his five sisters from sexual involvement. Yantian refuses, orders him to die before the following day, and threatens to bury him with Su Qian. Jiang Chen stabs himself and dies wishing never to regress again 282.

Notable Quotes

“This time, I'll take back everything that should have been mine. I won't be softhearted again!” 193

“From today onward, I'll seal my heart and lock away my love. I'll never wag my tail and beg for pity before the Jiang Lineage again!” 233

“The Heavenly Dao closed a door on me, but it didn't open a window. In the end, it tore down my house!” 278

Trivia

• His name derives from being born in the month, day, and hour of Chen, the same birth criteria used in the imperial summons 243.
• His wedding disgrace remains known long after his death: Shen He recalls it when Jiang Yantian visits the Hall of Reincarnation 537.