Wu Youren

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Family and hostage upbringing

Wu Youren’s father was the illegitimate son of a baron and a female weaver. The baron largely ignored him, and the weaver raised him herself. His father later died while helping with wartime logistics during the Jin–Liang war. After Jin’s defeat, compensation was insufficient to relieve the family’s poverty 7.

The noble household remembered this branch of the family when ordered to provide a hostage. Wu Youren’s family was then in desperate circumstances, making the household’s assistance significant. Before becoming a hostage, he had not even known that his grandfather was a baron 7 80.

He spent eight years in Jin Garden and occupied the lowest position among the Hostage Prince Corps’ regular members. His family allowance was small, while the Hidden Dragon Plan diverted resources toward the Seventeenth Prince. His predecessor could not afford the blood food needed for cultivation and tried making spirits to earn money 1 2 16.

Transmigration

The present Wu Youren awakens in this body after a near-fatal fall into water. He recognizes that he has transmigrated, but initially has neither complete access to his predecessor’s memories nor any identifiable system. Liang guards describe the incident as a failed suicide attempt; he suspects that explanation conceals an attack 1.

His confrontation with the hostage leadership connects the incident to the appropriation of his homemade spirits. Rather than accept appeals to loyalty toward the Seventeenth Prince, he challenges the theft and the violence that followed 2.

Appearance

• Build: Slender rather than thickset, but initially described as vigorous and distinctly masculine. By a later appearance, he is almost 1.8 meters tall and remains very lean 6 130.
• Face: Jade-like complexion, sword-like brows, bright eyes, and a prominent, well-shaped nose. He retains a faint unhealthy pallor during the early challenge competition 6.
• Reputation: Female students familiar with him consider him comfortably among Red Pine’s three best-looking male students when cultivation is disregarded 34.
• Typical equipment: Frequently carries several bladed weapons; later travels with a saber, gun, sword, and juvenile bird of prey 130.

Personality

Wu Youren is cautious, observant, and strongly protective of his independence. On arriving at Red Pine, he first learns its layout, rules, and teaching arrangements rather than immediately seeking attention. He recognizes that both Liang authorities and fellow Jin hostages can place obligations on him, and he treats sponsorship, recruitment, and apparently generous offers accordingly 13 14 25 34.

His restraint is not simple passivity. He refuses to surrender his academy opportunity under pressure, remembers opportunistic challengers, and later rejects attempts to repair old relationships with money. As his resources improve, he becomes increasingly willing to refuse missions that would draw him into political struggles 5 8 96 129.

He repeatedly presents hunting the Weird Race as more worthwhile than fighting humans. Nevertheless, he is capable of calculated violence against human enemies. He kills an attacker who offers lifelong loyalty because he cannot safely control him, and, in another confrontation, brutally tortures a robber after accumulated frustration erupts into fury 17 77 90.

Although distrustful, he does recognize reciprocal loyalty. He values assistance from Red Pine’s instructors, while warning himself against overdependence. When they offer to help oppose Saina, he explicitly cautions them not to act impulsively on his behalf 144 178.

Abilities & Skills

Gale Inner Breath Technique

Wu Youren practices Great Jin’s military Gale technique, also called the Raging Gale Cultivation Technique. The complete art can lead to Divine Might Knight, but he possesses only its Knight Apprentice and Knight portions 11 14.

• Channels internal energy, locally called Battle Qi, into weapons 54.
• Uses internal energy to burst throwing daggers into fragments, though his early fine control is limited 22.
• Remains distinguishable from his later Daoist cultivation: Gale emphasizes bodily tempering and does not teach dantian cultivation 55.
• Its ultimate potential does not establish that he has reached Divine Might Knight 14.

Experience-Point Gains

Wu Youren calls the warm currents that improve his cultivation “experience points,” but their complete mechanism remains uncertain 11 22.

• Gains can follow identifying or destroying Weird creatures, with unusually large rewards from discovering the Monkey Tiger 22 23.
• Reporting Kaili also produces a substantial influx, showing that direct Weird kills are not the only apparent source 38.
• Killing a human Knight does not award him experience in a documented case 72 115.
• Large surges can exceed his immediate capacity to absorb them, forcing prolonged cultivation or attempts to suppress advancement 23 55 127.
• Political developments appear connected to some later gains, but he treats that connection as a hypothesis rather than an established rule 127 145.

Daoist True Qi and Perception

His independent Daoist cultivation provides both a powerful anti-Weird energy and discreet sensory abilities 68 85.

• Anti-Weird attacks: True Qi coating allows his blade to cut apart transformed creatures much more effectively than Battle Qi 68.
• Concealment: Keeps True Qi attached to his blade without allowing it to leak outward, reducing the chance that observers will recognize the difference 68.
• Detection: Extends perception over a kilometer while holding back, with less disturbance than Knight-system perception 85.
• Target tracking: Locates Kelvin despite the Puppeteer’s ability to manifest at preset positions 155.
• Limit: He does not consider his perception developed enough to deserve the term “divine sense” 85.

Spells

His spellcasting leads others to identify him as an Ability User, but his actual path is Daoist cultivation. He explicitly rejects the Ability User label in later conversations 88 93 95 127.

Weapons and Anti-Weird Methods

• Throwing daggers: Uses concealed, rapid throws and powder-coated fragmentation attacks 22 79.
• Saber and greatsword: Combines evasive footwork, rapid cuts, and qi-enhanced strikes; can shift from sweeping attacks to precise wrist-targeting movements 64 68 151.
• Sound devices: Uses metallic vibrations to disrupt the Chang Ghost before striking it with powder-coated fragments 22.
• Firearms: Operates a heavy machine gun while navigating weak points in surrounding Weird Qi; later uses a shotgun against Kelvin 73 155.
• Limits: His early sound-and-powder methods are effective only against low-tier Weird creatures, and ordinary Battle Qi has limited effect on some incorporeal enemies 22 64.

Mechanisms, Farming, and Practical Planning

• Defensive mechanisms: Builds pitfalls, spike traps, and arrow-launching traps, changing designs so intruders cannot rely on previous experience 82 83.
• Technical knowledge: Discusses triggering mechanisms at length with Ailin; the City Guard Bureau also seeks his help 106.
• Limits: Acknowledges that his mechanism skills are not exceptional by Liang’s standards, despite the effectiveness of his preparations 84.
• Food production: Cultivates vegetables and later operates a greenhouse for winter sales 18 119 145.
• Supply security: Distributes hidden caches of provisions and excavates wilderness shelters for recovery and cultivation 88.
• Policy proposals: Suggests tax relief for Knights without property or businesses, and proposes funding networks of Knights and Knight Apprentices to create organized resistance 106 147.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Weird-Repelling Jue — Initially a crudely made, poor-quality jade-like ring supplied because he was being sent abroad as a hostage. It later warms near Weird threats and slows hostile shadows 1 22 64 85.
• Throwing daggers — Carries a row at his waist, using them for close combat, precision throws, and fragmentation attacks 20 22 29.
• Sabers and greatsword — Acquires multiple long weapons and later a curved saber of intermediate length suited to his needs 83 90.
• Weird-Dispelling Powder — Coats blades and dagger fragments; also incorporates it into small explosive charges 22 96.
• Weird-Breaking Projectiles and Weird-Exterminating Grenades — Obtains specialized ammunition and explosives through supply dealings; Hao Wei later offers grenades for his planned strike against Saina 88 176.
• Communication wristwatch — Receives messages and coordinates contacts; he sometimes switches it off or stops checking it to avoid unwanted approaches 14 72 171.
• Ability User research materials — Studies an apprentice’s cultivation notes and later receives twelve sets of materials. He adapts useful ideas to Daoist cultivation rather than following an Ability User awakening method 88 96.
• Resentment Qi Crystals — Uses them as trade goods for combat supplies and provisions 88.
• Flawless Crystal and Shadow-Splitting Yue — Later regards these as directly relevant to his survival, taking priority over the Marching Stone 181.

Relationships

• Liu Jingming — Fellow Jin hostage, intermediary, and trading partner. Sells Wu Youren’s counterfeit honey, relays news, and helps arrange emergency supplies 78 119 160.
• Hong Yan / Hong Da — Red Pine’s chief instructor and Great Knight protector. Intervenes against military requisition, lends him authority through her reputation, and restrains Jeff from pressuring him; her protection can also create obligations 72 82 147.
• Cynthia — Liang martial artist who persistently pursues him. They fight Weird creatures together, but he repeatedly resists her romantic advances and refuses her proposal that he remain in Liang 14 56 64.
• Luo Xi — Instructor and early hunting companion who respects his combat ability and provides monster meat. Later, Kenpa warns Wu Youren about possible ulterior motives, prompting closer observation 22 30 33 171.
• Sister Hua — Intelligence-linked Knight, recruiter, and uneasy supplier. Trades equipment for Resentment Qi Crystals, attempts to bind him through dependency, and secretly puts Bewildering Incense in his food without the intended result 33 88.
• Chen Quanxu / Scops Owl / Little Snake — Supernatural adviser and operational partner. Exchanges knowledge about Weird items, explains Parasitic Weird dangers, and cooperates in plans against Kelvin and Saina 127 132 160 171 176.
• Manna — Instructor and dependable intermediary who connects him with Ailin and helps arrange supplies. Wu Youren also considers her a debtor 106 144 160.
• Daiqisi — Instructor and ally who assists with vegetable sales, searches for Parasitic Weird infections, and travels to find him at his wilderness camp 145 171.
• Kenpa — Instructor who warns him about Luo Xi and explicitly supports repaying the benefits received through Wu Youren with practical assistance 171 178.
• Ailin — Shares his interest in mechanisms and seeks policy advice. Later directs allies to intensify Jin–Liang tensions through events involving Red Pine 106 160.
• Hao Wei — Chief guard of the hostage delegation. Seeks his help contacting Chen Quanxu during the Parasitic Weird crisis and later offers weapons against Saina 158 176.
• Jeff — New Army commander who seeks his political advice. Wu Youren questions his credibility over unpaid debts and bargains over assistance 147.
• Shi Linyuan, Lei Lixing, and Yan Sanmin — Hostages associated with coercion, bullying, or attempts to exploit his low standing. As Wu Youren grows stronger, Shi and Lei cease to intimidate him 2 4 5 96 128.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Leaving Jin Garden

• Secures an opportunity to attend a martial academy, then refuses demands to sell or surrender it despite pressure from higher-ranking hostages 3 5.
• Assesses five challengers pragmatically rather than assuming he can defeat stronger opponents 6.
• Leaves with the first group assigned to martial academies, relieved that he can abandon his hostage uniform 8.
• Enters Red Pine and studies its arrangements while trying to avoid both political suspicion and unwanted masters 13 14.

Early Weird Hunting and Academy Conflict

• Endures a staged beating and monthly protection payments from the Life and Death Knot, then seeks missions involving the Weird Race 16.
• Defeats the Chang Ghost and identifies the Monkey Tiger, drawing attention to his apparent sensory talent and attracting recruitment offers 22 24 25.
• Reports Kaili after suspecting her offer of instruction has political implications 37 38.
• Accepts Ke Li’s Weird-investigation mission while facing harassment connected to Shali 44.

Suotu Crisis and Independent Cultivation

• Develops dantian cultivation during the mission and helps destroy a Knight-level Weird shadow 55 64.
• Survives in the affected wilderness, hunts independently, and participates in military operations under Hong Yan’s protection 68 72 73.
• Returns to find his house broken into and his preserved vegetables stolen 77.
• Faces wider exposure of his hostage identity as rumors spread through Red Pine 78.

Wilderness Training and Political Bargaining

• Builds increasingly dangerous home defenses and refuses military demands that threaten his already precarious position as a Jin hostage 82 83.
• Hunts in the white mist, trades with Sister Hua, and develops his first spells 88 92.
• Kills members of the Teli Tribe after their recruitment approach turns hostile, then withdraws from the mountains to avoid being trapped there 93 94.
• Becomes involved in discussions with Ailin and Jeff while trying to avoid responsibility for factional consequences 106 107 147.
• Reaches Qi Refining and declines a paid mission that could entangle him in the conflict between Liang’s two major camps 129.

Parasitic Weirds and the Saina Conflict

• Learns that a hostage and a prince’s attendant have been infected by Parasitic Weirds, then arranges a large supply delivery to Red Pine 158 160.
• Searches for infections separately from Daiqisi for more than ten days, finding two additional infected people before the tests end 171.
• Rebuilds a wilderness camp and coordinates with Chen Quanxu against Kelvin 171.
• Plans to strike Saina before the spring invasion, requesting specialized grenades from Jin Garden and explosives from the New Army 176.
• Receives support from four Red Pine instructors despite national allegiances; they later arrive at his camp prepared to protect him from an open attack 178 181.

Notable Quotes

“People from a defeated country shouldn't be so conspicuous.” 14

“Because... I want to kill Weirds. I find fighting among humans rather pointless.” 17

“But opportunities won't come just because you wait. You have to work to create them for yourself!” 31

“I don't want to become a long-term wage slave!” 88

“I think it'd be easier to answer if you asked who isn't my enemy.” 140