Mu Guanchen

Biodata

Background / History

Accepting Ye Tianming

Mu Guanchen was the academy’s only mentor when Ye Tianming enrolled as its only student. He welcomed Tianming with a meal and converted an empty bookshelf into a makeshift bed in his book-filled hall. After watching him cultivate, Mu Guanchen identified a dangerous omission in his self-created technique: it absorbed Spiritual Qi without filtering out impurities 24.

Song Shi subsequently explained that Tianming had passed the Guanxuan Dao and was being targeted by the Xiao Family and Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy. Although the academy struggled even to provide food, Mu Guanchen refused to turn him away, reasoning that the boy had nowhere else to go 24.

He established a routine of morning reading, afternoon and evening cultivation, and at least four hours of sleep. Following his advice, Tianming developed a filter that removed sixty percent of Spiritual Qi’s impurities and advanced to the Major Tribulation Realm. Mu Guanchen then taught him to form a Dharma Aspect ahead of the realm normally required 25.

The Future Method Incident

When Tianming proposed borrowing power from his future self, Mu Guanchen explained the concept of a Future True Body and encouraged him to investigate it. He warned that the Guanxuan Sword Master’s laws protected past and future timelines, but suggested that the Sword of Upholding the Dao might evade their detection. He also cautioned Tianming against entering another person’s timeline or creating unknown karma through excessive interaction 25.

The experiment left Tianming with severe damage to his divine soul and mental power. Mu Guanchen had Song Shi pawn the Mu Clan’s ancestral seal, an inheritance from his parents, to purchase an Emperor Grade healing pill costing at least eight hundred thousand spirit crystals. He rejected seeking help from the Nanling Clan, insisting that caring for their student was the academy’s responsibility 26.

Funding and Protecting His Student

To finance Tianming’s training, Mu Guanchen accepted paid technique-revision work through the Immortal Treasure Pavilion’s Martial Pavilion. He revised ten Emperor Grade cultivation techniques and martial skills in less than half an hour, then instructed Song Shi not to disclose his involvement. The proceeds were intended for pills, demonic beast meat, inner cores, and spirit liquid to strengthen Tianming’s foundation 26 27.

He also directed Tianming toward earth-vein power. When Tianming later exhausted his mental strength while using that power to level a mountain, Mu Guanchen carried him back rather than condemning the experiment. Concerned that Tianming’s enemies might attack his relatives, he pressed Song Shi to arrange discreet protection for the Ye Family 26 28.

Mu Guanchen subsequently supervised Tianming’s body tempering with second-level heavenly lightning and Divine Flint Spirit Liquid. After Tianming developed a Vajra Glazed Body, he provided five demonic beast inner cores to stabilize it and prepared him for an actual-combat outing under Song Shi 31 32.

Writing a Law

Alongside his teaching, Mu Guanchen worked on a text he described only as “a kind of law.” He was shown struggling over its wording and contemplating “Equality.” By the time Fu Zang joined the academy, he said the work was nearly finished. When Song Shi questioned whether it was worth it, Mu Guanchen answered that it was his choice; the law’s contents and purpose remained unexplained 27 28 31.

Appearance

Mu Guanchen appears to be a scholarly man in his thirties, with a somewhat pale face that makes him look ill 24.

• Wears a pale blue robe and a purple pendant at his waist 24.
• Frequently carries or reads ancient texts 24 26.
• Occasionally coughs; Song Shi expresses concern, but Mu Guanchen dismisses it as nothing serious 28.

Personality

Mu Guanchen is easygoing with his student and discourages excessive formality, preferring that they feel comfortable together like friends. His care is practical: he cooks, arranges lodging, nurses Tianming through injuries, and sacrifices a family heirloom for his treatment. He considers these responsibilities part of being Tianming’s teacher, not favors that require justification 24 26 31.

His belief in fairness does not depend on denying inequality. He teaches that differences in birth, talent, and circumstances cannot be completely eliminated, but that everyone has the right to resist injustice. If those in power refuse to recognize the suffering below them and leave no hope for change, he openly regards rebellion as justified 25.

He places conscience above opportunity or status. Recognizing the extraordinary nature of Tianming’s sword does not tempt him to take it, and Tianming’s possible identity makes no difference to his commitment as a teacher. He nevertheless admits that he has made mistakes and wronged people in the past 27 32.

Abilities & Skills

Cultivation Technique Analysis and Revision

Mu Guanchen can identify flaws and improve high-grade techniques despite having no cultivation 24 26 27.

• Diagnoses the missing impurity filter in Tianming’s technique and recognizes its potential to absorb energy beyond Spiritual Qi 24.
• Improves an Emperor Grade technique by changing only a few characters, stating that further changes would raise it beyond Emperor Grade 26.
• Completes ten Emperor Grade technique and martial-skill revisions in less than half an hour 27.

Cultivation Instruction

His instruction emphasizes a stable foundation, mental composure, and adapting methods to a student’s particular strengths 24 25 26.

• Teaches Tianming to condense a hundred-zhang Dharma Aspect early because of his unusual cultivation method 25.
• Suggests using earth-vein power to enhance stacked applications of the Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Technique 26.
• Identifies weaknesses in Tianming’s physique and plans a lightning-tempering regimen with protective spirit liquid 27 31 32.
• Warns that using the Sword of Upholding the Dao would not accurately measure Tianming’s own combat strength 32.

Knowledge of Time and Karma

Mu Guanchen understands the principles and dangers surrounding Future True Bodies, temporal laws, and interference with another person’s karma 25.

• Explains how a sufficiently powerful future self could travel back to the present 25.
• Identifies the laws guarding timelines and proposes the sword as a possible means of avoiding detection 25.
• Does not claim certainty that the sword will work, or demonstrate time travel himself 25.

Discernment of the Dao

On examining the Sword of Upholding the Dao, Mu Guanchen recognizes that the weapon itself is ordinary but contains a Dao capable of disregarding realms, divine abilities, laws, and Great Daos. He cannot perceive that Dao’s upper limit, and his assessment astonishes Little Pagoda 27.

• Says that, even without cultivation, he should be able to act against Little Pagoda while holding the sword; this is not tested 27.
• Returns the weapon without seeking ownership or compensation 27.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Mu Clan ancestral seal — Left to him by his parents; pawned to fund Tianming’s Emperor Grade healing pill 26.
• Ancient books and scrolls — Fill his hall’s shelves and desk; he permits Tianming to read them freely 24 25.
• Bamboo slips and writing brush — Used while drafting his unexplained law 27 28.

Relationships

• Ye Tianming — His student. Mu Guanchen provides cultivation instruction, moral guidance, food, shelter, and medical care, regardless of whether Tianming is an ordinary commoner or a person of destiny 24 26 27 31.
• Song Shi — Academy master and close associate, addressed as “Old Song.” They cooperate to fund Tianming’s training, arrange combat experience, and protect the Ye Family 24 26 27 28.
• Little Pagoda / Tower Ancestor — Questions him privately to determine whether he intends to manipulate or harm Tianming. Their exchange reveals Mu Guanchen’s unusual insight into the sword 27.
• Nanling Zhao — Respects her conduct and recognizes the danger posed by her resistance to entrenched privilege 24.
• Unnamed teacher — Taught him to retain hope in the world, advice he later passes on to Tianming 31.

Notable Quotes

“He has nowhere else to go. Let him stay with me!” 24

“Whether he's a person of destiny or an ordinary commoner, it makes no difference to me. In my heart, he is the student and I am the teacher. That's all.” 27

“May all living beings under heaven, every one of them, be like dragons.” 32