Tang Cheng

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Tang Cheng grew up in a strict, politically influential family in the Heavenly Capital. His father, Tang Tianci, had sufficient standing for his words to reach the emperor, while much of his work was classified. Tang Cheng resented having his life planned out for him and felt that his future had already been decided 121 122.

Rather than accept his father’s assistance, he secretly took the examination for a township post and moved to Hedong alone. His father reacted angrily, declaring that he could remain in the countryside for life. When Wu Ting introduced him to Li Xingkong, Tang Cheng rejected the suggestion that he was merely padding his résumé and insisted that he intended to produce results through his own work 106.

Appearance

• Initially thin: His mother notices his thin figure when he returns home; his bare torso is later described as little more than skin and bones 122 123.
• Later muscular: On the moon, he develops sharply defined muscles and a lean, powerful build, surprising Li Xingkong with the change 186.
• Xi People disguise: Wears unusual clothing resembling ancient Divine Land dress with a more primitive influence, alongside patterned decorations. During the diplomatic appearance, his Vacuum Technique membrane is deliberately made more visible 186 230.
• Maturing presentation: After Li Xingkong’s eight-year seclusion, his appearance remains largely unchanged, but his clothing gives him a more mature bearing 320.

Personality

Tang Cheng is stubborn and strongly protective of his independence. His refusal to follow the career arranged by his father leads him to seek a township position on his own. Despite fearing his father’s temper, he returns home when fulfilling his promise to Li Xingkong requires reliable help 106 122.

He is curious, enthusiastic, and eager to try unfamiliar abilities. He volunteers first when testing spells and later willingly serves as Li Xingkong’s experimental subject because he trusts his ability to repair any harm. That excitement can undermine his composure: his eagerness to sense newly released Spiritual Qi initially prevents him from meditating successfully 119 143 209.

He dislikes prolonged isolation. Work limits his practice, but he also struggles to settle down and study cultivation deeply. Even after becoming experienced, he finds a month of seclusion difficult and needs social contact and recreation between cultivation sessions 242 320 476 565.

As an investigator, he is determined but generally works within the rules rather than exploiting his family or Li Xingkong’s backing. Institutional obstruction challenges his early confidence in Divine Land’s administration, yet he refuses to abandon the Zhang Family investigation. His commitment to Divine Land remains firm through disaster relief, interstellar expansion, and later warfare 347 349 359 807 916.

Abilities & Skills

Qi Refining and Solar-Energy Absorption

Li Xingkong’s initial modification gives Tang Cheng a mana-storage core and a circuit through which energy can circulate 117.

• Absorbs solar energy through his body, with particularly noticeable intake through his palms 118.
• Recovers most of his strength after three to five minutes in sunlight following his shield demonstration 123.
• Initially remains physically ordinary: without Spiritual Qi, he cannot undertake Bone Tempering, and spell casting alone does not strengthen his body 148.
• Later cultivates the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method and reaches Foundation Establishment 431.

Spell Casting

• Rejuvenation Technique: Activates it using the phrase “All things return to spring” and the prescribed Dao finger gesture. His early attempt rapidly drains his strength 119.
• Explosive Counter Spell: Produces white, shield-shaped armor on his arm that expands to cover his chest. It withstands his father’s belt strike without flickering and performs exceptionally in later live-fire tests 123 124.
• Early casting limit: The shield leaves him exhausted, and he states that he can use it only once a day at that point 123.
• Vacuum Technique: Successfully exercises in a vacuum chamber during testing and later moves about the lunar base without a spacesuit 148 201.

Hibernating Dragon Technique

Tang Cheng practices the technique for years but has difficulty mastering it 209 242.

• Can fall asleep immediately at will and remain aware of his dreams 209.
• Cannot yet make dream texts coherent; books and similar objects contain garbled writing 209.
• His accumulated practice provides a sufficient foundation for sensing Spiritual Qi, despite his incomplete mastery 209 211.
• Falls behind Wu Ting, who masters the technique independently 242.

Spiritual Qi Control

Tang Cheng can use Spiritual Qi for internal observation, remote perception, and controlled contests 211 216.

• Directs a mote of Spiritual Qi through charges and curved attacks 216.
• Can adopt an all-round field of view, though processing it is uncomfortable and prolonged use causes dizziness 216.
• Initially controls Spiritual Qi as though it were a human body, unnecessarily limiting its vision and movement 216 217.
• Learns from Li Xingkong that Spiritual Qi can withstand force-stacking methods that would damage a physical body 217.

Foundation Establishment and Divine Sense

The Dissociation Foundation Establishment Method allows Tang Cheng to simulate external computing equipment rather than follow a fixed computational structure 431.

• Uses supercomputer servers as the model for his Foundation Establishment computational structure 431.
• Benefits from Divine Land’s advanced computational models, cultivation research, medicinal resources, and spiritual plants 476.
• By the alien-investigation period, no other Foundation Establishment cultivator on Earth Star can match him in combat; Li Xingkong is explicitly treated as a separate exception 476.
• Later develops external Divine Sense with a range of less than half a meter 499.

Combat and Investigation

• Shapes Magic Power into multiple flying swords, intercepting Zhang Ru’s Magic Power bullets 342.
• Fights Zhang Ru to a draw at speeds most Inspection Department personnel cannot follow 342.
• Seals a weaker cultivator’s Qi Sea through a hand seal and direct contact 345.
• Coordinates undercover operations, formation deployment, armed squads, and drones 336 342.
• Anticipates phosphorus-fire self-detonations and equips his squads with suitable defensive spells before the Zhang Family Village operation 342.

Equipment & Items

• Cultivation inheritance token — The first token of its kind tested by a recipient. Tang Cheng unlocks its wisdom condition using memories of logical judgment and online arguments 217 218.
• Wisdom inheritance restriction — The inheritance enforces consistency between his judgments and actions, preventing conduct contrary to his own established sense of right and wrong 218.
• Forged Xi People stone artifact — Designs and carves the script for a fabricated artifact; another specialist handles its artificial aging. Its text describes a clan-chief succession ceremony 192 226.
• Luo Shu, temporary custody — Receives Li Xingkong’s governmental artifact for delivery to Old Tang and immediately recognizes its potential value to Divine Land 349.

Relationships

• Li Xingkong — Close friend, cultivation instructor, and trusted protector, addressed as “Brother Li.” Tang Cheng connects him with Old Tang, assists his experiments, and repeatedly organizes practical matters around his research. Their familiarity survives centuries apart 117 125 143 201 631.
• Tang Tianci / Old Tang — Father and influential Divine Land official. Their shared stubbornness causes early conflict, but Old Tang subsequently supports Tang Cheng’s cultivation and provides the institutional backing behind his development 106 122 125 431 476.
• Mother — Welcomes him home after his departure for Hedong and intervenes when Old Tang threatens to beat him 122.
• Wu Ting — Township colleague, friend, and fellow early cultivation student. They investigate Li Xingkong together, train from the same starting point, and later travel toward the moon with other cultivators 106 113 121 242 321.
• Zhang Ru — Criminal opponent and later disaster-relief ally. Their duel, Zhang Ru’s escape, and the Zhang Family’s political protection frustrate Tang Cheng’s investigation. Their final cooperation exposes him to Zhang Ru’s willingness to sacrifice himself for his clan 342 344 347 358 359 360.
• Wife — Unnamed in the supplied passages. By the time Tang Cheng is Inspection Department director, they are married and expecting their first son 566.
• First son — Still unborn after three years in the womb when Tang Cheng reunites with Li Xingkong; he is expected to be born at Middle Qi Refining 566.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Introducing Cultivation to Divine Land

After meeting Li Xingkong through Wu Ting, Tang Cheng accompanies Wu Ting on a secret inspection of his mountain farm. Their discovery leads to Tang Cheng receiving Li Xingkong’s first bodily modification and beginning spell practice 106 113 117 119.

Tang Cheng then returns home to secure his father’s assistance. His shield demonstration and rapid recovery in sunlight convince Old Tang that cultivation is real. Following formal testing, he brings his father to meet Li Xingkong, helping establish official support for Li Xingkong’s requests 122 123 124 125.

Lunar Development and the Xi People Plan

Sent to accompany Li Xingkong at the frontier base, Tang Cheng becomes a willing experimental subject and helps validate the Vacuum Technique before the lunar mission. He later assists lunar-base work, accepts planting seeds for the botanists, and agrees to keep visitors away from Li Xingkong’s secluded cultivation site 136 143 148 192.

By the end of Li Xingkong’s three-year seclusion, Tang Cheng is effectively the lunar base’s second-in-command, though he still undertakes gathering missions. He also helps fabricate the Xi People civilization, designing its script and contributing to the staged public emergence of lunar inhabitants 192 201 218 226 230.

Spiritual Qi Revival

Tang Cheng witnesses the activation of Moon-Embracing Mountain’s Earth Vein and organizes the lunar base’s group trial. After overcoming anxiety, he becomes one of the first two participants—alongside Ji Nanzhi—to sense Spiritual Qi 209 211.

He serves as the first recipient of Li Xingkong’s inheritance token and provides feedback on its wisdom condition. His subsequent independent circuit construction marks him as a talented early cultivator 217 218 222.

Cultivator Crime and the Zhang Family

After reaching Late Qi Refining, Tang Cheng accompanies Li Xingkong back to Earth Star and explains the growing problems associated with widespread cultivation, including predatory cultivation methods and revenge crimes 320 325 326 328.

His investigation into Qi extraction leads to Zhang Family Village, where he commands the Inspection Department operation and arrests Zhang Ru after an evenly matched fight. Zhang Ru’s escape exposes internal assistance, while further inquiries reveal obstruction extending beyond local officials. Tang Cheng returns from the Imperial Capital disillusioned but determined to continue 336 342 344 345 347 349.

Tsunami Defense

Tang Cheng volunteers for a dangerous formation node during disaster relief. Zhang Ru arrives with approximately two thousand Late Qi Refining cultivators, takes the more exposed position, and explains his clan’s use of both righteous and evil members to secure its future 358 359.

Tang Cheng helps sustain the formation through repeated tsunami impacts. When the other nodes are abandoned, he withdraws behind the Nation-Protecting Grand Formation and witnesses Zhang Ru’s forces sacrifice themselves through self-detonation to break the wave 360.

Planetary Security and Interstellar Expansion

Tang Cheng becomes a Foundation Establishment pioneer and eventually director of the Inspection Department, responsible for security across four planets. During this period, he marries and begins a family without abandoning cultivation 431 566.

He later participates extensively in Divine Land’s interstellar expedition. Reuniting with Li Xingkong in the Weitian Galaxy, he recounts the expedition’s difficulties, its contact with the Land of Radiance, and the agreement to preserve the galaxy as a jointly developed scenic area 631.

War and the Primordial World

Tang Cheng earns military achievements in the great war that engulfs more than half the universe. By a later reunion, he attributes his smoking habit to years of warfare 807 916.

He and Wu Ting eventually meet the cultivation requirements to enter Li Xingkong’s little world. They report Divine Land’s territorial expansion and the world will’s acknowledgment, then discuss establishing a foothold in the Primordial World. Li Xingkong agrees to take them to Jade Void 915 916.

Notable Quotes

“What I actually said was that I’d come down and work hard. If I don’t get results, I’ll spend my whole life in the countryside.” 106

“How could I? Of course I won’t give up. I’m going to dig every last one of them out.” 349