Old Tang

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

• Initial appearance: Resembles Tang Cheng, but looks considerably more mature, with a scholarly air and a steady, dependable bearing 122.
• Before cultivation’s rejuvenating effects: Becomes noticeably haggard from years of mental work; his formerly black hair develops gray streaks, and his face takes on an elderly appearance 246.
• Early rejuvenation: Looks increasingly vigorous, with mixed black-and-white hair and a condition visibly returning toward youth 305.
• Restored youth: Eventually appears to be in his thirties, without visible signs of old age, and walks with a youthful spring in his step 329.

Personality

Old Tang is a strict father whose threats of punishment Tang Cheng takes seriously. His skepticism toward cultivation initially leads him to inspect his son for concealed equipment before accepting a spell demonstration. Once convinced, he immediately shifts to practical testing, arranging a live-fire assessment rather than relying on appearances 122 123 124.

His technical background makes him receptive to discoveries that overturn established assumptions. He supports researchers investigating Body Tempering Grass and argues that cultivation should be understood as advanced technology rather than an excuse to abandon basic science 131 293.

As an administrator, he combines personal warmth with deliberate political calculation. He respects Li Xingkong’s research time and privacy, but also looks for ways to strengthen his attachment to the Divine Land—including carefully chosen military contacts and a proposed romantic connection 133 329 414 415.

He treats cooperation as something that must remain genuinely reciprocal. When ordinary cultivation supplies cease to be useful to Li Xingkong, Old Tang searches for meaningful compensation rather than relying on honors or praise. His concern after the Mount Fuji operation is also personal: having requested Li Xingkong’s intervention, he worries intensely when contact is lost 363 367 513.

History

Discovering Cultivation

Tang Cheng brings cultivation to his father’s attention after deciding that Old Tang is the most reliable person to handle contact with the authorities. Old Tang initially suspects a trick, but Tang Cheng’s glowing defensive shield and rapid recovery through the Qi Refining Method convince him that the abilities are real 121 123.

He arranges formal testing of both abilities. After reviewing the shield’s exceptional protection, he turns his attention to its source: Li Xingkong. Old Tang personally accompanies Tang Cheng to meet him, having already considered contingencies ranging from an agreeable researcher to someone with an antisocial personality. The meeting reassures him that Li Xingkong is principally a single-minded scholar 124 125.

Establishing Cooperation

Old Tang confirms Li Xingkong’s requirements directly and introduces the Guanghan City Plan. Li Xingkong agrees to participate sooner than expected, accepting work on the moon without needing prolonged persuasion 126 127.

Their early exchange pairs state resources with cultivation knowledge. Old Tang takes Body Tempering Grass seeds and mature specimens back for analysis and large-scale cultivation. He supports research into the grass’s extraordinary material properties, while also using the results to assess the technological gap between conventional science and cultivation 129 131.

He subsequently directs Li Xingkong toward Wanli Shitang for deep-water spell testing, hoping that contact with the region and its troops will strengthen his identification with the Divine Land. For the lunar project, he later announces approximately 3,000 tons of available payload capacity and requires laboratory heads to submit workable cargo proposals without passengers 133 171.

Spiritual Qi Revival

Old Tang presents the authorities’ plan for distributing Earth Veins across the Divine Land. The ranked deployment covers more than three hundred cities and considers geography, population, competing interests, and culturally significant installation sites. Li Xingkong approves the plan as a way to revive Spiritual Qi without provoking social disorder 234 235.

At the same meeting, Li Xingkong formally hands Old Tang a token containing the preliminary Qi Refining Method. This is the first cultivation method officially obtained by the authorities, distinguishing an authorized transfer from merely possessing an unofficial copy 235.

Old Tang’s preparations extend beyond distributing techniques. He plans for Body Tempering Grass to serve as a circulating equivalent in a cultivation economy and receives knowledge seeds explaining Qi Refining theory. He also supports experimentation with alternative Body Tempering materials and develops rules for a public cultivator competition 247 248 253 254.

Research Security and Aerospace Development

When Gene Dictionary research reaches Eagle Country, Old Tang explains that information was stolen from two verification teams. He spends more than two months dismantling the espionage network, but cannot prevent the results from being transferred abroad 251.

For Li Xingkong’s proposed space elevator, Old Tang organizes site selection after learning that the formation will occupy roughly 500 square kilometers. He attends its activation, introduces Commander Wang, and arranges masks and sunglasses for the spectators. During the demonstration, Li Xingkong gives him the formation’s control key 292 294 305 306.

When Commander Wang proposes converting the elevator into an airborne military base, Old Tang favors peaceful development and space exploration. He argues that a nuclear war capable of devastating Earth Star and accelerating an ice age would make victory meaningless 307.

Mount Fuji Emergency and Its Aftermath

Old Tang alerts Li Xingkong and Tang Cheng to Mount Fuji’s eruption and the danger posed by nearby nuclear bombs. He authorizes Li Xingkong to stop the emergency by any means necessary and orders Tang Cheng to the Yellow Sea coast to help contain the resulting disaster 350.

After Li Xingkong returns, Old Tang rewards him with access to the Divine Land’s cultivation technique repository. When Li Xingkong identifies particularly valuable methods, Old Tang raises their classification. He also informs him that the Cherry Blossom Wind Group has been dismantled for plotting revenge and offers its seized assets and captured personnel as compensation 367 373.

Spatial Technology and Cultivation Governance

Li Xingkong’s space bag gives Old Tang a new strategic possibility: moving troops past defensive lines or capturing enemy leaders through spatial portals. He also agrees to arrange a large nuclear power plant when Li Xingkong proposes transmitting reactor energy through a portal as an external core 391.

His work increasingly includes the social consequences of cultivation. He discusses unrest between ordinary people and cultivators, adjustments to education and cultivation access, and low-level cultivators’ fear of widening power disparities. After a failed Foundation Establishment attempt exposes the danger of unsuitable computational structures, he explains the requirement for officially guided, clearly understood structures before advancement 430 432.

During the investigation into alien detection of spatial fluctuations, Old Tang retrieves records of a particle-bombardment experiment that erased a laboratory and created a spatial anomaly. Follow-up work on that rift becomes the likely explanation for the aliens’ attention 476.

Alien Prisoners and Spiritual Roots

Following the alien attack, Old Tang coordinates efforts to understand and assimilate prisoners held on Venus. He explains plans to settle different species on other Solar System planets as an initial step toward interstellar civilization 496.

When Li Xingkong brings him experimental Spiritual Root Seeds, Old Tang immediately requests elite soldiers from different cultivation stages for testing. He regards accelerated cultivation as urgent preparation against the Snail People and later defends Spiritual Roots as tools rather than replacements for independent ability 513 516.

After departmental responsibilities are reorganized, his Five Manors Temple is established on the Spiritual Root Mother Tree, and he becomes responsible for its annual harvest. He later reports that distributing the current batch of fruit will bring Spiritual Root coverage to 80 percent 562 566.

Interstellar Affairs and Retirement

Old Tang participates in the leadership’s discussion of the Pan-Civilization Convention and the placement of its marker. When Li Xingkong’s destruction of the Snail People raises concerns about his character, Old Tang interprets his conduct through his cultural background and personal moral framework, helping reassure the other officials 563 564 565.

Centuries later, he remains active with an expedition operating from a temporary fortress. He explains the subdivision of cultivation realms, including Qi Refining Perfection, and asks Li Xingkong for a more accessible transition toward Core Formation. He also passes on the experimental Eye of Replication spell 632 633 634.

Old Tang eventually retires and leaves to travel, alongside numerous other senior figures making way for younger officials. Zhang Yumeng takes over his former responsibilities 734 735.

Abilities & Skills

Cultivation and Spiritual Qi Control

• Reaches the Middle Stage of Qi Refining 496.
• Experiences substantial physical rejuvenation through cultivation 305 329.
• Uses Spiritual Qi to inspect a Spiritual Root Seed, although the examination reveals nothing useful about its workings 513.

Memory and Technical Knowledge

• Retains a rough mental backup of every Earthly Capital project, considering his cultivated brain safer than electronic storage 476.
• Uses the timing and nature of a suspected event to narrow his recollection and locate relevant experimental files 476.
• Has a technical background and extensive experience supervising cutting-edge research, though he explicitly knows less about aerospace than research management itself 125 131 293.

Administration and Strategic Assessment

• Coordinates laboratories, lunar payload allocation, major construction proposals, and cultivation research 131 171 292 293.
• Assesses the military implications of new discoveries, particularly spatial transport 391.
• Handles intelligence-related work and explains international developments to Li Xingkong 331 734.
• Recognizes the importance of protecting basic research even when cultivation produces immediately superior results 293.

Equipment & Items

• Qi Refining inheritance token — Contains the preliminary Rising Sun Guide method formally transferred to the Divine Land’s authorities 235.
• Knowledge-seed tokens — Carry theoretical material supplied by Li Xingkong to support wider cultivation research 248.
• Black-and-white game piece — The space elevator formation’s key and control terminal, handed to him during its demonstration 306.
• Luo Shu — A magic artifact refined by Li Xingkong and entrusted to Old Tang; its performance had not yet been reported back when Li Xingkong considered requesting feedback 374.

Relationships

• Tang Cheng — His son. Old Tang is a stern parental authority, supervises the testing of his early abilities, and remains closely informed about his cultivation path 123 124 431.
• Li Xingkong — A long-term collaborator who addresses him as “Uncle Tang.” Old Tang supplies institutional support, protects his interests, and acts as a principal intermediary between him and the Divine Land 125 309 363 513.
• Zhang Yumeng — Connects with Li Xingkong through the assistant arrangement used to advance a matchmaking plan; later takes over Old Tang’s government responsibilities 415 734.
• Commander Wang — A military acquaintance whom Old Tang introduces to Li Xingkong. Their discussion aboard the space elevator exposes different priorities for its military and civilian use 305 307.
• Old Li — A longtime acquaintance who urges him to pursue a marriage connection for Li Xingkong and prompts him to act on an existing candidate file 414 415.
• Captain Wang — An investigator whom Old Tang assists by identifying the experimental spatial rift potentially responsible for attracting alien attention 476.

Notable Quotes

“If you eat five steamed buns and get full on the fifth, were the first four wasted?” 293

“Good. Go into seclusion without worrying. We'll take care of your parents and everything here in the Divine Land. You can put your mind completely at ease.” 309

“To put it plainly, a Spiritual Root is just a tool. At its core, it's no different from the cars we drive or the tools we use.” 516

Trivia

• Five Manors Temple’s location grew out of a joke: Old Tang remarked that it could hardly lack a “ginseng fruit tree,” so an old companion assigned him the Spiritual Root Mother Tree—and responsibility for harvesting its fruit 562.
• Despite his rank, Tang Cheng initially knows little about his actual duties. His work is classified enough that his wife and son routinely withdraw to another room when he closes his study door 123 124.