Chen Fan

Biodata

Power Progression

Chen Fan’s cultivation depends on his current body: possession can raise or lower his realm 14 35 46.

Background / History

Transmigration and the Zhao Household

Chen Fan had lived in the new world for three months, earning a living as a woodcarver, when Zhao Long and his lackeys fatally attacked him. Zhao Long’s killing blow activated Death-Substitution Rebirth, transferring Chen Fan into his murderer’s body. He inherited Zhao Long’s memories and social position, ordered his original corpse removed, and returned to the Zhao residence under his new identity 1.

He initially presented himself to Zhao De as a chastened son, successfully explaining away his changed behavior. In private, he treated the inherited identity as an account whose wealth, authority, and household he could use freely. He sexually assaulted women in Zhao Long’s household, including Su Qingyu and Lin Wan’er, and used the magistrate’s authority to suppress resistance 2 3 8.

Azure Yang Temple and Zhang Shan

Chen Fan sought Azure Yang Temple’s genuine Martial Dao inheritance because rebirth was passive and dying remained painful. His enthusiasm collapsed after discovering that Zhao Long’s damaged body could neither circulate Qi nor sustain basic physical training. He abandoned serious cultivation in favor of reading, tea, sleep, and feeding the temple’s orange cat 4 5 6.

During a later stay, he intervened when Wang Chong bullied Zhang Shan. Using the threat of withdrawing Zhao De’s three thousand taels of temple funding, he secured Zhang Shan’s protection and made him his servant. He subsequently corrected the boy’s fist practice, supplied the temple’s best breathing method, and allowed him to become Xuanyangzi’s disciple 10 11 12.

Wang Chong retaliated by providing Black Wind Mountain with a temple map and patrol schedule and requesting Zhao Long’s assassination 11.

Chief of Black Wind Mountain

Black Wind Baleful Intent killed Zhao Long, only to become Chen Fan’s next body. The possession finally gave Chen Fan usable martial cultivation. He killed Wang Chong with the Gale Saber Technique and assumed command of Black Wind Mountain 13 14.

When Zhao De led over five hundred soldiers against the stronghold, Chen Fan approved Iron-Armed Monkey’s ambush at One-Line Sky. The bandits repelled the first assault, though the soldiers then maintained a siege. During this period, Chen Fan practiced his inherited martial arts and twice spared Zhang Shan, who was unknowingly trying to avenge him by killing his new identity 16 17 19 28.

After the county troops withdrew, Chen Fan prohibited robbing poor commoners and redirected raids toward exploitative wealthy households. He ordered half the seized grain distributed to refugees, although subsequent distributions are described as smaller shares. The policy enriched the stronghold and won support among the poor 20 21 25.

He rejected Zhou Tong’s offer to join the Yellow Robe Army despite promises of three thousand shi of grain and five hundred sets of arms and armor. He preferred his comfortable position and did not want Black Wind Mountain used to ignite a rebellion 24 25.

The Princess Consort Conspiracy

Women captured without Chen Fan’s permission drew Black Wind Mountain into a larger conspiracy. He released the captives and later suspected that one was the missing Princess Consort of Xiushan. Su Xin subsequently planted the bound and drugged Li Rong’er in his chamber to frame him and provoke conflict with the prince 21 22 25 28 30 31.

After learning the truth, Chen Fan knocked Li Rong’er unconscious rather than exploit her drugged condition. As imperial troops surrounded the mountain, he prepared for battle and arranged for Hong’e and Cuiqiao to escape by the rear route 31.

Chen Fan attempted to die fighting the Seventh-Rank captain Li Zhong so he could inherit a stronger body and official position. Li Zhong instead captured him alive. In prison, Chen Fan learned that the scandal had distracted the residence while the White Lotus Sect stole a secret text. Unable to secure his preferred killer, he accepted death at the hands of the Ninth-Grade guard Lin Shou 32 33 34.

Guarding Li Rong’er

As Lin Shou, Chen Fan helped persuade the despairing Li Rong’er to eat and assured her that he believed her innocence. He also learned that the stolen work was the Record of the Grand Progenitor’s Ascension to Immortality, connecting the conspiracy to a secret of immortal cultivation 35 36 37.

Zhao De unknowingly rewarded him with fifty taels of gold for killing Black Wind Baleful Intent—the identity Chen Fan had just abandoned. Chen Fan buried the reward outside the city for retrieval in a future life 40.

After Zheng Xun praised his care for Li Rong’er, Chen Fan became her personal guard with a doubled allowance. During an outing, he won her the Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix hairpin by reciting two lines of poetry 42 43.

An Eighth-Rank assassin attacked their carriage. Chen Fan took a dagger wound intended for Li Rong’er and used the Gale Saber Technique to delay the attacker, but his Ninth-Grade body could not overcome the realm difference. His saber broke, and his injuries ultimately triggered another possession 44 45 46.

Assassin Under Su Xin

Chen Fan awakened as Chen Jinzhong, a Dragon Traversing Sect disciple and outer-circle White Lotus Sect assassin, immediately facing Li Zhong’s saber. He used his new body’s movement and assassination skills to survive the encounter and later joined the sect’s survivors 46 47.

Su Xin assigned him to investigate the prince’s residence and reminded him that the sect supposedly owned his life. Chen Fan feigned loyalty but refused to risk infiltrating the heavily guarded residence. Instead, he rented a room at the Welcome Inn, absorbed Chen Jinzhong’s martial memories, and gathered news indirectly 48 49.

The arrival of the Righteous Dao Alliance created another danger: the Dragon Traversing Sect, his current body’s original sect, was among the forces moving against the White Lotus Sect 50.

Appearance

Chen Fan’s physical appearance changes with each possession; he has no single consistent body across these identities 1 14 35 47.

• Original body: A working woodcarver’s hands, covered in calluses and small cuts 1.
• Zhao Long: Fair-skinned, pampered hands with long fingers and prominent knuckles; a well-proportioned but physically weak body 1 4 8.
• Black Wind Baleful Intent: A towering, heavily bearded, muscular figure with a rough voice and wine-stained teeth 14 23 28.
• Lin Shou: Wears the prince’s residence guard uniform; receives a deep wound across his back while protecting Li Rong’er 45.
• Chen Jinzhong: Conceals his face beneath a broad bamboo hat while gathering information 49.

Personality

Chen Fan is pragmatic about identity and unusually calm under threat. He quickly learns to imitate his hosts, exploiting their memories, authority, and connections while hiding the existence of his rebirth ability. He regards that ability as his greatest secret and refuses to reveal it even to Zhang Shan 1 2 26.

He strongly favors comfort over effort or political ambition. Once Zhao Long’s cultivation prospects prove hopeless, he embraces leisure; later, he rejects rebellion because it would disrupt an enjoyable life. Nevertheless, he practices seriously when a usable martial body lets him experience tangible improvement 5 18 24.

His confidence about surviving death coexists with a deep aversion to its pain. He sometimes seeks powerful killers to improve his next identity, yet remains vigilant because dying and possession are agonizing 4 32 42 45.

His conduct is morally contradictory. He sexually assaults women while living as Zhao Long, but later condemns abducting women, protects poor commoners from bandit raids, and refuses to exploit the drugged Li Rong’er. His attachment to Zhang Shan is particularly concrete: he avoids being killed by the young Daoist because possession would end Zhang Shan’s life 3 8 20 22 26 28 31 36.

Abilities & Skills

Death-Substitution Rebirth

A death-triggered ability that transfers Chen Fan into his killer’s body 1.

• Target selection: The system identifies the direct assailant; Zhao Long’s direct killing receives the highest priority in its initial assessment 1.
• Inheritance: Possession grants the host’s memories, physical capabilities, cultivation, and access to their social identity 1 14 35 47.
• Cross-body knowledge: Chen Fan retains the Gale Saber Technique after leaving Black Wind Baleful Intent’s body and uses it as Lin Shou 45.
• Emotional separation: Zhao Long’s memories do not compel Chen Fan to share Zhao Long’s attachment to Cui’er; Chen Jinzhong’s devotion to Su Xin likewise does not become his own 1 49.
• Limitations: His next body may be weaker, possession is intensely painful, and he does not know whether death caused by his own training would activate rebirth 6 35 40 45.
• Secrecy: He conceals the ability because revealing previous identities would expose its operation 26.

Gale Saber Technique

An army-derived saber art inherited from Black Wind Baleful Intent, emphasizing forceful, sweeping attacks 17.

• Combines its breathing method with internal force circulation 17.
• Uses heavy blows and broad blade coverage to overpower or restrict opponents 17 28.
• Remains usable in a weaker body, but cannot eliminate a major cultivation gap 44 45.
• Proves inadequate against Li Zhong’s superior realm and combat experience 32.

Dragon Traversing Sect Techniques

Movement and assassination arts acquired through Chen Jinzhong’s body and memories 47.

• Uses unusual evasive footwork to avoid Li Zhong’s attacks 47.
• Attacks a stronger opponent’s vulnerable points to force them onto the defensive 47.
• Does not make him an equal match for the Seventh-Rank Li Zhong 47.

Other Skills

• Woodcarving: Supported himself by selling carvings; his carved kitten was lifelike enough to attract a passerby’s attention 1.
• Basic martial instruction: Corrected Zhang Shan’s posture, breathing, and footwork during Stone-Shattering Fist practice 11.
• Poetry recitation: Won the Treasure Pavilion’s approval and a phoenix hairpin with two lines of verse 43.
• Impersonation and intelligence gathering: Adopts inherited roles convincingly and uses public conversations, disguises, and an inn overlooking a main road to gather information without infiltration 1 2 25 49.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Ghost-head greatsaber: Black Wind Baleful Intent’s weapon, weighing at least eighty jin; Chen Fan handles it easily in that body 14.
• Guard’s long saber: Used while protecting Li Rong’er; breaks during combat with the Eighth-Rank assassin 44 45.
• Short dagger: The weapon in Chen Jinzhong’s hand when Chen Fan possesses him; used against Li Zhong 46 47.
• Fifty taels of gold: Zhao De’s reward for supposedly killing his son’s murderer; buried as a reserve for a future identity 40.
• Broad bamboo hat: Used to conceal his face while operating as Chen Jinzhong 49.

Relationships

• Zhao Long — His first killer and first possessed identity. Zhao Long’s murder of him activates Death-Substitution Rebirth 1.
• Zhao De — Father of his Zhao Long identity and an unwitting source of protection, influence, and wealth. Later rewards him as Lin Shou without recognizing the connection 2 8 40.
• Lin Wan’er — Zhao Long’s forcibly married principal wife. Chen Fan continues abusing her after possession rather than escaping the original host’s pattern of coercion 2 3 8.
• Liu Ruyan, Su Qingyu, and Cui’er — Women inherited as part of Zhao Long’s household; Chen Fan exploits this position for his own gratification 1 2 3.
• Zhang Shan — Former servant and martial beneficiary who seeks to avenge Zhao Long by killing Black Wind Baleful Intent. Chen Fan spares him twice and wants to preserve his future 11 19 26 28.
• Daoist Xuanli — Accommodating temple elder whom Chen Fan pressures through Zhao De’s financial support; supplies martial texts and comfortable lodging 4 5 10 11.
• Iron-Armed Monkey and Smiling Tiger — Subordinate bandit chiefs who organize defenses, raids, supplies, and distributions under his leadership 16 20 21 25.
• Hong’e and Cuiqiao — Wives associated with his bandit-chief identity. He arranges their evacuation when imperial troops surround the mountain 16 31.
• Li Rong’er — Initially a captive and pawn in Su Xin’s scheme, later the woman he guards as Lin Shou. He supports her during her despair and suffers fatal injuries protecting her 31 37 42 45.
• Li Zhong — Seventh-Rank captain and desired possession target. Captures Chen Fan alive as the bandit chief and later attacks him after he possesses Chen Jinzhong 32 47.
• Su Xin — Recurring enemy who becomes his superior through Chen Jinzhong’s identity. Chen Fan outwardly obeys her while intending to settle their accumulated grievances 31 48 49.
• Zheng Xun — Li Rong’er’s son; his praise helps Chen Fan obtain the personal-guard assignment and doubled allowance 42.

Notable Quotes

“As long as I’m Zhao Long, no one will dare lay a hand on you again.”
— To Zhang Shan 11

“I only seek a clear conscience.”
— After sparing Zhang Shan as Black Wind Baleful Intent 19

“I said, I’m not interested.”
— Rejecting Zhou Tong’s recruitment offer 24