Lu Cheng

Biodata

Power Progression

Main World

First Simulation

Background / History

Lu Cheng grows up with Jiang Nannan and Mother Jiang. By his first appearance, years of living together have made them effectively family: he calls them “Sis” and “Mom,” and both wait for him before eating 1.

He possesses the White Moonlight Simulation Device. Its simulations let him experience other lives and retain knowledge afterward, including Soul Tool engineering and sword techniques. He initially treats these experiences as simulations, but Zhang Lexuan’s arrival with memories of their shared simulated life forces him to confront their real consequences 47 69 71 85 159.

Appearance

• Hair and eyes: Short black hair and blood-red eyes, particularly distinctive when his eye Martial Soul is active 141 200.
• Build: By the second-year assessment, he has grown to approximately 1.75 meters, with an upright build, an inverted-triangle torso, and defined musculature 62.
• Facial changes: His appearance changes enough after his extended absence that a teacher doubts he matches his enrollment photograph 62.
• Simulated counterpart: His main-world appearance is described as cleaner and more youthful than the bloodthirsty, savage-looking Holy Spirit Cult version of himself 62.
• Disguise: Uses a false, slightly older-looking face while operating as Cheng Lu 174.

Personality

Lu Cheng usually remains composed under pressure. Ning Cong knows him as someone who stays unruffled, while his tournament opponents face a fighter who can threaten an entire team without concealing his position 52 110. He is much less comfortable when confronted by Zhang Lexuan’s memories and affection, responding with guilt, hesitation, and eventual acknowledgment that he wrongfully decided her future for her 69 71.

His protectiveness can become controlling. In the first simulation, he deliberately makes Zhang Lexuan hate him, using violence, illusions, and false claims of responsibility for their families’ deaths to drive her cultivation. His intended death is part of that plan, not an unforeseen defeat 17 26 38.

He is also pragmatic and ruthless in political affairs. He orders Lang Ya to kill nobles who obstruct the Body Sect’s awakening offices and regards death as an acceptable outcome for an uncooperative puppet. Zhang Lexuan calls him cold, merciless, and willing to stop at nothing; he privately wonders whether excessive simulation experience has made him treat reality like another simulation 203 213.

His criticism of Shrek’s leadership does not extend indiscriminately to its students. He respects the Inspection Corps disciples who genuinely risk their lives against Evil Soul Masters, but openly condemns elders who send young students into danger without adequate support or pay 110 111.

Abilities & Skills

White Moonlight Simulation Device

• Retained expertise: Keeps practical knowledge from simulated lives, allowing him to retrace cultivation methods and reproduce advanced Soul Tool designs 47 48 85.
• Reward selection: Can choose among simulation rewards, including Martial Souls, cultivation increases, and titles 159 279.
• Exit mechanism: Offers him a way to leave the second simulated world even after his soul has been reduced to a damaged remnant 158.
• Unexpected consequences: Simulated relationships affect the main world. Zhang Lexuan remembers their shared history, while Ye Guyi abandons her Angel Godhood to follow him into reincarnation 71 158.

Sun-Shooting Bow and Fire of Essence Sun

• Primary offense: His principal long-range weapon and, apart from the Snow Empress’s origin-powered Emperor Sword, his strongest killing move during his Soul King period 135.
• Fire attribute: Fire of Essence Sun is described as exceeding Ultimate Fire. Its pressure affects Beast Martial Soul users, and its arrows work with his eye abilities for precise ranged attacks 109 110.
• Combat reach: At the Soul King realm, his offensive strength is stated to be sufficient to kill Soul Saints 135.
• Additional flames: Acquires Light Fire through the Golden Earth Dragon King Soul Bone and Nether Fire through his fifth Soul Ring; Nether Fire burns the soul and leaves difficult-to-heal injuries 58 76.

Blood Pupils / Double Pupils

• Spiritual Detection: Provides a clear, god’s-eye view of his surroundings, dynamically tracking movement and greatly reducing the need to practice conventional aiming 8 43.
• Second Awakening: Produces true double pupils and externally manifestable Spiritual Power; later confirmed as Gold Grade 61 120.
• Illusions: Creates convincing false scenes and bodies, including the apparent deaths of Zhang Lexuan’s parents and an illusory charred corpse 26.
• Mental interference: Uses mental control to obtain official documentation for the Cheng Lu identity 174.
• Soul search: Extracts knowledge from an enemy’s soul, including the independently developed Corpse Explosion technique 113.

Snow Empress and Ultimate Ice

• Martial Soul acquisition: The Snow Empress becomes his Martial Soul and grants a seven-hundred-thousand-year left leg bone 100.
• Signature techniques: Her first Soul Ring grants Emperor Sword, Peerless Ice Extremity, Emperor’s Palm, and Emperor’s Cold Heaven 100.
• Weapon compatibility: Channels Emperor Sword through an ice extreme divine crystal sword to greatly amplify its power 103.
• Origin support: The Snow Empress’s origin allows him to confront Soul Saint-level power during the tournament 234.

Necromancy and the Half Undead Plane

• Electrolux’s inheritance: A gray-black Soul Ring contains necromantic knowledge and teleportation formations 128.
• Half Undead Plane: Uses the plane to shelter gathered tournament teams, warning them to remain on a designated hill 241.
• Ice Bone Explosion: Employs a highly demanding explosive technique; he credits his Soul Spirits, Tian Meng, and stored Soul Tool energy with allowing him to sustain such expenditure 169.
• Proposed applications: Considers combining undead, Ultimate Ice, and corpse explosions. These discussions are plans for further development, not confirmation of a completed empire-destroying army 113 128.

Soul Engineering and Battle Armor

• Broad expertise: His two early simulations give him enough theoretical and practical experience to compare with Jing Hongchen, rather than specializing in only one engineering field 174 182.
• Attribute amplification: Modifies a Level 3 Soul Guidance Ray with fire crystal so that it penetrates a Level 4 Defensive Soul Tool 47.
• Mass production: Earns nearly 200,000 Gold Soul Coins in three months by batch-producing low-level Soul Tools for Shrek students 48.
• Advanced construction: Engraves Level 7 cores, builds a Level 8 defensive wristguard, and completes a Level 7 Stationary Soul Cannon during his Mingdu assessment 85 102 174.
• Knowledge limits: Understands Level 9 designs, including Fixed Soul Guidance Shells and humanoid mechas, but their construction still depends on sufficient cultivation and Spiritual Power 85.
• Battle Armor research: Pursues equipment tailored to individual Martial Souls rather than merely copying the Sun Moon Empire’s mass-produced arsenal 85 241.
• Spiritual Operating System: Works with Xuan Ziwen on the project, although success remains distant and development strains their funds 185.

Cultivation and Swordsmanship

• Golden Core Skill: Cultivates the technique from childhood and forms a golden core in his dantian 91 210.
• Dragon Core refinement: Attempts to use the Ice and Fire Dragon Cores as foundations for dual Soul Cores; the process violently strains his body 210.
• Holy Flame Sword Canon: Teaches Ye Guyi sword control and demonstrates forms including Ring of Judgment: Sever and World-Purifying Lotus Flower Flame. His final demonstration splits a hundred-li stretch of clouds above Mingdu 149.
• Combat instruction: Helps Ji Juechen experience overwhelming defeat as a means of advancing his swordsmanship 197.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Storage diamond ring — Carries personal belongings, weapons, and gifts, including Zhang Lexuan’s jade hairpin 5 192.
• Scarlet Fire Carving Knife — Used to engrave Soul Tool core formations 103.
• Ice defensive wristguard — A Level 8 Soul Tool made with ice extreme divine crystal and his Snow Empress attribute. It can withstand a blow from an ordinary Titled Douluo; the text variously calls it Snow Maiden Protection and Snow Empress’s Blessing 102 103.
• Ice Extreme Divine Sword — A Level 7 weapon capable of Level 8 power, designed to complement Emperor Sword. Its material requires an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul to wield 103.
• Peak Class 7 biomimetic Flying Soul Tool — Exploits his unusually strong physique to sustain high-performance flight 105.
• Level 9 defensive bracelet — Also incorporates energy-storage technology comparable to a Level 8 Milk Bottle 169.
• Level 7 Fixed Soul Guidance Shells — Uses them to force the Golden Qilin Armor King to retreat 185.
• Soul Bones — Include the Golden Earth Dragon King bone, which adds light flames, forty-percent increased power, and persistent burning; another bone improves movement, arrow speed, and range from roughly 1,000 to 1,500 meters 56 58.
• Linked Defensive Soul Tool — Demonstrates it to the Mermaid Clan as protection suited to their physically fragile bodies 249.

Relationships

• Jiang Nannan — His family-like elder sister and romantic partner. She defends him against Zhang Lexuan’s teasing and receives a pink-rabbit bracelet from him 1 70.
• Mother Jiang — His maternal family figure. He recognizes the Black Tortoise Sect’s attempt to use her illness to pressure Jiang Nannan into serving Xu Sanshi 1 43.
• Zhang Lexuan — His childhood sweetheart in the first simulation and later identified as his principal wife. Their reunion forces him to admit the harm caused by concealing his plans and arranging her life without her consent 5 71 220.
• Ma Xiaotao — Romantic companion and combat teammate. She helps strengthen him with Soul Bones and remains deeply affected by memories of his simulated Eldest Senior Brother persona 56 111 113 114 204.
• Wang Dong’er — Confidante and romantic interest. He discovers the divine imprint in her Sea of Consciousness, comforts her, and encourages her to resist being treated as a pawn 84 91 119.
• Jiaojiao — His Soul Spirit. She chooses to die with him in the first simulation rather than transfer to Ma Xiaotao, then sacrifices herself to become his Soul Spirit in the main world 38 61.
• Snow Empress — His Martial Soul and close companion. She guides his use of her techniques and promises to remain beside him 100 194.
• Tian Meng / Sky Dream Ice Silkworm — Spiritual supporter and major energy reserve; assists his investigations and sustains his demanding combat techniques 84 91 169.
• Electrolux — Teacher and necromantic mentor. Lu Cheng addresses him as “Teacher” and relies on his knowledge of souls, undead magic, and formations 84 128.
• Du Busi — Body Sect patron and senior ally. Lu Cheng helps him reach Limit Douluo with an immortal herb, after which Du Busi offers him the sect leadership 142.
• Lang Ya — Body Sect recruiter and subordinate. Explains awakening grades, arranges support for Lu Cheng’s departure from Shrek, and later oversees the empire-wide awakening offices 120 203.
• Ye Guyi — His disciple in the second simulation. He trains her toward godhood; she later relinquishes her Angel Godhood to follow him into reincarnation and reunites with him in the main world 149 158 224 241.
• Meng Hongchen — His lover. Recognizes him despite his Cheng Lu disguise and becomes one of his strongest personal ties to the Hongchen family 174 180 203.
• Xiao Hongchen — Friend and Meng Hongchen’s protective brother. Initially entrusts his sister to “Cheng Lu,” later coming to respect Lu Cheng’s strength and political independence 185 202 203.
• Jing Hongchen — A senior martial brother during the second simulation and later head of the Body Sect’s Soul Tool Department. Lu Cheng entrusts him with substantial equipment and metal reserves despite their strained circumstances 149 203.
• Xuan Ziwen — Research collaborator. Their work on the Spiritual Operating System develops into a friendship strong enough that Lu Cheng believes his real identity would be safe with him 185 187.
• Wei Ling’er — Body Sect senior sister and lover. Their connection begins with admiration for his strength and later develops into an intimate relationship 3 141 203 204.
• Nana — Devoted follower who considers becoming his “shadow” sufficient repayment after he rescues her and frees her parents 194.
• Mu En — Architect of the first simulation’s family massacre and emotional manipulation. Lu Cheng eventually kills him; Zhang Lexuan later investigates whether the same conspiracy exists in the main world 38 71.
• Qian Renxue and Na’er — His goddaughters in the third simulation. He helps raise them and maintains a protective attachment to Qian Renxue 258 273.
• Gu Yuena — Discusses the Soul Beast race’s future with him. He proposes that Soul Tool development may eventually make human–Soul Beast peace possible 276.

Story Role / Major Arcs

First Simulation: The Holy Spirit Cult’s Holy Son

Lu Cheng and Zhang Lexuan survive the destruction of the Lu and Zhang clans. The attack is later revealed as a conspiracy between Mu En and the Holy Spirit Cult, intended to drive the two talented survivors into Shrek Academy. Long Xiaoyao recruits Lu Cheng as the cult’s Holy Son while Mu En arranges his return to Shrek and prepares evidence against him 5 7 38.

After his cult identity is exposed, Lu Cheng deliberately performs the role of a cruel traitor. He attacks Zhang Lexuan, falsely claims to have murdered their relatives, and pushes her to cultivate through hatred. His larger plan requires his own death; by its end, he has killed Mu En and Long Xiaoyao, while Jiaojiao reveals the truth to Zhang Lexuan as he lies dying 15 17 26 35 38.

Shrek Academy and the Return of Simulated Memories

Back in the main world, Lu Cheng seeks Jiang Nannan’s recommendation to Shrek Academy and builds an independent income through Soul Tool production. Soul Bones, Jiaojiao’s sacrifice, and his eye Martial Soul’s awakening rapidly increase his strength 43 48 56 61.

Zhang Lexuan’s reunion with him overturns his assumption that simulation events can be left behind. When she confronts his habit of secretly deciding everything for her, he apologizes and promises not to deceive her again. She subsequently takes an active role in protecting and physically conditioning him 69 70 71.

Inspection Corps, Tournament, and the Body Sect

Lu Cheng challenges Shrek’s treatment of its students during the Inspection Corps expedition. After the Ming Dou Mountain Range disaster, he also rejects Yan Shaozhe’s attempt to frame participation in the tournament as a chance for the reserve disciples to receive “absolution,” forcing the dean to admit they were not responsible 111 129.

His tournament performances establish the Sun-Shooting Bow and Snow Empress as feared weapons. Meanwhile, he arranges to leave Shrek for the Body Sect with his companions. He then strengthens the sect’s leadership with immortal herbs, helping Du Busi become a Limit Douluo before beginning his second simulation 120 135 142 234.

Second Simulation: Ye Guyi’s Teacher

In the Sun Moon Empire, Lu Cheng becomes deputy hall master of Illustrious Virtue Hall before being publicly branded an Evil Soul Master and “rescued” into the Holy Spirit Cult. He trains Ye Guyi’s angel Martial Soul with the intention of making the cult—including himself—a sacrifice for her path to godhood 145 149.

Ye Guyi refuses to accept his death and preserves his body. When the God of Destruction discovers his damaged remnant soul and the Simulation Device offers an exit, she takes Lu Cheng’s hand and follows him, shattering her Angel Godhood 158.

Mingdu Infiltration and Continental Expansion

Using the identity Cheng Lu, Lu Cheng enters the Sun Moon Empire’s academy system with forged official credentials and a disguised face. His engineering skill earns recognition, while his ties to Meng Hongchen and Xuan Ziwen complicate his undercover life 174 179 185.

He later reveals himself during the operation involving Jing Hongchen and consolidates the Body Sect’s position over the Heavenly Soul Empire. He places Jing Hongchen in charge of Soul Tool development and orders widespread awakening offices established under Lang Ya 200 203.

During the next Mingdu tournament, he warns Xu Jiujiu of the planned ambush, offers an escape route, and proposes exchanging Soul Tools for metals and Soul Bones. He shelters teams in his Half Undead Plane, redirects the Body Sect toward Battle Armor, and establishes a technology-for-resources trade with the Mermaid Clan 222 241 249.

Third Simulation and Level 97

The third simulation places Lu Cheng in the lives of Gu Yue, Na’er, and Qian Renxue. He protects Qian Xunji’s surviving family, questions the seemingly manipulated hostility between humans and Soul Beasts, and discusses a distant technological path toward coexistence with Gu Yuena 258 273 276.

After returning, he chooses cultivation rewards rather than another Angel Martial Soul or the situational Secret Chamber Douluo title. The rewards raise his Soul Power from rank eighty-nine to rank ninety-seven 279.

Notable Quotes

“Elder Long, I love her.” 35

“There were many things I shouldn't have hidden from you. Yes, you had the right to know.” 71

“A Meng and I are lovers, and A Xiao is my closest friend. If you defect, someone will help me talk you around, at least.” 203

Trivia

• Lu Cheng gives Zhang Lexuan a jade hairpin with a matching wind chime in both their simulated history and their main-world reunion 5 70.
• His reputation for attracting women becomes so widespread that tournament spectators immediately suspect him when a woman accuses an unnamed Soul Master of abandoning her and their child. Another young man is revealed as responsible 224.
• The Secret Chamber Douluo reward would increase his combat power by 100% inside a secret chamber, but he dismisses it as too situational to be useful 279.