Zhou Qi

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Medical Heritage

Zhou Qi descended from a family that had practiced medicine for generations. More than ten generations earlier, his ancestor Zhou Ci’s hereditary healing-herb Martial Soul mutated into a small blade. Zhou Ci developed the Organ Exchange Method, successfully treating a king’s damaged liver by exchanging it with a condemned prisoner’s. The prisoner died, and even the cured king rejected the procedure as an evil life-swapping art. The Zhou Clan subsequently withdrew from medical practice and traded medicinal ingredients, while preserving Zhou Ci’s notebook 25.

Zhou Qi mastered the inherited technique and developed the Skin Exchange Method, Bone Exchange Method, and Flesh Exchange Method. His early experiments used death-row prisoners obtained through bribery and connections 25.

Attempt to Resurrect His Wife

A diary entry dated February 19, 2631, recorded Zhou Qi witnessing the battle in which Ah Yin sacrificed herself. Discovering that souls existed prompted him to consider resurrecting his deceased wife 25.

Three years before his death, Zhou Qi killed a Fallen Soul Master and obtained Soul Nourishing Jade, which could nourish and repair remnant souls. However, he could not find his wife’s soul. He eventually decided to create a substitute from his own soul, reasoning that his memories contained everything about her 25.

After locating another Fallen Soul Master and studying that person’s Martial Soul, Zhou Qi succeeded in splitting his soul. His temperament changed drastically afterward. No longer satisfied with using condemned prisoners, he began selecting girls whose body parts suited his ideal reconstruction of his wife. He also removed flesh from his own body for the project 25.

The resulting puppet contained his flesh, blood, and a soul fragment. His final diary entries stated that it developed memories of its own and began voluntarily acting as his wife; they did not establish that his wife’s original soul had returned 25.

Conflict with Gao Shang

Zhou Qi learned that Gao Shang was purchasing whale rubber in bulk and assumed he had a profitable resale channel. He paid Wang Tianyuan and Hong Hua 1,000 Gold Soul Coins to extract that information. If Gao Shang refused, they were to extort him or kill him and keep his money. Zhou Qi also planned to acquire the rival pharmacy supplying Gao Shang once its funds became trapped in unsold whale rubber 13.

The attack failed. Wang Tianyuan identified Zhou Qi as their employer, and Gao Shang recruited both attackers instead. Hong Hua warned that Zhou Qi concealed considerable strength, persuading Gao Shang to investigate before retaliating 12 13 14.

Gao Shang then deliberately raised an unsupported suspicion that Zhou Qi might be a Fallen Soul Master, prompting Su Yuntao to seek Spirit Hall’s intervention. Investigators concluded that Zhou Qi was neither a Fallen Soul Master nor a Star Luo spy; he appeared to have fled another city after offending someone. Their investigation also revealed his level-46 cultivation. During this period, Zhou Qi closed his pharmacy and remained at home 17 21 22.

Assassination and Discovery

Gao Shang attacked Zhou Qi’s residence with a Class 5 Thunder Hand Cannon. He fired after Zhou Qi appeared at a window to receive an unconscious eight- or nine-year-old girl brought by servants. Zhou Qi sensed the danger and attempted to retreat, but the blast destroyed the main house and killed his original body 22.

A collapsing floor exposed an underground chamber containing young girls’ skeletons and ten chests of preserved human organs. While burning the victims’ remains, Gao Shang uncovered a second chamber housing Zhou Qi’s flesh puppet 23.

The puppet’s surprise attack failed against Gao Shang’s Dragon Scale Protection. Gao Shang severed one arm and both legs, then burned the puppet and its detached limbs with Ultimate Fire, confirming Zhou Qi’s death. He recovered two notebooks and escaped with the surviving captive girl 23 24.

Reading the notebooks revealed the purpose of Zhou Qi’s experiments. Gao Shang’s subsequent inquiry led the System Shop to add Flesh Puppet products, which he considered as potential soul vessels and a basis for powerful robots 25 26.

Appearance

• Original body: Zhou Qi is seen at his residence’s window before the cannon strike; no detailed physical description is provided 22.
• Puppet body: Resembled a young girl assembled from different people’s body parts, intended to reproduce his deceased wife 23 25.
• Visible stitching: Seams crossed the puppet’s face, neck, and even the spaces between its fingers. Differences in skin tone made the joined sections conspicuous 23.
• Soul Rings: Four rings appeared beneath the puppet, with the upper two an unusual gray 23.

Personality

Zhou Qi combined medical ingenuity with confidence in his own talent. His notebook asked its eventual reader to continue his research as a contribution to the continent. After examining his work, Gao Shang judged that he could have become a master surgeon had he followed a righteous path 25.

His fixation on resurrecting his wife became increasingly destructive after he split his soul. He began treating living people as collections of usable organs, bones, and flesh, targeting anyone whose body could improve his reconstruction 25.

In business, he was calculating and ruthless. His scheme against Gao Shang offered several possible gains—access to a presumed resale channel, stolen money, or the acquisition of a rival pharmacy—while leaving the immediate violence to hired mercenaries 13.

Despite his puppet’s limited facial expression, Zhou Qi showed a strong desire to survive. He sought an escape route after his ambush failed and continued dragging himself backward after losing both legs 23 24.

Abilities & Skills

Scalpel Martial Soul

A blade-shaped Martial Soul inherited from the mutation first recorded in Zhou Ci’s generation 25.

• Zhou Qi’s puppet retained the Martial Soul through its connection to his flesh and soul 25.
• He used angled blocks and redirection to divert Gao Shang’s saber rather than meet its force directly 23.
• His puppet’s physical strength was insufficient to withstand Gao Shang’s direct attacks 23.

Surgical Reconstruction

Zhou Qi extended his ancestor’s organ-replacement research into techniques for replacing other bodily tissues 25.

• Mastered the Organ Exchange Method 25.
• Developed the Skin Exchange, Bone Exchange, and Flesh Exchange Methods 25.
• Applied these techniques to construct a body from multiple victims’ remains and his own flesh 25.

Soul Splitting and Flesh Puppet Creation

Zhou Qi learned to divide his soul by studying a Fallen Soul Master’s Martial Soul 25.

• Placed a soul fragment within a constructed body using Soul Nourishing Jade 25.
• Produced a puppet that possessed his Martial Soul and Soul Power and later developed memories of its own 25.
• The puppet’s mostly ordinary or low-ranking bodily components and incompletely nourished soul restricted it to Soul Grandmaster-level strength 25.
• Splitting his soul caused a drastic change in his temperament 25.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Soul Nourishing Jade — Obtained from a slain Fallen Soul Master; could nourish and repair remnant souls and housed the fragment used in his reconstruction project 25.
• Research diary — Recorded his observations, experiments, and attempts to resurrect his wife; recovered by Gao Shang 24 25.
• Zhou Ci’s notebook — The thinner of the two recovered books, containing the inherited Organ Exchange Method 25.
• Flesh puppet — His reconstructed substitute for his wife, also serving as a vessel for part of his soul 23 25.

Relationships

• Deceased wife — The focus of his resurrection research. Unable to recover her soul, he attempted to recreate her from his memories and a fragment of his own soul 25.
• Zhou Ci — Ancestor and originator of the Organ Exchange Method that Zhou Qi inherited and expanded 25.
• Gao Shang — Intended victim of his extortion scheme; later killed both his original body and puppet and recovered his notebooks 13 22 24.
• Wang Tianyuan and Hong Hua — Mercenaries hired to threaten Gao Shang. After their defeat, they exposed Zhou Qi’s involvement and entered Gao Shang’s service 12 13.
• Unnamed distant relative — Reportedly powerful and responsible for helping establish his Nuoding City pharmacy; the claim was never verified 14.

Notable Quotes

“Hello, whoever is reading this notebook. By the time you see these words, it means I failed in the end.” 25

“Still, I believe that with my talent, I could not possibly accomplish nothing. If possible, please carry on my work. Let it count as a small contribution I made to the continent.” 25