Lu Yuan

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Previous Life and Return

In his previous life, Lu Yuan lost his mother, Xu Yongmei, to advanced lymphoma shortly before his college entrance examination. His grief ruined his performance, and he failed to enter university. His father, Lu Wenkai, died in a traffic accident a year later, leaving him without either parent 2.

Lu Yuan subsequently attended culinary school, became its best student, and spent years working in the restaurant trade. Despite his skill, he remained poor and struggled at the bottom of society 4 8.

He awakens in his old classroom thirty-five days before the entrance examination, apparently twenty years younger. Seeing Ji Yin leap hundreds of meters reveals that this is not the technological Earth he remembers. His research identifies the setting as the Divine Land, where humanity has left Earth and cultivators hold power; whether his experience is rebirth or transmigration remains unresolved 1 2.

At home, he finds both parents alive and discovers a younger sister, Lu Youbing, whom everyone calls Xiao Bing. He concludes that she is the sister who could not be born under the policies of his original world, recognizing her resemblance to a girl from his recurring childhood dream 2.

Raising Money for His Mother

Xu Yongmei now suffers from Twilight Syndrome. A Xikangnuo injection costs approximately 1.5 million yuan and can delay the illness, but Lu Yuan learns that a lasting cure may require cultivator intervention. Xiao Bing gives him her 8,455 yuan in savings and urges him to pursue Cultivation University despite its 20,000-yuan application fee 2 3.

Lu Yuan initially considers borrowing from his wealthy classmate Jia Xuanxuan. Instead, he identifies a business opportunity with her father’s Food Flavor Pavilion chain. His sweet and sour spare ribs sell more than two hundred portions in one evening, and his introduction of zongzi creates a larger commercial opportunity 5 6 8 10.

He negotiates a price of 1.52 million yuan for the zongzi recipes and receives 1.57 million after Jia Shengnan adds a gift. The money covers his mother’s first injection and his application fee. Paying for her treatment allows him to prevent the loss that had defined his previous life, although the injection provides only two years of protection 13 22 28.

Xiao Bing’s Kidnapping

When cultists abduct Xiao Bing, Lu Yuan seeks help from the Internal Affairs Bureau. Ji Yin discreetly warns him that the Bureau itself may contain a mole. Lu Yuan immediately understands and invents a claim that his sister carries something that can reveal her location 15 16 18.

The deception draws out Zhang Baocheng, who abducts Lu Yuan and leads Ji Yin to the cultists. Xiao Bing is rescued, but Zhang kills himself before Ji Yin can extract information about his superior 17 18.

Undercover in the Holy Church

Seeking military merit worth 200 entrance-exam bonus points, Lu Yuan accepts an undercover assignment from Ji Yin. He is also trying to reach Professor Yu Zheng at New Capital Cultivation University, whom Ji Yin identifies as an authority on Twilight Syndrome 25 26.

Posing as a recruit associated with Zhang Baocheng, Lu Yuan enters the Holy Church’s Jiangzhou organization. Guo Huai tests his story, verifies that he has no Dantian, and imprisons him underground. Lu Yuan spends much of his confinement studying and practicing the Body-Protecting Shield 28 29 31.

His investigation uncovers three crucial facts: the cult’s base is Jiangzhou City Psychiatric Hospital, its masked Protector of the Faith is hospital doctor Li Tailai, and its planned operation targets two college entrance examination sites. During a scouting visit to Guanghua School, he secretly passes a written warning to Xiao Bing 33 36 37.

Rescue and Entrance Examinations

The Bureau acts on his intelligence, but Guo Huai identifies Lu Yuan as the infiltrator during the rescue operation. Lu Yuan survives an explosion through his Body-Protecting Shield, then suffers a knife wound through his chest and back. Ji Yin kills Guo Huai and uses an Essence Restoration Pill to stabilize him 39 40.

Lu Yuan insists on taking the entrance examination rather than immediately going to hospital. He completes the Chinese paper while gravely injured, undergoes surgery, and returns for the common-language examination, where he selects C for every multiple-choice answer. His family reunites with him outside the examination room after his month-long disappearance 40 42.

The operation earns him the promised 200 military-merit bonus points, the Bureau’s goodwill, and an offer of a future favor from Zuo Ling. His contribution is circulated through the Bureau’s internal network, where personnel give him his codename 44.

Culinary Revival and Qualification Testing

After recovering, Lu Yuan offers Jia Shengnan hundreds of traditional dishes free of charge. His condition is that the Food Flavor Pavilion promote the Hua People’s food culture without preventing others from learning or using the recipes. He demonstrates his cooking at a family reunion banquet, with the preparation filmed for the restaurant’s chefs 45 46.

At the Cultivator University Qualification Test, Lu Yuan seeks out people who knew Xu Wenbin, his former fellow captive. He tells Zhou Wenwen that Xu died bravely while investigating the cult and passes along a farewell. Recognizing that this account is a lie, he resolves to keep the truth of Xu’s death to himself 48 49.

Personality

Lu Yuan’s strongest motivation is protecting his family rather than gaining wealth or status. His parents’ deaths make their survival in his new life precious to him, and he explicitly rejects the prospect of returning to a world without them or Xiao Bing. Before accepting the undercover mission, he asks whether his family would receive compensation if he died 2 10 26.

Years of hardship have made him adaptable and composed under pressure. In confinement, he maintains a study routine, practices his defensive technique, and reminds himself that panic would only make him miss an opportunity. His resolve can also become dangerous stubbornness: he insists on sitting the entrance examination despite life-threatening injuries 29 32 40.

He distinguishes between earning necessary money and monopolizing cultural knowledge. Although he negotiates firmly for his mother’s treatment costs, he later insists that traditional recipes belong to the Hua People’s shared heritage and should remain available to others 13 45.

Abilities & Skills

Merit Point System

Lu Yuan possesses a private interface that tracks Merit Points, True Essence, Spiritual Pressure, Divine Sense, Return Progress, and eventually martial arts proficiency. It offers no explanations and does not respond to attempts at communication, forcing him to determine its rules experimentally 10 44.

All three rules are established through his experiments 44.

• He suspects that sharing zongzi-making knowledge produced his first 2,000 Merit Points; the cause is not confirmed 10.
• Successfully negotiating the recipe sale does not change his Merit Points, indicating that earning money alone is insufficient 19.
• The Jiangzhou cult operation awards him 10,000 Merit Points 44.
• Return Progress rises from 11.17% to 11.18%, but its purpose and the source of the initial progress remain unknown 10 44.

Body-Protecting Shield

A low-level martial technique taught by Ji Yin that uses controlled breathing to draw on True Essence and resist injury 26.

• Greater amounts of mobilized True Essence produce stronger protection 33.
• Practice reduces the pain of striking a wall; he also observes scraped skin healing within a day 33.
• Beyond-Limit allocation temporarily strengthens its defense 33.
• It helps him survive an explosion but does not prevent severe injury or Guo Huai’s knife from penetrating his body 40.
• It reaches the system-recognized beginner stage after the battle 44.

Divine Sense and Mental Resistance

His Divine Sense reaches twenty-four units before he becomes a cultivator, exceeding the previously recorded ordinary-person maximum of fifteen cited by Zuo Ling 22 31.

• The cult’s bird-shaped idol drains Divine Sense during prayer; his reserve subsequently recovers 30.
• The Dream-Knowing Bird reduces his reserve to five units, bringing him close to unconsciousness 34.
• He resists the Holy Descent Ceremony’s brainwashing, allowing him to retain his undercover purpose 39.
• He notices a substantial improvement in learning speed and clarity while reviewing mathematics and science, though the cause is not established 32.

True Essence and Stamina

His True Essence naturally recovers with rest and can be consumed to replenish stamina. With sufficient rest, he observes recovery of roughly three or four ling over a day and night 19 20 30.

• Increasing his True Essence alone does not immediately grant exceptional strength or the ability to punch through walls 11 15.
• Spirit-Raising Water can push his reading temporarily above capacity, but he considers the extra point of little value because excess True Essence dissipates 48.

Cooking and Recipe Development

Lu Yuan retains his previous life’s culinary training and professional experience, giving him a major advantage in a world that has lost many cooking techniques 4 8 28.

• Demonstrates professional knife work, wok handling, sauce preparation, and sugar caramelization 8.
• Introduces zongzi and proposes a product range of sixty-two fillings 13.
• Supplies four principal zongzi recipes before offering hundreds of additional traditional dishes 45.
• Directs preparation of an elaborate family banquet with Food Flavor Pavilion assistants 46.

Negotiation and Undercover Work

His experience enables him to negotiate with Jia Shengnan as a business counterpart rather than simply accept an initial offer 12 13.

• Improvises with Ji Yin’s concealed warning to expose Zhang Baocheng 18.
• Maintains a false recruitment story under Guo Huai’s questioning 28.
• Identifies the cult’s leadership, headquarters, and intended targets while confined 33 36 37.
• Coordinates a covert message handoff with Xiao Bing under direct surveillance 37.
• Remains physically outmatched by even low-level cultivators, limiting his escape options 29 35.

Relationships

• Lu Wenkai — Father. His death in Lu Yuan’s previous life deepens Lu Yuan’s determination to protect him and ease his working life 2 46 47.
• Xu Yongmei — Mother. Her Twilight Syndrome drives his fundraising and search for a cultivator-assisted cure 3 22 25.
• Lu Youbing / Xiao Bing — Younger sister. Supports his university application with her savings, is rescued through his cooperation with Ji Yin, and later delivers his warning about the exam attacks 3 18 37.
• Ji Yin — Cultivator contact, mission handler, and defensive-technique teacher. Their cooperation develops into trust, though Lu Yuan freely criticizes his teasing and failures to provide practical help 18 26 40 42.
• Zuo Ling — Senior Bureau contact. Recognizes the significance of his mental resistance and promises him a future Bureau favor after the operation 39 44.
• Jia Shengnan — Commercial partner. Purchases his zongzi recipes, supports the culinary revival project, and cultivates ties with his family in anticipation of his future 13 45 46.
• Jia Xuanxuan — Classmate and former crush who rejected his love letter. Later supplies testing advice and Spirit-Raising Water; Lu Yuan avoids encouraging what he perceives as romantic interest 5 6 48.
• Ma Jin — Deskmate whose familiarity with rebirth fiction helps cover Lu Yuan’s shocked awakening as a joke 1.
• Zhou Xiyun and Chen Shihe — School friends who discuss university applications with him and tease him about Jia Xuanxuan 4 48.
• Xu Wenbin — Fellow captive whom Lu Yuan regards as a young person led astray. After Xu’s death, Lu Yuan gives Zhou Wenwen a false account intended to preserve his dignity 31 32 49.
• Guo Huai — Holy Church guard and captor. Supervises his confinement and nearly kills him after discovering his role as an infiltrator 28 37 40.

Notable Quotes

“Heavens, you've given me another life. I, Lu Yuan, ask for neither glory nor riches, only that my parents be healthy and live to a hundred!” 2

“I wanted to stand on the earth with my head against the sky and my feet planted firm. Not to trample anyone underfoot, but simply to raise my head with pride and tell the world my name.” 27

“My purpose in teaching you these things is to revive the traditional food culture of the Hua People. The Food Flavor Pavilion must work to advance that goal and must not prevent others from learning to make or using these dishes.” 45