Jiang Zhi

Biodata

Power Progression

• By the final side story, Jiang Zhi reports unusually smooth cultivation and hopes to reach Nascent Soul; he is not confirmed to have attained it 187.

Background / History

Academy Career

Jiang Zhi and Li Jian were talented cultivators from small places who passed Sword Reverence Academy’s entrance examinations and stayed to teach. Neither initially had a sect backing them, and Jiang Zhi described them as Rogue Cultivators 63 66 76.

When Shan Heyuan joined the Planting Institute, Jiang Zhi introduced him to Class C’s Spirit Plant garden, which contained 364 varieties. He soon became one of Shan’s regular companions, exchanging cultivation advice and academy news over meals and drinks 58 63.

During the effort to grow Verdant Dwelling Grass for two poisoned disciples, Jiang Zhi sought out Shan Heyuan to compare results. After Shan succeeded, Jiang Zhi praised his skill and defended their Orchid cohort against disparaging remarks from the Plum cohort 61 64.

Jiang Zhi and Li Jian later helped renovate Shan Heyuan’s courtyard. They preserved the uprooted herbs, replaced the soil, and helped install formations using 1,349 jade talismans, including seventy-two formation cores. Shan gave each of them a bag of high-grade Spirit Soil afterward 67.

His advice also contributed to Shan Heyuan’s moss experiments: Jiang Zhi pointed out that substitute materials generally required refinement, prompting Shan to reconsider how living moss might be prepared for use 70.

Academy Grand Competition

Jiang Zhi encouraged Shan Heyuan to enter the academy competition and used his extensive acquaintances to arrange visits to training grounds across several academies. He also recruited Shan and Li Jian as sparring partners after drawing a Sword Academy teaching assistant as his first opponent 78 79 80.

After the competition, Jiang Zhi planned to visit his parents, whom he had not seen in years, and invited Shan Heyuan to his home in Ze Province 97.

Transfer Away from Sword Reverence City

Jiang Zhi and Li Jian continued supporting Shan Heyuan at the academy, leading disciples in caring for his class gardens during his absence 120.

Years later, Jiang Zhi was stationed near a dead city with Li Jian, Lin Ji, and Sheng Chao. The group had spent five years there after being transferred away from Sword Reverence City to make room for children of aristocratic clans. Without orders, they could not freely leave unless they resigned from their Sword Reverence Sect posts 173 174.

After more than a decade apart, Shan Heyuan invited Jiang Zhi and Li Jian to settle near Fujiang City and help cultivate Spirit Plants. Jiang Zhi accepted after several days’ consideration and asked to bring Lin Ji and Sheng Chao. At their reunion, he learned Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng’s true identities and supported exposing Ji Li’s actions 174.

Wunuo Grain and Independent Breeding

Near Fujiang City, Jiang Zhi and Li Jian began studying Shan Heyuan’s Wunuo Grain, a hardy variety intended to alleviate food and Spiritual Power shortages. Mature plants contained approximately 200–500 ling, compared with no more than 100 ling in the Yangdai Grain they had grown in dead cities 175.

The two growers examined its precise cultivation conditions and confirmed strong resistance to disease and insects. Shan Heyuan proposed that they each lead a separate team to test the grain in a dead city after harvesting the current crop 175.

When Lin Ji disappeared to seek revenge against Ji Li, Jiang Zhi blamed himself for failing to keep watch over him. Li Jian reassured him that Lin Ji would have gone regardless 179.

In the final side story, Jiang Zhi and Li Jian jointly operate their own Spirit Plant garden. They decline Lin Ji’s invitation to return to teaching and instead develop profitable new herb varieties almost every year. Jiang Zhi attributes their improved cultivation and breeding success to the Heavenly Dao’s favor 187.

Personality

Jiang Zhi is outgoing, well-connected, and fond of teasing his friends. His acquaintances span the academy, allowing him to introduce Shan Heyuan to instructors and arrange access to otherwise restricted training sessions 79 80. He is especially persistent about Shan’s relationship with Shen Duheng, pressing for details and later speculating that Dual Cultivation explained Shan’s rapid advancement 134 135.

His envy of Shan Heyuan’s cultivation speed is openly expressed but accompanied by practical support. He offers help with experiments, encourages competition training, and explains that Shan’s poor combat rhythm—not a lack of raw strength—caused his sparring defeat 70 76 81.

He takes pride in the Planting Institute and resents condescension toward its teachers. Despite being an effective fighter, he ultimately prefers a peaceful life growing plants to guarding the outskirts of a dead city 64 80 175.

Abilities & Skills

Combat-Oriented Plant Cultivation

Jiang Zhi practices an unnamed cultivation method particularly suited to fighting with Spirit Plants 78 80.

• Scatters seeds and plants across a battlefield before overwhelming opponents with aggressive growth 80.
• Uses violent, mutated Foundation Establishment-grade Spirit Plants that attack from multiple directions 80.
• Combines plant attacks with thick, acrid smoke that obstructs sight and irritates the eyes and nose 80.
• His mutated plants lack intact consciousness, preventing Shan Heyuan from seizing control through Gentle Breeze or Return a Plum for a Peach during their spar 80.
• The plants collapse motionless when he withdraws his cultivation method 80.
• Cannot produce as many plants at once as Shan Heyuan; instead, he relies on their berserk strength and indiscriminate attacks 82.

Movement and Combat Experience

• Uses an excellent Movement Method to shift, roll, and dodge under sustained sword attacks 82.
• Regrows cut-down plants with Spiritual Power, maintaining pressure against sword cultivators 82.
• Recognizes hesitation and poor combat rhythm as exploitable weaknesses, and recommends repeated sparring to correct them 81.
• Demonstrates considerable endurance by winning 334 matches across nine days 91.

Spirit Plant Cultivation and Breeding

• Preserves uprooted spirit herbs with his planting cultivation method during transplantation 67.
• Can assess soil, plant health, growing conditions, and the precision of another grower’s techniques 66 175.
• Helps install purchased garden formations from diagrams, though formation work is not his specialty 67.
• Later develops new spirit-herb varieties with Li Jian, aided by the Heavenly Dao’s favor 187.

Relationships

• Shan Heyuan — Close friend and former academy colleague. Jiang Zhi offers practical advice, spars with him, helps maintain his gardens, and later joins his cultivation project near Fujiang City 67 70 81 120 174.
• Li Jian — Longtime friend, fellow grower, and eventual business partner. They share a background without sect support and jointly establish a successful breeding garden 66 187.
• Shen Duheng — Initially addresses him respectfully as “Senior Shen.” Jiang Zhi encourages Shan Heyuan to seek more demanding combat instruction from him and later learns his true identity 66 81 174.
• Lin Ji — Fellow member of the group stationed near a dead city. Jiang Zhi brings him to Fujiang City and later feels responsible when he disappears. After becoming sect master, Lin Ji invites Jiang Zhi back to teach 174 179 187.
• Sheng Chao — Companion during the dead-city posting who travels with Jiang Zhi’s group to reunite with Shan Heyuan 173 174.
• Parents — Live in Ze Province; Jiang Zhi plans an extended visit after years apart 97.

Notable Quotes

“The main thing is, not many cultivators in livelihood professions can fight, and we can't all be wiped out. I'm a decent fighter, so I have to win some glory for our Planting Institute.” 80

“Compared with guarding the edge of a dead city, I prefer this peaceful life of planting.” 175