Lin Qi

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

First Life and Family Inheritance

Lin Qi grew up in Ruqiang with company-employee parents who arranged a smooth educational and cultivation path for her. She progressed through university and postgraduate study, gaining the qualifications needed to seek employment with a megacorporation—but not a guaranteed position 6.

Her grandfather had lived through the end of the ancient cultivation era. A Purple Mansion cultivator with Five Laws Perfection, he had lived for nearly three thousand years and served a master whose Daoist name supplied the first two characters of “Jade Dragon Instruction.” That master was one of the megacorporation’s two founders. After his disappearance, later True Lords appropriated the interests he left behind and marginalized Lin Qi’s grandfather 18 69.

Before Lin Qi returned to the Upper City following a childhood visit, her grandfather entrusted her with the Jade Gui. It merged with her Primordial Spirit and became the fate “Daily Progress, Mastery of Techniques.” She kept it secret even from her parents 69 70.

A corporate war subsequently triggered an economic crisis. Her parents’ speculation bankrupted them, and the company seized their Dharma bodies and Primordial Spirits to repay their debts. Facing ruin herself, Lin Qi purchased the cheapest available reincarnation service—a “blind box” offering no assurance of a favorable birth 6.

Rebirth and the Aptitude Wager

Her second life began in a poor orphanage and factory environment rather than a company household. She had preserved 30,000 Spirit Stone Vouchers in a secret account, accessible only after her eighth birthday. The sum was sufficient to finance her first two Spirit Apertures and return to school 6.

Rather than spend it immediately, Lin Qi reserved half and wagered the remaining 15,000 vouchers against factory nominee Lü Yuan’s opportunity to open a second Spirit Aperture. Their contest compared their results in the standard Spiritual Qi Aptitude test. Her score of 40 appeared exceptionally strong, but Lü Yuan’s 49.68 and Pseudo Spirit Root defeated her 6 7 14 15.

Alliance with Lü Yuan

Instead of immediately collecting the wager, Lü Yuan requested her aptitude-improvement and concealment methods for Wang Yan. Lin Qi demanded reciprocal leverage, fearing that he could acquire her methods and then report her for possessing an undeclared ancient inheritance. She also offered to remain beside him and advance or retreat with him 18.

Lü Yuan disclosed that he had killed Li Jinglian during the Eight-Hour Workday Cult riot. Lin Qi correctly inferred both the timing and that the killing had been a counterattack against an attempt to take his money. After hearing his explanation, she wrote down both methods and accepted their alliance 19 20.

She subsequently accompanied Lü Yuan and Wang Yan to the Spirit Aperture-opening institution, treating the occasion as her first step toward returning to the Upper City 22 23.

School, Online Income, and the Dark Air Realm

To support her cultivation, Lin Qi helped develop a jointly owned short-video account built around Lü Yuan’s popularity. She produced videos, promoted their public pairing, and recounted their childhood together to attract viewers and advertisements. Their proceeds were split ninety-ten; by the school assembly, she was recognized as an influencer with a million followers 38 44.

Lü Yuan later brought her and Wang Yan into his Dark Air Realm air business. He obtained work permits for both, and their first stock sold out within two hours. Afterward, Lin Qi privately shared the accumulated power produced by her fate, giving Lü Yuan enough to advance his swordsmanship from Sword Light toward Sword-Ray 68 70.

Appearance

• Build: Initially small and scrawny; she is slightly shorter than Lü Yuan. Her face appears noticeably healthier after their circumstances improve 12 17 37.
• Hair: Previously cut short, later growing past her shoulders 37.
• Clothing: Wears Mingyang City No. 1 Technical Primary School’s blue-and-white uniform to save the expense of buying other clothes 37.

Personality

Lin Qi is ambitious and calculating, with returning to the Upper City as her central goal. She is willing to use others as stepping stones, but acknowledges that she would have no grounds to resent someone who did the same to her. Her willingness to gamble half her available funds reflects both her determination and her careful preservation of a fallback 6 15.

Despite her profit-first outlook, she retains principles inherited from her grandfather. She regards some compromises as worse than starting life over and initially struggles to understand Lü Yuan’s apparent loyalty to his friends. Once convinced of that loyalty, she begins considering how to protect him as well as benefit from their association 18 19 20.

She is teasing and outspoken with Lü Yuan, but also attentive to his cultivation and finances. When he begins using expensive medicine, she warns him against unsustainable spending and urges him to prioritize his own advancement rather than divert resources to her 37 62 63.

Abilities & Skills

Daily Progress, Mastery of Techniques

The fate created by the Jade Gui converts Lin Qi’s cultivation effort into accumulated “cultivation power,” which can raise her Technique Method realms 69 70.

• Technique advancement: Continued effort allows her to improve disciplines such as swordsmanship 70.
• Transfer to others: She gives Lü Yuan a stored portion sufficient to raise Sword Light to Sword-Ray, describing it as free of side effects 70.
• Finite reserves: Once her accumulated power is spent, she must build up more before sharing another portion 70.
• Unconfirmed limitations: The two Lü Yuans speculate that the Jade Gui is bound to her and cannot be shared or extracted. Their conclusions are not confirmed by Lin Qi 76.

Spiritual Qi Aptitude Improvement

Lin Qi possesses a Secret Method that raises the Spiritual Qi Aptitude of someone below 30 points by 10 points 7 20.

• Cannot improve Lü Yuan’s already exceptional aptitude 18.
• Is supplied to Lü Yuan for Wang Yan’s benefit 18 20.
• Crosses the authorities’ unstated “red lines,” making secrecy essential 42.

Cultivation Concealment

Her second method conceals cultivation status and can hide the disturbance associated with Spirit Root cultivation 20 21.

• Lü Yuan obtains it to conceal his unusual cultivation circumstances 13 20 21.
• He also passes a copy to Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan 21.

Cultivation Knowledge and Practical Skills

• Swordsmanship appraisal: Draws on her former Purple Mansion experience when evaluating sword arts, though she fails to recognize the quality of Lü Yuan’s instruction 37 68.
• Medicine administration: Carefully locates injection sites and administers Lü Yuan’s Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin medicine 63.
• Content creation: Uses videos, advertising, personal stories, and pairing publicity to maintain an income stream that balances her cultivation expenses 38 64.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Jade Gui — An inherited Wisdom Root Vessel that merged with her Primordial Spirit rather than remaining an ordinary carried item. Her grandfather received it through his own lineage at Guangling Palace 69 76.
• Secret Method manuscripts — Writes out her aptitude-improvement and cultivation-concealment methods for Lü Yuan as part of their agreement 20.
• Dark Air Realm work permit — Obtained through Lü Yuan, allowing her to work at his air shop 68.

Relationships

• Lü Yuan — Orphanage peer, former wagering opponent, and eventual close ally. Their association combines mutual benefit, guarded secrets, and growing affection. She is publicly treated as his girlfriend in name, later kisses him while transferring her stored power, and asks him to keep that ability secret even from Wang Yan 18 19 44 68 70.
• Wang Yan — Friend and fellow worker in Lü Yuan’s air business. Her methods are initially sought for his benefit, and she later keeps Lü Yuan informed about his school performance 18 42 46 68.
• Grandfather — Her first-life mentor and the source of both her remaining principles and the Jade Gui. She later regrets not better understanding his loneliness and suffering 18 69.
• Parents — First-life company employees who supported her education and cultivation. Their speculative losses destroyed the family’s financial security; neither knew she possessed the Jade Gui 6 70.
• A-Lian — A friend who tries to lead her away when she publicly challenges Lü Yuan, then recognizes her unusual resolve 5.

Notable Quotes

“Of course, if I become a stepping stone instead, then I’ll have brought it on myself. I’ll have no reason to resent anyone else.” 15

“Backbone can’t be spent like Spirit Stone Vouchers...” 37