Xu Chunliang

Biodata

Power Progression

Background and History

Transmigration and First Hunts

Xu Chunliang transmigrates into a sixteen-year-old Demon-Slaying Bureau officer investigating disappearances at Bronze Sparrow Tower. His predecessor entered the bureau through his father’s influence but had weak martial arts and little access to its secrets 1 2 25.

Qingci repeatedly murders him, revealing that his death rewinds the encounter while leaving him with memories of previous attempts. Destroying her apparent porcelain body proves insufficient; he finally kills her by attacking the paper on her abdomen. The victory reveals his attribute panel and unlimited reloads 1 2.

He then investigates a scholar and a brothel woman, discovers that both are murderous weirds, and defeats them through repeated experiments, disguises, and protection against their bites. Their deaths attract Black Eyes, a Moon Glow Grade demon intrigued by his apparent foresight. Unable to escape or overpower the demon through ordinary means, Xu Chunliang upgrades his saber technique and kills him with Eerie Tiger Saber 3 4 5 6 7.

Conflict Within the Demon-Slaying Bureau

When Xu Chunliang presents the paper ghost mask as evidence of his victory, Yu Ming offers ten taels while attempting to assign the main credit to himself and Liu Jie. Xu Chunliang refuses, leaving him isolated within the squad. Shi Qin warns him that Liu Jie’s influence makes open resistance dangerous 7.

In one timeline, Shi Qin dies protecting him from Liu Jie, and Jin Jun kills Xu Chunliang after he retaliates. The rollback exposes Jin Jun as Liu Jie’s powerful backer. Xu Chunliang changes tactics, arranges an outing to Xiaoxiang Tower, secretly kills Liu Jie, and frames Yu Ming. Jin Jun subsequently kills Yu Ming and Yu Linglong; Xu Chunliang begins looking for an opportunity to kill Jin Jun as well 8 9.

Guo Family Village

During an investigation with Shi Qin and Liu Yong, Xu Chunliang encounters the Scale Immortal, Life Silver, and an effect that removes victims from other people’s memories. A name remaining on his panel despite his lack of recollection alerts him to the manipulation. Repeated attempts to leave fail, convincing him that he must break the trap itself 12 13.

After eighteen thousand deaths, he resonates with Death and erases the hooked steelyard. He then kills himself to reset, unwilling to accept a victory that was not achieved by his own hand. He leaves with Shi Qin, reports that nothing is wrong, and warns him not to spend the Life Silver 14.

Buddhist Ruin Realm

After encountering Cao Qin and her maid at Spring Rain House, Xu Chunliang finds himself in Buddhist grottoes. Repeated deaths teach him how to evade the Hair-Strand Weird and reach protective golden light. He later cooperates with Li Baiyi against the Pearl Buddha Maiden and uses Kiss of Death to weaken the blue eye concealed in the darkness 15 17 18 22 23.

The pair continue through the pagoda forest and Naihe Bridge. Xu Chunliang gives Li Baiyi a pearl that grants Buddhist power, then exploits its protection by swinging him as a weapon against the monsters. When the white-bone Buddha kills Li Baiyi, Xu Chunliang’s renewed resonance with Death annihilates creatures throughout the Ruin Realm. He rejects the influence of the being above the heavens and kills himself to rewind the battle 26 28 29 30 31.

On the renewed attempt, he attacks with a Human Worm’s spine and calls upon his understanding of death. Both men escape, and Xu Chunliang discovers that absorbing the Buddha’s finger bone has elevated his bones to Solar Halo Grade. He conceals both that improvement and his involvement in the Ruin Realm 32 33.

Liu Family Pursuit and the Scale Immortal’s Protection

Liu Xin confronts Xu Chunliang over Liu Jie’s death, accompanied by the hidden Crimson Dawn Realm expert Liu Jiu. Repeated combat attempts fail, even when Xu Chunliang advances to Moon Glow. He instead bargains with information about the Life Silver and leads them to Guo Family Village 34 35.

The Scale Immortal kills Liu Jiu and begins erasing him from Liu Xin’s memory. Xu Chunliang stabs Liu Xin in the neck and escapes. When he tries to reset afterward, the Scale Immortal blocks his knife, treats him with inexplicable maternal affection, and binds a small scale weight to his wrist. It promises to come whenever he needs it 36.

Jade Splendor Pavilion and Fan City’s Crisis

Xu Chunliang rescues the gravely ill Yuhu and later investigates Jade Splendor Pavilion. After verifying that its inhabitants include uncanny beings, he kills Yu Tangchun and fights Boss Ruyi’s followers. A suffering woman’s release deepens his understanding of death beyond fear and destruction. He defeats the Daoist’s attack through rollback, destroys the jade ruyi, and clears out the remaining eerie beings, though the Daoist disappears and leaves a promise of revenge 37 42 43 44.

As supernatural darkness overtakes Fan City, he hides the injured girl at his home with food and a note. A fatal encounter with Yin Immortals forces another reset, after which he abandons his search for Blind Chen and heads toward the bureau. Along the way, a shadow-puppet illusion makes him believe he is Liu Dafu, a married landowner, before pain brings him back to awareness 45 46 47.

At the bureau, he coerces a living military treatise into revealing that the city’s inhabitants are being slaughtered for the emperor’s Three Corpses Life-Prolonging Pill. Rather than submit, he declares that they can kill the emperor. He subsequently helps his companions recognize and escape Madam Bamboo’s shrinking forest and personal illusions 48 50.

Appearance

• Face: Youthful, fair, fresh-faced, and notably handsome; Qingci finds his appearance immediately appealing 1 2.
• Eyes: Initially described as dark and kind-looking. They become pure black when he invokes deathly power 1 23 32.
• Build: Initially slender; acquiring Eerie Tiger Saber makes his body stronger and sturdier, with pronounced muscles when exerting himself 1 6 7.
• Usual clothing: The fish-and-dragon uniform of a Demon-Slaying Bureau lesser flag officer 7.
• Distinguishing accessory: A small bloodstained scale weight attached to his left wrist by hemp cords embedded in his flesh 36.

Personality

Xu Chunliang treats lethal encounters as problems that can be solved through experimentation. His experience repeatedly reloading Elden Ring in his previous life helps him frame death as a reversible setback: he can make repeated mistakes, while an enemy needs to die only once. He conserves attribute points when possible so that information gathered through rollback can guide how he spends them 2 7.

His composure is hard-earned rather than absolute. Countless deaths leave him largely unafraid of monsters, yet prolonged helplessness can drive him into frenzy. He is provocative, sexually forward, and fond of mocking enemies, sometimes taking unnecessary risks simply to taunt them 13 16 18 19 23.

He is ruthless toward threats but remains responsive to kindness and suffering. Shi Qin’s concern moves him, Li Baiyi’s death provokes grief and rage, and he helps Yuhu survive despite having no obligation to her. He also checks that Yu Tangchun is uncanny before attacking rather than treating suspicion as sufficient cause to kill 8 21 31 33 37 42.

His strongest recurring conviction is refusal to be controlled. He rejects submission to corrupt superiors, the emperor, and even the supernatural existence supplying his deathly power 7 31 48.

Abilities & Skills

Unlimited Death Rollback

Death reverses time and space to his current save point, allowing him to retry an encounter with knowledge gained from previous attempts 1 2.

• Retained experience: Remembers enemy movements, traps, weaknesses, and failed strategies across resets 2 5 18.
• Updating checkpoints: His panel records changing rollback points, including encounters, completed kills, and periods of safety 2 3 5 7.
• Deliberate resets: Uses suicide to restart events or preserve information before memory manipulation takes hold 13 31.
• Limits: Unlimited attempts do not guarantee an immediate solution. Overwhelming power, memory alteration, and sheer enemy numbers can still trap him in repeated failure 6 12 30.

Attribute Panel

An internal panel records his age, cultivation, attribute points, skills, remaining rollbacks, and current checkpoint. Killing uncanny beings grants points that he can spend on cultivation or martial techniques 2 6 30.

• Realm advancement: Ten points are required for Star Transformation; two hundred are required for Moon Glow 2 30.
• Technique development: Can improve an existing technique and transform it into a stronger one 6.
• Information retention: A panel entry for Liu Yong alerts him that his memories have been altered 12.
• Reward limitation: The endlessly produced Human Worms stop yielding points because they are appendages rather than independent living beings 30.

Eerie Tiger Saber

An evolved form of the bureau’s basic Black Tiger Saber Technique. Its manifestations include a three-headed eerie tiger and powerful saber qi 6 7 26.

• Eerie Tiger Descends the Mountain: A forceful pouncing attack used to close distance and tear into opponents 7 26.
• Eerie Tiger Howls at the Heavens: A low-frequency, soul-striking roar that can terrify or stun enemies 7 44.
• Eerie Tiger Splits the Earth: A destructive saber-qi attack capable of breaking multiple targets and shaking the surrounding structure 27 44.
• Weapon flexibility: Uses the technique through a brass knife, a borrowed sword, a wooden saber, and even Li Baiyi’s pearl-protected body 7 27 28 30.

Kiss of Death and Resonance with Death

Kiss of Death draws on the power of an indescribable existence above the heavens. Xu Chunliang associates its activation with his understanding of death, although the panel lists it as random and not actively controllable 16.

• Death-infused slash: Produces black power capable of weakening the blue-eyed Hair-Strand Weird 23.
• Emotional invocation: Recalling loneliness, coldness, serenity, madness, and numbness causes the dimmed skill to light up during the battle with the Buddha skeleton 32.
• Large-scale resonance: On exceptional occasions, death spreads outward and reduces supernatural creatures and surroundings to nothingness 14 31.
• Unreliable activation: Attempts can fail entirely or revert to an ordinary Eerie Tiger technique 23 26.
• Deliverance: A later, separately named random skill appears after he recognizes death as release from suffering 43 44.

Solar Halo Grade Bones

Absorbing the white-bone Buddha’s finger bone strengthens his skeleton independently of his cultivation realm 32.

• Stops the shadow-puppet entities’ weapons after they penetrate his skin and flesh 47.
• Helps him break through the Daoist’s breastbone and seize his heart 44.
• Does not withstand Liu Jiu’s Crimson Dawn Realm attacks 34.

Investigation and Combat Tactics

His apparent foresight comes largely from combining rollback knowledge with precise observation and calculation 5 18.

• Uses attendant and street-vendor disguises to investigate targets 3 4.
• Protects his neck with improvised metal barriers against biting enemies 3 4.
• Turns environmental hazards against opponents, including tripping an attacker into the Hair-Strand Weird’s reach 19 20.
• Uses uncanny madness air to force Yu Tangchun to reveal her true form 42.
• Identifies shrinking-space tricks and wakes companions from personalized illusions 50.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Small brass knife — His habitual weapon, generally concealed behind his waist. Effective with his saber techniques but vulnerable to stronger supernatural opponents; it breaks against a pagoda-forest Buddha 1 26.
• Wooden saber — Carved with Li Baiyi’s Elegant Heart Sword after losing his knife; used against chains and human centipedes 28 29.
• Human Worm spine blade — An improvised weapon used during his confrontation with the white-bone Buddha 31 32.
• Scale weight — A bloodstained counterweight bound to his left wrist. The Scale Immortal tells him to carry it and promises to answer his need 36.
• Life Silver — Eighty-eight taels obtained through the Guo Family Village encounter and hidden beneath his stove. He later uses it to support his story to Liu Xin; the Scale Immortal eventually takes it back 14 34 35 37.
• Uncanny remains — Collects objects such as the paper ghost face and burlap doll; such objects can be used for cultivation, artifact crafting, or sale 2 5.

Relationships

• His predecessor’s father — Deceased bureau officer whose influence secured his son’s position. He was also Shi Qin’s master and once saved him by pushing him out of danger 8 25.
• Shi Qin — Caring colleague who offers his savings to help Xu Chunliang appease Liu Jie and dies protecting him in a reversed timeline. His kindness remains one of the few things that warms Xu Chunliang’s increasingly detached heart 8 33.
• Li Baiyi — Fellow bureau officer and ally in the Buddhist Ruin Realm. Repeatedly calls him “brother-in-law” and offers to introduce his sister, though Xu Chunliang has not accepted the relationship. Li Baiyi’s death triggers Xu Chunliang’s second major resonance with Death 24 25 28 31.
• Scale Immortal — Initially a lethal captor, later an inexplicably affectionate protector. Xu Chunliang questions whether it mistakes him—or something within him—for its child; no explanation is given 12 36.
• Death — Source of his exceptional deathly power. Xu Chunliang uses that power while rejecting the entity’s attempt to control him 16 31.
• Blind Chen — Senior practitioner who teaches him how to survive the passing Yin Immortals. Chen says Xu Chunliang has an affinity with immortals because he can see the characters on their faces without dying 38.
• Yuhu — A gravely ill fifteen-year-old girl whom he shelters and feeds medicine. When she promises repayment, he tells her to repay him by continuing to live 37.
• Liu Jie and Yu Ming — Corrupt colleagues whose attempted theft of his credit escalates into murder and retaliation. Xu Chunliang kills Liu Jie and frames Yu Ming 7 8 9.
• Jin Jun — Flag officer and Liu Jie’s backer. Kills Xu Chunliang in a reversed timeline and becomes a target of his revenge plans 8 9 32.
• Liu Xin and Liu Jiu — Pursuers seeking vengeance for Liu Jie. Unable to defeat them directly, Xu Chunliang leads them into the Scale Immortal’s domain 34 35 36.

Notable Quotes

“I can make ten thousand mistakes, but you can only die once.” 2

“I said no one can control me.”
“Not even you!” 31

“If you want to repay me, then you have to keep living. You have to do your best to stay alive!” 37

Trivia

• His name means “pure and good,” a meaning the narration explicitly contrasts with his conduct 14.
• In his previous life, he reloaded a save 169 times while playing Elden Ring and enjoyed collecting dolls 2 5.
• He tests his newly strengthened bones by cutting open the back of his hand and flicking the exposed bone to hear its sound, alarming Li Baiyi 32.