Gao Shen

Gao Shen, nicknamed Cannon, is the Heavenly Bow Unit's Fire Attribute bombardment specialist and the regular partner of Han Mo. His welcoming manner hides the unit's highest attributed death tally, while his arrows turn Fire Attribute effects into controlled explosions. After the fall of the Heavenly Bow Empire, he reunites with Zhou Weiqing, trains the Peerless Battalion's newly awakened Fire Attribute archers, and directs their first massed incendiary volleys.

The earlier chapters also name a Fifth Regiment Commander Gao Shen. That officer already knows Shangguan Bing'er, whereas Cannon Gao Shen asks her name when they first meet, and the corpus never identifies the two as one person. This article therefore treats the regiment commander as a same-name collision and begins the Heavenly Bow Unit archer's record in Chapter 29 rather than merging their careers. (Chapters 20, 25, 29)

Biography

A friendly face with the highest death tally

Gao Shen greets Zhou and Bing'er warmly at the Heavenly Bow Unit camp, asking them to address him as an elder brother and leaving to prepare his and Han Mo's arrows for the next mission. Luo Ke Di immediately complicates that first impression: Gao Shen and Han Mo operate as partners, Gao Shen is called Cannon, and his attributed kills exceed those of the other six unit members combined. His friendliness and lethal reputation are therefore complementary rather than contradictory parts of his role. (Chapter 29)

He joins the mission to hunt an adult Icy Soul Heavenly Bear, carrying an enormous field load and taking a flank position with Han Mo. Hua Feng assigns the pair to disrupt the bear's skills while other members distract it and strike weak points. The target proves to be a much stronger Bear King; its Mother Earth's Roar catches Gao Shen with most of the team and turns a coordinated hunt into a failed engagement they survive rather than dominate. (Chapters 31–33)

Return as a Peerless Battalion instructor

Years later, Gao Shen reunites with Zhou and agrees to teach the Peerless Battalion. He and Han Mo jokingly demand remuneration, maintaining the pair's familiar working relationship even as they accept a serious military task. When Zhou proposes an airborne archery unit, Gao Shen is frustrated because he and Yi Shi are Elemental Jewel Masters without Physical Jewels and thus cannot personally Consolidate wings. The limitation does not prevent him from shaping the new force as a teacher. (Chapters 133–134)

In an encounter with wolf cavalry, Gao Shen first tests an enemy's resilience with a Fire-imbued arrow at roughly seven hundred yards. Once Yi Shi freezes the lead rider, Gao Shen's following shot explodes against the immobilized target. Their unspoken Ice-and-Fire coordination slows and blasts the front of the formation, while Han Mo and Luo Ke Di deliver precision kills. Gao Shen also participates in the four-archer finishing attack that prevents the enemy leader from escaping. (Chapter 134)

Commanding the Fire Arrow unit

Peerless Battalion training is not one-sided: during an early chase exercise, the soldiers ignore the removal rules and surround and beat Gao Shen, Han Mo, and Luo Ke Di. The humiliating result ends that particular game, but the Heavenly Bow Unit continues supervising the battalion's development. (Chapter 135)

Gao Shen later receives thirty-six newly awakened Fire Attribute Elemental Jewel Masters for specialist training. Because they lack Consolidated Equipment bows and strong physiques, he teaches them to imbue titanium arrows with the same two-Star Explosive Fireball Skill and restricts their effective accuracy to about two hundred yards. Against the Swift Wolf Regiment, he waits until the chosen moment before directing the massed Fire Arrows, converting personal bombardment expertise into a coordinated battlefield weapon. (Chapter 145)

Appearance and personality

Gao Shen is extremely tall at about 1.9 metres and powerfully built, with dishevelled red hair, brown eyes, and a stalwart face lined with strength. His size and warm, hearty greeting make him seem approachable when he first meets Zhou and Bing'er, in sharp contrast with Han Mo's reserve. (Chapter 29)

He is jovial with juniors and enjoys the Heavenly Bow Unit's teasing, but becomes businesslike on a mission and merciless when choosing the moment for explosive fire. The nickname Cannon reflects both his combat method and a bloodthirsty reputation that his affable manner does not reveal at first glance. He is also an experienced teacher, adapting a lower-powered group to a realistic range rather than pretending they can reproduce his own long-distance feats immediately. (Chapters 29–32, 133–145)

Abilities and cultivation

Fire Attribute archery

Gao Shen is an Elemental Jewel Master with the Fire Attribute and no Physical Jewel with which to Consolidate wings. He can imbue an arrow with Fire energy so that impact resembles a bomb, heavily injuring a wolf cavalry soldier even at about seven hundred yards. Against stronger defenses, a single test arrow may wound without killing; the technique becomes more decisive when an Ice effect first stops the target. His precise Jewel count is not stated in the supplied chapters. (Chapter 134)

Cannon-style coordination

Gao Shen specializes in explosive offense rather than Han Mo's rapid eye shots. His best documented combination is the Twin Blows of Ice and Fire: Yi Shi's straight Ice arrow freezes or slows the lead target, and Gao Shen's red arrow detonates immediately afterward. He can also join Yi Shi, Han Mo, and Luo Ke Di in a synchronized four-arrow strike without verbal planning. These results depend on practiced timing and complementary roles, not on Gao Shen supplying every part of the attack alone. (Chapter 134)

Fire Arrow instruction

Gao Shen teaches thirty-six Fire Attribute recruits to apply Explosive Fireball, a two-Star Stored Skill, to specially made titanium arrows. Their lack of Consolidated bows reduces reliable accuracy to two hundred yards, but massed explosions give them the battalion's strongest area-of-effect offense. He controls the release timing so the limited-range unit fires when enemy density makes each blast valuable. (Chapter 145)

Relationships

• Han Mo: Han Mo is Gao Shen's regular partner. They prepare arrows together, guard opposite flanks, and combine bombardment with rapid precision fire.
• Zhou Weiqing: Gao Shen welcomes Zhou as a junior, later reunites with him as one of the remnants of home, and trains a specialist formation within Zhou's Peerless Battalion.
• Shangguan Bing'er: Cannon Gao Shen meets Bing'er as a new arrival to the Heavenly Bow Unit and treats her warmly. This meeting is also the principal evidence separating him from the same-named Fifth Regiment commander.
• Hua Feng: Gao Shen follows Hua Feng's tactical assignments and accepts his later selection as commander and trainer of the Fire Attribute archers.
• Yi Shi: Her Ice arrows slow and fix targets for Gao Shen's explosive follow-up, forming the Twin Blows of Ice and Fire.
• Luo Ke Di: Luo Ke Di exposes Gao Shen's lethal reputation despite his friendly exterior and later fights beside him in the four-archer combination.

Items

Gao Shen uses unnamed bows, Fire-imbued arrows, maroon field armor, and an exceptionally large quiver holding roughly five hundred arrows. His trainees use specially crafted all-titanium arrows, but the corpus gives none of these pieces a personal name.