An Zaihai

An Zaihai is one of the Violet Fate Sect’s eight Violet Furnace Lords and a trusted disciple of Grandmaster Pill Demon. He recognizes Meng Hao’s alchemic potential early and becomes one of his quiet supporters.

Biography

Recognizing Pill Cauldron

An Zaihai enters the Pill Auction when the anonymous Bedevilment Pill forces the East Pill Division's senior alchemists to reassess what has appeared among their juniors. He identifies ninety-five-percent medicinal strength, the marks of alchemical enlightenment, and a governing will inside the pill. Those observations let him judge it as more than a technically pure concoction: the refiner has imposed a personal alchemical conception on the result. (Chapter 234)

He purchases the pill for Pill Demon at the enormous price of two hundred million Spirit Stones, treating it as evidence worth preserving rather than a consumable to be valued only by immediate effect. After privately learning enough to connect it to Fang Mu, An obeys Pill Demon's instruction not to investigate the young alchemist's background. His restraint protects the conditions under which talent can develop and demonstrates that loyalty to his master takes precedence over personal curiosity. (Chapters 234–235)

Wager and promotion trial

An helps receive Grandmaster Eternal Mountain's delegation and watches the challenge involving Fatty's teeth. He knowingly allows Fang Mu to attempt it when surrounding alchemists see only a low-ranked participant. Fang Mu's success confirms that An's earlier pill appraisal was not an isolated coincidence, but An still avoids publicly claiming special credit for recognizing him. (Chapters 237–240)

During the Violet Furnace Lord trial, An follows Fang Mu's methods from the beginning. When his approach appears too simple, An argues from the observed process rather than popularity. He recognizes creation-from-nothing refinement as evidence of a profound personal Dao, and when other elders move to name Ye Feimu the winner before Fang Mu returns, he objects that the trial is not complete. The procedural defense keeps a correct result possible without requiring An to predetermine it. (Chapters 277–291)

Fang Mu's return and revelation as Pill Cauldron vindicate An's judgment. Pill Demon promotes three novitiates rather than one, and An accepts the decision as a response to three genuinely exceptional paths. His support is therefore quiet institutional work: examine carefully, preserve fair conditions, and allow the Grandmaster's final decision to stand. (Chapters 291–294)

Rebirth Cave and later reunion

At the Rebirth Cave, An greets Meng Hao as a senior colleague and explains the gathered powers, including the significance of the Ji Clan banner. When the corpse-realm projection exposes Fang Mu as Meng Hao, An reacts with alarm. Earlier discretion concerned an unknown background; the revelation now connects the sect's rising alchemist to a politically dangerous name known throughout the Southern Domain. (Chapters 296–307)

Southern Domain War and Dao Seeking

An Zaihai later joins the Southern Domain gathering at the Ancient Dao Lakes. When Meng Hao arrives in blood-colored robes, An must reconcile the feared Blood Prince with the young Fang Mu whose alchemy he once protected. He remains with the Violet Fate contingent as Meng Hao redistributes the lakes and meets old acquaintances, showing neither opportunistic denial nor an attempt to appropriate Meng Hao's new status. (Chapters 712 and 715–717)

After Meng Hao returns to the Violet Fate Sect, An greets him among the Violet Furnace Lords. The meeting preserves their original relationship in altered form: An is still a senior East Pill figure, but the former junior now exceeds the sect's ordinary cultivation scale while retaining the alchemical lineage they share. (Chapter 759)

Appearance and personality

An appears as a dignified man a little over fifty, wearing violet robes whose sleeves are embroidered with golden pill furnaces. The insignia identifies Violet Furnace status, while his age and measured bearing distinguish him from the younger competitors whose work he judges. (Chapters 234–240)

He is perceptive, restrained, procedurally fair, and deeply loyal to Pill Demon. An supports talent without turning private knowledge into personal influence. He can disagree with a premature consensus, but does so by insisting that the trial finish rather than by demanding that others accept his intuition. (Chapters 234–294)

Abilities and cultivation

Nascent Soul cultivation

An possesses the spiritual power and longevity of a Nascent Soul cultivator. His supplied role centers on alchemy and administration, so the corpus does not support expanding the realm into named combat arts he never demonstrates. (Chapters 234–307)

Violet Furnace alchemy

As one of eight Violet Furnace Lords and a Pill Demon novitiate, he can refine and judge work far above ordinary master alchemists. Rank supplies access and authority, but his strongest scenes concern evaluation rather than claiming another character's pills as his own achievements. (Chapters 234–294)

Pill analysis

An reads medicinal strength, enlightenment, governing will, and the conceptual method preserved in a finished pill. His assessment of the Bedevilment Pill works because these properties leave observable alchemical evidence; it does not give him omniscient knowledge of the refiner's entire identity without contextual clues. (Chapters 234–235)

Creation-from-nothing appraisal

He recognizes that Fang Mu's apparently simple trial method is generating something from an internalized pill Dao rather than merely following a formula. This expertise lets him defend unconventional work until its final manifestation can be judged. (Chapters 277–294)

Institutional authority

An can represent East Pill during auctions and delegations, commit major sect resources to acquire a pill, and participate in promotion trials. Pill Demon's instruction and the division's procedures still constrain that authority; he does not act as sole ruler. (Chapters 234–240 and 277–294)

Relationships

• Grandmaster Pill Demon: Revered master whose instructions, discretion, and final judgments An follows.
• Meng Hao: Secretly recognized Pill Cauldron whom An protects through careful appraisal and procedural fairness.
• Lin Hailong: Fellow senior East Pill administrator with whom he receives delegations and oversees trials.
• Grandmaster Eternal Mountain: Visiting grandmaster whose wager becomes another test of An's judgment about Fang Mu.

Items

• No independently notable item within the finalized manifest is directly assigned to this character.