Palace Head Chen — Lord Xue Ying

Palace Head Chen is the head of the Infernal Palace and a central coordinator of the Xia Clan during the war against the invading demons, the Demonic Faction, and the powers behind them. His importance rests less on any demonstrated personal fighting style than on trusted stewardship: he safeguards the clan's deepest secrets, allocates scarce treasures, directs its Transcendents and Demigods, and converts intelligence from Dong Bo Xue Ying into clan-wide action. Over the course of Xue Ying's rise, Chen becomes the senior leader whom Xue Ying trusts first with discoveries that could decide the clan's survival.

Biography

A hidden hope for the Xia Clan

Palace Head Chen first enters the supplied record when Chi Qiu Bai asks him to judge the embryonic True Meaning comprehended by Xue Ying. Chen does not accept the possibility casually: he has Xue Ying demonstrate it before the four Demigods present, then recognizes it as the embryonic form of a grade-two True Meaning. He understands both sides of the discovery. Such a cultivator could eventually stand above the Xia Clan's other Demigods and sweep the Transcendent Worlds sheltering the Beast Clan, but that future would vanish if enemies killed Xue Ying before he matured. Chen therefore makes concealment the first consequence of recognition rather than public celebration. (Chapters 156–159)

Only the four Demigods are permitted to know the truth, while the wider clan is to be told that Xue Ying possesses a grade-three embryonic True Meaning. Chen also orders the Infernal Palace treasure spirit to conceal the relevant Hundred Battle Chamber result. He then commits two rare clan protections to the young Transcendent: a one-use ring refined by the Purple Thunder Emperor, capable of raising a powerful thunder wall until its stored energy is exhausted, and a spiritually aware protective treasure left by Emperor Yun Hai that can respond to danger automatically. This combination of secrecy and material protection establishes Chen's characteristic method—he treats exceptional potential as a strategic asset, but protects the person carrying it instead of simply demanding results. (Chapters 159 and 167)

His support remains bounded by stewardship of resources belonging to the whole clan. When Xue Ying later earns an enormous contribution, Chen adheres to existing reward precedent rather than inflating the award at will. He can authorize exceptions when circumstances justify them: after Xue Ying destroys the demon base and removes the clan's greatest immediate threat, Chen grants access to nearly all Xia secrets, awards two million contribution points in total, and offers an exceptional exchange for as much as two million kilograms of Origin Stones. Yet the offer troubles him because the entire clan then possesses only about 1.5 million kilograms. His generosity is therefore not indifference to cost; it is a deliberate judgment that Xue Ying's contribution and future value can justify straining a communal reserve. (Chapters 185 and 220–230)

Commanding the hidden demon war

When the Abyss demons invade, Chen convenes the Xia Transcendents and explains that the enemy is dispersed, concealed, and likely includes Demigod-level demons not yet encountered. He orders Transcendents to return to their home regions, memorize the available intelligence, sense for traces, and report discoveries to the Infernal Palace. The campaign is expected to last roughly a thousand years, and he bluntly warns that people will die. As the leader who personally arranges the deployments, commands the Dragon Mountain intelligence network, and remains stationed in the Infernal World, he turns the Infernal Palace into the operational center of the response. Rewards accumulated across the clan's history are made available to sustain the hunt, while discovered members of the Demonic Faction are marked for immediate elimination. (Chapters 163–168 and 198)

The strategy soon exposes its limits. Demons can assassinate weaker Transcendents and withdraw into the middle layer between realms before help arrives; minor Transcendent Worlds shelter dangerous enemies while preventing the Xia Demigods from entering; and detection arrays cannot simply solve the concealment problem. Chen is pained by the resulting deaths but judges that the clan lacks enough Demigods to defend the entire ancestral land. When Xue Ying proposes entering one such world, Chen tells him to endure until his Extreme Piercing is developed enough to break its array, estimating that the clan can bear the losses for another ten years. The calculation is severe, but its cause is explicit: a premature attack could lose the one cultivator capable of changing the campaign. (Chapters 187 and 194–199)

Once Xue Ying completes the True Meaning needed for the operation, Chen immediately tests the practical questions that matter—whether he can break the array, survive the demon general Ji Er Luo, and escape if the fight turns against him. Satisfied by Xue Ying's answers, he gives him six months to consolidate and then dispatches Si Kong Yang, Chi Qiu Bai, and Mountain Lord He as support. Chen waits alone for news, sweating and praying because the survival of roughly half the clan's Transcendents depends on the plan. When the demon base falls, his response shows that the concern was not merely institutional: after most objectives are complete, he tells Xue Ying that his safety matters more than killing a few additional demons and sends Demigods as soon as Xue Ying is discovered. (Chapters 197–211)

The victory deepens mutual trust. Chen reveals that one of the protections assigned to Xue Ying is an intelligent Deity warrior rather than a passive object, a fact withheld so that confidence would not become carelessness. He gives Xue Ying a gold-leaf secret book containing about ninety percent of the clan's restricted knowledge but retains information reserved specifically for the palace head. When asked about Ancestor Black Wind, he explains what can safely be disclosed and refuses the censored portions because they touch Xia secrets, while still encouraging Xue Ying to decide for himself whether to explore Black Wind Deity Palace. By Chapter 236, Xue Ying privately regards Chen as the one person he truly trusts and the first person to whom he would eventually reveal his new searching method and True Meaning of Mirage. (Chapters 201 and 220–236)

From the Demonic Faction headquarters to Crimson Rock Mountain

Chen is stunned when Xue Ying reports finding the Demonic Faction headquarters, but he rapidly turns the discovery into a broader strike. He coordinates reports from the separate battle groups and, upon receiving the decisive transmission, orders every Xia Demigod to reach the target at maximum speed and exterminate the enemy without hesitation. The operation demonstrates the value of the command structure he has maintained: intelligence moves privately through him, specialists attack distributed targets, and the whole Demigod force can be concentrated as soon as the headquarters is exposed. (Chapters 241–252)

The victory is followed by Xue Ying's catastrophic injury. Chen refuses to hold back resources, brings clan-protection treasures from the Infernal Palace, contacts outside help, and rushes to Xue Ying with Si Kong Yang and Mountain Lord He. He reports the crisis to the Purple Thunder Emperor and confirms that he has also contacted Ancestor Yun Hai. When aid produces medicine rather than a cure, Chen personally delivers the gourd and the schedule that can extend Xue Ying's remaining life by two hundred years. These actions do not overcome the injury, but they show Chen moving from preservation of a promising junior to an attempt to save, at any cost available to the clan, the figure on whom its recent victories depended. (Chapters 261–270)

During preparations connected to Crimson Rock Mountain, Chen continues as an information and mobilization hub. He explains why the location draws powers from the Deity World and Dark Abyss, communicates with the Bloodshed Tavern team, and clarifies that he lacks authority to distribute the Deity-grade scrolls Xue Ying asks about. When the Dark Abyss group is implicated in attacks, he reports what the clan can confirm—including the identity of Nuo Nuo An—while plainly admitting that the investigation has not located the group. He can assemble most Xia Demigods aboard Battleship D9 within moments, but he also acknowledges when neither the battleship nor manually controlled Deity-grade scrolls offer a workable answer to a stronger enemy. (Chapters 279–290)

The later evidence for Chen is intermittent. A magic avatar leads figures through space and furiously orders a confrontation to stop, but the preserved excerpt does not establish a full personal battle sequence. He later watches the immense disturbance around Xue Ying within the Sacred Sorcerer Camellia and judges it greater than the phenomenon of becoming a Deity. After Xue Ying destroys the threat from the Sorcerer God and Great Demonic God, Chen and the others stand beside him wanting to help but unable to change his condition. Chapter 392 is Chen's latest confirmed appearance in the supplied evidence; because later coverage for him is absent and much of the corpus after Chapter 238 is fragmentary, no later office, advancement, or fate can be established here. (Chapters 362, 386, 390, and 392)

Appearance and personality

Palace Head Chen is described as a black-haired old man. No more complete physical description—such as his height, build, facial features, or usual clothing—is established in the supplied evidence. Later scenes identify an appearing body as his magic avatar, so those passages also do not justify inferring further fixed details about his true body. (Chapters 157, 198, and 362)

Chen is loyal, disciplined, secretive when security requires it, and deeply protective of the Xia Clan. His position is said to require unquestioned loyalty backed by a soul oath, and he demonstrates that trustworthiness by limiting knowledge of Xue Ying's grade-two potential, guarding palace-head secrets, and coordinating sensitive operations without public explanation. He is also procedural: even when personally pleased, he measures rewards against precedent, tracks the clan's scarce Origin Stones, and distinguishes resources he may allocate from those outside his authority. (Chapters 159, 185, 198, 220, and 284)

That discipline does not make him emotionally distant. He celebrates successful demon operations, laughs easily in quieter moments, worries openly about Xue Ying's health, and prays while dangerous missions unfold. At the same time, his leadership demands painful utilitarian judgments. He accepts that some Transcendents will die because the clan cannot cover its entire territory and tells Xue Ying to wait while losses remain bearable. The contrast is central to his characterization: Chen does not discount those deaths, but he is willing to bear responsibility for delay when a failed intervention could make the clan's strategic position worse. (Chapters 194–199, 208, 247, 270, and 274–277)

Abilities and cultivation

Palace Head Chen is a Demigod, but the supplied evidence does not identify his True Meaning, Deity Heart, weapon, signature attack, elemental affinity, or direct combat level relative to other named Demigods. His documented effectiveness comes primarily from an avatar technique, broad knowledge, and the authority and infrastructure of the Infernal Palace. Clan-owned treasures, Battleship D9, and the actions of Demigods he dispatches should not be treated as personal techniques.

Demigod cultivation and avatars

Chen is one of the four Demigods entrusted with Xue Ying's grade-two secret and is repeatedly able to accompany or command the clan's other Demigods. The text shows his true body permanently stationed in the Infernal World while a Qi Avatar tears through space to inspect an incident; much later, a body explicitly called his magic avatar leads a group tunneling through space. This gives him remote presence and rapid response without requiring his true body to abandon the Infernal Palace. The supplied chapters do not explain how he acquired this method, how many avatars he can maintain, whether “Qi Avatar” and “magic avatar” denote precisely the same technique, or what loss of an avatar would cost him. (Chapters 159, 185, and 362)

No representative personal attack is preserved. Even when Chen mobilizes for conflict, the cited outcomes belong to teams he coordinates, clan-protection treasures he transports, or forces operating under his orders. His latest scenes likewise show observation and helpless concern rather than a new cultivation display. Accordingly, the record supports his Demigod realm and avatar use, but not a reconstructed offensive progression or an inferred later breakthrough. (Chapters 247–268 and 386–390)

Infernal Palace command and intelligence

As palace head, Chen can issue orders throughout the Xia Clan, arrange Transcendent deployments, dispatch Demigods, coordinate the Dragon Mountain intelligence organization, and receive reports through communication wristbands and the Infernal Palace treasure spirit. He can observe at least some trials known to the treasure spirit and use their results when evaluating Xue Ying. This system lets him turn one operative's discovery into simultaneous action by multiple teams or a full-clan mobilization. Its limitation is coverage: concealed demons can retreat between realms, protected minor worlds exclude Xia Demigods, and investigations may confirm an enemy's origin without locating the enemy. (Chapters 158, 163–168, 194, 198, 241–252, and 286)

Chen also has unusually broad institutional knowledge. He can evaluate the grade and military significance of a demonstrated True Meaning, explain differences in how mages employ True Meanings, identify known demons from reports, and discuss the histories of Ancestor Black Wind and Crimson Rock Mountain. Access does not make him omniscient: he openly notes gaps in demon intelligence, seeks proof through demonstration, and preserves censorship around the clan's most dangerous secrets. His knowledge is therefore both a capability and a responsibility governed by what the Infernal Palace has actually learned. (Chapters 156–159, 163–164, 187, 221, 279, and 286)

Stewardship of clan resources

Chen controls access to many Xia Clan reserves, including contribution rewards, Origin Stones, protection treasures, restricted records, and emergency assets. His use of them is tactical: he hides the exact nature of a sentient Deity protector so that Xue Ying will not become reckless, commits protection when a rare genius is still vulnerable, and later brings further treasures when that same cultivator is dying. These are not creations of Chen's cultivation. The ring is attributed to the Purple Thunder Emperor, the automatic protector to Emperor Yun Hai, and the stores themselves to the Xia Clan and Infernal Palace. (Chapters 159, 185, 201, 220–230, and 261–270)

His authority also has explicit boundaries. He follows reward precedent, worries about exhausting communal Origin Stones, retains secrets restricted to his office, and says that he cannot authorize the Deity-grade scrolls associated with the Crimson Rock Mountain team. In practice, this limitation shapes his strategy: when no asset under his control can answer an enemy or cure Xue Ying, he must contact ancestors and outsiders rather than conjure a solution from palace resources. (Chapters 185, 220–230, 261–268, 284, and 290)

Relationships

Dong Bo Xue Ying: Chen recognizes Xue Ying's grade-two potential, hides it, protects him with clan treasures, and later trusts him with nearly all of the Xia Clan's secrets. Xue Ying in turn regards Chen as the first and only person he can fully trust with discoveries vital to the demon war. Their bond is tested by Chen's need to delay dangerous action and deepened when he spends every available channel trying to save Xue Ying after the war. (Chapters 156–236 and 241–390)
Mountain Lord He: Mountain Lord He is one of the Demigods Chen dispatches for the minor-world operation and one of his closest responders during later crises. Chen receives his battlefield reports, summons him when Xue Ying nears his limit, and relies on his assessment when the injured Xue Ying is returned. (Chapters 199, 245–265, and 270)
Si Kong Yang: Si Kong Yang joins Chen in protecting the secrecy of Xue Ying's grade-two embryonic True Meaning and serves in the operations Chen coordinates. He is among the senior Xia figures who rush to Xue Ying after the catastrophic injury and later shares Chen's helpless vigil. (Chapters 157–159, 199, 265, and 390)
Chi Qiu Bai: Chi Qiu Bai brings the question of Xue Ying's embryonic True Meaning to Chen and is one of the four Demigods entrusted with the answer. Chen later sends him into the support group for Xue Ying's demon-base operation, linking Chi Qiu Bai's field strength to Chen's command plan. (Chapters 156–159 and 199–211)
Yu Jing Qiu: When Xue Ying asks to lend his Deity warrior to Jing Qiu, Chen authorizes the arrangement and views her potential favorably. The exchange shows his willingness to let a clan protection serve a promising member beyond its initial recipient, but the supplied evidence does not establish a separate close personal bond between Chen and Jing Qiu. (Chapter 221)

Items

No personally owned or assigned item is established for Palace Head Chen in the supplied evidence. He administers Xia Clan assets—including Origin Stones, ancestor-refined protections, restricted records, medicine, and emergency treasures—but the text attributes them to the clan, the Infernal Palace, or their creators rather than to Chen as personal possessions. (Chapters 159, 201, 220–230, and 261–270)