De Shun

De Shun is an audacious Morning Dao cultivator who turns the Anointment Ceremony into advertising for his business. An Ancient Zang counterpart later appears as a familiar companion, reinforcing the novel's repeated pattern of recognizable lives across worlds without proving uninterrupted identity.

Biography

The Fifth Furnace and Morning Dao

During the solemn Anointment Ceremony, De Shun steps onto the lotus platform and loudly introduces himself to ten million cultivators, converting a moment of mortal risk into unparalleled publicity. He judges that his blood connection to Sect Master Bei Bang will keep punishment within limits, though a wrong calculation could still cost his cultivation or life. The gamble works: elders rage but do not destroy him, and he returns to his platform expecting business to surge. (Chapter 1070)

His comic opportunism later draws the attention of Xu Hui, who torments him while events around Dao Kong reshape Morning Dao Sect. De Shun's importance is social rather than military: he survives through nerve, patronage, and an instinct for attention, but the supplied evidence does not record the eventual state of his enterprise. (Chapter 1145)

Ancient Zang and the final truth

In Ancient Zang, Su Ming meets another De Shun traveling with companions. This young man drops an aloof manner when speaking within the group and becomes part of Su Ming's network around Seven Moons Sect. He later helps carry information through a jade slip to Gu Tai. Because Ancient Zang is bound to Su Ming's Possession of Xuan Zang, the counterpart echoes the original merchant's sociability but should not be treated as a documented reincarnation with shared memories. (Chapters 1386–1419)

Appearance and personality

The Morning Dao De Shun is energetic, shamelessly promotional, and clever enough to calculate both an audience and the protection behind him. His courage is real even when played for comedy. The Ancient Zang counterpart appears as a young man whose friendliness is reserved for companions rather than strangers. (Chapters 1070, 1386)

Abilities and cultivation

De Shun is a cultivator admitted to Morning Dao's ceremony and can move among sect platforms, but no named realm or offensive Art is demonstrated. His real learned skill is commercial persuasion: he captures a vast audience in moments. That tactic depends on Bei Bang's protection and would be life-threatening without it. The Ancient Zang counterpart can travel as a cultivator and use jade slips, though his exact power is likewise unstated. (Chapters 1070, 1386–1419)

Relationships

• Bei Bang: De Shun's blood connection to the Sect Master explains why his ceremonial disruption escapes severe punishment. (Chapter 1070)
• Xu Hui: She later torments him, puncturing his confident public image. (Chapter 1145)
• Su Ming: Su Ming laughs at De Shun's publicity gamble and later encounters a familiar Ancient Zang counterpart. (Chapters 1070, 1386)

Items

• Commercial wares: De Shun uses the ceremony to promote goods he wants to sell, but the supplied evidence does not name or describe them. (Chapter 1070)
• Jade slip: His Ancient Zang counterpart participates in delivering information by jade slip; no special combat property is shown. (Chapter 1419)