Zhao Chong

Zhao Chong is an Evil Spirit Sect elder who accepts Su Ming as his fourth disciple while Su is traveling under a false identity. His apparent generosity is a feeding scheme: medicinal cores strengthen a disciple for later possession, while nightly ghosts drain the victim's life. Su Ming reverses the trap, destroys Zhao Chong, and frees almost all of the souls bound to his art.

Biography

The Shamans and the World of Nine Yin

Su Ming enters the Evil Spirit Sect while posing as the younger brother of Chen Da Xi, Zhao Chong's supposed third disciple. Zhao Chong accepts him as a fourth disciple, claims that all three predecessors died, and promises that Chen Da Xi's belongings will eventually pass to him. This calculated welcome gives Su a place inside the sect while disguising the fate Zhao intends for him. (Chapter 600)

South Morning and the Immortal conflict

Zhao Chong repeatedly supplies Soul Nurturing medicinal cores, expecting them to enrich the body and soul he plans to seize. Each night he also sends ghosts to absorb his disciple's life force. Su Ming understands the process, consumes prodigious quantities to restore his own depleted power, and lets the elder believe the investment is working. Over eight months, the demand exhausts Zhao Chong's stores and turns his own predatory method into Su Ming's recovery resource. (Chapters 601–620)

The concealed evidence lies in Zhao Chong's karst cave: the dried bodies of earlier disciples, including the body occupied through Chen Da Xi, and almost one hundred imprisoned souls. Enraged by the loss of medicinal cores, Zhao Chong attempts possession ahead of schedule. Su Ming traps his Nascent Soul, destroys him, and absorbs the useful power. He releases the bound souls except Chen Da Xi, whose survival remains tied to the unresolved family matter represented by Ugly Little Thing. Zhao Chong's original remains are left among the consequences of the disciples he consumed. (Chapters 621–622)

Appearance and personality

Zhao Chong presents himself as a sect elder and benevolent master, but his hospitality is instrumental. He is patient enough to cultivate a target for months, deceptive enough to maintain puppet bodies, and avaricious enough that Su Ming's consumption of the cores provokes him into acting prematurely. His confidence depends on disciples remaining ignorant and weak; once Su recognizes the mechanism, Zhao Chong's careful structure becomes a liability.

Abilities and cultivation

Zhao Chong's cultivation is described through equivalent systems: an Immortal Nascent Soul corresponding roughly to the initial Berserker Soul Realm. His Ten Thousand Evil Ghost Dao binds souls, sends ghosts to siphon life, and supports the control of dead or stolen bodies. Its central possession method consumes a target's flesh, essence, and soul so Zhao can inhabit or manipulate the resulting body. (Chapters 601–622)

The Soul Nurturing cores are item-derived support, not proof of a new personal realm. They fatten the intended vessel, but can be appropriated by a knowledgeable victim. The art also carries a larger uncertainty: Zhao learned a path on which practitioners reportedly die mysteriously midway, suggesting that the Evil Spirit Sect itself may have used him as bait. In direct soul conflict, he cannot overcome Su Ming; his Nascent Soul is captured and erased before possession succeeds. (Chapters 620–622)

Relationships

• Su Ming: Zhao Chong accepts him as a fourth disciple and intended vessel; Su uses the supplied cores, exposes the scheme, and kills him.
• Chen Da Xi: Zhao Chong possesses or uses the third disciple's body and keeps his soul among the bound dead.
• Ugly Little Thing: Her search for her older brother gives Su Ming a reason to preserve Chen Da Xi's soul after destroying the others' bonds.
• Evil Spirit Sect: Zhao holds an Outer Sect eldership, but the Ten Thousand Evil Ghost Dao may itself be a fatal path the sect allowed him to take.

Items

Zhao Chong distributes gourds of Soul Nurturing medicinal cores as bait and keeps a Relocation Rune and Origin Bell among his resources. Their presence supports his preparation and control, but none prevents Su Ming from trapping his Nascent Soul and destroying him.