Du Jian — Renegade Immortal

Du Jian is the Heavenly Fate Sect Red Division's seventh disciple, a peak Soul Transformation cultivator who fears the Ascendant life-and-death trial. Jealous of Wang Lin's rapid rise, he attempts to feed his junior to illusionary insects in the Tide Abyss, is captured, and ultimately accepts transformation into Wang's first celestial guard as the only alternative to death. (Chapters 633–635 and 651–653)

Biography

The Tide Abyss trap

Du Jian meets Wang Lin near the Tide Abyss while traveling with Murong Zhuo and two Floating Cloud Sect cultivators. Although he greets Wang as a fellow Heavenly Fate disciple and proposes mutual protection, he privately resents Wang for reaching Ascendant within a century. Du remains half a step below that realm because he fears the breakthrough trial and worries that Wang's success will elevate the Purple Division above his Red Division. (Chapter 633)

Inside the abyss, Du identifies a purple sword as a lost Heavenly Fate Sword and urges Wang to retrieve it. He has explored through a puppet before and knows that the nearby “tree” is a mass of flesh-and-soul-devouring insects; the sword is only iron bait. Wang safely retrieves and breaks it, exposes the deception, and throws Du toward the insects. Du exhausts the final two uses of the All-Seer's protective jade, then offers a secret about Sun Yun in exchange for rescue. (Chapters 634–635)

Du tries to escape after Wang draws the insects away. He expends origin-soul blood and detonates decades-refined filthy flesh, but Wang's underworld river absorbs the contamination and Wang seals him in a restriction sphere. Under threat that the Tide Abyss will pull out his origin soul, Du reveals a mountain goblin's memory of a grey-robed All-Seer devouring Sun Yun. The revelation deepens Wang's suspicion of their master. (Chapters 635 and 651)

Du decides that an Ascendant breakthrough is his only chance to escape confinement. Wang permits it because a higher realm improves the material for celestial-guard refinement. The life-and-death trial nearly burns away Du's origin soul; Wang absorbs much of the origin flame and saves him, leaving Du at the weakest end of early Ascendant and unlikely to progress without extraordinary fortune. (Chapter 652)

Wang offers the “fortune” of possible late Ascendant power through a celestial-guard ritual and promises freedom after one thousand years. Du understands that refusal means immediate death and consents without meaningful freedom of choice. The ritual refines his body, fragments and reconstructs his origin soul with a heavenly ghost, withers his organs, and removes emotion while retaining intelligence. After more than half a year, he becomes Wang's first yellow-ranked celestial guard rather than remaining an independent cultivator. (Chapters 652–653)

Appearance and personality

Du Jian is a handsome man in a red robe. He maintains a gentle, senior-brother smile while hiding jealousy and malice, then becomes openly desperate once his trap reverses. His avoidance of the Ascendant trial reflects fear rather than lack of knowledge; only captivity gives him the determination to gamble on it. During celestial-guard refinement, regret, fear, hatred, and reluctant gratitude coexist before the process removes his emotions. (Chapters 633–635 and 651–653)

Abilities and cultivation

Peak Soul Transformation to early Ascendant: Du begins half a step from Ascendant with a complete domain but refuses the dangerous final trial. He later forces the breakthrough, loses much of the necessary origin energy, and becomes an unusually weak early Ascendant whose future advancement is blocked without rare fortune. (Chapters 633 and 652)
Beast-spirit absorption: A Heavenly Fate technique lets Du absorb spiritual energy from beasts. While draining a dying mountain goblin, he accidentally extracts its memories, including the vision of the grey-robed All-Seer and Sun Yun. The corpus does not show an offensive use against a healthy beast. (Chapter 651)
Origin-soul blood and filthy flesh: Du can sacrifice origin-soul blood to create corrosive spheres capable of boring through flesh. His black sarcoma treasure explodes into invasive filth refined over decades. Both are costly last resorts; Wang deflects the blood and turns the filth into fuel for the underworld river. (Chapter 635)
Celestial-guard body: After refinement, Du's body is hardened against ordinary treasures, his senses of pain and emotion are removed, and a heavenly ghost reinforces his fragmented origin soul. Intelligence remains, but control imprints bind him to Wang. These capabilities are the result of forced transformation, not techniques Du mastered in life. (Chapters 652–653)

Relationships

Wang Lin: Du masks jealousy as fellowship, tries to kill Wang through a trap, and is captured and remade into Wang's celestial guard. (Chapters 633–635 and 651–653)
All-Seer: Du respects and fears his master after learning from a beast's memory that a grey-robed version of the All-Seer devoured Sun Yun. (Chapters 634 and 651–652)
Sun Yun: Du never witnesses Sun Yun directly; he carries the mountain goblin's memory of Sun Yun's battle and consumption. (Chapters 634 and 651)

Items

All-Seer's life-saving jade: A three-use protective treasure; Du expends its last two charges against the Tide Abyss insects and the jade shatters. (Chapter 635)
Filthy-flesh sarcoma: A vicious treasure refined over decades and consumed in Du's failed escape attempt. (Chapter 635)