Shenlong Zhangxuan

Duanmu Xi

Duanmu Xi (Nephew and supervisee)

Shenlong Quan (Adopted niece)

*This entry is for the manhua character. See Shinryuu Shouken for the anime/donghua equivalent.*

**Shenlong Zhangxuan** is the younger brother of Shenlong Lihua and Shenlong Xiren, as well as the uncle and former bodyguard and supervisor of the current Yangming Master, Duanmu Xi.

Zhangxuan was born with a rare body type, immune to hundreds of poisons and toxins, that was enhanced with various medicinal herbs during his childhood and as a result his blood can be used as an antidote. It is, also, the only one that can be transfused to Duanmu Xi without causing him an allergic reaction.

Shenlong Zhangxuan’s parents died due to old age when he was still a baby, with his elder sister, Shenlong Lihua, becoming the head of the Shenlong family and responsible for his and his brother’s upbringing. At some point, Lihua became the supervisor of the then Yangming Master, Duanmu Yin, as the Shenlong family had been responsible, since ancient times, for guarding and monitoring the Yangming priests in order to prevent them from neglecting their duties or becoming evil like the first priest, Duanmu Luoyue. However, she accidentally became pregnant with his child due to her mistaking her diet pills for contraceptives before sleeping with Duanmu Yin. Because her secret role as his supervisor didn't allow such a relationship between them, she had to give up her position as head of the Shenlong family and supervisor of Duanmu Yin and raise this taboo child secretly from the world. After explaining the situation to Xiren, who was still a teenager at the time, and despite his objections, she transferred the Shenlong family's power of hypnosis to him, which caused him to lose consciousness. She then said her goodbyes to baby Zhangxuan and left their family with Quan, a little orphan girl that had been serving her for years and whom she later adopted. After Lihua's departure, Shenlong Xiren became the head of the Shenlong family and raised Zhangxuan on his own.

Zhangxuan received demanding and rigorous training from a young age, including professional bodyguard training, mastering various weapons and fighting styles, as well as pharmacology, in order to prepare for his future duties as a Yangming master's supervisor. When Duanmu Xi was 12 years old, and had already been serving as a Yangming Master for 3 years, the Duanmu family requested a supervisor for him that was close to his age, so that he could be his companion as well. Since Xiren was too old for little Xi and, as the head of the Shenlong family, he couldn't leave the family duties again, it was decided that Zhangxuan would be sent to the Duanmu household as Duanmu Xi's personal bodyguard and, secretly to him, supervisor. Since Duanmu Xi couldn't leave the household, Zhangxuan wasn't allowed to leave either, until the end of Xi's life that would come in about 10 years after he began serving as a Yangming Master. So before leaving, Zhangxuan bid farewell to Yu, Xiren's trusted aide, asking her if he should be calling her sister-in-law after his return, and to Xiren, who gave him a key to the house, telling him that he would be waiting for him to return.

When Zhangxuan met Duanmu Xi in person, he immediately understood the pure and kind nature of him, telling Xiren afterwards that he was indeed a born priest. He also noticed how badly he was treated by the Duanmu family, despite being the Yangming master and serving the family by sacrificing his own life. So from then on, Zhangxuan took it upon himself to make Xi’s life as easy and enjoyable as he could, by always tending to his needs, securing his position in the household and turning him from a meek child into a confident and assertive young man. During his stay there, Zhangxuan was also communicating with his brother through encrypted letters, providing information on the internal affairs of the Duanmu household.

When Duanmu Xi became 14 years old, Xiren gave him his first task, which was to make Xi the head of the Duanmu family. Though he didn’t like the idea, Zhangxuan managed to motivate Duanmu Xi to pursue the position. He found a case, in which the acting head of the Duanmu family was abusing a Lingzhi mushroom spirit for his own greed, and encouraged Xi to resolve it. After he succeeded, Xi both demonstrated his ability to deal impartially with the family affairs and realized that he needed power, if he wanted to spread his ideals to the world. Zhangxuan then asked master Ling to recommend Xi for the position and so, at the age of 14 Duanmu Xi became the head of the Duanmu family, the youngest in history. His first rule was to close the Zhiren house, which he had promised to Duanmu Siping a few years earlier. Since Xi had more freedom after becoming the head, Zhangxuan encouraged him to enroll in a school and pursue a hobby. Duanmu Xi then along with Zhangxuan joined the school band and were preparing for a concert, until great-grandmother confronted them, threatening both of them with a dismissal letter for Zhangxuan, if they kept acting as they pleased. Xiren also reprimanded Zhangxuan about it, as Xi's spiritual influence through his singing resulted in the death of many people. Since Duanmu Xi couldn’t participate in the concert, Zhangxuan decided to sing the song that Xi had written and record it in an ipod that he later gifted to Xi .

During the following two years, Duanmu Xi had managed to become the top spiritualist of the world and restore the glory of the Duanmu family. He had also begun searching for Yang Jinghua, whom he had not forgotten after all these years. Zhangxuan managed to locate him and so Xi wrote him a letter that Zhangxuan went to deliver personally. On the way to Jinghua’s workplace though, he was scolded by Xiren both for leaving Xi alone in a house full of enemies and for the letter that great-grandmother had sent to him, requesting to take Zhangxuan back for further training. But even then, Zhangxuan still refused to set his personal feelings for Duanmu Xi aside and obediently perform his supervisory duties, as he was supposed to do. Amidst his frustration, Xiren told him if that was the case, he had no place in the Shenlong family. When Zhangxuan returned to the Duanmu household, after suspecting that something was wrong with Duanmu Xi during their phone call, he found that Xi had suddenly gone missing. With Jinghua's help, who had crossed time and space through the mirror of yellow springs, he managed to locate him in the mountains, right before the previous acting head attempted to assassinate Xi, after poisoning him first, to take revenge for his downfall. Since he was going to be dismissed, Zhangxuan wanted to remove as many obstacles as he could for Xi and so he shot the acting head in the neck, leaving him in a vegetative state. That action caused Zhangxuan to become the scapegoat of the assassination plot and all the attention was shifted to him, especially after Duanmu Siyun revealed the encrypted letters he had tried to send to his brother earlier, which she accidentally found while stalking him, since she had a crush on him. He was then accused of attempted murder against the acting head as well as of interfering in the affairs of the Duanmu family, due to being given too much power by Duanmu Xi according to great-grandmother. The Duanmu family then took him into custody and asked the Shenlong family how to deal with him, to which Xiren replied that they were free to punish him as they saw fit. Hearing that, Zhangxuan thought that his family had abandoned him and that he had betrayed both them and Duanmu Xi. That night, however, Duanmu Xi, who had just turned 16 years old, took him out of his prison cell and tried to run away with him, not believing the previous accusations. On their way, they were stopped by the Duanmu family and the police, with Siyun trying to convince Xi of his betrayal, which was clear after deciphering his letters. In the meantime, Yu had called Zhangxuan on his cellphone and was trying to convince him that if he killed Duanmu Xi for attempting to abandon his post, Xiren would take care of the rest and he would be able to return home. However, Zhangxuan had already made up his mind, as it was revealed in his last letter to Xiren, and decided to commit suicide by shooting himself in order to become Xi’s shadow spirit and stay by his side without being burdened by his supervisory duties. His wish, however, could not be realized due to Duanmu Siyun who, along with Duanmu Siming, convinced master Ling to bind his soul to his body using the forbidden soul-binding technique in order to keep him as a blood bag for Duanmu Xi. The spell was successful, though it left master Ling blind, and so neither Duanmu Xi nor Shenlong Xiren could find Zhanxuan’s soul.

Almost two years later, when Yang Jinghua stabbed Duanmu Xi with the Luoyue sword and Xi recovered from a wound that would normally require a blood transfusion, Xiren guessed what had happened to Zhangxuan. He then began planning attacks against Duanmu Xi to injure him in a way that would again require a blood transfusion in order to confirm his theory. But even after hypnotizing Yang Jinghua to separate him from Duanmu Xi, he still could not succeed. So, he decided to personally confront Xi, while he was visiting Zhangxuan's grave, and stab him with his spear, after revealing to him that Zhangxuan was not dead as he thought. When Duanmu Xi returned home and confronted his family about the matter, Siyun, along with Siming, led him to a secret room in her quarters, where Zhangxuan was kept. After his spies reported that to him, he planned to ambush the Duanmu household with his forces to get his brother back that same night. He found Yang Jinghua and hypnotized him again while placing a rune on his hand that would break upon contact with the forbidden soul-binding formation that was keeping Zhangxuan bound and hidden there. Once that was done, Xiren, along with Yu and his subordinates, took Zhangxuan's body and tried to leave the household. They were blocked, however, by Yinzhe and his followers, until Duanmu Xi used the Heavenly Call spell to command all the spirits of Jingling mountain to stop them from escaping. In order to fight back, Xiren used the Dry Moon Mirror to suck Duanmu Xi's power and then hypnotized the spirits, causing them to succumb to their desire for Duanmu Xi's power and attack him. However, Yang Jinghua appeared in time and forced Xiren to leave Zhangxuan with Yu, while he would try to buy some time for them to escape with their remaining forces. Yang Jinghua, then, made a two-way soul contract with Duanmu Xi and their combined power broke the Dry Moon Mirror, leaving Xiren defeated. Despite the commotion he caused, Duanmu Xi let him go, only asking him to give Zhangxuan a proper burial and tell him that he finally understood his actions and he should not worry about him from then on.

Once Xiren returned home, he immediately began his efforts to bring Zhangxuan back to life. He used an ancient secret technique of the Shenlong family and implanted a Ten Thousand Years Gu in his body, which would connect and repair his damaged, from the headshot, nerves. It would, also, give Xiren the ability to communicate with him and control him, which he found quite beneficial since his hypnotism was not effective on blood-related family members. The technique was successful and Zhangxuan was resurrected.

   After he came back, he immediately started watching and monitoring Duanmu Xi from the shadows, helping him when he needed it, like when he protected Jinghua’s ashes from Situ Li or when he begged Xiren to publicize the evil deeds and plots of the Situ family, when they tried to kill Xi through their unjust punishment. However, the influence of his brother through the Gu was too great and because of it,  when Duanmu Xi removed the Kun-ring and lost it, he entered the household and shot him in the stomach. That incident led to a fall out between him and Xiren, with Zhangxuan saying that he would prefer to be a blood bag for Duanmu Xi rather than live like this and that from that day on he was no longer part of the Shenlong family. He then went to find Duanmu Xi again, this time in the hospital to give him a transfusion with his blood in order to recover from his shot. That’s where he met Yang Jinghua, who tried to stop him from disappearing again. Duanmu Xi followed them, and when he caught up with them he punched Zhangxuan and collapsed because of his injuries and the bullet fragments that were still inside him. Zhangxuan then helped Jinghua remove them with his spiritual body and the three of them returned to the Duanmu household.

There, Zhangxuan had a chance to catch up with Duanmu Xi, after being apart for two years, and to also get to know Yang Jinghua. He also wanted to know what happened to the Kun-ring since his brother would not let go of the matter that easily. After the incident with the souls of the murdered children from the Zhiren house during the Chongyang festival, Zhangxuan found the chance to ask Jinghua about it, only to find out that Jinghua had actually destroyed it. His brother was furious about it and as a result of his influence through the Gu, Zhangxuan began having illusions about killing Duanmu Xi. He then realized that he could not stay close to Duanmu Xi while the Gu was inside him and so he left the household to find Dr. Sen in the hope of removing it from his body, even if it meant his death. In that case, he wanted his body to be kept as a blood bag for Duanmu Xi and when Xi’s organs would start to fail, to replace them with his own.

Dr. Sen agreed to perform the operation, but while he was unconscious he used him, along with hostages from the Qin household, including Qin Shiyao ang Ouyang Yang, to manipulate Duanmu Xi in order to submit to his torturous research. His plans were halted by Yang Jinghua who, along with forces from the four major families, including Xiren and Yu, came to their rescue.

   After that incident, Zhangxuan was left to the care of the Duanmu family, since they had more advanced medical equipment than the Shenlong family. He later woke up from the coma while the Duanmu staff were drawing his blood for Duanmu Xi, but the removal of the Gu had left him with paralyzed legs. Zhangxuan, however, was fine with it as long as he could stay by Duanmu Xi’s side freely.