Chen Tang

Headmaster Chen
沉宫主 *Chén-gōngzhǔ*

**Chen Tang** (沉棠, *Chén Táng*) is the former headmaster of the Cultivation Academy and also the former master of Hua Po'an. He is known as **The Wise Gentleman** (君子慧, *Jūnzǐ Huì*) and as the Wisdom of Chonghua's Three Gentlemen.

## Appearance

Chen Tang is described as handsome and elegant, having almond shaped eyes, swordlike eyebrows, and a noble aura.

## Personality

Chen Tang is noble and unsullied, and has a heart filled with compassion and kindness. His soft heart and gentle temperament led him to accept Hua Po'an, one of the Cultivation Academy's slaves, as a disciple. As the headmaster, he oversaw and taught every disciple, including the academy's slaves.

While Hua Po'an was under his tutelage, he guided him in cultivation with patience and took great care of him. However, after Hua Po'an's rebellion, he becomes more cold and stern, going against him and defeating the Demonblood Beast along with himself.

## History

### Early Childhood

Chen Tang was born into the Chen Family, a family affiliated with the Murong Family, and is the cousin of Jiang Fuli. Not much of his childhood is known.

### Divine Haitang Tree

When Chen Tang became the head of the Chen Family, he had to live on Xuanwu Island for a month each year to teach and play the qin to the divine haitang tree situated on the island.

The background behind this is when a piece of haitang wood from The Flame Emperor's Sacred Tree was lost in the mortal world, it coincidentally landed in the hands of Chen Tang's ancestor a thousand years prior. Chen Tang's clan then sealed it within Xuanwu Island, but since it had a sentient spirit, the head of the family had to go live on the island for a month each year to teach it and play the qin to it to prevent it from being corrupted by malevolent energies.

One day, Chen Tang discovered a wounded Wuyan while he was spending time on the island. He consoled her and healed her wounds, and then took her back to where he lived on the island and let her stay on the island with him. When she asked him about where he was from and what his name was, he wouldn't tell her and only told her that his surname was Chen.

Later on, after Wuyan lived with Chen Tang for a while, she confessed her feelings to him. Shocked by this, he said that they had only known each other for a few months, and asked her how she could know what "liking" was. Every time Wuyan begged him, he would reject her, stating that *"his heart was for the Dao, no desire for anything else,"* and then asked her to leave Xuanwu Island after she recovered from her wounds. Before Wuyan left, she tied an invisible thread to Chen Tang's pinky with demonic magic from the fire bat tribe with his consent. The string's purpose was to let Wuyan know if Chen Tang ever broke his promise and married someone else.

## Relationships

### Jiang Fuli

Jiang Fuli is Chen Tang's cousin. Not much is known about their relationship with each other, of if they have met at all. Eventually, the remnants of Chen Tang's soul are put into Jiang Fuli's body by Hua Po'an.

### Hua Po'an

Hua Po'an is one of the many disciples that Chen Tang has taken under his tutelage. Chen Tang went as far as to break the "slaves may not cultivate" law for him in order to take him in as his disciple, argued with those who criticized the sons of slaves such as him, and even gave him the name "Hua Po'an", that would later become a taboo amongst the people of Chonghua.

He cherished him, patiently taught him cultivation, and looked after Hua Po'an. He never mistreated mistreated him despite his status as a slave, and often gave him food, clothing, and other items such as healing salve, and also cooked him rice porridge.

Chen Tang was deeply hurt by Hua Po'an's betrayal, and regretted taking him in as a disciple. He sacrificed himself to take the Demonblood Beast that Hua Po'an created down, and ultimately stopped Chonghua from being taken over by the Liao Kingdom.

### Wuyan

Chen Tang met Wuyan when she was severely injured and came to his island. He wholeheartedly tried to heal her wounds and often consoled and comforted her. He later found out that she had feelings for him, but unfortunately he did not reciprocate it. He later let her tie an invisible string on his pinky with demonic magic so that she would know if he ever married someone else in the future.

## Trivia

***This section contains spoilers for The Husky and His White Cat Shizun!***

* A piece of the divine haitang tree that Chen Tang nurtured would eventually be used by Huaizui to create Chu Wanning.

## References

2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Novel, Chapter 71: Chen Tang, Hua Po'an
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Novel, Chapter 190: Before the Flower Broke the Darkness
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Novel, Chapter 189: After the Separation
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Novel, Chapter 101: Naivete