Shen Hu

**Overview**

**Martial Family**:

* Minamoto Kuro (Shizun/Shifu)
* Zheng Yang (Shibo/Shishu)
* Zheng Yingxian (Shigu)
* Zheng Meng (Shixiong/Shige)
* Hōjō Masako (Shimei)
* Hōjō Minato (Shidi)
* Hōjō Sakura (Shimei)

**Shen Hu** 「沈虎 (Shěn Hŭ)」 was the birth father of Shen Jiu, Shen Yuan, and Shen Yanli and the husband of Li Lan, Shen Jiu's mother. Hailing from Long Zhao Temple, he was one of the many human companions/sworn siblings of Tianlang-jun's father Emperor Luo-jun and Tianlang-jun's mother Empress Da'er Wei.

He was the last surviving shidi of Lu Liu's ancestors Lu Yuan and Lu Ningying from before the Sacred Dragon Desolation Temple incident that ended seventy-three thousand budding cultivators and mid-core cultivators lives in a singular blast radius. He was the only survivor aside from Lu Yuan and Lu Ningying that hailed from Long Zhao Temple.

## Appearance

In the novel, Shen Hu's physical appearance was never fully described or mentioned, although he was noted to be rather tall (having stood at 184 cm during his lifetime). In SVSSS, Shen Jiu noted that his father physically resembled him although his facial features were far more feminine and overall more petite, Shen Jiu is described as possessing the "emotion-reflective eyes" of his father and the "extreme physical aggression" of his cultivator mother. To add to his soft and unassuming personality, he was noted to possess a serene demeanor that Tianlang-jun described as "overwhelmingly beautiful" - a trait he later ascribed to Hu's son, Shen Qingqiu.

Seeing as he had cultivated past mid-core formation well into half-immortality, he retained his youthful appearance despite having birthed two children.

He was shown to wear violet jianxiu robes with a bell engraved with a nine-petaled lotus motif, signifying his status as a disciple of Long Zhao Temple. Before his death and that of his wife, he bequethed his own robes to Tianlang-jun and his wife's robes to Su Xiyuan for their future children, making multiple set of his and his wife's disciple robes for their own future children.

## Personality

Shen Hu was sweet-tempered, quiet, and dutiful to a fault. He highly valued strength and loyalty, resisting the plan to deceive Tianlang-jun due to his strong ties towards the Demon Lord's parents: Emperor Luo-jun and Empress Da'er Wei, but also due to his affection towards the young Demon Lord and his martial niece-in-law, Su Xiyuan. Tianlang-jun called his martial uncle, a "gentle individual" and considered him to be a person who rarely-if-ever deceived other people, simply because he was bluntly honest to a fault. He prioritized the preservation and survival of his family, martial sibling and clan, and has been known to do so even at the expense of others (a facet of his personality that Luo-jun refused to acknowledge), having had a ruthless personality in dangerous situations. A realist at the core of his being with his own sense of personal justice, he refused to yield to societal pressure and was subsequently killed deliberately in a Night Hunt by some of his enemies.

## History

Born the second child and eldest son of two unnnamed Long Zhao Temple master cultivators, his birth concided with the birth of the future Demon Emperor Luo-jun who would become his sworn sibling in the future, and that of his shidis' Lu Yuan and Lu Ningying during the Demonic Age of Expansion. Raised from a young age to become a righteous cultivator of Long Zhao Temple, Shen Hu was a dutiful child and was delighted by the learning offered to him due to his parents' positions as high-ranked cultivators in the sect. In the end, he would grow up to become the head disciple of Long Zhao Temple and amassed a number of enemies, amongst them the Young Palace Master who was one of his sworn siblings and his betrayer.

### Proud Immortal Demon Way

In Proud Immortal Demon Way, Shen Hu is not given any mention and is only called the "bearer" by Luo Binghe, as he refuses to acknowledge that Shen Qingqiu had loving parents.

### Scum Villain's Self Saving System

In Scum Villain's Self Saving System, he is noted to be the individual who gave birth to Shen Jiu, Shen Yuan, and Shen Yanli, with Yanli's birth greatly weakening his body to the point where he needed seven years of isolated cultivation (closed door cultivation) in order to recover completely. Having had consumed the Flower of Fertility, which allowed for a man to give birth and get pregnant by the bodily fluids of a cultivation partner, he engaged in pleasures of the flesh and eventually gave birth to three children. The flower however negatively impacted his health to the point he was incapable of cultivating into immortality and was cited as being a factor in his untimely death.

His ghost appeared during the Jinlin City Arc to give reassurance to Shen Yuan (in Shen Jiu's body) in order to combat the effects of Xin Mo on Luo Binghe.

## Abilities & Equipment

* **Wanrong Hu Sword** (婉荣虎): Wanrong Hu carries the unique property of cryogenis, which is basically the combination of thermophysical, physico-chemical and physico-mechanical processes occurring in freezing, frozen and thawing earth materials (example: frozen ground and permafrost). Like other cultivators, he is able to fly on his sword and control Wanrong Hu telepathically by forming a sword seal with his hand. Forged from a series of three alloy metals: Selenium, Orichalcum, and Adamantium, it's special properties are far superior to most swords given to previous Head Disciples of the Long Zhao Temple. It is considered one of the seven Legendary Swords of Long Zhao Temple and it's moniker is the **Destroyer of Evil** (邪恶的毁灭者, *Xié'è de huǐmiè zhě*).
* **Martial Abilities**: As a member of the Long Zhao Temple's elite, Shen Hu possessed impressive martial abilities and was capable of overpowering demon elders, due to his wealth of experience in defeating demon elders as a veteran of the Sacred Dragon Desolation Temple incident.
* **Cultivation**: Shen Hu cultivated to the stage of Mid Core Formation, granting him immortality and an impressive level of cultivation ability. He was the most powerful Head Disciple of Long Zhao Temple and the disciples that took the position after him didn't possess the same level of power or the refinement of Qi that he had attained during his lifetime. After consuming the Flower of Fertility, his cultivation was hampered greatly and he lost much of his cultivation progress due to the negative side-effects of the flower.

## Relationships

### Minamoto Kuro

The original leader of the Long Zhao Temple and Shen Hu and his martial siblings' Shizun, described as an admirable man that purged evil in the name of rightenous. Shen Hu held him in high regard and dutifully carried out orders issued by Kuro, to the point where he even ruthlessely slaughtered his own fellow cultivators to ensure the success of a mission and Kuro, while suspecting that Shen Hu had a darker side hiding underneath his amaciable persona chose to wave away accusations of manslaughter and