Li Tianqing

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Li Tianqing (李天青)
Alias(es)	Tian Qing; Red Horse Bandit; Scholar
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Quanzhou Li family (formerly); Heavenly Court, Ministry of Rites
Occupation/Role	Heavenly Court Ministry of Rites official; cultivation-technique organizer and instructor
Status	Alive
First Appearance	44

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Divine Embryo Realm — first-rank Purple Jade Divine Embryo	47, 125	His Divine Embryo and shrine are prepared for the Six Yin Jade Wheel Art; his first-rank Purple Jade Divine Embryo had previously made him a target within the Li family.
Golden Core Realm	95	Achieved the Golden Core after devoting himself to cultivation; this ended the Li family’s interest in taking his Divine Embryo.
Fourth-Revolving Golden Core	155, 180	His Golden Core transformed from white to profound black; at this stage, his spiritual range reached the Golden Core Realm’s hundred-mile limit.
Shrine and Divine Embryo Divine Descent Void Refining path	388	Possesses the Martial Saint Temple and cultivates the shrine-and-Divine-Embryo path under Lord Guan’s blessing, protecting him from evil corruption.
Heavenly Immortal Realm	740	Had ascended from the Earthly Immortal Realm to the Heavenly Immortal Realm by the time Yang Bi encountered him again.

Background

Li Tianqing was born to a Quanzhou Li family father and a mother who had worked washing clothes. Though he possessed a first-rank Purple Jade Divine Embryo, he was a distant relative with little family status; some Li family members had once proposed removing his Divine Embryo for Li Tianxiu. 125 186 251

He and his grandfather, Li Jindou, came to Ganyang Mountain to investigate Li Kefu’s death and locate the True King’s Tomb. There he met Chen Shi, whose friendship gradually displaced Tianqing’s initial suspicion that the Chen household was connected to Prince Xiao. 44 45

Li Xiaozheng later recognized that Tianqing’s true value was his intellect rather than his Divine Embryo. Tianqing led a Li family expedition into the Stone Boat alongside Spirit Transformation and Nascent Soul experts; he was the sole survivor. 125

Appearance

By eighteen, Li Tianqing had become a tall, refined young man with a composed bearing and a stable Dao heart. Time spent evading the Li family left him less fair-skinned and visibly more mature than when Chen Shi first knew him. 341 501

• Handsome, with slightly thick eyebrows; the upward sweep at their ends forms a cross-like 乂 shape. 501
• Has thin lips. 46
• Carries himself with the restraint and poise of a noble-family young master. 341
• When operating his cultivation, his breath is long and steady as Sun and Moon forces revolve around and refine him. 501

Personality

Li Tianqing is meticulous, observant, and intensely studious. He readily examines unfamiliar techniques, notices small inconsistencies in opponents’ movements, and converts those observations into specific winning strategies. 170 338 388

He began as a defender of the noble families, believing that they still contained principled people. The Qingzhou spiritual-medicine operation changed that view: after learning that the Thirteen Noble Families sustained themselves by treating people and malevolent spirits as materials, he chose to oppose his own clan. 135 251

Despite his calm outward manner, Tianqing is competitive with Chen Shi in cultivation and affection, and he can be openly jealous of Chen Shi’s rapid comprehension. Their rivalry remains affectionate rather than hostile. 142 157 170

He places the survival and progress of ordinary people above clan loyalty. He ultimately concludes that the Li family must be eliminated because it blocks the world’s path forward and preserves Despair Slope’s control. 512

Abilities & Skills

Purple Jade Divine Embryo

Li Tianqing possesses a first-rank Purple Jade Divine Embryo, a rare foundation that enables rapid cultivation and contributes to his exceptional spiritual aptitude. 95 125

• Reached the Golden Core Realm rapidly after returning home to focus on cultivation. 95
• Learned spirit-and-mind control in four days and extended his spiritual awareness to one hundred miles while at Fourth-Revolving Golden Core. 180
• His shrine and Divine Embryo can be activated in advance for immediate combat response. 47

Six Yin Jade Wheel Art

The Li family’s Six Yin Jade Wheel Art is Tianqing’s foundational technique and his original combat method. 46 194

• Forms nearly invisible jade wheels from true qi around his limbs. 47
• Functions as both offense and defense; enemies striking the wheels can be cut apart by their sharp edges. 47
• He later modified its spells while integrating elements of swordsmanship, Five Elements arts, talismans, formations, movement arts, battle summons, and soul techniques. 187

Three Lights Righteous Qi and Divine Descent

Tianqing accepted Chen Shi’s Three Lights Righteous Qi Art to test whether sunlight and moonlight affected cultivators’ lifespans. 194

• Cultivates through temples connected to the ancestral land’s Three Lights. 194 248
• Confirmed that temple-grown spiritual herbs could extend lifespan beyond the conventional five-hundred-year limit. 244
• Possesses the Martial Saint Temple, which enshrines Lord Guan the Righteous and Brave. 388
• Lord Guan’s blessing and the Three Lights Righteous Qi protect him from evil corruption. 388
• Lord Guan’s will can also seize control of him, driving him to raid corrupt officials and leaving him exhausted afterward. 249 253

Insight and Combat Analysis

Tianqing’s greatest strength is his ability to identify flaws in cultivation techniques and magic spells from minute details. 125 388

• Studies opponents’ methods before committing to battle, then targets the exact instant or position where their technique fails. 338
• Identified a weakness in Li Shuang’s Auspicious Cloud Three Transformations: forcing an object into the instant his body condenses would injure him. 338
• Defeated Li family pursuers one by one, including Li Qianyun, after observing their methods and formulating counters. 338 389
• His reputation became so formidable that Chen Shi could defeat noble-family successors by imitating Tianqing’s analytical approach. 388 389
• Oversees the Heavenly Court’s Ministry of Rites library and is regarded as a “walking library” of cultivation methods. 360 388

Blade Arts

Tianqing is a highly capable blade wielder whose attacks produce Green Dragon qi and powerful sword energy. 248 249

• Uses sword energy to kill malevolent spirits that enter his temple. 249
• Rode through Qingzhou while wielding a Green Dragon Saber, slaying malevolent spirits along his route. 248
• His descending blade light can manifest a Green Dragon phenomenon in the sky. 249

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Green Dragon Saber — Tianqing’s blade during his campaigns in Qingzhou. 248
• Crimson Flame Warhorse — his red mount while acting as the Red Horse Bandit. 248
• God of Wealth Temple / Martial Saint Temple — a Three Lights cultivation site later associated with Lord Guan’s Divine Descent. 248 388
• Small courtyard temple — carried behind his head after his return to Huangpo Village. 341
• Calming talismans — used to suppress troubling physical symptoms. 341

Relationships

• Chen Shi — Closest friend, cultivation rival, and sworn brother; they repeatedly exchange techniques, investigate threats together, and support one another against the noble families. 45 155 222 360
• Li Jindou — Grandfather and early traveling companion during the investigation into Li Kefu’s death and the True King’s Tomb. 44 45
• Li Xiaozheng — Fourth uncle who recognized Tianqing’s exceptional intelligence and sent him to lead Stone Boat expeditions. 125 135
• Li Xiaoguang — Thirteenth uncle and Li family envoy; tried to compel Tianqing’s silence over the Qingzhou spiritual-medicine operation. 251
• Li Xiaozai — Li family Sect Master; ordered Tianqing’s family detained after Qingzhou, but later ended the pursuit because Tianqing remained a potential root of the clan’s future. 255 339
• Li Qianyun — Li family rival and pursuer; Tianqing defeated her during the clan’s succession-style hunt, leaving her obsessed with overcoming him. 338 389
• Lord Guan the Righteous and Brave — enshrined deity whose will empowers Tianqing’s Divine Descent while sometimes overriding his agency. 249 388
• Yang Bi — fellow strategist who later learned much from Tianqing; both left the Western Ox Continent seeking greater progress. 479 740

Story Role / Major Arcs

Investigation of Ganyang Mountain

Tianqing arrives with Li Jindou to investigate Li Kefu’s disappearance and search for the True King’s Tomb. His meeting with Chen Shi creates the friendship that shapes much of his later path. 44 45

Qingzhou and the Red Horse Bandit

While cultivating at the God of Wealth Temple, Tianqing is targeted nightly by controlled malevolent spirits. Under Lord Guan’s influence, he rides into Qingzhou, kills corrupt officials, takes their wealth, and distributes it among impoverished villages. 248 249

After uncovering the Qingzhou spiritual-medicine trade, he confronts Li Xiaoguang and breaks with the Li family rather than protect its crimes. His actions as the Red Horse Bandit bring order to Qingzhou but result in an arrest order against him, Li Jindou, and his parents. 251 255

Flight from the Li Family

Tianqing evades his pursuers by steering them into dangerous territory while closely observing each cultivator’s techniques. He defeats the Li family’s younger experts, including Li Qianyun, and returns to Ganyang Mountain after the Sect Master ends the hunt. 338 339

Heavenly Court Ministry of Rites

Tianqing becomes the Heavenly Court Ministry of Rites official codenamed Scholar. He organizes cultivation techniques from the True King’s Tomb, manages the Ministry’s library, and helps instruct Red Mountain Hall Talisman Masters. 341 360 383

He later returns to Qingzhou during a monster-and-ghost assault, leading Talisman Masters in the city’s defense and encouraging other Heavenly Court members through a Lesser Heavens mural. 404

Opposition to the Li Family

When Li family disciples appeal to their shared bloodline, Tianqing states that the family has obstructed the path of the world and must be removed for the Western Ox Continent’s people to survive and escape Despair Slope’s control. 512

Notable Quotes

“This Li family, along with the other noble families, has become as corrupt as Malevolent Spirits!” 251

“It’s not that the Li family must be destroyed, but that the Li family has blocked the path of the world.” 512