Zhao Hai

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Zhao Hai (赵海)
Alias(es)	Li Changgeng; assumed the identity of Zhao Hai after the original patrol captain's death 528
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Heavenly Court (formerly); Heavenly Group
Occupation/Role	Heavenly Court patrol captain; strategist; Head/Minister of the Heavenly Group Logistics Department
Status	Deceased 1055
First Appearance	Chapter 507

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Cultivation path severed	528	Lu Qing's ambush destroyed Li Changgeng's cultivation path, leaving his former talent unusable.
Returned to the path of cultivation	730	Consumed a Seven-Colored Lotus seed, restoring his depleted sea of consciousness and mental power.
Sword Cultivation Technique eruption	1054	The technique activated while he faced Wang and the Ancestor; he rose from a wheelchair and regained a youthful appearance.
Final sword strike	1055	Imitated Zhang Ziliang's decisive style to severely wound Wang and convey a final message to Wang Ye before dying.

Background

Li Changgeng was once an attendant to the Heavenly Court's King, responsible for offering counsel and delivering messages. He was renowned not only as a strategist but also as a peerless cultivation talent who had suppressed Spirit Mountain and the Underworld for thousands of years. Despite this status, he had no true friends in the Heavenly Court and was routinely treated as a dangerous subordinate rather than a trusted ally 718 924.

After Lu Qing ambushed him and severed his cultivation path, Li Changgeng survived in a diminished state. When the real Zhao Hai, a Heavenly Court patrol captain, died in an “accident,” Li Changgeng assumed his identity and held the position for two years 528.

As Patrol Captain Zhao Hai, he served beneath the Greedy Wolf Star Lord while quietly gathering intelligence. Learning that the Heavenly Court intended to deploy him as expendable cannon fodder, he began seeking a stronger protector and investigated Wang Ye, whom he recognized as a valuable and potentially useful variable 512 527.

Appearance

Zhao Hai initially maintained the composed appearance of a Heavenly Court patrol captain. After the Sword Cultivation Technique erupted, his aged and weakened state rapidly reversed, restoring his youthful appearance 1054.

• Formerly wore a defensive long gown bestowed by the Heavenly Court's King 649.
• Later wore Zhang Ziliang's worn windbreaker as the new Logistics Department head 649.
• Used a wheelchair during the final phase of the Sword Cultivation Technique's buildup 1054.
• Regained a rosy complexion and youthful body shortly before his final strike 1054.

Personality

Zhao Hai was extraordinarily intelligent, highly cautious, and intensely self-assured. He regarded his own intellect as his greatest achievement and sought to prove it by backing the weaker Heavenly Group against the vastly stronger Heavenly Court. To him, defeating a powerful enemy through strategy was more meaningful than serving a faction guaranteed to win 527.

He was also openly narcissistic. Zhao Hai repeatedly praised his own intelligence and believed his exceptional mind had made him a figure destined to leave a mark on history 527 528. His confidence often crossed into arrogance, especially when he dismissed others as incapable of understanding strategic matters 911.

Despite his calculating nature, Zhao Hai gradually developed attachment to the Heavenly Group and to Zhang Ziliang. He initially viewed human emotion as a weakness, but Zhang Ziliang's death and legacy gave him a sense of responsibility he had never possessed in the Heavenly Court 538 648. He became willing to bear the moral burden of harsh decisions so that Li Xinghe and ordinary humans could remain symbols of hope 909.

Zhao Hai had notably poor emotional intelligence. He spoke bluntly, ignored social conventions, and often hurt or infuriated allies without intending to. Zhang Ziliang explicitly warned him that intelligence alone would leave him isolated 558 584.

Abilities & Skills

Strategic Planning

Zhao Hai's greatest strength was his ability to gather information, anticipate opponents' behavior, and construct layered plans.

• Identified Wang Ye's disguise and prepared for his arrival before Wang Ye realized he had been exposed 527.
• Maintained trigger-based traps and hidden operatives within the Heavenly Court 531.
• Designed the Treasure Pavilion operation as a trap to draw out powerful figures and facilitate his defection to the Heavenly Group 528.
• Used coded symbols to organize his analysis of the Heavenly Group, Heavenly Court, and Underworld 531.
• Revised the New Year's plan, raising its estimated success rate from thirty to forty percent 533.

Logistics and Resource Management

After Zhang Ziliang's death, Zhao Hai inherited leadership of the Heavenly Group's Logistics Department.

• Immediately reviewed the city's ghost defenses and ordered the perimeter pushed farther from Shangjing's walls 649.
• Managed recruitment plans for Ghost Gate Pass, warning recruits directly of the expected ninety-percent casualty rate 738.
• Arranged harsh secret-realm training intended to produce a small number of Bodhisattva- or Buddha-level survivors 908.
• Secured intelligence on ancient Heavenly Court burials and negotiated resource-sharing arrangements with Qingfeng Village 910 911.

Sword Cultivation Technique

Zhao Hai eventually cultivated Zhang Ziliang's Sword Cultivation Technique after restoring his mental power.

• The technique was known to be agonizing and potentially fatal to its practitioner 544 910.
• Its eruption restored Zhao Hai's physical youth and allowed him to wield an overwhelming sword strike 1054.
• Zhao Hai intended to replicate and surpass Zhang Ziliang's famous sword strike 910.
• He used his final strike to severely injure Wang rather than attempting to decisively defeat Wang and Zu himself 1055.
• The technique was effectively Zhao Hai's chosen final path; he understood that practicing it would eventually kill him 910.

Artifact and Formation Use

Zhao Hai could effectively employ specialized items and battlefield preparations.

• Used an Imperial Decree to seal the Greedy Wolf Star Lord 526.
• Used a projection stone to impersonate Li Xinghe and provoke the Heavenly Court, Spirit Mountain, and Underworld for twenty-nine minutes 624.
• Activated ancient soldiers and their general beneath God Burying City, launching a formation-backed counterattack against the Heavenly Court 1042.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Imperial Decree — Sealed the Greedy Wolf Star Lord during Zhao Hai's escape from the Heavenly Court 526.
• Projection Stone — Used to project a holographic provocateur during the conflict between the major factions 624.
• Seven-Colored Lotus Seed — Consumed to restore his mental power and resume cultivation 730.
• Zhang Ziliang's windbreaker — Worn after inheriting Zhang Ziliang's responsibility for the Heavenly Group 649.
• Sword Cultivation Technique — His final and lethal cultivation path 910.

Relationships

• Wang Ye — Began as a suspicious adversary during the Treasure Pavilion operation. Their relationship developed into a wary alliance built on strategic rivalry, mutual manipulation, and eventual respect 512 527 730 1055.
• Zhang Ziliang — Fellow strategist, rival, and eventual predecessor. Zhang Ziliang selected Zhao Hai to inherit the Heavenly Group's Logistics Department and shaped Zhao Hai's later sense of responsibility 531 648 649.
• Li Xinghe — Colleague within the Heavenly Group. Li Xinghe opposed Zhao Hai's ruthless training methods but ultimately accepted his role as the public symbol of humanity while Zhao Hai acted in the shadows 738 909.
• Greedy Wolf Star Lord — Zhao Hai's Heavenly Court superior and one of the few figures who trusted him. He sealed her during his defection but asked Wang Ye to spare her life 527 528.
• Lu Qing — The opponent who ambushed Li Changgeng and severed his cultivation path 528.
• The King — Zhao Hai's former master in the Heavenly Court. Li Changgeng served as the King's attendant and wore a long gown personally bestowed by him 528 649.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Heavenly Court Patrol Captain

While posing as Zhao Hai, Li Changgeng acted as a patrol captain beneath the Greedy Wolf Star Lord. He investigated Wang Ye and Chu Tian's claims, verified the contents of Wang Ye's storage space, and quietly assessed Wang Ye's value 507 510.

Treasure Pavilion Operation

Zhao Hai orchestrated an infiltration of the Treasure Pavilion with Wang Ye. Although he provided maps, patrol access, and operational timing, the pavilion was ultimately part of a larger trap meant to expose powerful figures and enable Zhao Hai's shift toward the Heavenly Group 522 523 528.

Defection to the Heavenly Group

After revealing his true identity as Li Changgeng, Zhao Hai offered to join the Heavenly Group. He demonstrated his sincerity by swallowing Wang Ye's pill without hesitation, placing his life in Wang Ye's hands 527 528.

Zhao Hai then met Zhang Ziliang, presented a strategic analysis of the Heavenly Group's situation, and revealed the hidden operatives he had planted in the Heavenly Court 531 532.

Zhang Ziliang's Successor

Zhao Hai remained beside Zhang Ziliang during the Third Awakening of Eternal Night and was severely injured while shielding him from the Longevity Great Emperor 631 643. After Zhang Ziliang's death, he learned that the supposed poison was a fake and accepted the responsibility Zhang had prepared for him 648 649.

He became the Heavenly Group's Logistics Department head, inherited Zhang Ziliang's office and windbreaker, and began managing Shangjing's defenses and resources 649.

Recovered Talent and Final Battle

Wang Ye gave Zhao Hai a Seven-Colored Lotus seed, allowing him to restore his mental power and re-enter cultivation. Zhao Hai promised that within three years he would cut down the Six Imperials with one sword 730.

He later embraced the Sword Cultivation Technique despite understanding that it would ultimately kill him. When Wang and Zu resurfaced, the technique erupted, restoring Zhao Hai's former presence and allowing him to strike Wang before dying 1054 1055.

Notable Quotes

“In my life, my greatest pride is my intelligence.” 527

“Three years. I'll cut down the Six Imperials with one sword.” 730

“There are no wars without casualties.” 1031

“Was it cool?” 1055

Trivia

• Zhao Hai claimed he had thirteen different ways to prove that he was truly Zhao Hai, before revealing that his real name was Li Changgeng 528.
• He had no descendants and expressed a wish to have a child shortly before the Third Awakening of Eternal Night 627.
• Zhao Hai referred to himself as “the savior of the group's visual appeal” 659.
• His own view of the Heavenly Court was that he had been treated as a “dog” whose strategies required approval from stronger figures 510 527.