Li Tui

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Li Tui (李蜕)
Alias(es)	Erwa; Wang Yuan; Qin Li; Jingku; Transformation Master; Treasure Bone Crown Prince; Bearer of All Things True Lord; Withering-Prospering True Lord
Species/Race	Human reincarnator
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Varied by reincarnation: Zhao Family, Jing'an Division, Li Clan, Great Tang, Still Illumination Temple, and Taste Sect
Occupation/Role	Cultivator; former reading companion, cultivator official, garrison commander, ruler, ascetic monk, and Dao Lord
Status	Active; Dao Lord 528
First Appearance	Chapter 2

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
True Qi sensing	4	Retained sensed True Qi for seven breaths during his first instruction in the Essence Refining Technique.
Qi Refinement, 4th level	66	Refined a high-grade Yin Corpse Core through the Yin Baleful Qi Refinement Method.
Qi Refinement, 9th level	82	Returned to the mine at ninth-layer Qi Refinement and used the Soul-Locking Formation around the Baleful Eye.
Qi Refinement, 1st layer	139	Reached the first layer of the Azure Sun Mystic Fire Art in seven days.
Qi Refinement, 2nd layer	139	Advanced after three months of cultivation.
Qi Refinement, peak 3rd layer	139	Reached peak third layer within one year, at nine years old.
Qi Refinement, 4th level	144	Demonstrated control over ten threads of azure flame by forming them into a stable miniature tower.
Qi Refinement, 9th level — Great Perfection	150	Completed Qi Refinement after five years of closed-door cultivation; merged spiritual power with sword intent.
Foundation Establishment, Early Stage	157	Stabilized his Foundation Establishment cultivation before travelling to reclaim the Adaptive Sword.
Foundation Establishment, Middle Stage	158	Reclaimed the Adaptive Sword and formed the Cloud-Severing divine ability.
Qi Refinement, 1st level	181	In a later life, entered Qi Refinement on the third day after his spirit-root test through a Grade-A spirit root and Pseudo Kunyu Zhenyuan Dao Body.
Qi Refinement, 2nd–4th levels	181	Reached the second level in half a month, third in one month, and fourth in two months.
Qi Refinement, 9th level — Great Perfection	181	Perfected the ninth level of the Kun Yuan Thick Earth Art after five years.
Foundation Establishment, Early Stage	182	Forged a Kunyu Zhenyuan Cauldron rather than the Zhou Family's inherited Thick Earth Square Cauldron.
Foundation Establishment, Middle Stage	185	Forged the first leg of his Dao Cauldron and gained the divine ability Lingchu Zhen.
Foundation Establishment, Great Perfection	203	Completed the third Dao-Cauldron talisman and manifested the Origin-Stabilizing Edict.
Foundation Establishment	222	In another life, formed the Spirit Wood Border Defense Tripod while imprisoning a trace of Kunyu Zhenyuan charm in its core.
Foundation Establishment, Late Stage	233	Forged the Fist-Heart Sword divine ability after years commanding Tieshan Pass.
Golden Core	250	Formed a Golden Core from the fortune and principles of the Shuo Kingdom; received the title Bearer of All Things True Lord.
Foundation Establishment	268	Consolidated his Foundation Establishment realm in a later reincarnation and used Listening to the Wind to survey Yu Province's political currents.
Foundation Establishment, Great Perfection	284	Reached the Great True Person realm, greatly sharpening his sensitivity to rumors.
Golden Core	306	Opened an ordered inner domain already bearing a complete layer of life-law principle from his previous life.
Arhat	347	Attained Arhatship; his Buddha-land began consolidating and expanding.
Foundation Establishment, Late Stage	411	Reached late stage at ten years old after five years of cultivation.
Foundation Establishment Perfection	413	Formed the Withering and Flourishing Domain and became a Great True Person at fifteen.
Withering-Prospering True Lord	420	Attained the Dao in Withering-Prospering Valley and wounded Yin Wuji.
Nascent Soul Transformation — initiated	435	Absorbed Li Xuan's cultivation, stabilized his Five Elements, and drew tribulation clouds.
Dao Embryo completed	455	Stabilized his Dao Embryo after absorbing gray light from Nowhere.
Dao Master	482	Completed the Five Transformations and received Heaven and Earth's recognition as a Dao Master.
Dao Lord	528	Returned in a nirvana-forged true body and effortlessly repelled Eternal Heaven.

Background / History

Li Tui began as Erwa, the son of tenant farmer Wang Shu. Tested by the Zhao Family, he was found to possess Grade-C spiritual roots. Zhao Mingsheng renamed him Wang Yuan, marked him for future tracking, and brought him into the Zhao Family's secondary residence. Li Tui concealed his unusual composure behind a convincing performance of gratitude and excitement 3.

Within the Zhao Family, he rapidly mastered the Refining Essence Technique and became Zhao Yuanchong's reading companion to gain better access to cultivation resources. He treated allies and benefactors pragmatically, helping Huang Bao in exchange for spirit rice while cultivating the boy's loyalty as a useful asset 4 5. His first life's reckless attempt to force open acupoints through rampaging pill qi damaged his meridians and foundation, causing Zhao Minglai to abandon his earlier investment in him 11.

After that life ended, Li Tui awakened before the Octagonal Bronze Mirror. He received seven Fate Points, gained the Blood Fiend Affinity talent from his connection to the Blood Bodhi, and spent points strengthening his physique and wealth for his next life 43. In a later life, he adopted the Yin Baleful Qi Refinement Method, refined Sha Qi from corpses and living victims, and spread a modified technique among impoverished people so he could later “harvest” their accumulated baleful qi 58 66 70 71.

Across later reincarnations, Li Tui repeatedly used exceptional roots, inherited experience, and long-term planning to establish himself within great clans, official institutions, armies, kingdoms, Buddhist lineages, and the Taste Sect. He eventually rejected cultivation paths founded on karmic stations and the laws imposed by Dao Lords, seeking a Dao belonging solely to himself 181 250 336 441 450.

Appearance

Li Tui's appearance changes with his reincarnated bodies, but he consistently projects restraint, stillness, and an unsettling maturity beyond his apparent age.

• As Wang Yuan, he deliberately presented himself as an earnest, grateful child, even striking his forehead against stone while accepting his new name 3.
• In one later life, he grew into a tall, handsome youth with pale-yellow earth spiritual power and calm, deeply settled eyes 181.
• As Qin Li, he was a composed twelve- or thirteen-year-old in dark indigo robes, often standing with his eyes closed while using Listening to the Wind 221.
• During the Withering-Prospering path, he wore a plain white fox-fur cloak and covered his eyes with Spirit-Sealing Jade Silk; gray light could shine beneath the blindfold in battle 411 421.
• Upon returning as a Dao Lord, his true body was forged through nirvana, with jade-like bones, intricate meridians, and a crystal-clear form 528.

Personality

Li Tui is patient, calculating, and intensely pragmatic. Even as a child, he understood the need to appear weaker, more grateful, or more submissive than he truly was. He regards resources, information, influence, and relationships as tools to be acquired and managed rather than gifts to be cherished 3 5 9.

His pursuit of power repeatedly overrides moral restraint. He harvested Sha Qi from the dead and living, manipulated desperate people into cultivating for his benefit, sacrificed Shi Yong as a shield, and later absorbed Li Xuan's cultivation without remorse 66 70 196 435. Even apparent kindness is often instrumental; he can patiently earn trust while privately deciding when someone will become a resource 70 379.

Despite this ruthlessness, Li Tui is not impulsive by preference. He values survival, avoids needless risks, cultivates in seclusion for years, and withdraws when he recognizes a situation beyond his present ability to control 145 157 170. His ultimate ambition is absolute independence: a path that neither follows established Daos nor submits to the four Dao Lords' systems of law 441 486.

Abilities & Skills

Reincarnation and Fate Point Allocation

Li Tui retains awareness and selected gains across lives through the Octagonal Bronze Mirror, also called the Samsara Mirror.

• Receives Fate Points after a life ends and can invest them into attributes such as physique and wealth 43.
• Gains or upgrades talents based on prior-life experiences, including Blood Fiend Affinity 43.
• Can anchor certain divine abilities for later reincarnations by spending Fate Points 180.
• By his ninth recorded settlement, retained multiple talents and a substantial catalogue of insights in his true spirit 365.

Baleful Qi Cultivation

Li Tui mastered dangerous methods that draw upon Sha Qi, corpse cores, baleful lands, and the suffering of others.

• Switched from the slower Azure Wood Art to the Yin Baleful Qi Refinement Method, which refines Sha Qi to improve the quality and quantity of spiritual energy 58.
• Used the Baleful Gathering and Origin Cultivation Art to cultivate unwitting “seeds” and later extract their matured Sha Qi 68 70 71.
• Refined a high-grade Yin Corpse Core to advance to the fourth level of Qi Refinement 65 66.
• Possesses Blood Fiend Affinity, making Sha- and blood-related cultivation more compatible with him 43 58.

Earth Vein and Kunyu Cultivation

Several of Li Tui's lives center on earth-element cultivation, land-based fortune, and Dao foundations resembling cauldrons or tripods.

• The Pseudo Kunyu Zhenyuan Dao Body allows him to draw pure earth-vein qi directly from the ground and spiritual veins 181.
• Forged the unique Kunyu Zhenyuan Cauldron, whose mountain-and-river patterns embody suppression and territorial stability 182.
• Can sense and study earth-vein fluctuations with unusual precision, aided by Baleful Land Affinity 104 119.
• Connected his cultivation to official authority, regional fortune, and the stability of a governed territory 198 204.

Listening to the Wind

A divine ability developed from Li Tui's need to control variables through information.

• Gathers rumors, conversations, political movements, and concealed hostility across a broad area 168 170.
• Its range and sensitivity increased after he reached Foundation Establishment Late Stage 233.
• Allows him to observe clan politics and detect public reactions without direct confrontation 268.

Sword Arts

Li Tui is an exceptionally fast and precise swordsman, aided by past-life experience and the Sword-Feeding Dao Seed.

• Mastered the Flowing Cloud Wind-Brushing Sword Art in three days 145.
• Uses evasive footwork, rapid sword drawing, and concise lethal strikes; the art prioritizes survival over spectacle 145.
• Reclaimed the Adaptive Sword, his life-bound weapon, from the Hundred Thousand Mountains 157.
• Developed Cloud-Severing, merging himself and sword into a decisive sword-light 158.
• Forged the Fist-Heart Sword divine ability from years of military authority and accumulated slaughter aura 233.

Origin-Stabilizing Edict

A territorial divine ability based on Li Tui's Kunyu Zhenyuan Dao foundation, official authority, fortune, and true intent.

• Completed after inscribing the third talisman on his Dao Cauldron 203.
• Establishes an invisible edict over an area, making Li Tui its temporary master of order 204.
• Influences fortune, human hearts, and the attitudes of those within its reach 204.
• Can induce genuine conviction and submission, as demonstrated on Xu Yang 204.

Asceticism and Buddhist Cultivation

As Jingku, Li Tui cultivated Buddhist methods through self-imposed hardship and the accumulation of merit.

• Developed a Pure Ascetic Form and a growing Buddha-land through endurance, meditation, and travel 336 347.
• Learned ascetic practices from wandering monks, including barefoot travel, never lying down, and cemetery contemplation 340.
• Became known throughout Wild Province as the Treasure Bone Crown Prince 341.
• Attained Arhatship and expanded his Buddha-land from hundreds to nearly a thousand zhang through ascetic practice 347 350.

Five Transformations

Li Tui's highest path is founded on transformation rather than the systems of the four Dao Lords.

• His Five Transformations incorporate principles of birth, growth, transformation, harvest, and storage 557.
• Completed the Five Transformations and was recognized by Heaven and Earth as a Dao Master 482.
• Uses the Five Transformations Root to imitate and subtly alter the Chains of Laws binding the World Spirit 540.
• Can dissolve hostile law domains and absorb principles from cultivators, cities, grotto-heavens, and blessed lands 536 537.
• His Dao does not belong to the Four Laws of Heaven and Earth, making him a destabilizing variable beyond their established networks 486.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Octagonal Bronze Mirror / Samsara Mirror — Records life settlements, distributes Fate Points, grants talents, and permits the anchoring of divine abilities across reincarnations 43 180.
• Adaptive Sword — Li Tui's life-bound sword; its spirit recognizes him and it can be nourished within his Dao Cauldron 157 158 427.
• Soul-Locking Banners — Three yin-attributed banners refined after Li Tui learned basic formation knowledge; later used to form the Soul-Locking Formation 74 82.
• Body-Hosted Sword Embryo — A remnant magic-treasure embryo into which Li Tui lodged a strand of divine sense using the Body-Hosting Artifact-Nurturing Formula 122.
• Mysterious Jade Cup — A cool artifact that protected the clarity of his spiritual platform and aided his deduction of sword arts 145.
• Spirit-Sealing Jade Silk — Black silk worn over his eyes during the Withering-Prospering incarnation 411 421.
• Windrumor Token — A token recovered alongside the Adaptive Sword, signaling trouble connected to Windrumor Tower 157.

Relationships

• Wang Shu — Father in Li Tui's first recorded life; a tenant farmer who hoped Li Tui's spiritual roots would change their family's future 3.
• Zhao Minglai — Early instructor who recognized Li Tui's talent and supplied cultivation techniques, but became cold after Li Tui damaged his foundation 4 5 9 11.
• Zhao Yuanchong — Third Young Master of the Zhao Family; Li Tui served him as a reading companion while concealing his own ambitions 5 9.
• Huang Bao — Fellow initiate whom Li Tui taught in exchange for spirit rice; Huang Bao became loyal, while Li Tui regarded that loyalty as useful leverage 4 5 19.
• Yan Song — Superior within the Jing'an Division and later a patron who tried to bind Li Tui to the Yan Family's interests 121 130 133.
• Li Chengzong — Clan head and Li Tui's grandfather in one incarnation; strongly supported his cultivation and mobilized clan resources for his breakthroughs 150 170.
• Qin Zhan — Father in Li Tui's Qin Li incarnation; waited with veteran generals for Li Tui's successful Foundation Establishment 222.
• Li Xuan — Mentor, ally, and uniquely karmically connected incarnation. Li Tui later grew suspicious of their connection, then absorbed Li Xuan's cultivation during his Nascent Soul Transformation 413 429 435.
• Kuai Che — Trusted chief minister of Great Tang who provided strategic intelligence and resource records 269 315.
• World Spirit — A being Li Tui calmed and covertly connected to through the Five Transformations Root; he intends to use it as a controllable tool or resource rather than an equal ally 540 539.
• Eternal Heaven — Dao Lord adversary who was repelled after Li Tui regained his true body; Li Tui later pursued revenge by consuming principles across the Nine Provinces 528 537.

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Zhao Family Initiate — Enters the Zhao Family as Wang Yuan, gains basic cultivation access, serves Zhao Yuanchong, and damages his initial foundation through reckless advancement 3 5 11.
• Baleful Cultivator — Escapes the mine, adopts the Yin Baleful Qi Refinement Method, and develops a systematic harvest of human-generated Sha Qi 58 70 71.
• Jing'an Division and Earth-Vein Official — Joins the cultivator authorities, surveys the Northern Frontier, acquires earth-based methods, and rises through official power 97 119 198.
• Clan Prodigy and Immortal-Clan Builder — Uses superior roots and inherited experience to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator, reclaim the Adaptive Sword, and build the Li Clan into the basis of an immortal lineage 139 157 163.
• Border Commander and Kingdom Founder — Commands Tieshan Pass, gains military authority, forms a Golden Core through the Shuo Kingdom's fortune, and later oversees Great Tang's material expansion 233 250 315.
• Treasure Bone Ascetic — Pursues Buddhist and Daoist synthesis through wandering asceticism, earns the title Treasure Bone Crown Prince, and becomes an Arhat 336 341 347.
• Withering-Prospering Path — Rejects dependence on karmic stations after learning their connection to Dao Lords, forges the Withering and Flourishing Domain, and becomes the Withering-Prospering True Lord 413 420 441.
• Five Transformations and Dao Lord Conflict — Completes the Five Transformations, becomes a Dao Master and later a Dao Lord, confronts the four Dao Lords, and covertly undermines their control over the World Spirit 482 528 540.

Notable Quotes

“In this world... can one seek the Dao and become a True Lord?” 204

“Seven moltings through a thousand years and more,
Only then did one thread of heaven yield a Golden Core.” 250

“A path that bowed to no one, borrowed no karmic rank, and belonged entirely to himself.” 449