Li Canghai

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Li Canghai (厉苍海)
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Flowing Wind Martial Hall
Occupation/Role	Martial-hall instructor; Shi Mu's martial arts teacher
Cultivation	Mid-stage Houtian Martial Artist 7
First Appearance	7

Background / History

Li Canghai was a renowned Flowing Wind Martial Hall instructor when Shi Mu hired him for private instruction at his estate. After impressing Shi Mu with a single saber demonstration, Li trained him for two hours each day, beginning with the Thirteen Wind-Galloping Styles before adding the Crushing Stone Fist. 7

He taught Shi Mu that martial skills and internal methods must support one another: martial skills determine combat ability, while internal methods provide the foundation needed to enter the Houtian realm and cultivate true qi. 7

Recognizing Shi Mu's unusual endurance, rapid recovery, and talent for external martial arts, Li escalated his training from soybean and gravel fist conditioning to the dangerous Iron Refining Method. He supervised Shi Mu's daily medicinal baths, weighted exercises, and repeated staff strikes over roughly half a year. 8 9 13 17 20

Li personally witnessed Shi Mu break through to the eleventh layer of Body Tempering and expected him to secure first place for Flowing Wind Martial Hall in the Four Great Martial Halls competition. 12 20 During that competition, he was astonished to discover that Shi Mu had cultivated the Wind-Galloping Blade Technique to the level of Six Slashes in One Breath without informing him. 23

After Shi Mu awakened the Stone Monkey waste bloodline, Li concluded that Shi Mu had no future value as a cultivator. He advised Shi Mu to abandon martial arts and barred him from returning to Flowing Wind Martial Hall. 27

Appearance

Li Canghai is a lean, bronze-skinned man with sharp, bright eyes and an air of hardened shrewdness. 7

• Despite his lean build, he possesses a muscular and well-developed physique. 20
• His physical strength is exceptional even without true qi; he can lift a five-hundred-jin stone lock overhead. 7

Personality

Li is an exacting and practical instructor. He emphasizes the limits, risks, and resource costs of cultivation rather than offering empty reassurance; before teaching the Iron Refining Method, he explicitly warned Shi Mu that it could cost him his life. 8 9

He takes visible pride in his physical strength and martial attainments, but he is also capable of candid self-assessment. He admitted that he had only barely entered the Houtian realm after reaching the twelfth Body Tempering layer and taking a second Spirit Qi Pill in his twenties. 7 8

His support for Shi Mu is conditional. He invested heavily in Shi Mu's training while expecting results for the martial hall, but abandoned him once the Stone Monkey bloodline made further advancement seem unprofitable. 20 27

“Someone who only cultivates martial skills can't even enter the Houtian realm… On the other hand, someone who only cultivates internal methods, no matter how deep their true qi, might still be beaten to death by a lower-ranked opponent.” 7

Abilities & Skills

Houtian Martial Arts

Li is a mid-stage Houtian Martial Artist capable of using true qi, though much of his demonstrated instruction emphasizes his raw physical ability. 7

• Reached the Houtian realm only after attaining the twelfth Body Tempering layer and taking a second Spirit Qi Pill. 8
• Can lift a five-hundred-jin stone lock without true qi. 7
• His physical capability was considered exceptional even among Houtian Martial Artists in Feng City. 7

Thirteen Wind-Galloping Styles

Li specializes in the Wutu-level Thirteen Wind-Galloping Styles, a saber art based on borrowing the wind's force and accelerating continuously from one strike to the next. 7

• Demonstrated six cuts in one breath without true qi, slicing a wooden stake into seven pieces with a single apparent strike. 7
• States that he can perform nine cuts in one breath when using true qi. 7
• Claims to have killed two martial artists of the same rank in a single battle using the technique. 7
• Spent more than two decades training the art and ultimately brought it to Great Completion. 13 25
• The technique's ultimate level is thirteen cuts in one breath; Li considers this beyond his own attainment. 7

Crushing Stone Fist

The Crushing Stone Fist is Li's external martial skill, relying on strengthened fists and overwhelming physical force rather than complex forms. 7

• Demonstrated its power by launching a stone lock into the air and shattering it with one punch without true qi. 7
• Requires brutal external conditioning and substantial natural strength. 7
• Reached Great Completion after focusing on the technique for over a decade. 25
• Taught Shi Mu to condition his fists first in soybeans, then gravel, while treating injuries with specialized ointment. 8 9

Iron Refining Method

Li possesses an unorthodox body-tempering method that treats the body as iron or stone through repeated “hammering” and medicinal treatment. 9

• Requires daily medicinal baths and severe physical conditioning; neglecting the baths can cause the body to fail under the training. 9
• Used weighted sandbags and strikes to Shi Mu's acupoints with a leather-padded rod. 13
• Personally trained Shi Mu through the method for half a year, enabling Shi Mu's breakthrough to the eleventh Body Tempering layer. 20
• Considered Shi Mu's physique unusually suited to the method, noting that the training nearly exhausted him despite his own Houtian cultivation. 13

Let-Go Blade Technique

Li regards the Let-Go Blade Technique as one of his personal trump cards. 13

• He only barely grasped it after more than twenty years of training in the Wind-Galloping Blade Technique. 13
• Promised to teach it to Shi Mu if Shi Mu brought substantial benefits to Flowing Wind Martial Hall. 13

Relationships

• Shi Mu — Private student and most promising disciple. Li taught him the Thirteen Wind-Galloping Styles, Crushing Stone Fist, and Iron Refining Method, then expelled him after his Stone Monkey waste bloodline was revealed. 7 9 20 27
• Instructor Min — Fellow Flowing Wind Martial Hall instructor. They jointly observed Shi Mu during the Four Great Martial Halls competition. 20 23
• Feng Lengchan — Tianlu Martial Hall master and fellow martial-hall leader; Li attended the Four Great Martial Halls competition as Flowing Wind Martial Hall's instructor. 20
• Li Yunfeng and Sun Jun — Flowing Wind Martial Hall disciples whom Li accompanied alongside Shi Mu to the Four Great Martial Halls competition. 20

Story Role / Major Arcs

Shi Mu's Early Training

Li serves as Shi Mu's principal martial instructor in Feng City, giving him structured training in saber work, fist techniques, body tempering, and the distinction between external martial skills and internal methods. 7 8

Iron Refining and Competition Preparation

He intensifies Shi Mu's conditioning to prepare him for the Kaiyuan Martial Academy recruitment and the Four Great Martial Halls competition, keeping Shi Mu's eleventh-layer breakthrough secret from the other disciples. 9 12 13

Four Great Martial Halls Competition

Li leads Flowing Wind Martial Hall's representatives to Tianlu Martial Hall. He warns Shi Mu about Wang Tianhao's Blazing Fire Flame and advises him to close the distance rather than engage the spear technique directly. 20 23

Stone Monkey Bloodline Revelation

Li's mentorship ends after the Pulse-Seeking Envoy identifies Shi Mu's Stone Monkey waste bloodline. Viewing Shi Mu as unable to progress meaningfully beyond the Martial Disciple stage, Li withdraws all support and orders him not to return. 27