Li Long

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Li Long (李龙)
Alias(es)	Holy Son of Spirit Hall; Pope Qian Shengyuan's personal disciple
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Spirit Hall; Papal Palace
Occupation/Role	Soul Master; Holy Son of Spirit Hall
Martial Soul	Iron Staff, also recorded as the Iron Rod
Innate Soul Power	Level 3
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Level 10	1	Reached after three and a half years of cultivation from innate level-three soul power; became eligible for his first soul hunt.
Level 13 — One-Ring Soul Master	3	Absorbed a 500-year Mighty Vajra soul ring, exceeding the accepted 423-year first-ring limit; gained Mighty Vajra Staff.
Level 15	8	Broke through following a C-rank hunt against a hundred-year Berserk Boar.
Level 20	12	Reached the second-ring bottleneck after six months of training and C-rank missions.
Level 24 — Two-Ring Grand Soul Master	24	Absorbed a thousand-year Gale Giant Ape soul ring; gained Gale Giant Force.
Level 25	28	Reached during the first month of seclusion through medicinal baths and the Metal-Attribute Soul Power Guidance Method.
Level 26	28	Began integrating his guidance method into combat training.
Level 27	28	Added weighted soul power circulation training.
Level 28	28	His meridians and soul power circulation underwent a marked qualitative improvement.
Level 29	28	Encountered and later overcame a bottleneck after following Qian Shengyuan's advice to temporarily focus on body training.
Level 30	28	Completed half a year of seclusion and became eligible for a third soul ring.
Level 34 — Three-Ring Soul Elder	31	Absorbed a 6,500-year Titan Giant Ape subspecies soul ring and gained Titan Force.

Background / History

Li Long is a transmigrator who arrived on the Douluo Continent roughly two centuries before the era he expected. He awakened an ordinary Iron Staff martial soul at age six, with only innate level-three soul power. Spirit Hall recruited him due to his weapon-type martial soul, and he responded by cultivating relentlessly rather than accepting the limitations of his aptitude. 1

His knowledge of the future was largely rendered unusable by the altered era, but he retained knowledge of whale glue's body-tempering properties. He secretly used lower-grade whale glue for years, building a physique far beyond that expected of a child Soul Master. 1 2

Appearance

Li Long is initially described as a handsome youth with a face that still retains some childishness, though his eyes are notably more somber than those of his peers. After half a year of seclusion, he grows taller, stronger, and carries a composed, heavy presence. 1 11 28

• Usually carries his martial soul in its compact short-staff form behind his waist. 15 17
• His Iron Staff expands to roughly one and a half meters in normal combat. 1 17
• Mighty Vajra Staff coats his body and weapon in golden light. 3
• Gale Giant Force adds cyan wind pressure around the weapon. 32
• Titan Force can enlarge the Iron Rod to nearly three zhang, leaving it covered in purple-gold patterns. 32

Personality

Li Long is disciplined, pragmatic, and unusually willing to gamble on high-risk opportunities. Recognizing that innate level-three soul power leaves him at a disadvantage, he compensates through body tempering, medicinal baths, lengthy meditation, and repeated staff practice. He treats physical conditioning and combat fundamentals as the foundation needed to capitalize on his soul skills. 18 21 28

He is also analytical in battle. Li Long openly recognizes his weakness against agility-type opponents, trains his reactions to compensate, and adapts his fighting style to different martial souls rather than relying only on brute force. 4 9 19

Despite his ambition for power and status, he remembers those who helped him. After becoming the Pope's personal disciple, his first request is for Fanolan to receive recognition for his support in Notting City. 26 27

Abilities & Skills

Iron Staff Martial Soul

Li Long possesses a metal-element tool martial soul, variously called the Iron Staff or Iron Rod. It can shrink to a small stick when not in use and expand to a one-and-a-half-meter combat staff when infused with soul power. 1

• Uses the staff's range and leverage to control space against multiple opponents. 4
• Favors direct, overwhelming strikes while retaining precise defensive timing. 15 17
• Can freely alter the staff's size and length within its normal range. 1

Mighty Vajra Staff

His first soul skill, obtained from a 500-year Mighty Vajra, imbues both his body and staff with Vajra brute force. 3

• Temporarily increases his strength and defense by 200%. 3
• Doubles the staff's weight and the basic destructive force of each swing. 3
• Enabled him to breach Fanolan's defensive soul skill at only level 13 and defeat two-ring opponents in the tournament. 3 17 18
• Consumes significant soul power and stamina; at his initial one-ring stage, prolonged use caused increasing exhaustion. 3

Gale Giant Force

His second soul skill, obtained from a thousand-year Gale Giant Ape, combines strength, speed, and area control. 24

• Increases overall strength and movement speed by 300%. 24
• Coats the Iron Rod in wind pressure, allowing swings to create shockwaves. 24
• Exerts area pressure on targets within five chi. 24
• Lasts approximately thirty minutes and consumes roughly half as much soul power as Mighty Vajra Staff. 24

Titan Force

His third soul skill, obtained from a 6,500-year Titan Giant Ape subspecies, is Li Long's decisive trump card. 31

• Increases his overall strength by 1,000%. 31
• Adds a further 100% increase to the stacked effects of his first and second soul skills. 31
• Allows the Iron Rod's size and weight to expand freely; its maximum length is three zhang. 31
• Raises the weapon's base destructive power in proportion to its volume. 31
• Reduces his speed and can currently be maintained for only about fifteen seconds. 31
• Using all three soul skills together produced a strike approaching the full-force destructive power of a five-ring Soul King, though it drained nearly 70% of his soul power. 32

Physical Conditioning and Staff Technique

Li Long's body tempering is the basis for his ability to absorb unusually old soul rings and wield his increasingly heavy martial soul. 2 25

• His physique had reached the level of a two-ring Great Soul Master before obtaining his first ring. 2
• By the tournament, his body could withstand attacks from a two-ring agility-type opponent with only superficial marks. 10
• Practices reaction drills, moving-target strikes, weighted staff swings, and sustained combat training. 9 18 28
• Uses the Metal-Attribute Soul Power Guidance Method to improve soul power circulation and cultivation efficiency. 26 28

Equipment / Items

• Level Two authorization token — Grants unrestricted access to Spirit Hall resources after Qian Shengyuan raises Li Long's resource allocation. 22
• Golden personal-disciple token — Bears the Six-Winged Angel relief and marks his authority as Qian Shengyuan's personal disciple. 25
• Storage ring — Contains high-grade medicinal herbs, body-tempering materials, recovery potions, and the Metal-Attribute Soul Power Guidance Method. 26
• Ordinary deacon badge — Worn during his registration and tournament appearances before his elevation within the Papal Palace. 13 15

Relationships

• Fanolan — Chief Deacon of the Notting City branch and Li Long's earliest mentor. He approved Li Long's first soul hunt, supported the risky absorption of the 500-year first ring, and guided him through the probationary-deacon path. 1 3 5
• Qian Shengyuan — Pope of Spirit Hall and Li Long's master. Initially skeptical of Li Long's low innate soul power, he later provides resources, arranges his higher-year soul hunts, accepts him as a personal disciple, and appoints him Holy Son. 11 22 25 32 33
• Mo Yuan — A level-93 Titled Douluo assigned to escort Li Long to the Star Dou Great Forest for his second soul ring. He assists in identifying and subduing a suitable Gale Giant Ape. 23 24
• Ling Su — Spirit Hall special envoy who verifies Li Long's first-ring achievement and presents him with the probationary-deacon route. 4 5
• Zhou Ke — Two-ring tournament opponent whom Li Long defeats by shattering his Iron Wall Spear Formation with Mighty Vajra Staff. 17 18
• Qin Tian — Three-ring opponent who defeats Li Long by forcing him out of bounds. Their match earns mutual respect. 20 21

Story Role / Major Arcs

Notting City Branch Hall

Li Long begins as Spirit Hall's most promising young member in Notting City despite his low innate soul power. He surpasses the accepted first-ring age limit by absorbing a 500-year Mighty Vajra ring, then earns probationary-deacon status through escort and extermination missions. 1 3 5 9

Youth Soul Master Tournament

After reaching level 20, Li Long travels to Spirit City and enters the Youth Soul Master Tournament. He dominates the one-ring division without exposing his soul ring or using a soul skill, then defeats multiple two-ring opponents after voluntarily challenging the higher division. 13 15 16 19

His winning streak ends against the three-ring Qin Tian, whose area-covering third soul skill forces Li Long out of bounds. The performance nevertheless draws Qian Shengyuan's direct attention and leads to a summons at the Papal Palace. 20 21

Personal Disciple and Seclusion

Qian Shengyuan funds Li Long's thousand-year second ring and personally accepts him as a disciple after the successful absorption. Li Long then spends half a year in seclusion, rising from level 24 to level 30 while mastering the combined use of his first two soul skills. 24 25 28

Third Ring and Holy Son Enthronement

Li Long absorbs a 6,500-year third soul ring and gains Titan Force, bringing him to level 34. In a full-power test, his three-skill combination cracks Qian Shengyuan's protective shield. 30 31 32

He is formally enthroned as Spirit Hall's Holy Son after defeating five three-ring Soul Elders of the same realm without using soul skills. 33

Notable Quotes

“I'm not afraid of death. What I fear is reaching the end of my life without even having the courage to take a shot at it.” 22

“No matter how strong the first soul skill is, it's only an outburst. If your fundamentals aren't good enough, you won't even be able to seize the chance to unleash that outburst.” 18

Trivia

• Li Long is the only confirmed Soul Master to successfully absorb a 500-year first soul ring; subsequent attempts by others failed. 14
• His 500-year first ring initially led Qian Shengyuan to consider raising Spirit Hall's official first-ring safety standard, but the proposal was withdrawn because Li Long's success could not be replicated. 14
• Qian Shengyuan originally judged the significance of Li Long's breakthrough in the absorption limit to be greater than the significance of Li Long himself. 10