Biodata
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Li You (李右) |
| Alias(es) | Magic Hand Li You 2 43 |
| Species/Race | Human; Transcendent 13 14 |
| Gender | Male |
| Affiliation | Formerly the West District under King Snake; later travels alongside Bai Ye and Gao Bancheng's party; subsequently operates with Bai Ye's North Mang allies 7 44 801 1073 1120 |
| Occupation/Role | Former gambling-hall operator and gambling cheat; Transcendent combatant; Gao Bancheng's publicly reputed “number one expert” 3 7 25 357 |
| Status | Alive; survived alone in fallen North Mang and later recovered his identity after being drawn out of the Abyss; subsequently continues fighting beside Bai Ye's allies 995 1051 1073 1120 |
| First Appearance | Chapter 2 |
Power Progression
| Stage / Realm / Level | Chapter | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-awakening — “Magic Hand” gambling technique | 3 7 | Trained his right hand for more than ten years. Can identify cards by touch and manipulate a revolver cylinder to control when it fires. |
| Transcendent | 13 14 | Awakens after King Snake crushes his right hand and abandons him. Gains an invisible, steel-hard giant hand extending roughly three meters from his damaged right hand. |
| Scarlet Virus-mutated Magic Hand | 74 360 | The Mutated Scarlet Virus infects Magic Hand through its link to his mental power. After his hand recovers and he trains extensively, the ability manifests as a colossal transparent palm threaded with scarlet vein-like lines. |
| Fully realized Magic Hand | 360 | Channels nearly all of his mental power into a single massive descending palm, overpowering Fire Fang's fire serpent and crushing Fire Fang and more than a hundred Blackfire Raiders in one strike. |
| Crimson Vein Binding Hand | 455 | Uses a crimson palm technique as his strongest move against the Bear Herder Lord, crushing her into a cloud of blood mist. |
| Bearer of God-Taboo Object 144, [Curse's Mourning] | 864 888 995 1120 | Receives the God-Taboo Object from Bai Ye and wraps it around his right hand. It makes him unusually difficult to kill, but its curse repeatedly drives him into madness and forces him to isolate himself. Even under a Transcendence Restrictor, his bandage-wrapped body is described as comparable to an Undying Body. |
| Abyss-empowered demonic arm | 1073 | After his Abyss ordeal, manifests a colossal phantom demonic arm capable of carving a continent-spanning chasm and single-handedly halting an advancing Abyss Demon army. His Abyssal power is compared to God's Hand. |
Background / History
Li You fled from another settlement and was taken in by King Snake's West District. Before becoming a Transcendent, he relied on gambling tricks and his exceptionally trained right hand to survive; he claims to have once run gambling halls and earned large sums from them. His mother, waiting for him to return in success, is his foremost personal attachment 7 25.
As the West District's representative in the Fate Roulette contest for [Breath of Bones], Li You expected to manipulate the revolver through his cheating skills. Bai Ye instead escalated the game to a six-bullet gamble and secretly altered the gun during stopped time, leaving Li You defeated and unable to contain the artifact 2 3 4.
King Snake responded to the failure by ordering Li You executed. Li You briefly turned the tables by disarming an executioner and taking King Snake hostage, but King Snake's alloy-reinforced skull made the threat ineffective. King Snake crushed Li You's right hand with his mechanical arm and had him thrown into a garbage dump 7.
Rather than dying, Li You resolved to live for his mother. The psychological shock of losing the hand he had built his life around triggered his awakening as a Transcendent, partially restoring movement to the injured hand and manifesting his invisible giant hand 14.
After growing stronger alongside Bai Ye's allies, Li You confronts the Bear Herder Lord and kills her with his Crimson Vein Binding Hand, treating the attack as his strongest move 455.
During the later Forbidden Domain crisis, Li You reveals that his mother's spirit is trapped within a laboratory and stops Bai Ye from destroying it, demonstrating that his attachment to her remains powerful even after his rise in status 605.
After entering Gao Bancheng's service, Li You maintains the image of an aloof, overwhelmingly powerful master. His reputation protects him from challengers and political threats in Myriad Wealth Capital, but also leaves him terrified of having his actual limits exposed before Bai Ye arrives 357 358.
His prolonged training, access to rare mutated medicinal ingredients, and recovered hand eventually allow him to discover the true destructive power of Magic Hand. When the Blackfire Raiders threaten Gao Bancheng's caravan, Li You kills their leader Fire Fang and over a hundred raiders with a single enormous palm strike 360.
During the Steel Brotherhood crisis, Li You assists the effort to identify Pseudo-Humans among the Brotherhood's citizens, personally conducting inspections from the Chief Judge's former seat 842.
Following the collapse of North Mang, Li You remains behind enemy lines rather than endanger his companions while [Curse's Mourning] repeatedly leaves him unable to distinguish friend from foe. He later becomes trapped in the Abyss, but remembers his identity as Magic Hand Li You after being brought back into the light 995 1051.
After recovering from the Abyss, Li You becomes markedly quiet and withdrawn, but acts independently to protect his companions. He lays the dying Xiao Yi down before unleashing an immense phantom demonic arm that cuts off an Abyss Demon army with a continent-spanning chasm 1073.
Appearance
Li You is generally described as a ragged wastelander whose injured right hand is wrapped in dirty bandages.
- His right hand suffered a comminuted fracture at King Snake's hands and was prone to pain and reopening wounds during his early travels with Bai Ye 7 23.
- When the bandages are removed, the hand is notably pale from being bound too tightly 42.
- He wore a floral shirt during the Fate Roulette confrontation 3.
- His right hand had fully healed by his stay in Myriad Wealth Capital, but he deliberately retained the bandages as an excuse to avoid challenges beyond his ability 358.
- He later wraps God-Taboo Object 144, [Curse's Mourning], around his right hand beneath the bandages 864 888.
- Repeated injuries to his right hand forced him to rely heavily on his left hand, a habit that remained even after the original injury healed 1048.
- By the later conflicts, his bandage-wrapped body possesses resilience comparable to an Undying Body 1120.
Personality
Li You is openly afraid of death and highly motivated by comfort, money, and restoring his damaged right hand. He proposes taking Gray Soil Town's money to Dawn City so he can afford treatment, then bring his mother into the city to live well 14.
Despite his self-preserving instincts, he is capable of loyalty. He saves Bai Ye from gray sparrows, shares stolen supplies with him, and ultimately returns to stand beside him when King Snake's men surround them—even though he is visibly terrified 18 22.
He enjoys performing the role of an aloof powerhouse, but is inexperienced at maintaining it. When Bai Ye covertly arranges the capture of a peregrine falcon, Li You turns the incident into an exaggerated display of his “Magic Hand,” earning respect he does not fully understand how to handle 42 43.
Li You consciously uses his taciturn expert persona as protective coloring. He avoids banquets, challenges, and unnecessary disclosures because he fears that knowledge of his weaknesses could spread through Gao Bancheng's enemies or their spies 357 358.
Though initially convinced that he was deadweight among Transcendents, he trains obsessively to protect himself and overcome that inferiority. His victory over Fire Fang finally gives him genuine confidence in his own strength, even if he continues to conceal mental exhaustion by blaming old injuries 360.
His concern for others extends beyond Bai Ye. He accompanies Xiao Yi and Mu Linsen, attempts to help Xiao Yi resist Forbidden Energy's mental invasion, and immediately seeks Bai Ye's assistance when he recognizes that the problem exceeds his own understanding 801 804 805.
Following his time in the Abyss, Li You becomes deeply silent and withdrawn, yet his actions remain protective. He independently shields his allies from an Abyss Demon army despite the danger and scale of the threat 1073.
Abilities & Skills
Magic Hand
Li You's Transcendent ability manifests as an invisible giant hand extending from his injured right hand.
- The hand is hard as steel and can extend approximately three meters 13.
- It can open windows, carry objects such as letters, strike enemies, and launch powerful downward slaps 13 18 35.
- It kills gray sparrows in a single attack and can crush dozens of mutated black snakes at once 18 35.
- He uses it to injure several of King Snake's lackeys during the ambush against Bai Ye 23.
- Its use consumes mental strength and aggravates the injury in his right hand 20 23.
- Under severe strain, his hand can fail after only a few seconds of combat 35.
- The Mutated Scarlet Virus infects the ability through its connection to his mind, altering the palm's appearance and potential 74 360.
- After recovering his hand and training in Myriad Wealth Capital, he can form a massive transparent palm covered by scarlet vein-like patterns 360.
- At full output, the palm descends with enough force to overpower Fire Fang's fire serpent, leave an enormous five-fingered crater, and crush Fire Fang's force of more than one hundred raiders 360.
- Such an attack nearly drains his mental power completely, leaving him pale, dizzy, and in severe pain afterward 360.
- He develops the Crimson Vein Binding Hand, a crimson palm technique that crushes the Bear Herder Lord into blood mist 455.
Abyssal Power
After surviving in the Abyss and recovering his identity, Li You displays a far more destructive, Abyss-inflected manifestation of his hand.
- He can unleash a colossal phantom demonic arm rather than only the normal transparent Magic Hand 1073.
- The arm carves a chasm spanning a continent, cutting off an enormous Abyss Demon army in a single strike 1073.
- This manifestation is described as possessing Abyssal power comparable to God's Hand 1073.
Gambling and Sleight of Hand
Before awakening, Li You's “Magic Hand” was the name of his trained cheating technique.
- Can identify a playing card's suit by touch 3.
- Can spin a revolver cylinder to a chosen position, allowing him to influence when a loaded chamber fires 3.
- His speed is sufficient to disarm an armed subordinate before nearby witnesses can react 7.
Equipment / Items
- Right-hand bandages — Used to support his damaged hand and later incorporated into his intimidating “expert” act 13 42.
- Stolen supply sack — During the gray-sparrow attack, he gathers firearms, bullets, water, and cockroach protein bars from the Tire Tavern for himself and Bai Ye 18.
- Black Flood Dragon M300 sack — Helps conceal the sniper rifle in a tattered sack when Zodiac members appear 49.
- White Dove Ring — Uses the ring to contact Bai Ye when Xiao Yi's Forbidden Energy invasion begins to destabilize him 805.
- God-Taboo Object 144, [Curse's Mourning] — Given to him by Bai Ye and worn wrapped around his right hand. Its protection aids his survival, but its curse eventually destabilizes his mind 864 888 995. While he remains wrapped in bandages, his body later demonstrates resilience comparable to an Undying Body 1120.
Relationships
- Bai Ye — Initially his Fate Roulette opponent; later his closest traveling companion. Li You respects Bai Ye's apparent willingness to protect Gray Soil Town, repeatedly assists him, and calls him “Brother Ye,” though Bai Ye frequently exploits or mocks him 14 18 22 44. Even after North Mang falls, Li You remains there waiting for Bai Ye despite the danger, and later risks himself to assist Bai Ye during the conflict with Fang Xubai's Divine Domain 935 995. After his Abyss recovery, he continues protecting Bai Ye's companions against overwhelming threats 1073 1120.
- King Snake — Former commander and primary enemy. King Snake took Li You in, then ordered his execution, crushed his right hand, and abandoned him after the Fate Roulette loss 7. Li You seeks revenge, but Bai Ye ultimately kills King Snake 14 23.
- Li You's mother — His unnamed mother is his central motivation. He refuses to risk his life needlessly because he wants to return to her and eventually bring her to Dawn City 7 14 15. Her spirit later becomes trapped in a Forbidden Domain laboratory, compelling Li You to prevent Bai Ye from destroying it 605.
- Gao Bancheng — Employer and traveling companion who treats Li You as a powerful expert after the peregrine-falcon incident. Gao offers him a five-million payment and later gifts him a century-old mutated ginseng, though Bai Ye takes both rewards 44 48. In Myriad Wealth Capital, Gao relies on Li You as his “number one expert” and supplies him with rare medicinal ingredients 357 360.
- Li Xiao — A fellow Transcendent who mistakes Li You for a peer-level powerhouse. Li You accidentally offends him by assuming he is one of the Ten Kings 43. Li Xiao develops intense jealousy and rivalry after witnessing Li You's reputation and his defeat of Fire Fang, while Li You remains largely bewildered by the image others project onto him 359 360.
- Xiao Yi — A later companion. Li You visits Xiao Yi's master's grave with him, listens to his account of Chen Shou'an's life, and attempts to guide Xiao Yi through his Forbidden Energy-induced crisis 801 802 804 805. After the Abyss Demon army arrives, Li You places the critically weakened Xiao Yi down before confronting the army alone 1073.
- Mu Linsen — A traveling companion alongside Xiao Yi. Li You is patient with Mu Linsen's timidity and recognizes his deep loyalty to Bai Ye 801 804.
Story Role / Major Arcs
- Fate Roulette — Represents the West District against Bai Ye, relying on gambling expertise to contain [Breath of Bones]. His defeat leads directly to King Snake's punishment 2 3 7.
- Transcendent Awakening — Survives his disposal by King Snake, awakens Magic Hand, and approaches Bai Ye with an alliance proposal against King Snake and Tan Jie 7 13 14.
- Fall of Gray Soil Town — Saves Bai Ye from gray sparrows, helps him survive the town's collapse, and returns to support him against King Snake's ambush despite initially attempting to flee 18 22 23.
- Black Mountain Journey — Travels with Bai Ye among Dawn City's captured wastelanders, fights mutated snakes with Magic Hand, and continues acting as Bai Ye's combat support 26 35.
- Gao Bancheng's Party — Becomes the public-facing “expert” of Bai Ye's pair after Bai Ye secretly uses Time Stop to place a peregrine falcon in his grasp. The reputation gained from the incident earns him deference from Gao Bancheng's group 42 43 44.
- Myriad Wealth Capital — Maintains his fabricated master persona in Gao Bancheng's territory, using his bandaged hand and silent demeanor to deter challengers while training relentlessly in private 357 358.
- Blackfire Raiders — Is forced to intervene after Fire Fang overwhelms Li Xiao. He discovers his recovered, Scarlet Virus-mutated Magic Hand can annihilate Fire Fang and the Blackfire Raiders in a single strike 358 359 360.
- Bear Herder Lord Conflict — Uses the Crimson Vein Binding Hand as his strongest move and kills the Bear Herder Lord with a crimson palm strike 455.
- Forbidden Domain Crisis — Learns that his mother's spirit is trapped in the laboratory at the center of the crisis and prevents Bai Ye from destroying it 605.
- Steel Brotherhood Infiltration — Travels with Xiao Yi and Mu Linsen, visits Chen Shou'an's grave, and attempts to support Xiao Yi as Forbidden Energy erodes his reason 801 802 804 805.
- Steel Brotherhood Pseudo-Human Crisis — Helps inspect Steel Brotherhood citizens for Pseudo-Human infiltration after the conflict destabilizes the camp 842.
- War Against the Mechanical God Cult — Joins the effort to destroy robot factories with Li Xiao and other allies. He suffers further injuries during the campaign, with [Curse's Mourning] protecting his right hand 888.
- Fall of North Mang and Abyss Recovery — Remains alone in North Mang after its fall because the curse's madness makes him dangerous to his allies. After becoming lost in the Abyss, he eventually recalls and reclaims his identity as Magic Hand Li You 995 1051.
- Abyss Demon Army — After returning from the Abyss, uses a colossal phantom demonic arm to carve a continent-spanning chasm and halt an advancing demon army alone 1073.
- Transcendence Restrictor Conflict — Protects Bai Ye alongside An Xiaotong; despite the Restrictor, his bandage-wrapped body can withstand attacks with Undying Body-like resilience 1120.
Notable Quotes
“Hehe... I get to live another day! How wonderful!” 7
“I may be greedy for life and afraid of death, but I'm even more afraid of spending the rest of my life drowning in regret and self-reproach for abandoning a friend and escaping alone.” 22
Trivia
- Bai Ye repeatedly calls him “Li Zuo” instead of Li You, despite being corrected 19.
- Li You considers “curly noodles”—instant noodles—to be a luxury delicacy from city life 25.
- He mistakenly assumes Li Xiao is one of the Ten Kings, creating an awkward confrontation that Li Xiao interprets as deliberate provocation 43.
- His right hand had healed by the time he lived in Myriad Wealth Capital, but he continued wearing bandages so he could cite an old injury if forced to avoid a dangerous fight 358.
- Fire Fang identifies him as a wanted figure with a bounty of 330 million, partly due to exaggerated rumors that he suppressed two Zodiac members alone on Black Mountain 359.
- An impostor posing as Li You is exposed because it gestures naturally with its right hand, whereas the real Li You developed the habit of relying on his left hand after so many right-hand injuries 1048.