Li Ziran

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Li Ziran (李自然)
Alias(es)	Li
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Independent Organ Witch Doctor; formerly accepted a three-month probationary role with the Thornflower Slave-Trading Corps 13
Occupation/Role	Witch Doctor, organ-transplant specialist, corpse trader, and Undead Apprentice
Status	Alive; evading an Elven manhunt in Mading’er Town 50
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Witch Doctor Apprentice	5	Remains at the apprentice level because he lacks the Devouring Curse; excels at Frog Transformation but cannot properly sense or manipulate the energy needed for Healing Wave.
Spirit World opened	8	While being crushed by a Snake Woman, he hears “Gulubalam,” receives a surge of spiritual power, and opens an inner Spirit World with a vast spiritual reserve.
Devouring Curse awakened	8 23	The awakening is later identified as the Devouring Curse, a technique particularly effective against snake-like creatures.
Undead Apprentice	19	Karen forcibly exposes him to the Corpse Dragon’s necromantic network, granting him the inheritance and foundational knowledge of an Undead Mage.
Soul Weaving / Snake Transformation	24 25	Soul Weaving with Annie gives him access to Snake Script and the Snake Transformation Spell; he successfully transforms a Fishman into a water snake and devours its soul.
Sustained Serpentine Array control	26	He repeatedly transforms Fire Elephants into serpents and devours their souls to replenish the spiritual power sustaining his array.

Background

Li Ziran was a surgical doctor and an outstanding science-and-engineering university student before arriving in the wasteland. His medical training and systematic approach to experimentation let him understand and construct magical arrays rapidly; he mastered Frog Transformation in three days despite not understanding every principle behind it. 5

He was trained in Witch Doctor techniques by Watt, an amphibian-frog master of curses. Both teacher and student lacked the Devouring Curse, leaving them unable to advance through the conventional Witch Doctor hierarchy. After leaving Watt, Li survived for more than two years by using organ transplantation to build wealth, clients, and connections. 4 5

His early work included replacing an elderly necromancer’s heart with a griffin heart, allowing the recipient to command lightning. The successful operation gained Li a corpse-buying contact and potion knowledge, establishing the business model he would pursue across the wasteland. 5

Appearance

Li Ziran is a small, physically unimposing human who often conceals his equipment beneath a grimy Witch Doctor’s robe. When operating, he reverses the robe to reveal a clean white surgical coat and an organized set of tools. 10 14

• Carries a wand or staff for constructing Transformation Arrays. 15 25
• Keeps frogs and transformed captives tied to red cords around his waist. 15 27
• Uses a mithril-enhanced scalpel capable of transmitting spiritual power and sensing nearby elemental fluctuations. 5 35

Personality

Li Ziran is cautious, analytical, and intensely pragmatic. He habitually presents himself as weaker and poorer than he is, using humility, politeness, and carefully chosen misinformation to make enemies underestimate him. When direct combat is unfavorable, he relies on terrain, prepared undead, magical arrays, and an opponent’s greed. 4 6

He treats survival, knowledge, and useful connections as higher priorities than immediate profit. He is willing to deceive clients, dissect enemies, trade corpses, and use living beings as surgical material, but he also follows personal rules: he repaid Barbaro’s ransom, rejected Wolf’s offer to become a lifelong slave, and refused to take potions from Nicole that he did not need. 5 35 39 45

Although he frequently suppresses his conscience in the name of survival, Annie’s trust and gratitude affect him deeply. He accepts the danger of helping her people because she opened his Spirit World, taught him the Devouring Curse, and aided his dragon-tooth work. 23 24

Abilities & Skills

Organ Transplantation

Li Ziran is an accomplished Organ Witch Doctor specializing in transplanting, preserving, modifying, and reconnecting magical organs. His procedures combine anatomy, transformation magic, potions, spiritual perception, and magical materials. 5 10

• Transplanted a Medusa’s Petrifying Eye into Barbaro, creating a functioning petrification ability. 4
• Modified and transplanted another Petrifying Eye into the Fishman Guobu, raising the recipient’s status within the slave corps. 10 11
• Replaced a necromancer’s heart with a griffin heart, granting the recipient lightning-commanding power. 5
• Preserved and implanted the unstable Dragon Heart into Annie as a temporary means of preventing its dissipation. 31
• Understands neural networks, magical meridians, blood replacement, organ fusion, and corpse preservation. 10 32 36

Frog Transformation

Li Ziran’s most reliable spell is Frog Transformation, which he can construct through magical arrays and reverse with his blood. 4 5

• Used it to restore Barbaro from frog form after the eye transplant. 4
• Transforms opponents, captives, and corpses into compact frogs for restraint, concealment, transport, or sale. 9 15 33
• Can cast several Frog Transformation Arrays in quick succession after his spiritual growth. 28
• Powerful opponents can destroy his Transformation Arrays with superior spiritual power. 28

Devouring Curse

The Devouring Curse allows Li Ziran to extract and consume souls, converting them into spiritual or mental power. It becomes the foundation of his rapid growth after his Spirit World opens. 8 25 28

• Particularly effective against snakes and snake-like creatures. 23
• Can replenish his depleted Spirit World by consuming a transformed target’s soul. 25
• Enabled him to drain Snake Women, Fire Elephants, and other weaker foes in rapid succession. 26 28
• Overuse leaves victims alive but mindless and horrifies Li when he recognizes the scale of the damage he has caused. 26
• Cannot safely challenge vastly stronger souls; a fragment of the Cannon Commander’s soul nearly collapses his own Spirit World. 25

Snake Transformation Spell

Through Soul Weaving with Annie, Li Ziran learned Snake Script and gained the ability to transform other species into snakes. 24 25

• First used the spell on the Cannon Commander, partially transforming the Fire Elephant into a water python. 25
• The spell can affect or expose the target’s soul as well as its body. 25
• Works in combination with the Devouring Curse, allowing Li to transform a target and then consume its soul. 25
• Requires complicated Snake Script and precise array construction; panic and insufficient spiritual control can cause it to fail. 25
• Defeated Hogg only after conventional arrays failed, using a simpler physical circle arrangement to trigger the transformation. 28

Undead Knowledge

Karen’s psychic intrusion gives Li Ziran a basic Undead Mage inheritance and the status of an Undead Apprentice. 19

• Understands that undead bodies operate through necromantic energy networks rather than living nerves. 19
• Learned to perceive the Corpse Dragon’s summoning formation and the flow of its necromantic power. 19
• Combined petrification and necromantic power to help create the Corpse Dragon’s Black Nightmare Fangs. 20 21
• Still lacks systematic necromantic training and seeks knowledge of Corpse Witches, soul replacement, and the Necromancer’s Rope. 32 39

Surgical and Magical Perception

His tools and spiritual power let Li Ziran examine magical anatomy beyond ordinary sight. 5 35

• Uses mithril instruments to channel spiritual power into precise surgical work. 5 10
• Upgraded his scalpel with mithril, allowing him to sense elemental fluctuations near its edge. 35
• Identified valuable Moon Elf Lunar Meridians and Elfstones from decayed corpses that others considered worthless. 36 37

Equipment

• Mithril surgical kit — scalpels, scissors, forceps, needles, and other specialized instruments used in magical operations. 5 10
• Mithril-enhanced scalpel — upgraded with ten carats of mithril for finer spiritual and elemental perception. 35
• Wand/staff — used to direct Transformation Spells and array construction. 15 25
• Potions — maintains anesthetics, Sacred Potion, Revival Potion, coagulants, Volcanic Potion, and other surgical reagents. 5 10 31
• Red cords and frog restraints — used to bind transformed captives around his waist. 15 27
• Necromancer’s Rope — used with his blood to reinforce a transformation and capture Hogg in frog form. 29
• Corpse Witch organs — acquired for future trade and study at the Undead Nest. 32

Relationships

• Watt — Li Ziran’s amphibian-frog teacher and a master of curses. Their shared lack of the Devouring Curse limits both of their advancement. 4 5
• Barbaro — Wolfman client and beneficiary of Li’s first documented Petrifying Eye transplant. Barbaro considers Li a trusted friend; Li later sends forty silver coins through the Silver Exchange for his ransom. 4 35
• Karen / Kevin — slave-corp captain, recruiter, Psychic Mage, and eventual enemy. Karen grants Li undead knowledge through a coercive mental intrusion, repeatedly manipulates him, and is later defeated; his soul is held in a Corpse Witch. 11 19 31
• Annie — Medusa ally who helped open Li’s Spirit World, taught him the Devouring Curse and Snake Transformation, and joined him in Soul Weaving. Li implants the Dragon Heart into her to preserve it. 23 24 31
• Medusa girl — a royal Medusa whose eye Li removed and transplanted. She petrifies Li in retaliation, threatens him with Crushing Stone Punishment, and forces a tense temporary alliance. 14 15
• Hogg — Karen’s blond fire-mage subordinate. Initially skeptical of Li’s work, Hogg later attempts to subdue him for Karen; Li exploits Hogg’s resentment and transforms him into a frog. 10 11 28
• Nicole Malando — former patient whose congenital heart disease Li treated with a Wind Elf heart. Now the city lord of Bailando City, she seeks Li’s protection, offers marriage, and entrusts him with a dangerous Ancient Elf operation. 40 45 46
• Horse Dwarf — guide and assistant in Mading’er Town. He becomes increasingly fearful of Li after witnessing his execution of the Minotaur. 33 37 38
• Wolf — a desperate would-be client who seeks an organ transplant after hearing of Barbaro’s Petrifying Eye. Li refuses to exploit Wolf’s offer of lifelong slavery and transforms him into a frog when he becomes obstructive. 39

Story Role / Major Arcs

Gray Wolf Territory and the Petrifying Eye

Li begins as a wandering Witch Doctor collecting corpses and negotiating with Barbaro. He performs a Medusa-eye transplant, stages a partial surgical failure to protect his profit, and deliberately allows himself to be petrified to test the eye’s power. 1 4

Swamp Journey and Thornflower Recruitment

After surviving an attempted robbery by Ram-Headed laborers, Li enters the swamp and opens his Spirit World while nearly killed by Snake Women. His successful Fishman eye transplant earns him a place in Karen’s Thornflower Slave-Trading Corps, though he intends to exploit the organization rather than remain loyal to it. 6 8 11 13

Corpse Dragon Operation

Li is recruited to alter a Corpse Dragon’s teeth for the slave-catching operation. Karen forces undead knowledge into his mind, and Li’s work with Medusa petrification and necromantic power produces the Black Nightmare Fangs. 15 19 20 21

Escape from Karen and the Swamp

Li cooperates with Annie, learns Snake Transformation through Soul Weaving, and uses soul-devouring magic against the Fire Elephant forces. Karen’s larger plan consumes the slave corps and the Corpse Dragon, but Li eventually defeats Karen and gains control of the swamp’s remaining resources. 24 26 29 31

Mading’er Trade and Corpse Scavenging

Li travels to Mading’er Town to sell captives, buy supplies, upgrade his scalpel, and search for necromantic materials. He profits from Moon Elf remains, extracts Lunar Meridians and Elfstones, and kills the Minotaur after the butcher attempts to conceal an Elfstone. 33 35 36 37

Nicole and the Ancient Elf Operation

Nicole reunites with Li and reveals that she has become Bailando City’s lord. Li agrees to help enhance her through an Ancient Elf operation, but the Elves trace the missing Ancient Elf to Mading’er. Li escapes the Windmill in snake form while hiding Nicole and the wounded Elf inside his body, leaving him trapped underground as Jon’s forces search the town. 40 45 46 49 50