Li Qingjue

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Li Qingjue was originally called Nannan and is the younger sister of Li Fan. After her brother was taken away, she survived through begging and retained only his bronze ring as a memento. When she tried to see him at a Feathered Immortal Dynasty relay station, she was refused, humiliated, and left exhausted in the rain. 4

Tan Lin formally accepted her as his disciple and renamed her Li Qingjue. He chose “Jue” for her unchanging resolve in despair and “Qing” in the hope that her Dao heart would remain clear and her spirit unclouded. 7

Her earliest motivation for cultivation was reclaiming her brother’s remains and avenging the people who exploited him. Watching Li Fan’s corpse traded to the Heaven’s Tyrant Bloodline taught her that the weak cannot even protect the dead they love. 9

Although she began with a Mortal Body considered almost unfit for cultivation, Li Qingjue’s comprehension was extraordinary. She located her Sea of Bitterness in half an incense stick’s time after receiving Tan Lin’s instruction, a feat far beyond ordinary prodigies. 8

After Tan Lin’s remnant-soul incarnation disappeared and later reincarnated, Li Qingjue spent decades searching for traces of both her master and brother. Her loneliness, repeated persecutions, and reliance on devouring transformed her into the feared “Ruthless” figure of the Ancient Roads. 54 66 67

Her subsequent reunion with Tan Lin did not change her view of their bond. She insists that “once a master, always a master,” regarding his initial guidance as the foundation that enabled her to survive and become the Empress. 233

Appearance

Li Qingjue first appears as a thin, underfed little girl with twin braids, worn clothing, and a body weakened by hunger, injury, and hardship. 8 21 Years of cultivation transform her into a mature, graceful woman whose demonic aura and Bronze Mask conceal a face described as capable of astonishing even Gu Qingying. 37

• Long black hair, later bound simply with a wooden hairpin. 37 41
• Usually wears a black dress after leaving the Drill Tower. 41
• Publicly wore a Bronze Mask that blocked divine-sense probing until its hidden protective power activated against a Supreme Weapon and the mask disintegrated. 34 41 218
• Her unveiled face is repeatedly described as peerlessly beautiful, with an innate coldness and loneliness that contrasts with her devastating cultivation. 158 243 265
• She later reforges a Ghost Face Mask from Li Fan’s relics, immortal gold fragments, Emperor Dao Laws, Chaos Origin, and her grief. Its expression smiles through tears and cries through smiles. 365
• Her eyes retain clarity and persistence despite the demonic qi surrounding her. 37
• After attaining the Dao, she is commonly wreathed in restrained Chaos Immortal Light and carries an unfathomably cold imperial majesty. 362 385

Personality

Li Qingjue is exceptionally stubborn, disciplined, and enduring. She withstands painful knowledge transmission, repeated failures to open her Sea of Bitterness, starvation, and life-threatening combat without abandoning cultivation. 8 11 12

Her grief over Li Fan gradually becomes ruthlessness. She learns to kill, scavenge, and refine enemies’ origins as necessities of survival, but she does not lose her capacity for gratitude or compassion. She offers fruit to Tan Lin despite forgetting that he cannot eat, and later protects the villagers who once kept her alive. 12 13 41

She is deeply attached to Tan Lin, viewing him as both master and family. His absences leave her lonely, yet she increasingly learns to act independently, protect his secrets, and support his decisions even when they separate them. 18 35 38

Her solitude on the Ancient Roads sharpens her into an emotionally restrained and terrifying cultivator who often views hostile geniuses as sources of Origin. Even so, she retains a firm boundary against needless slaughter, particularly toward humans, partly because she does not wish to disappoint Tan Lin. 66 67 294

Li Qingjue is capable of intense jealousy, grief, and possessiveness where Tan Lin is concerned, but usually suppresses these feelings behind a cold exterior. The destruction of the Bronze Mask, Tan Lin’s sacrifices, and his disappearances repeatedly expose the vulnerability beneath her composure. 218 293 299 370

As the Devouring Heaven Great Emperor, she remains ruthless toward hostile Supreme Beings and those connected to her master’s suffering, yet demonstrates restraint rather than pursuing enemies into their Restricted Areas recklessly. She also shows compassion by restoring an impoverished Ancient Star and quietly guiding its human civilization. 355 365

Abilities & Skills

Devouring Source Scripture / Devouring Heaven Demon Dao

Li Qingjue cultivates a personalized form of the Devouring Source Scripture refined through Tan Lin’s instruction and her own insights. It allows her to extract and assimilate origin sources from corpses and defeated enemies. 11 13 36

• Refined seven origin sources during her first three months of wilderness cultivation, beginning the transformation of her Mortal Body. 13
• Continues refining the origins of rogue cultivators, King Bodies, and Divine Physiques during the Drill Tower trials. 29 37
• Uses the rudimentary Heaven Devouring Demonic Art to drain and corrode an enemy attendant’s power in combat. 34
• Foreign origins carry residual wills, hostility, and Dao imprints that can corrupt her mind or drive her into demonic depravity. 36
• Refines powerful bloodlines, including Cang Yuhang’s Tyrant Blood Origin, to transform and strengthen her originally ordinary Mortal Body. 34 36
• Develops the scripture beyond its original form into the self-created Heaven Devouring Demonic Art, a complete Dao uniquely suited to her body and based on devouring all Daos and forging them into one furnace. 143
• Uses the art to devour the primordial spirits, origins, Dao fragments, and laws of Great Saints, Quasi-Emperors, Saint Spirits, battle puppets, and restricted-area descendants. 214 250 251
• Her Great Dao Treasure Bottle can manifest as a phantom or solidified Dao phenomenon, absorb hostile techniques and tribulation energy, refine them into Origin, and return that power to her body. 159 160 250 370

Acquired Chaos Body

Li Qingjue’s long-term objective is to transform her Mortal Body into an Acquired Chaos Body by harmonizing innumerable incompatible origins rather than relying on an innate special constitution. 143

• Uses Chaos Qi to study and merge thousands of variant origins, eventually harmonizing nearly ten thousand origin laws within her body, Dao Palace, primordial spirit, and Origin Sea. 143 281
• Her Devouring Heaven Demonic Body approaches great completion after centuries of refinement, making her resemble a living source of the myriad Daos. 281
• Tan Lin assists her search for rare final origins through the All-Causes Soul Pearl, while Li Qingjue personally devours and refines the selected targets. 294
• Attains a completed Acquired Chaos Body while attacking the Imperial Dao Realm, granting her combat strength capable of contending with several ancient Supreme Beings. 354 355
• Can create Chaos Dao Bodies to act independently and preside over formations while her true body fights other opponents. 355

Yin-Yang Mill Scripture

Tan Lin initially teaches Li Qingjue the Yin-Yang Mill Scripture as the foundation for opening her Sea of Bitterness. 8

• Forms a tiny Yin-Yang millstone within her Bitter Sea after reaching the Life Spring realm. 19
• Harmonizes with surrounding Lunar and Solar forces to reduce the crushing gravity of the Drill Tower’s first level. 19
• Creates a Yin-Yang Great Mill barrier that temporarily withstands numerous Divine Bridge and Other Shore exotic beasts. 20
• Her foundation in this scripture is erased by the Cloud Leopard to conceal her link to Tan Lin; the Devouring Source Scripture becomes her sole cultivation foundation. 21
• Retains insight into yin-yang principles and later incorporates Yin-Yang Upheaval and Chaos-returning power into attacks against Quasi-Emperor-level opponents. 250

Quieting Spirit Mantra

Tan Lin teaches Li Qingjue the Quieting Spirit Mantra to preserve clarity of mind while cultivating through devouring. 36

• Calms the bloodlust and hostility accumulated from foreign origins, especially Cang Yuhang’s Tyrant Blood. 36
• Helps her direct demonic qi toward tempering her body rather than contaminating her soul. 36
• Remains central to her effort to retain control when her accumulated malice and demonic nature threaten to destabilize her. 56

Nine Secrets and Other Supreme Arts

Li Qingjue obtains, studies, and employs several of the Nine Secrets during her later cultivation, supplementing her self-created demonic Dao with techniques inherited or taught through Tan Lin. 143 244 250

• Nine Secrets: Zhe — Uses its principles of life reorganization and bodily regeneration to restore severe injuries and to inspire the evolution of her Heaven Devouring Demonic Art. 143 244
• Nine Secrets: Xing — Uses its extreme movement principles to cross dangerous battlefields, exploit openings, and evade tribulation manifestations. 244 250
• Nine Secrets: Qian — Employs its opportunity-seizing effects in coordination with formations, movement, and battle timing. 250
• Undying Heavenly Art — Operates it alongside the Heaven Devouring Demonic Art to refine Supreme Being life essence and recover while attacking the Imperial Dao Realm. 334
• Sacred Art of Myriad Transformations — Develops the prototype of a forbidden offensive art intended to rival Nine Secrets: Dou. 370
• Chaos-life healing art — Creates an embryonic restorative technique that manifests immortal flowers from Chaos Qi and life essence to repair damage and restore vitality, intended to rival Nine Secrets: Zhe. 370

Combat and Survival

Li Qingjue’s early fighting style is built on improvisation, precision, and control of limited vital essence rather than overwhelming force. 12

• Concentrates vital essence at her fingertip like a needle to paralyze an opponent’s arm. 12
• Uses improvised weapons, including broken porcelain, to kill attackers despite being physically outmatched. 12
• Develops hunting, tracking, scavenging, battlefield cleanup, and concealment skills during months of wilderness survival and years inside the Drill Tower. 13 35
• Defeats Han, a better-equipped King Body, through endurance and tactical use of her weapons and cultivation arts. 34
• Uses Heavenly Tribulations as weapons, deliberately drawing the Chaos Heavenly Palace Tribulation onto enemies who intrude upon her breakthrough. 243 244
• Is capable of devouring tribulation lightning directly, refining it into energy to temper her body and rapidly advance. 159
• Combines the Great Dao Treasure Bottle, Chaos Qi, Nine Secrets, and formation support to assassinate Quasi-Emperor-level enemies in battle. 250 251
• As a Great Emperor, suppresses regional Dao laws with a casual gesture and creates massive Chaos formations capable of sealing Imperial Dao experts. 380

Formations and Imperial Combat

Li Qingjue gains substantial experience presiding over the Lingbao Slaying Formation through Tan Lin’s guidance and her own battle experience. 242 250

• Uses the weakened Lingbao Formation Diagram to freeze space, guide tribulation lightning, and kill the Quasi-Emperor known as Shadow. 251
• Takes control of the Lingbao Formation Diagram during the Quasi-Emperor battlefield crisis, coordinating its suppression with her own attacks. 250
• Uses the Lingbao Formation Diagram and four flying swords through her Chaos Dao Body to form a flawed but devastating Execution Immortal Sword Formation. 355
• Employs the formation to trap and annihilate the Primordial and Divine Ruins Supreme Beings after they undergo Ultimate Sublimation. 355

Equipment

• Bronze Ring — Li Fan’s memento; later serves as Tan Lin’s vessel and remains Li Qingjue’s strongest emotional connection to both her brother and master. It also contains several strands of Tan Lin’s clear protective radiance, which can resolve deadly tribulations at the cost of consuming the stored glow. 4 29 59 130
• Bronze Mask — A mysterious mask found beneath Li Fan’s remains and later understood to have been a gift from Tan Lin. It fits her perfectly, resists her divine consciousness, blocks divine-sense probing, and contains a hidden protective manifestation of her master. It is destroyed after blocking Kun Zhou’s Supreme Weapon. 30 41 218 233
• Ghost Face Mask — Her later mask, reforged from Li Fan’s relics, immortal gold fragments, Emperor Dao Laws, Chaos Origin, and grief. It becomes the symbol through which she conceals both her identity and sorrow as the Devouring Heaven Great Emperor. 365 385
• Jade Feather — A storage artifact containing rare resources, divine materials, weapons, and Li Fan’s remains. 30
• Black Armor Shield — Used to block the burly attendant’s attack during the battle with Han’s retainers. 34
• Black Sword — Used against Han’s old attendant. 34
• Broken Battle Spear — Concealed in her Sea of Reincarnation and deployed as a surprise weapon. 34
• Bronze Disc — A damaged Demon Race Forbidden Weapon capable of eroding Dao laws, neutralizing powerful attacks, and breaking ancient restrictions. It is later sacrificed and shattered while resisting a Supreme Weapon ambush. 214 215
• Lingbao Slaying Formation Diagram — Entrusted to her by Tan Lin during the Quasi-Emperor battlefield; she uses it for suppression, spatial control, and the later Execution Immortal Sword Formation. 250 251 355
• Execution Immortal Sword — One of the swords integrated into the incomplete Lingbao Slaying Formation; Li Qingjue wields and later recalls it while fighting for Dao attainment. 334 354

Relationships

• Tan Lin — Master. He names, trains, protects, and harshly disciplines her; Li Qingjue regards him as family and remains fiercely loyal despite his repeated absences. Their bond persists through his disappearance, reincarnation, reunion, sacrifices for her Chaos-Body transformation, and later disappearance. 7 18 35 38 233 294 370
• Li Fan — Elder brother. His disappearance, mistreatment, and eventual recovery from Cang Yuhang’s storage artifact drive her pursuit of strength and revenge. His relics later become part of the Ghost Face Mask, and Li Qingjue continues seeking even the faint possibility of his reincarnation. 9 30 365
• Gu Qingying — Rescuer and would-be master. Gu Qingying saves Li Qingjue from exotic beasts and offers to accept her as a disciple, but Li Qingjue refuses because she already has Tan Lin. Li Qingjue later thanks her for this kindness, and their relationship remains complicated by Tianling’s past possession of Gu Qingying’s body. 20 21 143 265 385
• Cloud Leopard — Indirect protector and manipulator. It helps save her in the Drill Tower, then erases her Yin-Yang cultivation foundation and obscures memories tied to Tan Lin. 20 21
• Tianling / Tian Yue — Formerly encountered by Li Qingjue while inhabiting Gu Qingying’s body. Tianling becomes Li Qingjue’s ally and adoptive elder-sister figure after revealing her identity and Tan Lin’s past relationship with her. Li Qingjue addresses her as “Sister Tian Yue.” 158 265
• Cang Yuhang — Enemy connected to Li Fan’s remains. His group purchased Li Fan’s corpse; Li Qingjue later finds Cang Yuhang’s body and recovers the jade feather containing her brother. 9 29 30
• Cang Zhen and the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star — Long-term enemies. Cang Zhen hunts Li Qingjue in retaliation for the death of his son, but Li Qingjue ultimately kills him and annihilates the pursuing Tyrant Body force. 142 143
• Shao Hanyun — A powerful demon cultivator and former companion of Tan Lin whose connection to him provokes Li Qingjue’s possessiveness. Li Qingjue later defeats and seals Shao Hanyun beneath the Southern Sea. 231 380
• Yaoguang Village’s villagers — Benefactors from her childhood. Their food and clothing helped her survive after Li Fan was taken away, and she later secretly repays them with protection and fortune. 41

Story Role / Major Arcs

Li Fan’s loss and apprenticeship

Li Qingjue’s cultivation journey begins with her attempt to see Li Fan at the relay station and her inability to prevent his remains from being sold. Tan Lin names her, accepts her as a disciple, teaches her literacy, and guides her first attempts at cultivation. 4 7 8 9

Wilderness survival

After opening her Sea of Bitterness, Li Qingjue travels north under Tan Lin’s supervision. She survives starvation and rain, kills her first attackers, learns to hunt and scavenge, and begins refining origin sources to transform her Mortal Body. 11 12 13

Drill Tower trials

Li Qingjue independently chooses to enter the Human Emperor’s training ground to seek opportunities that may aid Tan Lin. There she confronts ancient laws, exotic beasts, rival cultivators, the removal of her Yin-Yang foundation, and prolonged isolation from her master. 18 20 21 29

Recovery of Li Fan’s remains

After regaining her obscured memories, Li Qingjue discovers Cang Yuhang’s corpse and retrieves the jade feather hidden beneath it. Inside, she finds Li Fan’s remains and a mysterious Bronze Mask, which she thereafter wears in public. 29 30

Tower survivor

Over twelve years in the Drill Tower, Li Qingjue becomes a battle-hardened demonic cultivator, advances to Dragon Transformation, and defeats opponents from powerful families despite their superior backing. Her reunion with Tan Lin reveals that her ruthless exterior has not erased her need for his approval. 34 35 37

Separation and independent path

When Tan Lin leaves for the Central Plains, Li Qingjue accepts that she must forge her own path. She later eliminates cultivators preying on mortals near Yaoguang Village, protects the villagers who once aided her, and advances to the Immortal Platform Secret Realm. 38 41 49

Ruthless figure of the Ancient Roads

After Tan Lin’s disappearance and reincarnation, Li Qingjue cultivates alone for years and becomes a feared figure across the Big Dipper and Myriad Races Ancient Roads. She kills powerful prodigies, devours their origins, reaches Severing the Dao, and becomes the target of numerous ancient lineages. 66 67

Great Saint pursuit and alliance with Tianling

Li Qingjue refines countless origins, advances into the Great Saint realm, and travels alongside Tianling while evading powerful pursuers. To break an imperial blockade and secure Tianling’s escape, she detonates her own cultivated source and body, using destruction as a means of transformation and rebirth. 158 159 160

Demon Emperor’s Tomb

Within the Demon Emperor’s Tomb, Li Qingjue defeats Saint Spirit and Underworld experts, claims the Immortal Divine Medicine coffin, and is later ambushed by Kun Zhou and Di Que with a Supreme Weapon. The Bronze Mask’s hidden protection saves her life but is destroyed, exposing both her face and the depth of Tan Lin’s silent protection. 213 214 215 218

Reunion with Tan Lin

Tan Lin eventually rescues and heals Li Qingjue after her severe injuries. Their reunion confirms that Li Qingjue continues to consider him her master despite his attempt to preserve her independence, and she resumes cultivating beside him while refining Imperial Bloodline origins and studying the Lingbao Formation Diagram. 231 233 250 257

Acquired Chaos Body

Li Qingjue spends centuries refining thousands of special origins to create an Acquired Chaos Body. Guided by Tan Lin’s calculations and willing sacrifices, she gradually perfects the Heaven Devouring Demonic Art into a Dao of Chaos capable of harmonizing the myriad origins within her. 281 294 305 312

Dao attainment and the dark turmoil

During a battle against several Supreme Beings, Li Qingjue abandons the safer path of completing her transformation first and attacks the Imperial Dao Realm directly. She ultimately completes her Acquired Chaos Body, attains the Dao, and becomes the Devouring Heaven Great Emperor, using the Execution Immortal Sword Formation to annihilate two Supreme Beings and end a major dark turmoil. 325 334 354 355

Great Emperor and guardian of Li Fan’s homeland

After attaining the Dao and enduring further solitude, Li Qingjue reforges the Ghost Face Mask in memory of Li Fan. She restores the spiritual veins and civilization of the Ancient Star connected to her brother, quietly teaching its people foundational knowledge and allowing spiritual vitality to return. 365

Search for Tan Lin and return to the world

Li Qingjue spends nearly a thousand years developing her own system of supreme arts while continuing to mourn Tan Lin’s disappearance. Her return to Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star reveals a mysterious sign that someone may have touched Tianling’s sealed Divine Source, renewing her suspicion that her master or another hidden figure remains active. 370

Devouring Heaven Great Emperor

As a peak Great Emperor, Li Qingjue reemerges with absolute authority. She seals Shao Hanyun beneath the Southern Sea, terrifies the Demon Race, and later arrives at Moon Palace to meet Gu Qingying privately. 380 385

Notable Quotes

“Thank you, Senior, for saving my life, and thank you for thinking highly of me. But Qingjue already has a master.” 21

“Master... You were gone for so long. This disciple... missed you...” 35

“Master, take care... This disciple will not disappoint you...” 38

“Once a master, always a master. Without Master’s guidance back then, Qingjue would have long become dry bones in a desolate grave.” 233

“Master, this time... let your disciple protect you.” 340

Trivia

• Tan Lin’s naming of Li Qingjue strengthens their karmic bond and causes exceptionally pure crimson causal energy to flow into the All-Causes Soul Pearl. 7
• She deduces that Tan Lin may be the legendary Human Emperor after recognizing the depth of the Yin-Yang Mill Scripture and its affinity with Lunar and Solar forces. 19
• Although she walks a demonic path and refines others’ origins, her mind remains clear after years of cultivation. 37
• Gu Qingying originally intended to accept Li Qingjue as both her first and final disciple, despite Spring Autumn Pavilion’s usual restrictions against the Diagram-Wielding Goddess accepting disciples. 21
• The Bronze Mask was the first and only item Tan Lin gave Li Qingjue during their original master-disciple years, making its destruction especially painful for her. 233
• Her Ghost Face Mask’s smiling-yet-crying expression becomes the enduring symbol of her grief for Li Fan and Tan Lin. 365
• Li Qingjue’s ambition after attaining the Dao is to create nine supreme arts encompassing offense, healing, escape, the soul, deduction, formations, and other fields, forming a system capable of rivaling the Nine Secrets. 370