Li Shouyi

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Li Shouyi (李守一)
Alias(es)	Elder Shouyi; Elder Li; Master Li 1 7 32
Gender	Male 25 42
Affiliation	Cloud Cliff Sect, formerly; Useless Talent Sect 22 33
Occupation/Role	Former Cloud Cliff Sect elder; founder and master of the Useless Talent Sect 1 33
Cultivation	Peak Nascent Soul; temporarily wielded Spirit Severing power during his first battle with Wu Dalang 21 41 50
Cultivation Art	Unfettered Selflessness 37
System	Mediocre Talent System, also called the Mediocrity System 1 3
Residence	Endless Cliff Peak, formerly; Good Fortune Mountain 3 32 33
Status	Alive; preparing to duel Wu Dalang again in the latest supplied chapter 50
First Appearance	Chapter 1 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Core Formation / Golden Core	1	His starting cultivation after transmigration. His predecessor had failed to advance sufficiently to face an approaching death duel 1 3.
Spirit Severing — temporary system-assisted power	21	Survives Wu Dalang’s attack and fights him at Spirit Severing level. Although he publicly claims to have reached the realm long ago, his power has a two-hour limit and depends on a system cheat. He is subsequently confirmed to be a Golden Core cultivator again 21 22 26 37.
Early Nascent Soul	36	Su Wan’er’s deeper understanding of cause and effect strengthens their karmic connection and raises his cultivation. His golden core transforms into an infant resembling him 36.
Peak Nascent Soul	41	Reached as Lin Shuishui and Pei Zhujiu deepen their respective Daos. This remains his confirmed realm when Zhang Daoling arranges his second duel with Wu Dalang 41 50.

Background / History

Li Shouyi is a young man from the twenty-first century who transmigrates into a cultivation-world elder’s body. By his first appearance, he has been in that world for half a month and has inherited his predecessor’s memories. The original owner was Cloud Cliff Sect’s youngest elder, had cultivated for less than a hundred years, and had agreed to a death duel three years earlier 1 36.

His inheritance leaves him in a precarious position: his cultivation is still at Core Formation, his aptitude is worse than Zhou Kangyong’s, and his predecessor has spent nearly all his Merit Points trying to improve. The approaching opponent, Wu Dalang, bears a grudge over Li’s alleged involvement with his wife; the transmigrated Li protests that he was not responsible 3 10 20.

The newly awakened Mediocre Talent System offers an alternative to conventional cultivation: recruit disciples with exceptionally poor aptitude and earn rewards. Li consequently searches for people other sects reject, beginning with the constantly sleeping Lin Shuishui and the compulsive gambler Shen Wan’er, later called Su Wan’er 1 2 6.

Appearance

• Handsome young man: Described as strikingly handsome when he descends to defend Pei Zhujiu, and again during his fiery pursuit of Su Wan’er 25 42.
• Blue robes: His robes flutter in the wind during his confrontation with the one-eyed cultivator 25.
• Sword-bearing: Introduced holding a longsword in his arms at the recruitment ceremony 1.
• Tribulation injuries: His disciples’ heavenly tribulations leave his entire body charred, with the smell of roasted flesh 37.

Personality

Li is survival-driven, opportunistic, and adept at presenting selfish plans as lofty instruction. He publicly praises perseverance and devotion to the Dao while privately hoping his disciples will remain incapable enough to qualify for system rewards. His fear of Wu Dalang makes him willing to manipulate recruitment, encourage apparently unproductive habits, and even hope his students lose tournament matches 1 3 14.

He is also genuinely protective. He spends nearly ten years of stipends on his first disciples’ gifts, buys them armor with his remaining Merit Points, removes them from Wu Dalang’s battlefield, and refuses to abandon Pei because of her reputation. His affection is especially visible with Bao’er, whom he carries and tries to feed properly 3 10 21 26 42.

His short temper can become harsh or coercive rather than merely theatrical. Alongside staged fire-chases and sarcastic threats, he administers corporal punishment, seals Pei’s mouth to prevent her drinking, and uses a fabricated sexual-assault scenario to provoke Bai Feixue’s breakthrough. Against enemies, he is ruthless enough to kill captured ambushers rather than accept their offer of ransom 24 41 43 48.

Abilities & Skills

Mediocre Talent System

• Recruitment assessments: Evaluates disciples’ aptitude and assigns missions requiring unusually rare “useless talents.” Worse aptitude can produce better rewards 1 25.
• Failure conditions: A disciple’s enlightenment or cultivation progress can invalidate a mission. Lin Shuishui, Su Wan’er, and Pei Zhujiu each frustrate his plans this way 4 5 26.
• Escalating requirements: Disciples’ achievements and the acceptance of unsuitable recruits raise the rarity required for future candidates 8 11 34 41.
• Temporary combat assistance: Provides the time-limited power that allows him to confront Wu Dalang at Spirit Severing level 21 22 37.
• Diagnostic guidance: Identifies Bai Feixue’s inner demons as the obstacle preventing her breakthrough 43.

Unfettered Selflessness

• Cultivation ceiling: The art, discovered by his predecessor in a dilapidated cave, can carry its practitioner to Tribulation Transcendence 37.
• High resource cost: Advancement requires ten times the spiritual energy demanded by ordinary cultivation arts 37.
• Cross-realm combat potential: Li believes that reaching middle-stage Golden Core with it would let him confront an early Nascent Soul cultivator head-on 37.
• Severe tribulations: Its heavenly tribulations are ten times stronger than normal 37.
• Recovery and versatility: He circulates it to heal his burns; his cultivation technique can also manifest different attributes 37 44.

Disciple-Linked Cultivation

• Karmic advancement: Su Wan’er’s understanding of cause and effect benefits Li because they share a deep karmic connection 36.
• Further gains: Lin Shuishui’s dream-path comprehension and Pei Zhujiu’s wine-path comprehension also increase his cultivation 41.
• Transferred tribulations: His disciples emerge unharmed while their lightning strikes hit him instead. The system attributes this burden to his cultivation coming from their advancement 37 41.

Sword Techniques

• “Rhythm of the Dao—Thirteen Hundred Swords”: Deployed against Wu Dalang during their first major battle 21.
• Ten-thousand-sword attack: Manifests and directs ten thousand flying swords against the pursuers fleeing Phoenix City, sending burning opponents out of the sky 44.
• Sword flight: Uses a flying sword for personal travel and to transport his disciples 3 22 24.

Supporting Techniques and Tactics

• Aura suppression: Pins the East Lake Three Brothers in place with Golden Core pressure and intimidates cultivators threatening Pei 25 26.
• Barriers and seals: Seals his recovery cave, isolates Bai Feixue’s room, and closes disciples’ mouths with spells 37 43 48 50.
• Fire techniques: Repeatedly uses fire while pursuing or disciplining Su Wan’er; at least one apparent burning is explicitly staged between them 24 42.
• Ambush detection: Catches two peak-Golden-Core intruders and stabs them before they can carry out their attack, drawing on what the narration calls his old assassination reflexes 40.
• Negotiation: Turns sect rules into leverage against Yan Hai and secures compensation for returning the Heavenly Sword Sect’s ancestral sword 7 29.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Longsword and flying sword — His introductory weapon and recurring means of transport 1 3.
• Spatial Ring and storage space — Used to hold possessions and collect recruitment gifts 25 34.
• Heavenly Sword Sect contact token — Given by Zhang Daoling so Li can contact him or arrange a visit 30.
• Gate-Establishment Token — Obtained through the Dao Alliance before founding his sect 31 33.
• Specially prepared wine — Intended to keep Pei Zhujiu intoxicated and inactive, but instead helps inspire her Dao of Wine 25 26.
• White jade pillow — Gifted to Lin Shuishui as a life-bound treasure to encourage her sleeping habit 3.
• High-grade spirit-stone mahjong set — Gifted to his second disciple as a life-bound treasure; its intended distraction becomes the basis of her karmic cultivation 3 5.
• Evil-Warding Sword Manual — Given to Wu Suowei. Its opening instruction requires self-castration, leaving the recipient unwilling to continue reading 49.

Relationships

• Lin Shuishui — Eldest disciple. Li recruits her for her Void Spiritual Root and constant sleep, only to discover her extraordinary dream-based potential. He regularly catches or carries her when she falls asleep 1 4 8 12.
• Su Wan’er / Shen Wan’er — Second disciple. Her gambling becomes cultivation through cause and effect, and her bond with Li directly advances his realm. Their relationship mixes loyalty, provocative teasing, and frequent punishment 2 5 24 36 48.
• Pei Zhujiu — Third disciple. Li accepts her despite her lack of spiritual roots and protects her from ridicule. His attempts to keep her drinking instead inspire a new cultivation path 24 25 26 27.
• Bao’er — Granddisciple through Lin Shuishui. Li shows a doting attachment to the frail child, although she initially prevents him from approaching her sleeping master 37 40 42.
• Wu Suowei — Former disciple of Tang Que who leads Cloud Cliff cultivators to Li’s new sect. Becomes a subordinate disciple and receives a cultivation manual from him 32 33 49.
• Wu Dalang — Sworn enemy pursuing revenge over his wife. Li defeats him once, but Wu escapes and returns for another confrontation 20 22 50.
• Tang Que — Former sect master. Schemes to remove Li while retaining his talented disciples, then surrenders valuables after Li defeats Wu 8 19 22.
• Yan Hai — Hostile law-enforcement elder. Their feud grows through disputes involving Yan Shang, Li Zuoshou, and disciples wanting to transfer to Li 7 15 17.
• Zhou Kangyong — Rejected prospective disciple. Helps engineer the campaign against Li and later dies after challenging Su Wan’er to a death duel 2 10 18 50.
• Zhang Daoling — Heavenly Sword Sect master and influential ally. Gives Li a contact token and forces Wu Dalang to lower his cultivation for their second duel 29 30 50.
• Bai Feixue — Li uses a coercive staged threat to trigger her breakthrough, then demands payment. She subsequently teases him with a claimed bounty and insinuations of intimacy; no formal romantic relationship is established in the supplied chapters 43 44 45.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Recruitment and Unintended Enlightenment

• Accepts Lin Shuishui and Shen Wan’er during Cloud Cliff Sect’s recruitment ceremony, while bluntly refusing the talented Fourth Prince 1 2.
• Encourages sleeping and mahjong to keep them from conventional cultivation. Both instead discover exceptional personal Daos 3 4 5.
• Searches outside the sect for suitable replacements but repeatedly encounters talented children rather than the weak recruits he needs 7.

Cloud Cliff Sect Tournament

• Faces a leadership campaign to force him out through tournament sabotage and contribution requirements. Withdrawal would expel both him and his disciples, while first place offers the 10,000 Merit Points he needs 8 10.
• Gives ordinary encouragement that helps both disciples comprehend Immovable Wisdom King Form, further increasing their devotion and his next mission’s requirements 11.
• Alternates between needing tournament success to retain shelter and hoping for losses to earn system rewards 9 14.
• Coaches Su Wan’er against Zhou Kangyong. Lin Shuishui becomes champion and Su runner-up, but Wu Dalang’s arrival interrupts Tang Que’s intended expulsion announcement 18 19.

First Battle with Wu Dalang and Departure

• Uses temporary Spirit Severing power to withstand Wu’s assault and ultimately defeat him. Wu escapes with a Great Shift Talisman that Li cannot interrupt 21 22.
• Extracts valuables from the frightened sect leaders after the battle devastates Cloud Cliff Sect 22.
• Leaves with his two disciples before his system-assisted display can be exposed, adopting Lin’s suggestion to establish a new sect 22.

Heavenly Sword Sect Trial

• Recruits Pei Zhujiu and enters the selection realm for rewards rather than membership 25 26.
• Loses another recruitment mission when Pei comprehends the Dao of Wine. A hallucinogenic fragrance then renders him and most contestants unconscious 26 27.
• Negotiates the return of the Shadow-Bearing Sword after Pei wins it, securing her a replacement treasure and having Zhang Daoling slap their one-eyed antagonist 28 29.

Founding the Useless Talent Sect

• Obtains Dao Alliance authorization and chooses Good Fortune Mountain, where chaotic spiritual energy and rapidly changing weather offer a way to expose weak applicants 31 32.
• Officially founds the Useless Talent Sect and accepts the former Cloud Cliff disciples led by Wu Suowei, delegating their management to Su Wan’er 33 34.
• Gains Nascent Soul cultivation through his disciples’ progress, but begins suffering their heavenly tribulations himself 36 37 41.
• Misses another chance at suitable recruits when his senior disciples arrange treatment for Bao’er and Zhang Sanpang’s disabilities 37 39.
• Captures and kills two Missing One Sect ambushers, warning his disciples against trusting suspicious strangers 40 41.

Phoenix City and Renewed Revenge

• Travels to Phoenix City to obtain manuals and supplies, then investigates Bai Feixue’s stalled cultivation 42.
• Provokes her breakthrough through a staged assault scenario. The resulting hostage rumors bring pursuers after him, whom he defeats before robbing Zhang Weiwu 43 44.
• Confronts Wu Dalang again under Zhang Daoling’s protection. Zhang seals Wu to peak Nascent Soul to match Li, and the duel remains unresolved after Su Wan’er kills Zhou Kangyong 50.

Notable Quotes

“There are no mediocre talents in this world, only fools unwilling to work hard!” 1

“If cultivators avoid every trouble they encounter and dodge every enemy they meet, what's the point of cultivating?” 26

“There were no useless talents who couldn't be taught, only masters who couldn't teach.” — His stated guiding principle when founding the Useless Talent Sect 33

Trivia

• His second disciple is named Shen Wan’er in the early passages and Su Wan’er from Chapter 6 onward 2 6.
• Offered rewards such as late or peak Nascent Soul are mission promises, not proof that he immediately attained those realms 8 11 25.
• His public claim to have concealed Spirit Severing cultivation “long ago” is a bluff supported by temporary system power 21 22.
• He dislikes habitual kneeling, explicitly connecting that objection to his background as a twenty-first-century young man 36.
• Wu Suowei wakes him almost instantly by announcing visitors supposedly carrying several million spirit stones 49.