Han Li

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Han Li remembers a previous life in which a thousand-year cultivation journey brought him to the summit of the Immortal Realm. Although successful, that life was marked by caution, grievances, and regrets. Reborn as a country youth seeking admission to the Seven Mysteries Sect, he resolves to pursue a more forceful path 1.

The world he returns to differs from his memories: the Seven Mysteries Sect is now a major cultivation sect, and familiar people do not necessarily retain their former relationships with him. Li Feiyu, once a close friend, becomes a rival, while Han Li recognizes Nangong Wan as his former Dao companion before establishing a relationship with her in this life 2 3 5.

Appearance

Han Li initially appears as a frail country youth in worn clothes, despite his unusually steady movements and upright bearing 1 2.

• Hands: Thin, with clearly defined joints 1.
• Expression: Frequently calm and impassive, even under scrutiny or attack 2 5.
• Sect clothing: Blue or blue-green core disciple robes 5 28.
• Disguise: Uses an inconspicuous gray independent cultivator’s outfit when visiting Flowing Cloud Market 30.

Personality

Han Li is ruthless toward enemies and unwilling to submit merely to preserve another person’s dignity. He openly challenges the elders’ condemnation of his entrance-examination killing, rejects Li Feiyu’s proposed alliance, and refuses the banquet’s attempt to arrange a match with Mo Caihuan 2 3 10.

His public boldness coexists with careful deception. He deliberately encourages Mo Juren to invest in him, conceals his cultivation, and presents himself as talented but inexperienced when useful. After acquiring the Profound Fiend Asura Art, he supplies the sect with a partial account under the milder name “Profound Yin Art” 6 9 19 21.

Despite his rapid advancement, he understands the danger of an unstable foundation. Following his first encounter with a Shadow Killer Sect assassin, he abandons the urge to rush ahead and spends extended periods polishing his early Foundation Establishment cultivation. He also keeps powerful techniques out of tournament matches to preserve them as concealed advantages 26 27 28.

The massacre of Han Family Fort transforms his hostility toward the Black Fiend Cult into a blood feud. His response is initially silent, followed by killing intent strong enough to make a steward faint and ice crystals form in the hall. He vows to exterminate the perpetrators through all nine degrees of kinship 23.

Abilities & Skills

Slaughter System

The Slaughter System converts the deaths of qualifying enemies into strength and assists Han Li’s cultivation 1 3.

• Enemy qualification: A living being must harbor malice toward him and act on it 1.
• Plunder: Mortals provide vital essence; cultivators can provide cultivation foundations, blood essence, soul power, and cultivation-art fragments 1 13 17.
• Variable yield: Recorded cultivation returns include eighty, seventy, and fifty percent; no universal percentage is established 8 14 17.
• Medicinal absorption: Refines pills more than ten times as efficiently as ordinary cultivation and neutralizes Heart-Illusion Incense while replenishing a little spiritual power 3 20.
• Detection and guidance: Identifies nearby anomalous energy, assesses Nangong Wan’s cultivation and interest, and supplies crucial breakthrough instructions 3 7 45.
• Limits: Its assessment of the mysterious gray-robed elder is obscured, and increased energy does not automatically overcome every realm bottleneck 12 35.

Dark-Attribute Spiritual Power

Han Li’s variant root produces spiritual power suited to yin environments and techniques involving corrosion and devouring 15 16.

• Passes safely through Jade-Phosphor Miasma and moves effectively through damp, gloomy terrain 7 15.
• Condenses spiritual power into penetrating finger strikes, sword rays, palm prints, and the defensive Shadow Shield 13 15 16.
• Uses Profound Yin Binding to restrain opponents and coordinate attacks with the Shadow Blade 26 41.
• Uses Soul-Eroding Finger in close combat and Profound Yin Shock to break Sun Hao’s Black Tortoise Shield 27 28 33.

Profound Fiend Asura Art

Acquired through Venerable Xuan Gu’s legacy, this slaughter-based cultivation art purifies and condenses Han Li’s spiritual power while imparting a chilling fiendish aura 18 19.

• Makes his ninth-level Qi Refining cultivation strong enough, by his assessment, to contest early Foundation Establishment opponents directly 19.
• Refines yin and fiend energy to strengthen his foundation and improve control over his spiritual power 26 38 39.
• Refines Swordspine Peak’s sword intent; a strand of sharp sword intent remains within his spiritual power after his late-stage breakthrough 41 45.
• Profound Fiend Explosion: Helps withstand multiple Foundation Establishment attackers, but leaves him with serious internal injuries 36 37.
• Fiend Shadow Clone: Becomes part of his arsenal by the Buried Demon Abyss expedition 47.
• Risk: Nangong Wan explicitly warns him about the art’s dangers 44.

Demonic Fiend Fist

Han Li develops this technique himself by combining cultivation-art fragments obtained through the system. It pushes the corrosive and devouring qualities of his dark spiritual power to their limit 16.

• Meets a Foundation Establishment deacon’s claw attack on equal terms while Han Li is still in Qi Refining 16.
• Helps defeat the wounded deacon and later grievously wounds Mo Juren in a single blow 17 20.

Movement and Concealment

Han Li combines rapid footwork with aura suppression and environmental concealment 7 30 35.

• Shadow Step: Enables swift, smoke-like movement and precise evasion through gaps between attacks 7 36.
• Shadowless Escape: Conceals his movements during scouting, ambushes, and travel through the forbidden land 35 46.
• Essence-Concealing Technique: Suppresses his early Foundation Establishment aura to roughly late-stage Qi Refining. Detecting his true realm requires a deliberate examination by someone with unusually powerful divine sense 30.
• Prefers scouting, surprise attacks, and controlled retreats over unnecessary direct confrontation 16 35 37.

Spiritual Sense and Soul Techniques

His spiritual perception supports reconnaissance, precise crafting, and the extraction of enemy intelligence 15 26 32.

• Range: Approximately one hundred zhang at early Foundation Establishment; more than three hundred zhang at late Foundation Establishment 26 46.
• Profound Yin Spirit Eye: Detects distant combat, inconsistencies in a concealed cultivator’s blood and qi, and a hidden yin-vein branch 31 35 38.
• Soul Searching Technique: Extracts information about cult bases, legacies, assassination plans, and enemy defenses 15 17 25 30.
• Limits: Cannot initially probe the Small Bottle. A soul-destroying restriction also prevents him from identifying the client behind the Shadow Killer Sect’s kill order 7 30.

Pseudo Core Flame

Han Li first condenses an unstable wisp during his battle with a middle-stage Foundation Establishment assassin 26.

• Forces the injured assassin to expend vital blood essence to escape 26.
• Becomes barely controllable after six months of careful nurturing, allowing refinement of certain yin-attribute materials and spell practice 27.
• Later serves as a combat weapon and burns bodies and evidence after an ambush 30 33.
• Its development does not establish that Han Li has reached Core Formation 26 45.

Formation, Talisman, and Puppet Crafting

Han Li supplements his personal strength with tools for concealment, diversion, and escape 31 32.

• Creates the Profound Yin Aura-Hiding Formation, refining three flags for it 31.
• Initially produces three Yin Thunder Talismans, two Spirit-Eroding Talismans, and one Phantom Talisman after several failed attempts 31.
• Refines three basic puppets; uses puppets to lure beasts and assist in the Illusory Wave Hall trials 32 33.
• Deploys an Ironbone Wolf Puppet as a scout and hastily prepares Fiend-Attracting Talismans and a Substitute Puppet for the Netherworld Lingzhi theft 39 43.
• Prolonged crafting taxes both spiritual power and spiritual sense; he considers himself only a beginner in Puppet Art 31 32.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Small Bottle — Thumb-sized, pale green, and undetectable by spiritual sense when discovered. Initially sealed and resistant to probing; later transforms Profound Yin True Fiend into energy that raises his cultivation 7 17.
• Azure Edge Sword — Low-grade magical artifact supplied by the sect. Han Li initially treats it as an external aid and later wears it as a disguise 3 13.
• Shadow Blade — Xuan Gu’s inconspicuous black short blade; vanishes from ordinary sight when activated and is designed to pierce protective defenses 18.
• Soul-Seizing Bell — Dark-gold bell whose quiet chime can momentarily daze an unsuspecting cultivator of the same rank 18.
• Mysterious Bone Token — Opens restrictions associated with the Profound Yin legacy and disrupts the Heaven-Reaching Hall’s life-draining trap. Nearly ruined while blocking the remnant soul’s attack 37 50.
• Spirit-Nurturing Stone — Supports spiritual sense, protects the soul, and helps ward off inner demons; assists his middle-stage breakthrough 37 38.
• Mystic Womb Spirit-Transforming Vine — Seized in Blood-Weeping Gorge and consumed to purify his spiritual power, expand his dantian, and reach middle Foundation Establishment 36 38.
• Netherworld Lingzhi and Profound Yin Jade Marrow liquid — Obtained in the forbidden land and used together for his late Foundation Establishment breakthrough 43 44 45.
• Teleportation talismans — Relics associated with Mo Yuan’s cave abode provide emergency escapes during the Gui Li and Blood Fiend Earth Dragon encounters 37 40 43.
• Nangong Wan’s defensive jade pendant — Its barrier shatters against the Earth Dragon’s attack but buys enough time for teleportation 43.
• Soul-Calming Pills — Supplied by Nangong Wan to resist illusions and soul attacks. One later allows her to sense his affliction and locate him 34 44.
• Maps and intelligence — Include Black Fiend Cult defenses, a possible spatial node, and Mo Yuan’s information on Profound Yin Sect secrets, the Spirit-Reversing Passage, and the Netherworld Cult 18 25 37.

Relationships

• Nangong Wan — His Dao companion in his previous life; initially a watchful sect elder in this one. She corroborates his defense against Mo Juren, repeatedly protects and heals him, and guards his breakthrough. Han Li later saves her from the legacy trap, after which she carries him to safety 3 21 22 36 40 44 50.
• Li Feiyu — Former-life friend turned present-life rival. Han Li rejects his alliance, defeats him publicly, and eventually kills him during an attack outside the sect 3 5 13.
• Mo Juren — Manipulative benefactor who cultivates Han Li as a prospective vessel. Han Li exploits his resources, exposes the possession plot, and defeats him before Mo Juren self-detonates 2 6 20 21.
• Mo Caihuan — Enthusiastic junior acquaintance whose closeness is used by Mo Juren to probe Han Li. Han Li rejects the proposed romantic match; she later flees in grief after learning of Mo Juren’s death 9 10 21.
• Han Li’s parents and clan — Victims of the Black Fiend Cult’s massacre of Han Family Fort; their deaths drive his vow of vengeance 23.
• Venerable Xuan Gu — Deceased legacy benefactor. Han Li accepts his inheritance and swears a binding heart-demon oath concerning the destruction of a traitor’s descendants 18.
• Elder Li — Overseer and advocate who supports rewarding and cultivating Han Li, then escorts the selected disciples to the forbidden land 3 22 34.
• Elder Wang — Suspicious elder who questions Han Li’s cultivation, murderous disposition, and loyalty 22 27 28.
• Zhang Tie, Chen Qiaoqian, and Wu Jiuzhi — Fellow selected disciples; Han Li helps them overcome their mirror opponents in the Illusory Wave Hall 28 33.
• Han Yunzhi — Fellow forbidden-land explorer whom Han Li frees from the Heaven-Reaching Hall’s suction alongside Nangong Wan 46 50.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Seven Mysteries Sect and Mo Juren’s Plot

• Kills a hostile candidate on the Sword-Grinding Path, finishes first, and defends his actions before the elders 1 2.
• Reveals his dark variant spiritual root and receives core disciple treatment while the sect secretly monitors him 2 3.
• Establishes his reputation by shattering Li Feiyu’s sword with two fingers at the outer sect tournament 5.
• Discovers the Small Bottle and uses Mo Juren’s resources while preparing to reverse the possession scheme 2 7.
• Resists the Medicine Hall’s formation and incense, exposes Mo Juren, and wins the sect’s exoneration after the elder’s death 20 21 22.

Falling Cloud Mountains and the Blood Feud

• Accepts a mission to investigate the Black Fiend Cult, fights through Poison Dragon Marsh, and obtains Xuan Gu’s legacy 11 15 17 18.
• Learns that the cult has massacred Han Family Fort and killed his parents 23.
• Obtains intelligence on the cult headquarters but recognizes that its late-stage leader and protective formation make an immediate frontal assault impossible 25.

Forbidden-Land Preparations and Assassin Pursuit

• Survives Shadow Killer Sect attacks and discovers a Black-Class Kill Order against him, though the client’s identity remains sealed 26 30.
• Consolidates his foundation in Cold Pool Cave and secures a top-five tournament place without revealing his strongest techniques 27 28.
• Crafts concealment formations, offensive talismans, and puppets; tracks a hidden assassin outpost and subsequently kills two Foundation Establishment assassins 31 32.
• Completes the Illusory Wave Hall’s resolve, survival, and teamwork trials before departing for the forbidden land 33 34.

Blood-Colored Forbidden Land

• Enters alone, ambushes Black Fiend Cult members, and reaches the middle-stage bottleneck 35.
• Steals the Mystic Womb Spirit-Transforming Vine, discovers Mo Yuan’s relics, and uses the vine to break through 36 37 38.
• Escapes Gui Li by triggering a fiend-vein eruption and reaches the core region through a spatial passage 39 40.
• Tempers his power at the Sword-Washing Pool and earns the Feng Family’s resentment by resisting its attempt to displace him 41.
• Seizes Netherworld Lingzhi from the Blood Fiend Earth Dragon, survives its death qi with Nangong Wan’s aid, and reaches late Foundation Establishment 43 44 45.

Buried Demon Abyss and the False Legacy

• Crosses the Netherworld Bridge after killing three late Foundation Establishment guardians, then survives Fiend Qi Infusion while strengthening his cultivation 47 48.
• Discovers that the apparent Profound Yin legacy is bait for an ancient remnant soul 50.
• Uses the Mysterious Bone Token to break the sphere’s suction and protect the others. The survivors escape without obtaining the legacy; Han Li is severely injured and the token nearly destroyed 50.

Notable Quotes

“If I had been weaker, I would be the one lying on that mountain path now.” 2

“My heart is devoted to the Dao. I seek only longevity and enduring life, and have no thoughts of romance for now.” 10

“Who else wants to come up and exchange a few moves?” 5