Li Da

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Early Life and Military Career

Li Da and Gong Wuer followed different paths despite being siblings. Gong Wuer entered the Eight Trigrams Sect as a child, while Li Da practiced both Bagua and Baji and eventually joined the military. Before turning ten, he traveled through the northern martial world with an elder who had crossed the snowy mountains. During a visit to Shanxi, he met and beat the still very young Xue Hen 35.

Li Da never met his nominal master, Li Shuwen. His senior martial brother accepted him on their master’s behalf after turning sixty and exposed him to the fighting methods of numerous schools before he had fully mastered his own boxing 49 290.

He became a military martial arts instructor and placed third in a secret military-wide martial arts competition, attributing his result to encountering two exceptionally strong competitors. His overwhelming standing within the martial world was also part of his reason for joining the military: his presence placed considerable pressure on those around him 35 79.

Underground Fortress Expedition

Li Da approached Lian Youming to obtain a map of the Kwantung Army’s Underground Fortress. In gratitude for saving Gong Wuer, he offered Lian a desirable job, money, or the opportunity to accompany him into the fortress. He also demonstrated Bird Not Flying as encouragement for Lian’s martial training 35.

During their journey, Li Da made Lian run while carrying their provisions, using the trip to teach restraint, efficient movement, and the importance of a stable lower foundation. Lian copied his Springing Leg movements and opened his Lung Meridian along the way 40.

The expedition involved more than treasure hunting. Li Da sought old medicine for a senior of his school whose cultivation was dissipating, while also attempting to capture White Lotus Sect ringleaders. The sect had deliberately used the map as bait, turning his investigation into a trap 48.

After demonstrating several opponents’ techniques for Lian’s benefit, Li Da ordered him to escape when a dangerous Taiji practitioner intervened. He warned against reckless use of explosives because the fortress contained Japanese bombs and poison-gas shells. Li Da escaped separately after injuring or killing three enemies and driving the others deeper into the tombs 47 48.

Outside, he gave Lian a pouch of Eastern Pearls and brought a tiger to support his recovery. He arranged a secluded place for Lian to recuperate, prepared the tiger as nourishment, and later gave him a handwritten copy of Journey to the West containing hidden martial mysteries 48 49.

The Book and the Hidden Master

When they met again at the Baji Sect, Li Da praised Lian’s accomplishments and introduced him to Yang Cuo. He later explained the dangerous history of the handwritten Journey to the West: his senior martial brother had found it sealed inside a temple statue, but six subsequent Baji readers had suffered madness, death, or withdrawal from the martial world. Li Da himself had not studied it and had considered destroying it before deciding to give it to Lian 98 100.

After Yang Cuo disappeared in Shanghai, Li Da personally warned Lian that powerful remnants of the old era might be targeting rising martial artists and opposing cooperation between the Green Gang and Hongmen 209.

Following that visit, he met Lian’s hidden master at the Ba River. Despite his Foresight cultivation, Li Da could not see the man and could only detect a trace of his qi dynamics. The master explained that the old medicine merely postponed the scattered power tribulation and offered to teach Li Da offensive techniques in repayment for his kindness toward Lian 209.

Island Rescue and Mr. Corpse

Li Da and Yang Cuo repeatedly attempted rescues near the island controlled by their enemies. After receiving word through Xu Tian, Li Da came to assist Lian and confronted Mr. Corpse alongside him 391 394.

Recognizing an existing injury beneath Mr. Corpse’s armpit, Li Da concentrated his attacks on the damaged heart meridian. He fought with both fists and an assembled iron spear, repeatedly assisting Lian’s attacks and taking a sword strike to the chest while propelling him forward 391 392 393.

After Lian poisoned Mr. Corpse, Li Da struck the enemy’s ribs with Springing Leg. Their combined assault forced Mr. Corpse to retreat. Li Da then distributed restorative elixirs among the freed prisoners and directed the survivors toward a boat he had prepared for their escape 394.

Ship Battle and Wudang Assault

At the tournament, Li Da represented the martial sects. During the subsequent shipboard fighting, he joined Yang Cuo and Lian in testing Nalan Wushe, whose combined Sun Refinement and Moon Refinement overwhelmed their initial attacks 397 424.

Li Da later fought Gu Feiyan alongside Yang Cuo, Situ Wudi, and Lian. He revealed his Shaolin internal cultivation during the battle, but Gu Feiyan’s Mind-Reading and Divine Eye repeatedly frustrated their attacks. All four eventually landed blows before she withdrew into the surrounding fire 435 436 437.

Li Da subsequently arrived with Gong Qitian, Tian Dayong, and armed veterans during the Forbidden City crisis 554.

Before the assault on Wudang Mountain, he coordinated with local Public Security to seal the mountain routes, while making clear that the martial artists would have to conduct the fighting themselves. He also identified Gan Xihu and warned of his formidable mastery of the Lique Spring Spear. During the assault, Lian lured Ma Laosi away to give Li Da and the others a chance to win below 593 599.

Appearance

• Build and bearing: Tall and lean, with broad shoulders, a straight back, and an unmistakably steely bearing beneath his casual manner 34 46.
• Face and hair: Short, needle-stiff hair, swordlike brows, bright eyes, short whiskers, and large white teeth. Lian initially estimates that he is in his thirties 34 35.
• Scar: Acquires a long, narrow scar on his cheek between meetings with Lian; its cause is not established 98.
• Clothing: Appears in casual clothes and later in a white shirt with green army trousers 34 39.
• Revealed physique: During the ship battle, his lean, powerful body appears faintly golden in the firelight 435.

Personality

Li Da is warm, talkative, and outwardly unpretentious. His gentle smile and almost innocent exuberance make him seem increasingly ordinary even to someone aware of his martial skill. He casually shares snacks, eats while talking, and teases Lian without adopting the aloof manner expected of a great master. He nevertheless dislikes crowds and dismisses the gathered Baji disciples when he returns to the sect 35 98 100.

His generosity toward Lian is practical: he supplies training, protection, recovery food, valuables, and a potentially transformative book. That kindness coexists with secrecy and calculation. He admits that Lian served as bait during the fortress expedition, while his hidden guards demonstrate that he had prepared contingencies of his own 47 48 49.

Li Da identifies himself as a soldier before a martial artist. He generally leaves martial-world feuds alone, but draws an uncompromising line at attempts to throw the country into chaos. He also recognizes his own emotional limitations, admitting that concern for his ailing senior unsettled his judgment 40 48.

Abilities & Skills

Foresight and Instinctive Movement

Li Da acts through bodily instinct rather than waiting for conscious deliberation 84.

• Walks through falling leaves without allowing one to touch him 40.
• Passes through coordinated attacks from several White Lotus experts as though he has eyes across his body 46.
• Remains far below Lian’s hidden master in perception, unable to glimpse him during their meeting 209.

Bagua, Baji, and Concentrated Fist Force

Li Da practices both Bagua and Baji, favoring direct, spear-like punches when he commits to an offensive 35 48.

• Concentrates Dark Jin into narrow strands that attack flesh, tendons, and channels 48.
• Incorporates Crushing Fist methods into sustained punching combinations 391.
• Pursues extreme force, speed, and responsiveness through simple, direct attacks rather than elaborate variations 391.
• Uses Soft Jin to propel Lian forward and increase his attacking speed 393.

Bird Not Flying

Li Da controls a bird’s attempts to take off through continuous adjustments of his hand, wrist, elbow, and whole-body force 35.

• Keeps a yellow bird on an open palm without closing his fingers or cupping his hand.
• Demonstrates the feat to give Lian a concrete goal for his Hua Jin training.
• Lian later reproduces the feat while preparing to confront Xue Hen 248.

Springing Leg

His leg technique comes from a Springing Leg routine associated with Broadsword Wang Wu 40.

• Uses coordinated movement of the spine, waist, hips, and legs for rapid, efficient travel 40 209.
• Teaches its principles through the journey to the fortress 40.
• Uses it offensively to strike Mr. Corpse’s ribs 394.

Spear Mastery

As a disciple of Divine Spear Li Shuwen, Li Da combines precise thrusts with powerful sweeps and rapidly changing spear shadows 393 394.

• Targets vital points and Death Acupoints 393.
• Uses the shaft to catch, support, and propel Lian during their joint battle 393.
• Bends and spins the shaft to begin penetrating Mr. Corpse’s protective internal qi 393.
• Deflects a qi-propelled jade sword, although the impact injures him 393.

Shaolin Internal Cultivation

Li Da conceals mastery of Small Bagua Internal Cultivation, a Shaolin qigong art belonging to the Snake Method 435.

• Integrates all Five Great Training Methods: dragon trains spirit, snake energy, crane essence, tiger bone, and leopard strength.
• Blends hardness and softness with essence, energy, and spirit.
• Reveals this cultivation only after removing his damaged clothing during the battle with Gu Feiyan 435.

Martial Knowledge and Combat Judgment

Li Da recognizes fighting methods from numerous schools and teaches while actively defending against their practitioners 47 48.

• Identifies techniques such as Monkey-Form Fist and Chicken-Step Stomp during combat 48.
• Advises Lian to master his existing true teachings rather than collect unnecessary techniques 48.
• Exploits Mr. Corpse’s hidden injury and uses conversation to pressure and distract him 391 393.
• Temporarily intensifies his qi and blood by striking chest acupoints and stimulating his heart before launching a rapid barrage 391.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Two-section iron spear — Assembles into a full-length weapon; used against Mr. Corpse and prepared again before the Wudang assault 393 593.
• Restorative elixirs — Consumes and distributes them after the island battle to replenish the survivors’ essence and energy 394.
• Type 54 pistol — Supplies it to Lian before they separate near the fortress 41.
• Handwritten Journey to the West — Receives it from his senior martial brother and later gives it to Lian; contains dangerous hidden martial mysteries 49 100.
• Old medicine prescription — Obtains it from the White Lotus Sect; reports that it stabilized the essence and qi of his senior brother and several other seniors, though it only postponed their tribulation 209.

Relationships

• Gong Wuer — Younger sister. Li Da’s gratitude for Lian saving her motivates his initial generosity and instruction 34 35.
• Li Shuwen — Nominal master. Li Da never met him but was accepted into his lineage through his senior martial brother 49 394.
• Senior martial brother — Raised and trained Li Da on their master’s behalf. Li Da searches for medicine and lost methods to address his declining cultivation 49 100 209.
• Lian Youming — Mentee and later battlefield ally. Their relationship develops from the map exchange into sustained guidance, mutual protection, and coordinated combat 35 48 391 393.
• Xu Tian — Martial nephew, who oversees Baji Sect affairs and sends word requesting Li Da’s assistance with the island rescue 130 394.
• Yang Cuo — Close associate in investigations, rescue attempts, and major battles 98 209 391 424.
• Lian’s hidden master — Senior whom Li Da respectfully addresses as Senior Martial Uncle; offers him offensive teachings in recognition of his help to Lian 209.
• Xue Hen — Childhood acquaintance whom Li Da once beat; later serves as a benchmark in his advice to Lian 35 40 49.

Notable Quotes

“Restraint isn't weakness. It's softness, accommodation, containment.” 40

“I'm a martial artist, but more than that, I'm a soldier.” 40

“As long as you refine those two true teachings of yours and master them thoroughly, you won't need any other fighting methods to roam unhindered.” 48

Trivia

• Li Da explains his given name, Da (“great”), through the image of a person with outstretched arms—and the fists at their ends 34.
• Baji disciples are repeatedly warned not to tarnish his name. Their resulting caution becomes so excessive that elders worry they have restrained away their fighting spirit 79.