Li Ziye

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Transmigration and the Li Family’s Wealth

Li Ziye retains memories of a previous life, including familiarity with political dramas and their power struggles. Born into a merchant family, he introduces products such as perfume, glass, mirrors, and soap. Their success transforms the Li Family over roughly a dozen years into a commercial power whose wealth is estimated to exceed Great Shang’s treasury 1 11 18.

That prosperity also makes the family a target. Li Ziye recognizes that the imperial court fears its growing resources and that Third Prince Mu Yao’s arrival in Yuzhou is more than a visit to seek a sword master. He conceals his responsibility for the family’s inventions when Mu Yao questions him 3 4 7.

Becoming Qin Enuo’s Disciple

Unable to cultivate naturally, Li Ziye helps manufacture a reputation as an unparalleled sword genius to attract Qin Enuo. Li Baiwan pays Zhang Lata ten jars of Drunken Flower Brew for his public endorsement, and the resulting rumors grow into stories of miraculous birth, mountain-cleaving sword strikes, and imminent ascension 1 3.

Li Ziye passes Qin Enuo’s first test by presenting a gold sword and her second by demonstrating Taiji. For the final contest against Mu Yao, he pays Zhang Lata in wine to leave the prince bedridden. Mu Yao fails to appear, and Qin Enuo accepts Li Ziye as her disciple 2 4 5.

Training in Yuzhou

Qin Enuo subjects him to painful meridian treatments, medicinal baths, and daily practice of basic sweeps, slashes, and thrusts. His determination strengthens after Li Youwei cares for him through the aftermath of treatment: he concludes that the family needs powerful swordsmen if it is to withstand imperial pressure 8 9.

His first practical trial takes place in the Qilian Mountains, where Qin Enuo deliberately exposes him to bandits. Initially terrified and inexperienced, he learns to steady himself, exploit darkness, and kill his attackers individually. He returns after killing more than a dozen men without her assistance 9 10 11.

Later raids bring him a rosewood box containing blazing fire iron essence. After questioning the bandit chief, Yin Kuang, Li Ziye learns of the Yin Clan’s incomplete Essential Arts of Heavenly Craft. He recruits Yin Kuang for three years in exchange for protection, then has Hongzhu disguise him for infiltration into the clan 14 18 19.

Entering the Capital

News that something has happened to Li Youwei prompts Li Ziye to travel to Great Shang’s capital with Zhang Lata. He deliberately plans to let observers “discover” that the celebrated prodigy is supposedly a conceited, talentless merchant heir, making them less likely to view his actions as a serious threat 21.

In the capital, he survives Tao Yaoyao’s test, challenges the Imperial Academy’s attempt to punish him, and receives an invitation to join the academy on Kong Qiu’s instructions. He postpones his decision. Bai Wangyu subsequently moves into Li Garden and becomes his sparring partner and instructor 24 25.

Li Ziye also resists attempts to gain control of his family’s production methods. Although he rejects Zhangsun Nanqiao’s offer to turn the Li Family into a politically privileged clan, he later negotiates cooperation in exchange for a twenty-percent share of the Zhangsun Family’s medicinal herb business and one herb king 27 33 39.

The Yin Clan Theft and Divine Oracle Hall Challenge

With Yu Qingxuan’s help, Li Ziye enters the Yin patriarch’s birthday celebration. He crosses an arrow-filled secret passage, fights its clawed guardian, and escapes with the incomplete Essential Arts of Heavenly Craft, assisted by Yin Kuang. Yan Xiaoyu pursues him and Hongzhu afterward, but Bai Wangyu intervenes 35 45 46 47.

The stolen book identifies the Water-Fire Pearl as a treasure capable of refining yin and yang, making it relevant to forging a sword from his blazing fire iron essence. Meanwhile, Qin Enuo asks Kong Qiu to guide Li Ziye; Kong Qiu makes his consideration conditional on Li Ziye helping resolve the trouble surrounding the Divine Oracle Hall’s imperial audience 47 49.

Initially wary of attracting still more attention to his family, Li Ziye ultimately agrees to help answer the Divine Oracle Hall’s challenge. He tells Mu Rong that Kong Qiu will not intervene, but that he will 49 50.

Appearance

Li Ziye’s handsome appearance and cultivated bearing make his fabricated reputation unusually convincing: even Mu Yao initially takes him for an exceptional talent on sight 3 4.

• Features: Delicate face, sword-like brows, and star-like eyes 1 3.
• Hair: Long and black, sometimes tied behind him during training 3 8.
• Clothing: Elaborate embroidered robes, gold and silver detailing, and jade ornaments; one outfit includes Yun Province silk and East Sea green jade 1 4.

Personality

Li Ziye is theatrical, shameless, and keenly conscious of appearances. He boasts about his looks, uses exaggerated courtesy without intending genuine submission, and flatters people freely when he needs their help. His public foolishness can be calculated rather than accidental: he understands how repetition, rumor, and the satisfaction of “seeing through” someone can shape other people’s judgments 2 3 4 18 21.

His pragmatism extends to underhanded methods. He arranges Mu Yao’s incapacitation instead of accepting an unwinnable contest, bargains aggressively, and helps inflame a dispute between the Merchant Alliance and Yin Clan. Nevertheless, he can recognize his limits: after wounding the stronger bandit chief, he escapes rather than allowing a temporary advantage to tempt him into a fatal fight 5 15 34 39.

Beneath the frivolity, he is fiercely protective and unusually persistent. He continues meridian treatments despite severe pain, trains through repeated falls and exhaustion, and stands in front of Yu Qingxuan when Chen Yifei’s guards threaten them. His ambition to become a sword immortal is inseparable from his fear of being unable to protect the people around him 8 16 31 43.

Abilities & Skills

Flying Immortal Formula

His principal cultivation method combines internal cultivation, swordsmanship, and exceptional footwork. Qin Enuo and Zhang Lata teach him together 12 17.

• Uses rapid movement to evade stronger opponents, close distance, and cross the Yin Clan’s arrow-trapped passage 17 24 44 45.
• Produces powerful finishing strikes capable of breaking rock and stone furniture 20 33.
• His True Essence recovery and cultivation improve when he practices the internal method after exhausting himself 21.
• The third form ordinarily requires Second Realm strength and bodily control. Completing its footwork in training does not establish that he can reliably use it in combat 33 43.

Taiji Sword

Li Ziye demonstrates a rounded, tightly defended sword art that alternates precisely between fast and slow movements. He attributes it to an immortal who taught him in a dream—an explanation the narration calls half true and half false 4.

• Its demonstration produces faint wind, thunder, and rosy light perceptible to Qin Enuo 4.
• The phenomenon convinces Qin Enuo of the art’s extraordinary quality despite Li Ziye’s lack of an opened Divine Repository 4.

Wind Passes, Leaving Traces

A Confucian sword technique taught by Bai Wangyu 27.

• Li Ziye learns its basics as an additional means of protecting himself while struggling with the Flying Immortal Formula 27.

Memory and Technical Knowledge

Li Ziye combines an exceptional memory with knowledge retained from his previous life 1 12 18.

• Memorizes the Flying Immortal Formula’s cultivation mantra after roughly a dozen breaths 12.
• Writes out the score of Guangling Melody from memory for Yu Qingxuan, although his handwriting is notably crooked 31.
• Develops the unfamiliar consumer products that drive the Li Family’s commercial expansion 1.

Strategy and Negotiation

Li Ziye uses misinformation, bargaining, and intelligence gathering to compensate for his family’s political vulnerability 3 18 21.

• Engineers both an exaggerated genius reputation and a later image of an overrated merchant heir 1 3 21.
• Recruits Yin Kuang and arranges his disguised infiltration into the Yin Clan 18 19.
• Studies the capital’s factions and memorizes the locations of its ten Martial Kings’ residences 24.
• Negotiates medicinal resources without surrendering control of the Li Family’s production processes 27 39.

Cultivation Limitations

• Blocked meridians: Only two of his original eight blocked meridians have been opened in the documented progression 11 33.
• Slow advancement: Even expert instruction and abundant medicinal resources cannot initially overcome his extremely poor cultivation speed 12 16 31.
• Realm disparity: Zhang Lata states that early First Realm Li Ziye has no chance against Second Realm Mu Yao in a direct fight 21.
• High training costs: He relies on expensive herbs for treatment and recovery, including hundred-year-old ginseng consumed during third-form practice 11 32 43.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Pure Jun Sword / Ancient Chunjun Sword — An ancient dark-blue blade delivered by Hongzhu on Li Qingzhi’s instructions. Forged by a master artificer a century earlier, it had disappeared after its maker’s death 18 33.
• Azure Frost Sword — Qin Enuo’s personal sword, lent to him for early practice and used during his Qilian Mountain trials 8 13 14.
• Flexible sword — Concealed as a belt during the Yin Clan infiltration; straightens when infused with True Essence 45.
• Blazing fire iron essence — Retrieved from the bandit stronghold; intended as material for a future sword 14 18 49.
• Essential Arts of Heavenly Craft — An incomplete text stolen from the Yin Clan treasury, containing information about rare materials and the Water-Fire Pearl 46 49.
• Poison-coated sword — Sent by his sworn brother and delivered through Li Youwei before the final discipleship trial 5.

Relationships

• Li Baiwan — Father and financial supporter. Helps arrange the campaign to attract Qin Enuo and promises the family’s backing when Li Ziye leaves for the capital 1 21.
• Li Youwei — Adoptive elder sister and the person Li Ziye believes treats him best. Her care and burden of managing the family business deepen his resolve to protect the household 8.
• Li Qingzhi — Elder adoptive brother and harsh critic of his weakness. Despite their strained manner, Li Ziye regards him as his most trusted person; Qingzhi protects Li Youwei, supplies his sword, and assists his plans 8 9 18.
• Qin Enuo — Master. Pushes him through painful treatments and dangerous practical trials, while spending rare medicine and her own strength to give him a path into cultivation 5 8 11.
• Zhang Lata — Mentor, protector, and frequent source of mockery. Helps secure his discipleship, jointly teaches the Flying Immortal Formula, and opens his second meridian 5 12 32.
• Hongzhu — Childhood companion and trusted helper. Li Ziye brought her to the residence when he was seven and she was ten; she later assists with Yin Kuang’s disguise and guards him during the Yin Clan operation 19 20 46.
• Bai Wangyu — Friend, houseguest, instructor, and sparring partner. Repeatedly protects Li Ziye and creates a training formation to help him attempt the third Flying Immortal form 25 27 31 43 47.
• Yin Kuang — Former bandit chief turned subordinate. Agrees to three years of service in exchange for protection and helps Li Ziye steal the Yin Clan’s book 18 46.
• Yu Qingxuan — Musical acquaintance and ally. Receives Guangling Melody, helps him enter the Yin Clan celebration, and promises not to harm him despite owing favors to the First Prince 31 35.
• Zhangsun Nanqiao — Negotiating counterpart and eventual business partner. Their dealings mix hard bargaining with teasing; Li Ziye also brings her home for treatment after their boat capsizes 33 38 39.
• Mu Yao — Rival for Qin Enuo’s discipleship and an imperial intermediary probing the Li Family. Their outwardly courteous exchanges conceal mutual suspicion 4 5 7.
• Kong Qiu — Head of the Confucians, who invites him to the Imperial Academy and considers guiding him under a stated condition. Li Ziye is notably irreverent toward his authority 25 42 43 47.
• Yan Xiaoyu — Divine Oracle Hall enemy. Identifies Li Ziye as a potential threat and later pursues and attacks him after the Yin Clan theft 42 46.

Notable Quotes

“A sword is a tool for killing!” 8

“As long as you’re capable, no one can look down on you. But if you’re willing to become a bandit, you can’t blame others for despising you.” 18

“I’ll make sure our Li Residence produces a Sword Immortal whose name shakes the world.” 20

“One look tells me you’re a complete newbie at palace intrigue, the kind who wouldn’t survive two episodes.” 49