Heir Apparent

The Heir Apparent, whose personal name is Li Jicang, is the eldest son and former crown prince of Imperial Sovereign Li Zihua. After ages of imprisonment under Crimson Mother’s order, he escapes with Xu Qing’s help, reunites members of his broken family, and becomes a leader of Moonrite’s resistance. His later role combines rulership, exacting instruction, and the domestic identity of “Grandpa” at the Green Spirit Pharmacy. (Chapters 560–571, 593–710, 720)

Biography

Imprisonment and escape

The Heir Apparent is first encountered as the being sealed within an Ancient Bronze Coffin beneath the Heavenfire Sea. He alters Xu Qing’s perceptions, consumes a Red Moon godservant, and uses the victim’s appearance as a remote clone. Rather than immediately freeing him, Xu Qing can only absorb a small amount of the coffin’s warding power. The Heir Apparent therefore offers heavenfate as a down payment and later negotiates additional terms, including protection for nearby humans, in exchange for Xu Qing’s assistance. (Chapters 560–561, 567)

Once in the frozen north, he reveals that Crimson Mother’s godchild is his treacherous fourth brother and that another brother died in his place. Xu Qing opens a narrow breach in the red-moon wards, allowing the Heir Apparent’s discarnate soul to enter the nail embedded in the dead brother. By awakening that weapon, the Heir Apparent escapes suppression and uses his father’s god-weapon to break open Princess Brightblossom’s separate coffin. The rescue succeeds because of his planning and Xu Qing’s violet-moon authority, not because the ancient coffin simply belongs to either of them. (Chapters 568–571)

Recovering his family and the Green Spirit Pharmacy

After freeing Princess Brightblossom, the Heir Apparent attacks the Red Moon Cathedral’s godchild with her. The siblings seriously injure their brother and recover godly souls that had been taken from the other imprisoned children of Li Zihua. Both rescuers then withdraw to recover rather than pretending the battle ended Crimson Mother’s threat. This first campaign establishes the Heir Apparent’s main priorities: reclaiming his scattered family, punishing the betrayal that sustained their captivity, and preparing for the god who still rules the region. (Chapters 571, 579, 586)

The Heir Apparent later travels with Xu Qing’s group to the Green Spirit Pharmacy, where he takes the role of elderly shopkeeper. The household calls him Grandpa, and he grows particularly warm toward Ling’er, whose affection reminds him of family he lost. He treats the shop’s daily routine as something valuable rather than beneath his former rank, while his presence turns the modest pharmacy into a place even powerful regional cultivators fear to disturb. (Chapters 593–601, 715–716)

Tempering Xu Qing

At the pharmacy, the Heir Apparent becomes one of Xu Qing’s harshest teachers. He purifies red-moon power and heavenfate from captured cathedral cultivators, feeds that energy into Xu Qing’s nascent souls, and uses a replacement-death technique so a godherald bears the fatal part of Xu Qing’s lightning tribulation. The process is genuinely dangerous and leaves Xu Qing badly injured, but the Heir Apparent monitors the limit and explains that the ordeal is designed to bring out potential that gentler instruction would leave untouched. (Chapters 593–594)

His lessons continue through controlled battles against stronger opponents, severe deadlines, and explanations of imperial-class abilities. He can hide Xu Qing from the perceptions of an entire church temple, but he refuses to turn that protection into an effortless victory: Xu Qing must defeat the selected enemy within one hundred breaths or face the consequences without rescue. The method develops Xu Qing’s soul, combat judgment, and willingness to confront danger while also establishing the Heir Apparent’s limitation as a mentor—he provides conditions and safeguards, not guaranteed success. (Chapters 601–616, 637–649)

Reuniting the siblings and opposing Crimson Mother

As Moonrite’s resistance grows, the Heir Apparent and Princess Brightblossom search for their remaining siblings while using the Bitter Life Mountains as a center of opposition. By the time of the decisive campaign, Fifth Sister and Eighth Sib have returned, and Ninth Sib fights beside them. The Heir Apparent coordinates with the family rather than absorbing their identities or achievements: each sibling retains a separate history, cultivation, and role, while he acts as eldest brother and the political face of their shared cause. (Chapters 650–674, 706–710)

The family combines its blood with help from Xu Qing’s group to awaken Li Zihua’s statue, then joins the assault connected to the Moon Palace. Their father’s godly return and the intervention of other gods ultimately destroy Crimson Mother’s current body, while Li Zihua sends the Heir Apparent, his siblings, Xu Qing, and the Captain away before the red moon becomes a god world. The victory ends the curse and cathedral regime in Moonrite, but it does not make the Heir Apparent the sole victor or erase Li Zihua’s separate plan. (Chapters 691–710)

Protector of Moonrite and ally of Xu Qing

After the campaign, the Heir Apparent gives Xu Qing’s party a ship for the journey back to Sea-Sealing County and later circulates a notice across Revered Ancient announcing Crimson Mother’s death and Li Zihua’s awakening. He remains in Moonrite with his siblings rather than following Xu Qing to the Imperial Capital. His authority becomes a strategic deterrent: the human emperor explicitly treats aid from the Heir Apparent and his family as a final contingency during the Nightshade war. (Chapters 717–718, 738, 815–816)

When a holy-land enemy nearly kills Xu Qing, the Heir Apparent answers Erniu’s message and arrives with Princess Brightblossom, Fifth Sister, Eighth Sib, Ninth Sib, Ling’er, and Moonrebel forces. He declares war on the Vivifiend holy land and helps his siblings kill its Smoldering God defenders. The intervention repays Xu Qing’s help without placing him under Moonrite’s rule, and it demonstrates that the Heir Apparent’s protective commitment now extends beyond his birthplace to allies his family has chosen. (Chapters 985, 991–994)

Final crisis and later life

During the final invasion of Revered Ancient, the Heir Apparent and his siblings remain at the Green Spirit Pharmacy and use the Moonrebel Congregation’s power in the defense of the world. They witness Xu Qing and Erniu’s return, and Xu Qing later visits them in Moonrite. The Heir Apparent is still presented beside Princess Brightblossom and Ninth Sib, confirming that his postwar life remains anchored in the family he spent so long recovering rather than in a restored solitary throne. (Chapters 1308–1314, 1324)

In the following decades, the Heir Apparent and his siblings accompany Ling’er when her Ancient Spirit bloodline helps the nonhuman species accept a new political settlement. This is his latest verified activity in the supplied corpus. He remains alive and influential, but the final unification is represented by Ling’er, Empress Summer Departure, and Starfire; the Heir Apparent supports that transition instead of being credited with their distinct authority. (Chapters 1337–1338)

Appearance and personality

The Heir Apparent’s true discarnate soul appears as a dignified young man who resembles his dead younger brother. His long captivity leaves other manifestations gaunt or wizened, including a brown-robed figure with gray hair. He also uses a captured female godservant’s appearance as a clone and later favors the form of a kindly old grandfather. These bodies and disguises should not be confused with separate siblings or with his title as Li Zihua’s heir. (Chapters 561, 568, 589, 593–601)

He carries the authority and confidence of a former crown prince, keeps negotiated promises, and can be ruthless toward enemies. Grief over his brothers and sisters drives much of his early action, while domestic life at the pharmacy reveals patience, humor, and a longing for ordinary family warmth. His affection does not make his instruction gentle: he deliberately exposes Xu Qing to controlled mortal danger because he believes indomitable cultivators are forged through real pressure. (Chapters 567–571, 593–601, 637–649, 691–710)

Abilities and cultivation

Perception authority

The Heir Apparent can rewrite what others perceive, making movement, distance, identity, and ordinary events appear different from reality. He uses this authority from inside the coffin, projects a clone that fools Red Moon personnel, hides himself and Xu Qing inside a staffed cathedral temple, and can disable a Spirit Trove opponent with a glance. The power is formidable but not absolute: the coffin’s red-moon wards still constrain his true soul until Xu Qing creates a breach. (Chapters 560–561, 568–569, 593–601)

Smoldering God cultivation

The Heir Apparent is a Smoldering God who shoulders one major world, distinguishing his cultivation from Princess Brightblossom and Ninth Sib, who are described with two. He can suppress high-level cultivators, travel through dangerous environments, manipulate broad regions of natural law, and fight other Smoldering Gods. His strength grows after recovering and reconnecting with Li Zihua’s power, but the corpus continues to distinguish his individual authority from that of his stronger siblings and father. (Chapters 571, 601, 732, 985, 994)

Formations, tempering, and inherited resources

His technical knowledge includes purification formations, tribulation redirection, concealment, combat instruction, and manipulation of Moonrite’s wind through his alliance with Moonfire. He can also operate his father’s god-weapon after placing his soul within it. That nail is an inherited imperial weapon rather than proof that every object tied to Li Zihua is the Heir Apparent’s personal property, and much of his largest-scale work still depends on family coordination or Xu Qing’s violet-moon authority. (Chapters 568–571, 593–594, 601–616, 657, 691–710)

Power progression

Relationships

• Xu Qing: Their relationship begins as a dangerous transaction between prisoner and potential liberator. It develops into rigorous mentorship and mutual protection: Xu Qing helps free the Heir Apparent and recover his family, while the Heir Apparent tempers Xu Qing, supports his wars, and mobilizes Moonrite when a holy-land enemy nearly kills him. (Chapters 560–571, 593–649, 691–710, 985–994)
• Li Zihua: The Heir Apparent is Li Zihua’s eldest son and former political assistant. He uses his father’s god-weapon and helps awaken the statue that preserves Li Zihua’s plan, but he neither controls his father’s return nor possesses all of his authority. (Chapters 568–571, 691–710, 720)
• Princess Brightblossom: He frees his third sister from a separate coffin, then fights and searches beside her. She retains her own title, two-world Smoldering God cultivation, and battlefield decisions; their partnership is one of siblings cooperating after distinct forms of captivity. (Chapters 570–571, 579, 650–710, 732, 985–994)
• Ninth Sib: The Heir Apparent recalls favoring Ninth Sib in childhood disputes and later reunites with him for the war against Crimson Mother. Ninth Sib remains the family’s particularly formidable sword expert, while the Heir Apparent more often serves as planner, elder brother, and public representative. (Chapters 568, 650–710, 717, 985–994)
• Crimson Mother: Crimson Mother’s regime imprisons and torments Li Zihua’s children through the cathedral and their traitorous brother. The Heir Apparent makes ending that rule a central goal, but the final destruction of her body results from a coalition of his family, Xu Qing’s group, Li Zihua, and multiple divine powers. (Chapters 568–571, 579, 650–710)

Items

• Ancient Bronze Coffin: The Heir Apparent is sealed inside the coffin beneath the Heavenfire Sea, where red-moon warding spells restrict his true body and soul. Xu Qing finds it and helps weaken the imprisonment, while the later Moonrite expedition opens related ancient coffins. No simple personal ownership is established; its verified role is that of an ancient sealed vessel used in the family’s captivity and recovery. (Chapters 559–561, 568–571)