Li Jiman
Biography
An heir wary of becoming a puppet
Li Jiman is the son of Shamoli and a woman from the Li branch family; he asks the family for the Li surname and learns Eastern customs while growing up as heir to Mount Yue. He recognizes that the Tian Family controls local politics and privately resolves not to become a puppet like his father. When Tian Rong draws him into a violent spectacle, Jiman plays along in public while inwardly looking for leverage over the Tian family. Li Yuanping regards him as clever but belligerent and deceitful, and the Clan Affairs Courtyard later punishes him with seventy lashes for negligence and indulgence of powerful families, damaging his reputation. (Chapters 277, 360, 367)
A king empowered by Li Yuanping
Jiman's chance to govern comes when Li Yuanping's forces take control of Mount Yue and remove the Tian family's dominance. At a banquet he angrily strikes a lord who speculates about Yuanping's weakness, declaring it a deliberate display of strength; soon after, he asks Yuanping to recall the Tian family. Yuanping instead gives him responsibility for restoring Mount Yue, training cultivators and increasing agricultural output. Jiman accepts, drawing on more than a decade of governance study and promising a thirty-percent rise in productivity within five years. The authority gives him room to rule, but it remains dependent on the Li Family's protection. (Chapters 377–378)
An old king after a failed succession
By a Li Family funeral, Jiman has reached the sixth heavenly layer of Qi Cultivation; he later remains among the Eastern Mount Yue leaders. Decades on, his son, the crown prince, attempts to poison him and flees after the plot fails; Li Zhouwei sends Chen Yang to end the resulting revolt. Jiman comes to the Li court aged and shamed, with Mount Yue's power now firmly subject to the family that placed him on its throne. (Chapters 547, 745, 959)
Appearance and personality
Jiman is first seen as a young ruler caught between the Tian family's control and Li authority. When he comes before Li Zhouwei in old age, his crown is askew as he kneels. He can be calculating and politically wary, but also reacts impulsively when he feels a patron has been insulted. (Chapters 360, 377, 959)
Abilities and cultivation
Jiman reaches the peak of Embryonic Breathing by Chapter 360 and is at the sixth heavenly layer of Qi Cultivation by Chapter 547. His established strength is political and administrative: he studies governance for years, then accepts responsibility for training cultivators, restoring land and raising production in Mount Yue. (Chapters 360, 378, 547)
Relationships
- Shamoli: His father and predecessor as Mount Yue's first king. Jiman fears repeating his father's role as a political puppet. (Chapters 277, 360)
- Li Yuanping: The Li Family head who disciplines Jiman, protects his position and entrusts him with governing Mount Yue. Jiman is grateful and strongly loyal to him. (Chapters 360, 367, 377–378)
- The Tian Family: Its dominance constrains Jiman's freedom to rule; he seeks its removal from Mount Yue. (Chapters 360, 378)
- His son, the Crown Prince: The prince's failed poisoning plot and flight leave Jiman exposed to rebellion in old age. (Chapter 959)
Items
He carries a sword in his confrontation with Tian Rong. (Chapter 360)