A Thousand Li Books in Order
Part ofTao Wong Books in OrderFind the A Thousand Li books in order by Tao Wong, with quick summaries, series background, and a simple guide to where to start Wu Ying's journey.
Last updated: July 3, 2026
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Publication Order
20 books
The First Step
by Tao Wong
2019
Conscripted farmer Wu Ying gets an unexpected chance to join the Verdant Green Waters Sect. His first steps into cultivation bring danger, discipline, and a choice that will change everything.
The First Stop
by Tao Wong
2019
Now an inner sect member, Wu Ying has to grow stronger, choose a second occupation, and avoid trouble. Outside the sect, war is getting closer.
The Favored Son
by Tao Wong
2020
Talent can be as heavy as any burden in this A Thousand Li side story. Expectations, family pressure, and the promise of cultivation all pull in different directions.
The First War
by Tao Wong
2020
War clouds gather and Wu Ying is drawn toward a conflict his sect would rather avoid. Cultivation, loyalty, and battlefield politics collide as peace gives way to bloodshed.
The Second Expedition
by Tao Wong
2020
When Master Cheng is poisoned, Wu Ying joins Elder Yang on a dangerous mission to find a rare antidote. The journey becomes a race through enemy territory with dark forces waiting ahead.
Clifftop Crisis and Transformation
by Tao Wong
2021
A turning-point tale from the A Thousand Li world, this story mixes immediate danger with the kind of inner change that lasts longer than any single fight.
Descent from the Mountain
by Tao Wong
2021
Leaving the shelter of training behind, this A Thousand Li side story follows the risks and revelations that wait lower down in the wider world.
Imperial March
by Tao Wong
2021
War and movement drive this A Thousand Li side story, where armies, cultivators, and state power all press against one another. It is a brisk look at the wider world beyond the sect.
On Gods and Demons
by Tao Wong
2021
Set in the same cultivation universe, this story puts mortal lives against larger immortal and demonic forces. It is a compact look at power, duty, and dangerous ambition.
The Second Sect
by Tao Wong
2021
Badly injured and altered by battle, Wu Ying travels to another sect in search of healing. Recovery offers opportunity, but war and the dark sect are still closing in.
The Second Storm
by Tao Wong
2021
Two years into war, the dark sect strikes hard and Fairy Yang is taken. Wu Ying's rescue mission pulls him into traps, politics, and painful choices.
Villages and Illnesses
by Tao Wong
2021
This smaller-scale story brings the cultivation world back to ordinary lives. Local hardship and human need test strength in quieter, more personal ways.
The Divine Peak
by Tao Wong
2022
A shorter tale set in the A Thousand Li world, this story leans into the climb toward higher realms. It pairs cultivation ambition with danger, discipline, and hard-earned insight.
The Third Kingdom
by Tao Wong
2022
Banished from the Verdant Green Waters Sect, Wu Ying is forced to make his way in the wider world. New kingdoms, new politics, and new rivals push him to redefine his path.
The Third Cut
by Tao Wong
2023
Corruption is spreading from the south through tainted spirit stones and twisted daos. Wu Ying heads into Nanyue to find the source before the damage reaches farther.
The Third Realm
by Tao Wong
2023
Traveling beyond Shen, Wu Ying sees new kingdoms, new sects, and new ideas about power. As he follows the trace of Heaven's Wind, he also has to decide what place he wants in the world beneath the heavens.
The Fourth Fall
by Tao Wong
2024
Wu Ying is pushed into high-stakes negotiations as drought and war threaten neighboring kingdoms. Politics, dao, and the risk of open conflict make this one of his hardest tests.
The Fourth Stage
by Tao Wong
2024
Returning to his old sect after years away, Wu Ying finds status, rivalry, and responsibility waiting for him. He must decide whether Verdant Green Waters is still home.
The Sundering Blade
by Tao Wong
2024
A martial fantasy story from the A Thousand Li universe, where weapon skill, personal history, and the harsh edge of cultivation all cut close together.
The Fourth Wall
by Tao Wong
2025
After defeating a half-Immortal tyrant at terrible cost, Wu Ying is broken in body and cultivation. To survive, he must rethink everything he believes about his path.
Series background & context
A Thousand Li is Tao Wong's long-form cultivation series, and it begins from the ground up. Wu Ying starts as a farmer's son, not a legend, not a hidden master, just a young man caught in events bigger than he understands. When war and conscription tear through his village, he gets the chance to enter the Verdant Green Waters Sect and step onto the path of cultivation.
It starts small.
That is one of the series' strengths. Wong lets Wu Ying learn slowly, the way a real student would. He studies, trains, makes mistakes, and figures out where he fits inside a sect full of rules, rivalries, elders, and expectations. There are spirit beasts, martial arts, healing, alchemy, travel, and big bursts of danger, but the books never lose sight of the daily work that makes cultivation feel earned.
As the series moves from The First Step through later books like The Second Sect, The Third Kingdom, and The Fourth Wall, the scale widens. Wu Ying has to deal with sect politics, war between kingdoms, banishment, old loyalties, and the uneasy balance between mortal ties and the pull of immortality. The world keeps getting bigger, but the emotional center stays personal. Friendship, duty, grief, patience, and the cost of power matter as much as winning a fight.
That patience is the point.
Readers should expect a progression fantasy that values steady growth over shortcuts. The action is there, but so is reflection. Wu Ying spends as much time thinking through what power means as he does chasing it. If you like cultivation stories where training, philosophy, and worldbuilding all matter, A Thousand Li is a very comfortable place to settle in for the long haul.
It is also the kind of series that rewards reading in order. Each book changes Wu Ying a little, and those changes add up.
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