Yan Kingdom
I'm Already the Strongest in the Starry Sky, and Spiritual Energy Is Only Now Returning?
- Original Name:
- 燕国 (yàn guó)
- Gender:
- Neutral
- Kind:
- Place
- Scope:
- Novel-specific
- Status:
- Active
- Source:
- AI
- Occurrences:
- 72
- Chapters:
- 13
- Context Up To:
- Ch. 50
- Wiki Model:
- GPT-6.1 Terra
- Updated:
Biodata
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Yan Kingdom (燕国) |
| Alias(es) | Great Yan |
| Location | Heavenly Human Realm 24 |
| Government | Imperial kingdom ruled by the Yan Emperor 35 |
| Status | Destroyed; its royal city left in ruins 37 |
| First Appearance | Chapter 24 |
Geography and locations
The Yan Kingdom was one of the more powerful states in the divided Heavenly Human Realm and a neighbor of the Zhao Kingdom. It rose from a small frontier kingdom into a northern hegemon 24 33.
- Royal capital — Li Erniu described its moat as more than ten zhang wide and its walls as exceptionally high. Chen Du later split the city in two with a sword strike 25 35.
- Lichuan — A garrison city less than three hundred li from the capital. Its three thousand soldiers surrendered passage to Chen Du without fighting 30.
- Fortified valley — The narrow road to the royal city was defended by thirty-six formations, traps, ballistae, archers and catapults 33.
- Dragon Tomb — Hidden beneath a barren mountain north of the capital, it housed the emperors’ coffins, the founding emperor’s Dragon Bone and Great Yan’s historical archive 35 36.
History
Conquests and war with Zhao
According to the account of Xiang Anshi, he helped the founding emperor establish the Yan Kingdom seventy years before Chen Du confronted him. Fifty years before that confrontation, Yan sent a reported army of five hundred thousand against Ning State. Ning’s Blade Saint held the army back alone for fifteen days before the city fell and he died 25 32.
Yan and Zhao fought repeated border wars for decades. During a later invasion, Yan’s Southern Expedition Army broke through Zhao’s northern defenses, burned cities and surrounded the Zhao capital. Soldiers who had left the ranks to loot also burned Qinghe Village and slaughtered its inhabitants, including Chen Du’s family 26 27 28.
Fall of Great Yan
Seeking revenge for Qinghe Village, Chen Du struck the Yan army outside Zhao’s capital. His sword strike annihilated a hundred thousand soldiers; he then killed their commander, S itu Zhen, and vowed to destroy Yan 29 30.
On the road to the Yan capital, Chen Du overcame the kingdom’s remaining defenders:
- Xiang Anshi, the Great Yan Martial God, knelt and let him pass after failing to withstand his sword intent 32.
- The Great Yan martial alliance, led by Xiao Wanjun, attacked from the fortified valley with more than a thousand fighters and thirty-six formations. Chen Du swept them aside with one slash 33 34.
- The Yan Emperor fled north after Chen Du split the royal capital. At the Dragon Tomb, the emperor absorbed the founding emperor’s Dragon Bone and transformed into a dragon; Chen Du destroyed the dragon and killed him 35 36.
Military and martial forces
| Force or figure | Role |
|---|---|
| Southern Expedition Army | Yan’s invasion force against Zhao, commanded by the early Saint Stage expert S itu Zhen. Its camps used Iron Chain Strangling Formations intended to impede martial experts 28. |
| Xiang Anshi | Great Yan’s nation-guarding Martial God and a Middle Stage Heaven-Human expert. He had defended the kingdom for decades 32. |
| Great Yan martial alliance | A coalition of sects and fighters led by Xiao Wanjun, sect master of the Yan Cloud Sect. Its valley defense included three Heaven-Human experts and nearly a hundred Saint Tier experts 33. |
National fortune and the Dragon Tomb
The founding emperor’s Dragon Bone stored fortune accumulated through Great Yan’s wars and conquests. According to the Yan Emperor, more than half the national fortune gained from victories and annexed land was absorbed into it; only a Great Yan emperor could draw on the bone’s power 35.
After absorbing it, the emperor activated a vast array covering the kingdom. Fortune flowed toward the Dragon Tomb, while common people and martial artists across Yan felt their strength being drained. Chen Du’s final strike broke through the array and the dragon’s fortune barrier 35 36.
The tomb’s archive contained records from fallen dynasties, including documents seized from conquered kingdoms. Reading them, Chen Du found a pattern of failed attempts to unite the Heavenly Human Realm and concluded that hidden forces had kept it in continual war. He also came to believe that the Yan Emperor had intended to unite the realm against those forces 36 37.
Aftermath
Chen Du staged his death at the ruined royal city and went into hiding. Forty years later, a Motian Sect disciple arrived at the ruins and harvested the realm’s accumulated war, soul and mortal-life energy. The disciple recognized its inhabitants as soul seeds trapped in cycles of war and death to nourish the sect’s cultivation 37 38.