Zi Yan

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Zi Yan (紫烟)
Alias(es)	“King of Brute Force”; “little overlord” of the Inner Academy; “Little Demon King” 230 306
Species/Race	Demonic Beast; a royal of the Primordial Void Dragon clan 233
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy; Ruyi Zhai
Occupation/Role	Ruyi Zhai shop assistant, pastry-cart bodyguard, and later mascot 234 367
First Appearance	Chapter 230

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Strength comparable to a sixth-tier Magical Beast / Dou Wang	233	Her physical strength is noted as sufficient to endanger surrounding students if she uses her full force.
Breakthrough threshold: peak fifth-tier Magical Beast	329	After consuming large quantities of pastries, she enters deep sleep to digest the accumulated energy; the System states that a breakthrough would bring her to the peak of the fifth tier.
Unspecified breakthrough attempt	331	Fluorescent light emerges from her body and her aura surges while she sleeps, indicating an attempt to break through.

Background / History

Zi Yan is a Primordial Void Dragon royal and the daughter of Zhu Kun. After accidentally consuming Shape-shifting Grass before reaching the sixth tier, she assumed the form of a small human girl. Su Qian found her and brought her to Jia Nan Academy, where she became the Inner Academy's feared “little overlord.” 230 233 329

Before meeting Xiao Cheng, Zi Yan treated medicinal pills, spiritual medicines, and heavenly treasures as “delicious” snacks. Inner Academy students avoided her because she would seize valuable ingredients and pills that could aid her growth. Despite her disruptive reputation, she longs for familial affection after having lived alone in the mountains. 230

Qi Tianchi introduced her to Xiao Cheng's pastries after recognizing that their scent and effects would appeal to her. Drawn by the aroma, she tracked down Ruyi Zhai's pastry cart and quickly became fixated on its food. 230 233

Appearance

Zi Yan usually appears as a petite girl with a delicate, childlike appearance that conceals her overwhelming physical strength. Her human form results from the Shape-shifting Grass she consumed. 230 329

• Purple hair. 233
• Usually wears white clothing. 233
• Often described as cute or delicate despite her violent strength. 230 234
• Her expression changes immediately when food or spiritual medicine is involved. 230 252

Personality

Zi Yan is defined by an insatiable appetite. Food, pills, and spiritual medicines override nearly every other concern; she is willing to bargain, work, steal, or throw tantrums to obtain more. She is especially possessive of food and reacts fiercely if anyone tries to take it from her. 230 234

Her behavior is childlike, blunt, and impulsive, but she is not unintelligent. She quickly learns games such as Gomoku, cheats when it suits her, and can manipulate others into playing with her. 280 307 367 Her attachment to Xiao Cheng's food also makes her surprisingly easy to negotiate with, though she regularly causes him trouble. 234 286

Abilities & Skills

Brute Force

Zi Yan possesses extraordinary physical strength despite her small frame.

• Her strength is compared to that of a sixth-tier Magical Beast or a Dou Wang. 233
• She can create craters with her punches and knock students aside while charging toward food. 233
• When a faction disciple pushes her aside, she launches him into the sky with a single punch, terrifying the surrounding crowd. 306
• Xiao Cheng hires her to guard Ruyi Zhai's pastry cart, its staff, and its goods. 234
• Her temper and poor restraint make her dangerous to bystanders as well as threats. 306 318

Demonic Beast Physiology

Zi Yan's dragon bloodline gives her an exceptional body and an enormous capacity for energy-rich resources.

• She casually consumes high-grade spiritual medicines as snacks. 248 252
• Her body has reached a point where ordinary morning exercises no longer produce results. 255
• Excess energy from pastries can force her into deep sleep while she digests it. 329
• Her human appearance is maintained through the effects of Shape-shifting Grass. 230 329

Games and Cunning

Zi Yan is a quick learner in games and often alters rules in her favor.

• She learns Gomoku rapidly and reaches a level nearly comparable to Haibodong's. 280
• She repeatedly defeats Fan Qian at Gomoku. 307
• She cheats while playing “Train Chain” with Mo Ya. 367
• Her unconventional rules frustrate players of Dou Dizhu and Gomoku, including Hu Jia and Bai Shan. 405

Equipment / Items

• Cosmic Ring — Stores high-grade spiritual medicines that Zi Yan treats as snacks. 248 252
• Balala the Fairies doll / Dragon Toy — A toy given to Zi Yan that can help dragons accelerate their power improvement. 274

Relationships

• Xiao Cheng — Employer and frequent source of pastries. Zi Yan becomes Ruyi Zhai's bodyguard in exchange for two platters of pastries per day; their relationship is affectionate but full of tricks, complaints, and food-based bargaining. 234 236 286
• Qi Tianchi — Academy dean who directs her to Xiao Cheng's pastries; Zi Yan repeatedly raids his medicine garden for spiritual medicines. 230 241 252
• Su Qian — The elder who found and brought her to Jia Nan Academy. He is repeatedly angered by her thefts from Qi Tianchi's medicine garden. 230 252 370
• Xiao Yu — Ruyi Zhai colleague and friend. Xiao Yu helps manage Zi Yan's antics and is one of the people Zi Yan is assigned to protect. 234 307
• Xue Ni — Ruyi Zhai colleague who shares in supervising Zi Yan and observes that only Xiao Cheng can reliably keep her in line. 234 307
• Hu Jia — Friend and gaming companion. Zi Yan offers her spiritual medicines for information on Xiao Cheng's whereabouts and later plays cards and Gomoku with her. 248 355 405
• Old Man Huo — Plays Gomoku with Zi Yan and helps Xiao Cheng watch over her during her early days at the pastry cart. 233 235
• Fan Qian — Frequent game partner whom Zi Yan repeatedly defeats at Gomoku. 307 412
• Mo Ya — A frequent target and participant in Zi Yan's games; she cheats against him and later joins his scheme to harass Fan Ling. 367 395

Story Role / Major Arcs

Recruitment by Ruyi Zhai

Zi Yan follows the scent of Xiao Cheng's pastries to the outer courtyard, knocks aside students, and initially claims all pastries for herself. After Xiao Cheng explains that other customers must be allowed to buy food, she agrees to wait while he prepares more. 233

After deciding to remain at Ruyi Zhai permanently, Zi Yan accepts Xiao Cheng's offer to become a shop assistant and bodyguard. Her agreed payment is two platters of pastries a day. 234

Medicine Garden Incidents

Xiao Cheng exploits Zi Yan's appetite by persuading her to bring spiritual medicines from Qi Tianchi's garden so he can turn them into better food. Zi Yan debates whether to eat half of the garden herself, ultimately consuming one-third and taking the remainder away. 236 241

Later, Zi Yan admits that she took all of the high-grade spiritual medicines from Qi Tianchi's garden, claiming that leaving them uneaten would be wasteful. Su Qian discovers the emptied garden and realizes that she is responsible. 252 253

Rakshasa City

When Xiao Cheng leaves the academy area for Rakshasa City without informing her, Zi Yan becomes angry and uses high-grade spiritual medicines to obtain his location from Hu Jia. 248

At Ruyi Zhai in Rakshasa City, she functions as both a deterrent and a source of chaos. She drives away troublesome visitors with a punch, spends much of her time playing games, and is later regarded as the shop's mascot. 306 307 367

Energy Digestion Sleep

After eating a large quantity of pastries, Zi Yan unexpectedly enters a deep sleep to digest the residual energy in her body. Her aura later surges in an apparent breakthrough attempt. 329 331

She wakes ravenously hungry and immediately demands food from Xiao Cheng, who uses pastries from his backpack to calm her down. 337

Support for Her Sect

Zi Yan later approaches Xiao Cheng seeking a pastry capable of improving the talent of new disciples in her sect, showing an interest in using Ruyi Zhai's products to strengthen others rather than only feeding herself. 375

Notable Quotes

“Two platters of delicious food a day, or I won't be your clerk.” 234

“I will definitely protect the delicious food.” 234

“Yeah, these snacks taste great.” 248

Trivia

• Zi Yan initially asks whether Gomoku “tastes good” because she assumes it is food. 280
• She considers high-grade spiritual medicines to be ordinary snacks. 230 248
• Her hunger is sensitive enough that the scent of newly baked pastries can wake her from sleep. 266 274
• Xiao Cheng considers her a highly effective but unusually difficult bodyguard because food is her primary motivation. 234 318