Swallow

Biodata

Name	Swallow
Alias(es)	Yan An; Anqing Swallow
Species/Race	Anqing swallow spirit; descendant of the Anqing Swallow Immortal
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Anqing Swallow clan; Song You's travelling companions
Occupation/Role	Aerial scout, messenger, spell practitioner, and Song You's attendant
Status	Active
First Appearance	57

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Human-form cultivation	57	Among the younger generation of his clan, Yan An was the first to cultivate a human form.
Anqing Swallow duplication art	300	Demonstrates the clan's ability to create multiple swallows, though he admits he has only recently begun learning it.
Ancestor-feather manifestation	320 321	Uses three wing-tip feathers granted by the ascended Swallow Immortal to unleash his ancestor's peak duplication ability and eradicate a locust plague.
Vitality and growth art	394 662	Song You teaches him a method for gathering vitality and restoring barren land; he later casts the spell while planting a sapling.
Heavenly lightning arts	562 563	Learns to call heavenly lightning and casts his first bolt after seventeen days of practice. His early casting is weak and inconsistent, and exhausts his magical power.
Head-Severing Sword control	598	Receives guidance from Song You on asserting mastery over the Head-Severing Sword rather than deferring to the artifact.
Improved cultivation	639	Following Song You's three-year seclusion, he is noted to have improved greatly and continues practising thunderbolts.

Background

Yan An first appears at Swallow Immortal Terrace, where he watches Song You in swallow form before transforming into a beautiful, slight human youth. He identifies the Swallow Immortal as his old ancestor and reveals that he had specifically sought Song You out after hearing of the water demon's defeat in Lingbo County 57.

His ancestor is deeply dissatisfied with Yan An's timidity, despite Yan An being the first of the younger generation to cultivate a human form. Wanting to become more useful, Yan An asks to take a Swallow Pill 57. He later uses a Swallow Pill to bring Song You into the sky in swallow form, giving the Daoist a new perspective on the world below 58 60.

After Song You encourages him to accept his naturally free-spirited swallow nature, Yan An presents him with Swallow Pills and offers to teach him how to fly like a swallow 60 63. He later journeys overseas, encounters dangerous foreign gods and demons, and returns more worldly and self-assured than before 296.

Appearance

In human form, Yan An resembles a slender boy of roughly fourteen or fifteen, with red lips, white teeth, and an androgynous beauty that makes his gender difficult to discern at first glance 57.

• In swallow form, he has black-and-white feathers and flies with swift, nimble changes of direction 61 321.
• He frequently lowers his head, preens his feathers, or looks away when embarrassed 296 563.
• He keeps a noticeable distance from Three Flower Lady even while speaking with her 297 577.

Personality

Yan An is naturally timid, quiet, and easily embarrassed. When first meeting Song You, he stands far away “like a small bird afraid of people,” and his ancestor considers his lack of confidence a serious weakness 57. He remains modest even after demonstrating remarkable abilities, often responding to praise by denying that he deserves it 296 394.

Travel and responsibility gradually make him more composed. His overseas journey gives him experience and reduces his former timidity, while his work as Song You's scout teaches him to observe carefully, report clearly, and act on his own judgment 296 375. He is thoughtful and perceptive, particularly concerning spiritual phenomena, the changing age of Dharma, and the intentions behind Song You's work 394 628 665.

Despite this growth, Yan An retains an instinctive fear of cats. Three Flower Lady's teasing, sharp teeth, and sudden movements regularly unsettle him 297 531 577.

Abilities & Skills

Flight and Aerial Scouting

Yan An is an exceptionally capable flyer who scouts routes, searches for water, tracks suspicious individuals, delivers messages, and observes distant threats from the air.

• He guides Song You's party, scouts roads ahead, and searches for streams during their travels 296 342.
• He can retrace travel routes to investigate suspicious people and report his findings to Song You 375.
• He locates demons and evil entities hidden around Jinyang Road, enabling Song You to eliminate them 590.
• He can fly faster than ordinary swallows and travel to the northern frontier and back with little delay 476.
• His flight has a natural altitude limit; at extreme heights, he cannot generate enough lift to take off 573.

Transformation and Swallow Form

Yan An can freely alternate between a swallow and human youth.

• He first reveals himself to Song You by changing from swallow form into a human boy 57.
• He can speak human language while remaining in swallow form, though he initially finds doing so awkward 63 342.
• His swallow form is suited to swift aerial movement, reconnaissance, and avoiding danger 375 476.

Anqing Swallow Duplication Art

The signature art of Yan An's clan allows him to create swallows from smoke. These manifestations can perform coordinated tasks and combat actions.

• Yan An initially creates only a limited number of swallows, as he is still learning the technique 300.
• Smoke swallows can attack supernatural foes; against the God of Peace's flaming heads, they enter the creatures' mouths and extinguish their internal flames 440.
• In battle with a magpie spirit, a false swallow turns into black smoke suffused with golden fire, incapacitating the opponent before another swallow seals it with Winter Storage spiritual power 381.
• Song You considers the art formidable even in Yan An's early mastery and cites it as a reason the old Swallow Immortal valued him highly 500.

Ancestor's Wing-Tip Feathers

Yan An possesses inherited feathers that temporarily channel the old Swallow Immortal's power.

• He and several elders received three wing-tip feathers after rendering great service during the overseas search for superior crop varieties 320.
• Each feather can wield the Swallow Immortal's duplication ability at the height of the ancestor's power 320.
• By using all three feathers, Yan An releases an immense flock of manifested swallows that hunts and kills the locusts devastating Yanyan County 320 321.
• The created swallows do not consume the poisonous locusts; they kill them instead 321.

Heavenly Lightning Arts

Song You teaches Yan An lightning arts in Jade City. Yan An displays unusual affinity for heavenly thunder and learns rapidly.

• He remains calm while flying through Song You's lightning, suggesting a natural connection to thunderous conditions 562.
• He successfully calls down his first heavenly lightning bolt after seventeen days of study 563.
• His early bolts vary in strength and accuracy, and some attempts fail to connect with heaven and earth 563.
• After Song You's seclusion, he continues training the art independently 639.

Vitality and Growth Art

Song You teaches Yan An a spell to restore the lifeless land surrounding Karma Mountain.

• The art gathers vitality and aids plant growth, fitting the Swallow clan's association with grain, harvest, and growth 394.
• Yan An agrees to use the barren region around Karma Mountain as a place to practise 394.
• He later performs the spell while helping Three Flower Lady plant a tree sapling 662.

Head-Severing Sword

Yan An carries and practises with the Head-Severing Sword, a powerful offensive magical artifact.

• Song You instructs him that he must command the sword as its master and force it into obedience if it resists 598.
• Yan An is reminded to continue practising both his lightning arts and control of the sword during Song You's seclusion 636.
• The sword accompanies him during demon-cleansing work and contributes to his formidable appearance as an aerial scout 590.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Head-Severing Sword — a rare offensive magical artifact entrusted to Yan An; Song You teaches him how to dominate and control it 598.
• No Empty Space — Yan An's magical artifact, carried for safekeeping by Three Flower Lady during the group's stay in Jade City 562.
• Three wing-tip feathers of the Swallow Immortal — inherited feathers capable of manifesting the ancestor's peak power 320.
• Stones for passage between realms — Song You gives Yan An and Three Flower Lady stones that allow travel between the mortal world and the underworld 639.

Relationships

• Song You — Yan An's master and travelling companion. Yan An initially teaches Song You the experience of swallow flight, while Song You later mentors him in lightning arts, artifact control, and growth spells 58 63 562 598.
• Anqing Swallow Immortal — Yan An's old ancestor and the founder of the Anqing Swallow clan. The ancestor initially chastises Yan An's timidity but later recognizes him as the long-awaited descendant capable of reaching his level of cultivation 57 685.
• Three Flower Lady — Fellow companion and a sibling-like friend. They cooperate on errands and battles, though Yan An remains afraid of her predatory cat instincts 297 440 639.
• Anqing Swallow clan — Yan An's kin and the source of his inherited arts. He serves their legacy by assisting the overseas seed mission and carrying on the Swallow Immortal's work of benefiting ordinary people 204 320.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Meeting Song You

Yan An approaches Song You at Swallow Immortal Terrace, takes him on an aerial journey, and becomes the Daoist's teacher in swallow flight 57 58 63.

Overseas Seed Mission

He participates in the Swallow clan's overseas efforts to obtain superior crops, including chili peppers and high-yield grain varieties. The undertaking strengthens the Swallow Immortal's reputation and contributes to the ancestor's ascent as a god 203 204 296 297.

Travelling Companion and Disaster Relief

After returning from overseas, Yan An joins Song You and Three Flower Lady on their journeys as a scout and guide. He makes his first major public contribution by using his ancestor's feathers to end the locust plague in Yanyan County 296 320 321.

Karma Mountain Restoration

Yan An helps retrieve the northern and central portions of the Five Directions Five Elements Earth through careful reasoning about Heaven's mandate. Song You then assigns him to learn a growth art and restore Karma Mountain's devastated surroundings 394.

Western Journey and Spell Training

During the group's journey through foreign lands, Yan An scouts legendary kingdoms, finds water in the desert, studies heavenly lightning, and begins learning to wield the Head-Severing Sword 418 523 562 598.

War Against the Heavenly Palace

Yan An observes the battle near Xuzhou from the sky and reports on its progress to Three Flower Lady. His ancestor joins the conflict with countless flame-bearing swallows, helping turn the battle in Song You's favor 685 689 690.

Trivia

• Yan An's usual response to embarrassment is to turn away and preen his feathers 296 563.
• He considers flying as effortless as walking is for a human 375.
• He is notably more comfortable helping with work, scouting, or spell practice than receiving praise 296 563.
• Although he fears Three Flower Lady, he still helps care for her and the horse during Song You's seclusion 639.