Yan

Biodata

Personality

Yan is proud of his innate talent, level-nine innate soul power, and Flame Lord martial soul. He reacts badly when Li Zha receives attention or displays greater potential, repeatedly trying to belittle or outdo him despite their disparity in age and cultivation stage 11 17 18.

His feelings toward Hu Liena make him possessive and easily manipulated by jealousy. He resents Li Zha for Hu Liena's friendliness toward him, even though Hu Liena explicitly states that Yan is only her teammate and rejects his use of her personal nickname, “Nana” 16 17. His impulsiveness repeatedly causes public embarrassment, including an unauthorized fight in the academy archives 19 20.

Abilities & Skills

Flame Lord Martial Soul

Yan possesses the Flame Lord, a top-tier ancient beast martial soul with dual fire-and-earth attributes. Its cultivation path balances offense and defense 17 19.

• His fire attribute reacts to the Flaming-tipped Spear's powerful fire aura 11.
• He takes considerable pride in the martial soul's balanced combat capabilities 19.
• His cultivation had reached level 24, making him a Great Soul Master 18 19.

First Soul Skill: Hell Lava Charge

Yan's first soul skill is an offensive fire-based charge.

• He used it against Li Zha during their archive confrontation 19.
• The attack caused flames to spread uncontrollably after Hu Liena disrupted his mind with Foxfire Command 19.

Second Soul Skill: Granite Rock

Granite Rock manifests rocky armor, particularly reinforcing Yan's arms, while also increasing his attack power and defense 19.

• The armor bears flame patterns and is presented as difficult for assault-type soul masters of the same realm to break 19.
• Yan used it to block Li Zha's Flaming-tipped Spear, though the strike still drove him back and nearly broke through his defense 19.
• He later cited his swollen forearms as proof of Li Zha's alleged ambush 20.

Relationships

• Li Zha — Rival. Yan first resents Li Zha after failing to lift the Flaming-tipped Spear in front of Hu Liena; his jealousy escalates into repeated provocations and an archive duel 11 15 19.
• Hu Liena — Teammate and the object of Yan's unreciprocated affection. He is jealous of her closeness to Li Zha, while she sets firm boundaries and says they are teammates at most 16 17.
• Xie Yue — Teammate and Hu Liena's brother. Xie Yue criticizes Yan for treating Li Zha as an imaginary rival and repeatedly seeking trouble 11 24.
• Gui Mei — Antagonistic senior. Gui Mei secretly increases the Flaming-tipped Spear's weight when Yan tries to lift it, then openly favors Li Zha after Yan's clash with him 11 20.
• Yue Guan — Senior Spirit Hall figure who does not defend Yan during the archive dispute and appears aligned with Gui Mei's favorable view of Li Zha 20 24.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Arrival of Li Zha

Yan meets Li Zha at the Papal Hall after Gui Mei brings the latter to Spirit City. Skeptical of Li Zha's treatment and martial soul, Yan attempts to handle the Flaming-tipped Spear; Gui Mei secretly increases its weight, causing Yan to stumble and humiliate himself before Hu Liena 11.

Jealousy toward Li Zha

After seeing Hu Liena guide Li Zha through the academy and archives, Yan becomes convinced that Li Zha is a rival for her attention. He follows them to the restricted third floor, tries to imitate Li Zha's research, and dismisses Li Zha's plan to seek a ten-thousand-year first soul ring 15 17 18.

Archive Duel

Yan snatches Li Zha's soul-beast guide and threatens him, prompting Li Zha to attack with the Flaming-tipped Spear. Yan answers with Granite Rock and Hell Lava Charge, but Hu Liena disrupts him and Ju Dou intervenes before the conflict can worsen 18 19.

Reprimand and Aftermath

Yan claims that Li Zha ambushed him, but Gui Mei dismisses the accusation and orders Yan to restore the scattered archive books. Yan later complains to Xie Yue, who bluntly attributes Hu Liena's dislike of him to his own hostile behavior toward Li Zha 20 24.

Trivia

• Yan is taller than the six-year-old Li Zha, yet he could not lift the Flaming-tipped Spear after Gui Mei secretly increased its weight 11.
• He believes Hu Liena's attention toward Li Zha is intentional jealousy, a misunderstanding encouraged by another student 17.