Barbarians

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Barbarians
Original Name	蛮夷
Species/Race	Otherworldly race
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Period	Military and Cultivation Capability
Early border wars	Their forces consisted of physically powerful ordinary warriors alongside Body Tempering Realm cultivators, including officers capable of leading large-scale assaults against Human Race border stations. 3 4 21
Azure Cloud Ridge campaign	They fielded Bone Forging Realm generals and Astral Qi Realm commanders such as Gu Shuo, enabling them to contend with major Human Race counteroffensives. 43 44
Mystic Sun City campaign	Their alliance with the Demon Race included four Astral Qi Realm Barbarian experts, elite troops, and high-level Demon Race combatants during the siege. 141
Celestial Origin Secret Realm conflict	They deployed more than a dozen Profound Connection Realm experts aboard flying ships under Dongfang Xiong. 340 343
Spirit Yang Prefecture war	Their forces included at least four Divine Repository Realm experts, including Tuoba Hong, and three Heaven-grade divine weapons; all four experts were killed during the campaign. 372 383
Later Great Yan invasion	They mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops and sought reinforcement from a Late-Stage Divine Repository Realm titan while preparing to advance on Yu Prefecture. 379 460
Abyss-era conflict	By the Human Race migration into their territory, the Barbarians had only one known Mid-Stage Dharma Body Realm cultivator against several Human Race cultivators of the same level, contributing to their collapse and the concealment of their surviving experts. 555

Characteristics

The Barbarians are a warlike people who repeatedly invade Human Race territory across the Wild Continent. Human soldiers regard them as cruel, bloodthirsty, and ruthless, fearing that a breached settlement will be completely slaughtered. 2

• Generally powerfully built from fighting ferocious beasts year-round; their ordinary soldiers are considered physically stronger than Great Yan troops. 3
• Commonly wear beast-hide armor and fight with curved blades, sabers, axes, bone blades, spears, and large shields. 1 18 26 135
• Their soldiers are notably fearless in direct assaults, continuing to charge even after taking multiple arrows or seeing heavy casualties. 3 32 60
• Their forces include cultivators from the Body Tempering Realm through the Divine Repository Realm, as well as elite commanders and great demons. 4 25 383
• Barbarian armies have employed Shadow Wolves to track fleeing enemies. 25
• They use flying ships to deploy high-level forces beyond their usual ground armies. 340 343
• Their homeland is harsh and barren compared with Great Yan's fertile territory, contributing to their persistent hunger for Human Race land and resources. 135 459
• Their later forces included Dharma Body Realm cultivators, though their known high-level strength proved inferior to the Human Race during the Abyss-era migration. 555

Military Conduct

Battlefield Doctrine

Barbarian forces favor overwhelming frontal assaults and close-quarters slaughter. Their infantry attacks in dense waves, using scaling ladders, battering rams, and shields to force breaches while cultivators lead the charge. 3 32 135

• Individual soldiers often fight with savage ferocity rather than coordinated formations. 60
• Their lack of coordination can be exploited by disciplined shield, spear, saber, and archer formations. 60 61
• They reinforce conventional troops with Demonic Beasts and Demon Race combatants when allied with the Demon Race. 18 32 50 70
• Their commanders can organize ambushes, including the trap set around a grain convoy in Blackstone Valley. 21
• They have also exploited terrain, intelligence from Human Race collaborators, poisoned arrows, and allied Demon Race troops to ambush retreating Human Race forces in Half-Moon Gorge. 49 50
• During the siege of the commandery city, they drove bound civilians ahead of their army as human shields. 70

Occupation and Plunder

Barbarian campaigns are repeatedly motivated by the seizure of land, food, wealth, slaves, and Human Race women. 58 133 426

• Wu Xiaotian promised his troops unrestricted plunder after breaching Mystic Sun City, including three days in which their blades would not be sheathed. 141
• Their planned division of Peace Prefecture included enslaving Human Race commoners rather than killing all of them. 133
• After the destruction of the Great Yan Imperial City, the Barbarians occupied five prefectures and the Imperial City region, then sought to claim Cool Prefecture. 459
• They occupied Peace Prefecture and reduced its people to slavery. 366
• Their desire for Great Yan territory stems in part from the harsh conditions of their own lands. 459

History

The Barbarians were already a constant border threat when Li Xuancang arrived in the Great Flame Dynasty. They repeatedly attacked Lakeside Station, where their soldiers fought conscripts and Battle Soldiers in brutal assaults. Li Xuancang killed his first Barbarian during the opening battle and later killed three in succession, earning eligibility to become a regular soldier. 1 4

Their early campaigns escalated from raids to coordinated offensives involving Demon Race forces and demon soldiers. They attacked the eastern pass with more than a thousand warriors and dozens of demon soldiers, later launching an all-out assault with hundreds of Demonic Beasts and Body Tempering Realm cultivators. 18 32

The Barbarians successfully ambushed Zhao Changlin's force in Blackstone Valley after luring it there with false intelligence concerning a grain convoy. Their pursuit of the retreating Battle Soldier Camp subsequently forced Zhao Changlin and Feng Long's units into a rear-guard action. 21 25

Under Gu Shuo, the Barbarians fought the Human Race counterattack around Blackwind Ridge. Gu Shuo was critically wounded in the trap and later killed as most of his force was wiped out during the battle. 43 44

Seeking vengeance for Gu Shuo, several Barbarian generals later arranged an ambush at Half-Moon Gorge with the help of a Human Race conspirator. The Barbarians and Demon Race, temporarily brought together through the White Lotus Sect, inflicted severe losses on the Human Race's retreating commandery army. 49 50

Huyan Zhuo later led a Barbarian force against Li Xuancang's convoy. His defeat and death at Li Xuancang's hands caused his soldiers to panic and flee, allowing the Human Race to pursue them and take more than a thousand heads as spoils. 60 61 62

The Barbarians and Demon Race assembled an army of tens of thousands against the commandery city. Their siege relied on civilian shields, Demonic Beasts, and powerful cultivators; Barbarian leaders identified Li Xuancang as the killer of Huyan Zhuo and ordered his assassination. 68 70

They later formed a secret alliance with Evil Cultivators and Prince Fu's Residence to divide Peace Prefecture. Li Xuancang discovered the plan while infiltrating their main camp to rescue Shen Qingshan. 133 366

Tuoba Shou became a major Barbarian commander during the conflict around Mystic Sun City. Li Xuancang entered the Barbarian camp alone, wounded Tuoba Shou, then returned to assassinate him; repeated raids over the following days killed more than twenty Blood Condensation Realm cultivators and over seven hundred soldiers, forcing the army to retreat. 137 146 147

At a later multi-faction confrontation, Dongfang Xiong led more than a dozen Barbarian Profound Connection Realm experts aboard flying ships to support the Grassland People against Li Xuancang. 343

In the later war at Spirit Yang Prefecture, the Barbarians joined Prince Fu's Residence against the Human Race. Tuoba Hong and other Divine Repository Realm experts fought Li Xuancang, but four Barbarian Divine Repository Realm experts, including Tuoba Hong, were killed by the end of the campaign. The Human Race also seized three Heaven-grade divine weapons from the defeated Barbarians. 372 375 383

Following Prince Fu's death, Li Xuancang spread false reports that Tuoba Hong had ambushed Prince Fu to seize the Demon-creation art. The allegation severely damaged Tuoba Hong's and the Barbarians' standing among other factions. 376 378

While occupying Peace Prefecture and Cloud Prefecture, the Barbarians were struck by the rampage of the cultivation-deviated Su Xinghai. After conventional forces repeatedly failed to stop him, a Barbarian Divine Repository Realm cultivator confronted him but was defeated and fled with severe injuries. 431

The Barbarians later renewed their invasion with hundreds of thousands of troops. Although they helped seize much of Great Yan's territory after the Imperial City's destruction, they eventually halted their advance to consolidate occupied lands before pressure from the Blood Race and Demon Race compelled further expansion. 379 459

Under Xiong Yuan, they sought support from a Late-Stage Divine Repository Realm titan and attempted to coordinate with the Grassland People before advancing toward Yu Prefecture. 460

They subsequently joined the Grassland People in advancing on Yu Prefecture. Their coalition fielded more than a dozen Divine Repository Realm cultivators against Li Xuancang, who confronted the combined force alone. 461

At Heaven Origin Grotto-Heaven, the Barbarians joined the Demon Race, Blood Race, and Grassland faction in encircling the Human Race expedition. The Human Race force was almost completely destroyed, with Jian Yun sacrificing himself to create an escape route for a handful of survivors. 506

As the Abyss expanded, the Human Race migrated into Barbarian territory. The ensuing Human Race offensive overwhelmed the Barbarians, whose surviving experts concealed themselves to avoid complete extermination. The Human Race's four Mid-Stage Dharma Body Realm cultivators outmatched the Barbarians' sole known cultivator at that stage, and the campaign's indiscriminate slaughter broke the Barbarian population's resistance. 555

Relationships

• Human Race — Primary enemy in a longstanding blood feud marked by border wars, sieges, occupation, and reciprocal massacres. The Human Race later invaded Barbarian territory and nearly exterminated them during the Abyss crisis. 1 555
• Demon Race — Frequent military ally against the Human Race, though the alliance is unstable; the two sides nearly fought after the Demon Race devoured Barbarians. 18 42 50 68
• Grassland People — Temporary allies in opposition to Li Xuancang and the Human Race, including during the invasion of Yu Prefecture. Their alliance during the Great Yan land grab was opportunistic, as both sides also plotted to secure territory for themselves. 343 459 461
• Prince Fu's Residence / Evil Cultivators — Secret collaborators in the planned partition of Peace Prefecture. 133 366
• White Lotus Sect — Facilitated the Barbarians' temporary cooperation with the Demon Race in the Half-Moon Gorge ambush. 50
• Blood Race — Cooperated in broader invasions of Human Race territory, joined the Heaven Origin Grotto-Heaven encirclement, and later pressured the Barbarians to continue expanding rather than merely consolidate territory. 459 506

Known Leaders and Experts

• Gu Shuo — Barbarian commander during the Blackwind Ridge campaign; critically wounded in the Human Race ambush and later killed. 42 43 44
• Gu Yuan — Astral Qi Realm Barbarian expert who questioned whether the Human Race grain convoy operation was a trap. 59
• Huyan Zhuo — Blood Condensation Realm chief defeated and killed by Li Xuancang. 60 61
• Wu Xiaotian — Barbarian leader who ordered Li Xuancang's assassination and commanded the siege of Mystic Sun City. 70 141
• Tuoba Shou — Commander guarding the border checkpoint; later assassinated by Li Xuancang within the Barbarian camp. 137 146
• Dongfang Xiong — Meticulous Barbarian expert who led more than a dozen Profound Connection Realm cultivators aboard flying ships in support of the Grassland People. 343
• Tuoba Hong — Divine Repository Realm expert and major commander who fought alongside Prince Fu; killed during the later war against the Human Race. 372 375 383
• Long Yan — Mid-Stage Divine Repository Realm Barbarian expert who infiltrated Human Race territory to assassinate Li Xuancang. 397
• Xiong Yuan — Barbarian leader involved in the later occupation and expansion into Great Yan territory; he sought stronger reinforcements before the planned advance into Yu Prefecture. 452 460 461
• Murong Qi — Barbarian expert who participated in the encirclement of the Human Race near Heaven Origin Grotto-Heaven. 506

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