Li Yan

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Li Yan is a member of a collateral branch of Yu Prefecture’s Li family. His backing includes the Bay City Li Group, which controls one-third of Bay City’s real estate and one-quarter of its medicinal-herb resources, while also holding a director position at Bay City Martial Arts High School. 1

During his three years at the school, Li Yan used Yang Sheng as a sparring partner and human punching bag. Yang endured broken legs, broken ribs, and a near-fatal rear naked choke during one Bloodrage episode in exchange for limited access to martial arts training resources. 1

As class monitor, Li Yan supported the school’s Class-Divided Cultivation policy and told Yang Sheng to withdraw because of his Lower Registry background. He threatened to personally stop—and kill—Lower Registry students who attempted the Martial Arts Entrance Exam. 1

Li Yan advanced quickly through privileged access to formal techniques, Great Medicine, and the resources Zhao Huan concentrated on him. Before Yang Sheng’s rise, he was regarded as one of Bay City Martial Arts High School’s most promising students and one of its three Dark Force practitioners. 1 8 28

After Li Ya’s suspicious death, Li Yan entered closed-door cultivation and submitted himself to a powerful outside force’s demand that he obstruct Yang Sheng at the Martial Arts Entrance Exam. 52 59 77

Personality

Li Yan is openly elitist and contemptuous toward Lower Registry citizens. He regards Yang Sheng not as a classmate, but as a disposable training resource, repeatedly calling Lower Registry people inferior and unfit for Martial Arts University. 1

He is arrogant, status-conscious, and quick-tempered. Li Yan assumed Liu Chang had come to recruit him into the High-Aspiration Class, then reacted with disbelief and rage when Yang Sheng was chosen instead. 8 9

His ambition is tied to immediate advantage and control. Jiang Tian considers Li Yan excessively utilitarian despite his higher cultivation, doubting his long-term potential as a martial artist. 10

Yang Sheng’s rapid rise severely destabilized Li Yan’s confidence. Though Li Yan initially dismissed Yang as incapable of bridging their three-year gap, he eventually recognized Yang as an equal or superior opponent and began to fear him. 29 90 92

Following Li Ya’s death, Li Yan became increasingly ruthless and obsessive. His extreme retreat training, use of life-consuming forbidden medicine, and eventual acceptance of the Flesh Parasite demonstrate his willingness to sacrifice his lifespan and humanity for the chance to kill Yang Sheng. 77 95 97 98

Abilities & Skills

Dark Force Cultivation

Li Yan entered the Dark Force realm two months before Yang Sheng began his rapid advancement, giving him a major realm advantage at the time. 2

• Was one of only three Dark Force practitioners at Bay City Martial Arts High School. 8 9
• Could dent a heavy iron door with an enraged punch. 9
• His Dark Force strike could distort a heavy punching bag and shatter the wooden board behind it. 30
• Reached Minor Dark Force Mastery through brutal closed-door cultivation, though the process left his skin permanently blood-red and caused total hair loss. 77
• Achieved a Fitness Assessment score of 90.6, including 91 bone strength, 88 muscle strength, and 93 reaction ability. 79

Fist Intent and Combat Power

Li Yan developed formidable Fist Intent and became substantially more technically proficient after his seclusion.

• His Fist Intent was strong enough to break several ribs with a single tournament punch and nearly kill a Peak Great Completion of Bright Force opponent. 95
• Under Blood-Burning Powder, his physical force and Fist Intent temporarily rose to Major Dark Force Mastery, allowing him to crack Yang Sheng’s ribs despite Yang’s exceptional physical toughness. 96 97
• His drug-enhanced fighting became reckless and inaccurate; Yang Sheng exploited the gap between Li Yan’s amplified power and his inferior technical control. 97

Flesh Parasite Transformation

Li Yan ultimately used a Flesh Parasite disguised as Blood-Burning Powder. The parasite was an alien biological weapon developed by Martian Alien Priests and resided in his heart. 98

• The parasite consumed Li Yan’s life force and blood to increase his strength by multiple levels. 98 99
• It granted him abnormal resilience, rapid regeneration, corrosive blood, and the ability to grow stronger after suffering damage. 98 99
• It gradually erased his rationality, leaving him driven solely by the objective of killing Yang Sheng. 98 99
• By burning through his remaining lifespan, it forced his combat power to the threshold of the Subtlety Realm. 99 100
• Its critical weakness was Li Yan’s heart, where the parasite was lodged. 99 101

Sparring and Combat

Li Yan had sufficient combat ability to serve as a dominant training opponent for Yang Sheng and Li Ya.

• Regularly inflicted serious injuries on Yang Sheng during their sparring arrangement. 1
• Brutally trained sparring partners after Yang Sheng’s victory over Wang Meng, reportedly breaking the ribs of three partners. 30
• Instructed Wang Meng to stop holding back during his fight with Yang Sheng. 28
• Ordered Li Ya to cripple Yang Sheng during the school test, preferably by breaking Yang’s spine, hands, and feet. 34
• Continued attacking Yang Sheng with primitive but devastating strikes after losing his humanity to the Flesh Parasite. 98 99

Influence and Resources

Li Yan’s family connections allow him to exert influence within Bay City Martial Arts High School.

• His family’s Li Group is one of the school’s seven directors. 1
• Zhao Huan concentrated his class’s resources on Li Yan’s cultivation. 28
• Wang Meng acted as his follower and class officer, carrying out his orders against Yang Sheng’s father. 26 27
• His family’s access to Great Medicine enabled his rapid early advancement, although he later resorted to forbidden external means in his desperation to surpass Yang Sheng. 1 47 97

Relationships

• Yang Sheng — Former sparring partner and primary rival. Li Yan exploited him for three years, sought to force him from school, and repeatedly threatened to kill him at the Martial Arts Entrance Exam. Their feud culminated in Li Yan’s defeat, parasite transformation, and death at Yang Sheng’s hands. 1 9 96 97 98 99 100 101
• Father Yang — Took 10,000 yuan from him after implying he could help Yang Sheng remain in school; the recording exposing this led Li Yan to return the money. 3 29
• Li Ya — His cousin and a Rocket Class monitor. Li Yan urged him to cripple Yang Sheng during the school test; Li Ya was defeated by Yang and later died in an apparent suicide under suspicious circumstances. Li Ya’s death contributed to Li Yan’s extreme subsequent cultivation. 22 34 40 51 52 77
• Zhao Huan — Homeroom teacher and principal supporter. Zhao devoted class resources to Li Yan and later offered assistance after Li Yan became involved with a larger outside force. Zhao was horrified by Li Yan’s altered condition after his retreat and ultimately accepted that the parasite-controlled creature was no longer his student. 28 52 77 98 99
• Wang Meng — Follower and class officer promoted by Li Yan. Wang attempted to remove Father Yang from the school and was later expelled after attacking Yang Sheng with a dagger. 26 27 29
• Jiang Tian — Teacher who rejected Li Yan’s earlier attempt to enter the High-Aspiration Class and later selected Yang Sheng instead. Jiang Tian criticizes Li Yan’s utilitarian mindset and led the effort to stop him after the Flesh Parasite took control. 8 10 98 99
• Wang Chao — Fellow Dark Force practitioner and tournament rival. Wang Chao intervened to protect the injured Yang Sheng from the parasite-controlled Li Yan, insisting that he wanted to challenge Yang fairly rather than inherit victory through Li Yan’s actions. 98 99
• Captain Ma — A mysterious powerful figure apparently connected to the forbidden substance Li Yan received before his semifinal match. 97 98 100

Story Role / Major Arcs

Forced Withdrawal of Yang Sheng

Li Yan informs Yang Sheng that he must withdraw from Bay City Martial Arts High School under Class-Divided Cultivation. He makes clear that Yang’s Lower Registry status, rather than effort, disqualifies him in Li Yan’s eyes. 1

He warns Yang Sheng not to enter the Martial Arts Entrance Exam and promises to stop any Lower Registry participant who does. This threat becomes the immediate catalyst for Yang Sheng’s resolve to grow stronger. 1 4

High-Aspiration Class Humiliation

Li Yan expects Liu Chang to recruit him into the High-Aspiration Class, believing his Dark Force cultivation makes him the obvious candidate. Instead, she collects Yang Sheng’s belongings after Jiang Tian approves Yang’s transfer. 8

He accuses Yang Sheng’s father of bribing Jiang Tian and becomes enraged when Yang Sheng calmly promises to beat him to death at the entrance exam. 9

Debt Exposure and Wang Meng Incident

When Father Yang confronts him over the 10,000 yuan, Li Yan denies any debt and orders Wang Meng to remove him from the school. 27

A recording proves that Li Yan requested the money while claiming that “events need funding” and that he could help Yang Sheng’s situation. Exposed before the school administration, he agrees to return the money and leaves the meeting. 29

Escalation After Li Ya’s Defeat

Li Yan becomes increasingly hostile after Yang Sheng defeats Wang Meng and rapidly improves through Eight Extremes Fist. He warns Li Ya not to underestimate Yang Sheng and orders him to end Yang’s future by crippling him. 30 34

Yang Sheng subsequently defeats Li Ya in the school test despite Li Ya’s Great Completion of Bright Force cultivation. 40 48

Li Ya’s later death is declared a suicide despite his hands and feet having been bound. The Li family removes Li Ya from its genealogy, suggesting intervention by a power beyond the family’s control. 51 52

Submission to an Unknown Power

After Li Ya’s death, Li Yan states that he will still intercept Yang Sheng during the Martial Arts Entrance Exam. He explains that he is no longer acting solely on his own initiative, but because someone powerful now requires it. 52

He then prepares to disappear for a period, leaving Zhao Huan to realize that his prized student has become an instrument of a larger force. 52

Closed-Door Cultivation

Li Yan later returns from closed-door cultivation alongside Wang Chao and Qian Feng, having advanced from Dark Force Initiation to Minor Dark Force Mastery. 77

The process visibly mutilates him: all of his hair falls out, his skin turns permanently blood-red, and his blood appears to have boiled under the strain. Though Zhao Huan is horrified, Li Yan remains mentally composed and focuses on whether Yang Sheng has caught up to him. 77

He scores 90.6 on the Fitness Assessment, placing him among Yu Prefecture’s elite students and reinforcing his position as one of Bay City’s top three seeded competitors. 79

Fear During the Points Tournament

Li Yan initially remains one of the leading competitors in the Points Tournament. However, Yang Sheng’s sudden display of overwhelming Fist Intent and rapid rise through the rankings forces Li Yan to confront the possibility that Yang has surpassed him. 90 92

For the first time, Li Yan feels genuine fear toward Yang Sheng. 92

Martial Arts Entrance Exam Semifinal

After brutally defeating a Peak Great Completion of Bright Force opponent, Li Yan signals his intent to kill Yang Sheng with a throat-slitting gesture. 95

In their semifinal, Li Yan reveals an abnormal increase in strength and assaults Yang with combat power at the Major Dark Force Mastery level. Yang eventually identifies the source as Blood-Burning Powder, a forbidden Third Tier medicine that consumes three years of lifespan per dose. 96 97

Li Yan admits to taking three doses and sacrificing nine years of his life to defeat Yang Sheng. Although his raw power forces Yang to the edge of the arena, his technique cannot match his enhanced strength. Yang counters with Mountain-Crushing Crossbar, Knee-Lift Collision, and Heart-Piercing Elbow, striking Li Yan’s heart and knocking him unconscious. 97

Flesh Parasite Transformation and Death

Li Yan rises after his apparent defeat with an enlarged heart bound by black blood vessels. The supposed Blood-Burning Powder is revealed to be a Flesh Parasite, an alien weapon that consumes its host’s life force while amplifying its strength and corrupting its mind. 98

Reduced to a parasite-controlled beast whose sole objective is killing Yang Sheng, Li Yan attacks Yang, Wang Chao, and others with corrosive blood, regeneration, and escalating power. 98 99

The parasite forces Li Yan to the threshold of the Subtlety Realm by consuming his remaining lifespan. Yang Sheng ultimately realizes that martial arts means remaining unyielding against every imposed limit, gains a decisive breakthrough, and strikes Li Yan directly in the heart. 99 100

Yang’s final punch destroys the parasite and briefly restores Li Yan’s clarity. Li Yan acknowledges Yang’s victory before dying from the destruction of his heart and the gu worm within it. 101

Trivia

• Li Yan’s family background and resources helped him advance far faster than Yang Sheng during their first three school years. 1
• Before Yang Sheng’s rise, Li Yan considered the gap between them impossible to close because he had cultivated for three additional years. 29
• His fury at Yang Sheng’s advancement led him to take out his frustration on his own sparring partners. 30
• His extreme closed-door cultivation left him hairless and permanently blood-red in appearance. 77
• Li Yan sacrificed nine years of his lifespan by taking Blood-Burning Powder three times before his semifinal against Yang Sheng. 97