Xiao Yan

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Xiao Yan (萧炎)
Alias(es)	Mr. Origin Return — disguised identity used to consign medicine at the Mittel Auction House 24
Gender	Male 1
Age	Eleven at the beginning of the story 1
Origin	Transmigrates into his eleven-year-old namesake on the Dou Qi Continent; Bodhi identifies two origins settled within one body 1 2
Affiliation	Xiao Clan; disciple of Patriarch Bodhi 1 3
Occupation/Role	Cultivator, swordsman, alchemist, and organizer of the Xiao Clan’s medicinal training program 8 17 18
Cultivation	Six-Star Dou Shi — latest confirmed realm 22 34 35
Status	Alive; traveling with Hai Bodong after securing a one-year protection agreement 38
First Appearance	Chapter 1 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
One-Star Dou Zhe	1 8 9	Awakens immediately after his namesake’s breakthrough at eleven. Later observation confirms his One-Star rank and stable aura.
Three-Star Dou Zhe	10	Gains two stars in just over ten days through Nine Breaths of Qi, Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, sword practice, and medicinal baths. Can crack a bucket-sized rock with his bare hands.
Four-Star Dou Zhe	11	Reached one month after becoming Bodhi’s disciple; his Dou Qi vortex becomes more solid and circulation encounters less resistance.
Nine-Star Dou Zhe	17	Reached three months after taking Bodhi as his master, while continuing medicine sales and clan refining duties.
One-Star Dou Shi	18	Early in the fourth month, compresses the Dou Qi in his vortex into liquid. Forms a rudimentary Dou Qi Gauze Robe and produces more solid sword energy.
Six-Star Dou Shi	22	Reached after several further months of cultivation and thunder training. Improved physical conditioning lets thunder flow more smoothly through his meridians.

Background / History

Xiao Yan awakens in the body of his namesake with memories of both his previous life and the boy’s life in the Xiao Clan. Recognizing the setting and characters of the original story, he immediately worries that Yao Lao’s presence in his late mother’s black ring will drain his Dou Qi and erase his newly achieved cultivation 1.

His first solution is to have Xiao Zhan wear the ring, letting his stronger father support Yao Lao’s recovery before Xiao Yan retrieves it and seeks an apprenticeship. Xiao Zhan’s affection makes him hesitate, and the plan is interrupted by a voice from the ring. The speaker proves to be a fragment of Patriarch Bodhi rather than the alchemist he expected 1 2.

Bodhi initially declines to accept him immediately and directs him to visit his father. After overhearing Xiao Zhan offer his own medicine money for extra cultivation supplies, Xiao Yan prioritizes his father’s injury over learning powerful techniques. Bodhi agrees to teach him medicinal knowledge, reveals that Yao Lao is recovering in a Soul-Nurturing Lamp without draining his Dou Qi, and formally accepts Xiao Yan as his disciple 3.

Appearance

• Youthful appearance: His young face contrasts sharply with the cultivation and combat strength he later reveals 34.
• Travel equipment: Commonly travels with a longsword on his back 24 29.
• Auction-house disguise: Uses an oversized black robe and a covered face; Bodhi alters his voice and conceals his aura to support the disguise 13.

Personality

Xiao Yan begins as a quick-thinking opportunist, treating his knowledge of the original story as a way to avoid suffering and secure a powerful teacher. He readily abandons excuses when Bodhi exposes his ring scheme, but needs guidance before turning his concern for survival into responsibility toward others 1 2 3.

His ambition is driven partly by anxiety. Once his father, Xun’er, and the clan guards become people he knows personally rather than figures in a story, he fears being unable to protect them. This leads him to choose physical and spiritual resilience over faster cultivation, treat his father’s injuries, and extend medicinal support to the clan 6 16 17.

He is frugal and increasingly practical: he gathers costly herbs himself, records borrowed startup funds, and builds a medicine business suited to ordinary cultivators. His eagerness initially makes him inattentive to Xun’er, but he recognizes the problem, apologizes, and becomes more receptive to companionship 9 10 13 29.

In conflict, he combines personal independence with decisive violence. He refuses to blame Nalan Yanran for events that have not happened and takes responsibility for ending their engagement. Against enemies threatening his companions or family, however, he kills swiftly and pursues remaining leaders to prevent retaliation 21 23 33 34.

Abilities & Skills

Nine Breaths of Qi

A Heavenly Dipper art used to sense and absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth 5.

• Gathers external energy and strengthens his Dou Qi through controlled circulation 5.
• Supplies energy for the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts and helps replenish him during travel training 6 29.
• Initially draws energy faster than his body can safely accommodate; Bodhi disperses the excess and teaches him to regulate intake 5.

Eight-Nine Arcane Arts

Xiao Yan’s foundational cultivation method. He chooses it for close-quarters sword combat, bodily resilience, and protection against soul-seizing techniques 6.

• Refines absorbed energy through his flesh, sinews, and bones rather than forcing it directly into his Dou Qi vortex 6.
• Produces enough strength to crack stone and catch or break weapons barehanded 10 21 33.
• Requires sustained training, food, medicinal support, and recovery; Bodhi warns against overtraining 5 6.
• At advanced mastery, the method can preserve the body through the primordial spirit and enable regeneration from mutilation. These are described as future capabilities, not abilities Xiao Yan has already achieved 5.
• Contains Seventy-Two Transformations of physical form, distinct from the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Arts. Bodhi postpones transformation training until Xiao Yan has sufficient control and foundation 5 6.

Origin Returning Sword Manual

Bodhi’s sword manual teaches him to concentrate dispersed strength along a blade and release it in a focused strike 8.

• Begins with the Origin-Returning Sword, a thrust that gathers power at the sword tip 8.
• His first successful strike cuts the top from a boulder; subsequent practice improves his initially imprecise control 8 9.
• Can incorporate Dou Qi, the five elements, and divine powers as his understanding develops 8.
• Combines sword energy with five-colored lightning to pierce Luo Bu’s Dou Qi Armor and kill the Four-Star Great Dou Master in one strike 36.

Command the Five Thunders

A Heavenly Dipper divine power that generates lightning in his palm or channels it through his sword 7 21.

• Kills Jia Lie Bi with a palm-delivered thunder attack and Oba Pa with a lightning-charged sword 21.
• Uses five-colored lightning to kill Mu She and reinforce the Origin-Returning Sword against Luo Bu 33 36.
• Develops finer control until he can bore a thumb-wide hole through stone without surrounding cracks 22.
• Bodhi identifies it as especially effective against sinister soul arts, but Xiao Yan’s documented battles do not yet demonstrate that application 4 6.
• Initially difficult to restrain; Bodhi repeatedly emphasizes control 21 22.

Wind-Returning, Flame-Reversing

A divine art whose fire-control component becomes the basis of Xiao Yan’s medicine refining 11.

• Lets him observe differences in flame intensity and adjust heat to individual ingredients 11.
• Supports extraction, purification, blending, and pill formation 11 12 18.
• His stronger-than-average soul gives him an advantage in learning the art 11.
• Returning an enemy’s wind or fire is explained as a more advanced application, not a demonstrated accomplishment 7 11.

Foresee the Future

A Heavenly Dipper power that reveals an imminent assault on the Xiao Clan 21.

• Shows Jia Lie Bi, Oba Pa, and Han Kui preparing the night raid, allowing Xiao Yan to intercept the attackers 21.
• The vision becomes clear because the danger is close and the attackers’ killing intent is directed toward him 21.
• His current cultivation cannot reliably reveal distant events; forcing the technique makes its images harder to grasp 21 22.

See Through Walls

A perception technique used during the mountain expedition with Xiao Yi Xian 31.

• Detects a cave concealed behind vines on a cliff face 31.
• Helps him locate the cultivation abode he remembers from the original story 30 31.

Alchemy and Medicinal Knowledge

Xiao Yan advances from basic extraction to successful Third-Rank pill refinement under Bodhi’s supervision. His first successful batches still require corrections, and Bodhi distinguishes guided success from independent mastery 11 12 18.

Preparation	Rank / Type	Documented use
Azure Origin Body-Tempering Liquid	Medicinal-bath liquid	Supports his body tempering and relieves training soreness; he later learns to refine it himself 10 11.
Origin-Restoring Meridian-Nourishing Pill	Second-Rank pill	His first batch contains three pills. Used to relieve Xiao Zhan’s obstructed meridians and lingering injury 12.
Origin-Nourishing Spirit Liquid	Second-tier medicine	Nourishes meridians and assists qi absorption for Dou Zhe and newly advanced Dou Shi; becomes his commercial product 13.
Mild meridian-nourishing liquid	Personalized medicinal liquid	Made for Xun’er to soothe fatigue and gently nourish her meridians 16.
Revised clan body-tempering liquid	Shared medicinal-bath formula	Cheaper, gentler treatment that helps guards recover and train consistently 17.
Origin Condensation Pill	Third-Rank pill	Refines three pills that help Xiao Hong, Xiao Shi, and Xiao Yue advance from Nine-Star Dou Zhe to Dou Shi 18.
Profound Origin Pill	Third-Grade pill	Tailored to Xiao Zhan’s condition to nourish his meridians and support Dou Qi accumulation 22.

• Learns ingredient identification from Bodhi, Xun’er, and Xiao Yi Xian rather than relying solely on remembered plot information 10 30.
• Diagnoses incomplete purification as the cause of flawed commercial batches and improves their quality 13.
• Trains three young clan members to prepare everyday medicinal liquid, with Bodhi providing the trace of wood attribute needed to begin alchemy 24.
• Helps Xiao Yi Xian save a poisoned mercenary by supplying mature herbs and quickly extracting the required medicine 30.

Foreknowledge and Planning

His memories of the original story guide his preparations, but do not supply complete practical knowledge 1 10 30.

• Anticipates threats involving the Soul Hall and the Misty Cloud Sect 16 23 29.
• Recognizes Xiao Yi Xian’s future Woeful Poison Body but chooses not to raise it prematurely 30.
• Identifies the cave’s significance, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame map, and Hai Bodong’s concealed identity 31 32 37.
• Arranges ingredient deliveries, pharmacy replacements, and family support before leaving Wutan City 24.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Taiji Liangyi Sword — Bodhi’s gift, initially presented as an ordinary dead branch. Becomes a three-foot sword when activated with Dou Qi; channels yin-yang, the five elements, and divine arts. Its power grows with Xiao Yan’s cultivation and understanding 7.
• Wooden scabbard — A plain, sturdy purchase that replaces carrying the sword wrapped in cloth 10.
• Black ring — His late mother’s keepsake, associated with Yao Lao and used by Bodhi to appear and withdraw 1 2 3.
• Storage Ring — Carries medicinal ingredients, treasure, and Xiao Yi Xian’s share of the cave spoils 32 33.
• Small bronze cauldron — Given by Bodhi after his initial bowl-based lessons; its steadier heat makes refining easier 11.
• Eagle Wings / Purple Cloud Wings scroll — High Xuan Tier Flying Dou Technique found in the cave. Xiao Yan intends to learn it; mastery is not documented in the supplied chapters 32.
• Mad Lion’s Roar scroll — High-grade Profound Tier Dou Technique retained as a reference and prospective addition to Xiao Clan resources 32.
• Ice Spirit Flame Grass — Rare mature herb collected and separately stored for future alchemy 32.
• Purifying Lotus Demon Flame map fragments — Finds one fragment in the cave skeleton and acquires Hai Bodong’s hidden pieces. Their matching markings confirm a shared route, which remains incomplete 32 38.

Relationships

• Patriarch Bodhi — Master and principal mentor. Teaches cultivation, swordsmanship, divine powers, and alchemy while insisting that Xiao Yan temper cleverness with responsibility 3 6 8 12.
• Xiao Zhan — Father and Xiao Clan leader. His sacrifices prompt Xiao Yan’s change in priorities; Xiao Yan heals him, supplies cultivation pills, and works to reduce his burdens 3 12 17 22.
• Late mother — Left the black ring as a keepsake; Xiao Yan’s attachment to it complicates his initial attempt to transfer it to his father 1.
• Xiao Ding — Eldest brother. Receives medicines and tailored cultivation resources; agrees to return home to help manage the expanded clan 35 36 37.
• Xiao Li — Second elder brother. Affectionately teases Xiao Yan and is astonished by his cultivation, alchemy, and the techniques prepared for him 35 36.
• Xun’er — Childhood companion and close supporter. Helps with herbs and dosage records, respects his privacy, and encourages him to share his worries. Xiao Yan protects her and gives her personalized medicine and a Sand Crystal lamp 9 16 17 19 37.
• Nalan Yanran — Former fiancée and future rematch opponent. Their engagement is dissolved, and she challenges him to a duel at the Xiao Clan in three years 26 28.
• Yun Yun — Misty Cloud Sect master. Witnesses the Three-Year Agreement and prevents Yun Leng from detaining Xiao Yan, improving his opinion of her 28 29.
• Ya Fei — Business partner and friend. Identifies him as Mr. Origin Return, promises discretion, and helps establish reliable ingredient supplies 24.
• Xiao Yi Xian — Medical collaborator, treasure-hunting partner, and traveling companion. Their trust grows through lifesaving work, a fair division of treasure, and his protection against the Wolf Head Mercenary Group 30 32 33 34.
• Ling Ying — Xun’er’s hidden protector. Observes Xiao Yan’s training and later confirms that he defeated the Wutan City attackers without outside assistance 8 9 21.
• Xiao Hong, Xiao Shi, and Xiao Yue — Loyal clan members whose recovery and Dou Shi breakthroughs are supported by Xiao Yan’s medicines 17 18.
• Hai Bodong — Ally contracted to protect him for one year in exchange for seal removal. Hai explicitly limits the agreement to protection rather than attacking others on Xiao Yan’s behalf 38.
• Yao Lao — Intended teacher in Xiao Yan’s original plan. Instead remains asleep and recovering in Bodhi’s Soul-Nurturing Lamp 1 3 13.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Strengthening the Xiao Clan

• Begins medicine sales to fund his own cultivation, borrowing startup materials from his father and recording their cost 13.
• Expands medicinal support from his family to clan guards, combining affordable treatment with delegated preparation and simple stretching exercises 16 17.
• Produces the three Origin Condensation Pills that give the clan three additional Dou Shi and attract rival scrutiny 18.
• Establishes pharmacy replacements and a long-term Mittel supply agreement before traveling 24.

Fall of the Jia Lie and Ao Ba Families

• Kills Jia Lie Ao when he attempts to seize Xun’er, then kills the attacking Two-Star Dou Shi Steward Luo with one sword stroke 19.
• Foresees the retaliatory raid and intercepts Han Kui, an Eight-Star Great Dou Master, and his twelve mercenaries 20 21.
• Kills Jia Lie Bi and Oba Pa at the West City Gate. The Xiao Clan subsequently takes over both families’ properties 21 22.
• Allows exaggerated Dou Ling rumors to persist because uncertainty about his actual strength may benefit the clan 22.

Engagement Dissolution and Three-Year Agreement

• Declines Misty Cloud Sect recruitment and personally requests the dissolution of his arranged engagement 26.
• Defeats Nalan Yanran in a single move without seriously injuring her 27 29.
• Accepts her three-year rematch: if she wins, he must publicly retract his contempt and apologize; if she loses, she will not raise the matter again 28.
• Refuses Yun Leng’s demand to involve his teacher and leaves peacefully after Yun Yun intervenes 28 29.

Qingshan Town and the Treasure Cave

• Meets Xiao Yi Xian while helping treat a snakebite victim, then joins her herb-gathering expedition 30.
• Locates the hidden cave, defeats its Rock Snake, and shares the recovered herbs, techniques, gold, and map fairly 31 32.
• Kills Mu Li and Mu She during the Wolf Head Mercenary Group’s attempt to seize their spoils. Eliminates the remaining commanders to prevent further threats to Xiao Yi Xian 33 34.
• Provides money for damage repairs and the injured attendant before departing with Xiao Yi Xian on her Blue Eagle, Xiao Lan 34.

Brothers’ Return and the Ice Emperor Alliance

• Reunites with Xiao Ding and Xiao Li and offers a return to Wutan City that also provides employment or fair settlement for their mercenaries 35 36.
• Delivers Bodhi’s personalized Low-grade Heaven Tier qi methods and matching High-grade Earth Tier Dou Techniques 36.
• Kills Luo Bu, Mo Xing, and their attacking men, ending the Sand Mercenary Group’s immediate threat 36 37.
• Remains behind after the caravan leaves and locates Hai Bodong’s map shop. Channels Bodhi’s precise energy to remove the Snake Seal Curse, gaining map pieces and a year of protection 37 38.

Notable Quotes

“No matter how powerful a Divine Ability is, I need to be alive to use it.” 6

“If anyone comes looking for trouble with the Xiao Clan in the future, I'll be able to stand at the front too. I can't leave my father to shoulder everything.” 6

“We agreed to split everything. I can't forget what I said just because something valuable turns up.” 32