Xiao Yan

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Xiao Yan (萧炎) 1
Alias(es)	“Lucky Waste”; commonly mocked as “trash,” a “good-for-nothing,” or a “third-stage Dou Qi cripple” 1 36
Gender	Male 1 2
Age	Fifteen at the beginning of the story 1
Origin	A modern office worker transmigrated into Xiao Yan of Wutan City 1
Affiliation	Xiao Clan; Jia Nan Academy’s Inner Academy 1 41
Occupation/Role	Cultivator, beginning alchemist, academy student, and concealed worldline corrector 1 20 41
System	Absolute Concealment System 1
Soul Realm	Emperor Realm 1 49
Status	Alive; investigating Han Feng’s suspected Soul Hall connections 49
First Appearance	Chapter 1 1

Power Progression

Publicly displayed realms are deliberately controlled disguises and do not reliably represent Xiao Yan’s full capabilities 1 30 41 49.

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Ninth Stage of Dou Qi	1	The original Xiao Yan reached this stage at eleven, becoming the Xiao Clan’s celebrated cultivation genius.
Third Stage of Dou Qi	1	The original owner’s cultivation mysteriously declined over three years. This becomes the transmigrator’s initial public identity.
Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint / Half-Step Dou Di; Emperor Realm soul	1	Established as his initial power when the Absolute Concealment System binds to him. He immediately suppresses its aura.
Dou Shi — revealed breakthrough	29	Absorbs the Green Lotus Core Flame with Yao Lao’s assistance. Secretly diverts part of its energy into bodily tempering while concealing the extent of his gains.
Four-Star Dou Shi — displayed cultivation	30	The level Yao Lao perceives after the flame absorption; Xiao Yan compresses his aura to maintain this appearance.
At least Peak Dou Ling — reported internal strength	30 32 34	Described as his concealed strength following the flame absorption. A Body-Tempering Pill stabilizes his cultivation. These chapters do not explain the transition from the initial Dou Saint description.
Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint — reaffirmed true strength	41	His full strength is again identified as Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint upon entering the Inner Academy, while his admission record lists Third Stage Dou Qi.
Peak Dou Master — displayed combat level	46 49	Limits his visible Dou Qi to this level during the hunting competition and Han Feng’s ambush; no corresponding true-realm breakthrough is stated.

Background / History

The original Xiao Yan was a gifted youth of the Xiao Clan whose unexplained cultivation decline turned him from the clan’s hope into Wutan City’s laughingstock. His body is subsequently occupied by a modern office worker who remembers losing consciousness after three sleepless nights revising a proposal. The newcomer inherits Xiao Yan’s memories and recognizes his surroundings as the world of Battle Through the Heavens 1.

The Absolute Concealment System grants him overwhelming initial power but requires him to preserve the established story’s trajectory. Rather than overturning his circumstances, he must continue behaving like the humiliated, weak protagonist. His knowledge of the original novel helps him anticipate the broken engagement, the Three-Year Agreement, Heavenly Flames, and threats such as the Soul Hall and Hun Clan 1 3.

His mother’s keepsakes later connect his personal circumstances to the ancient Xiao Clan. An inherited ring contains ancestral cultivation insights, while its resonance with a broken Flame Jade Pendant reveals an ancient city and a war involving the Xiao Clan, Misty Cloud Sect, and Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. Xiao Yan suspects the keepsakes are keys to the ruins, but this remains his interpretation of the vision 37 39.

Appearance

• Build and face: A somewhat slight frame, pale cheeks, and long eyelashes; his long hair sometimes obscures half his face 2 17 30 41.
• Usual cover clothing: Worn coarse clothes or inconspicuous gray garments. At the Inner Academy, he wears faded black training clothes and carries a rusty iron sword 6 32 41.
• Performed frailty: Deliberately drags his feet, staggers, pants, and appears exhausted or frightened to support his weakling identity 2 6 11.
• Flame manifestation: An azure flame briefly flashes in his eyes after the Green Lotus Core Flame absorption 29.

Personality

Xiao Yan is inwardly calm despite the humiliation surrounding his public identity. Nalan Yanran’s rejection and Xiao Hu’s mockery scarcely disturb him; anger, resentment, and wounded pride are usually emotions he performs to satisfy the system and mislead observers. He explicitly draws on his experience navigating office life when preparing this performance 1 2.

He is patient, meticulous, and willing to let enemies underestimate him. Surveillance marks, hostile pursuers, bounty accusations, and suspicious gifts become opportunities to gather intelligence or redirect conflict. He increasingly treats the system’s restrictions as rules to exploit rather than merely obstacles to endure 3 16 34 38.

His restraint does not make him gentle toward enemies. He engineers lethal encounters without remorse and kills witnesses when he believes they threaten his secrets. Nevertheless, his methods are pragmatic rather than uniformly murderous: he eventually neutralizes surviving Mo Family members through amnesia instead of exterminating them 19 30 40.

Family affection provides genuine warmth in his new life. He quietly accepts Xiao Ding’s distant protection, values his father and brothers’ concern, and shows consideration toward his servant Xiao Shi by increasing his wages and giving him gloves 5 33 35.

Abilities & Skills

Absolute Concealment System

The system assigns concealment and plot-correction missions while regulating what Xiao Yan may reveal 1 6.

• Mandatory disguise: His aura, movements, emotional reactions, and visible combat performance must fit his assigned public cultivation level 1 2 6.
• Restricted eliminations: Enemy deaths must appear accidental, be attributed to others, or leave no trace exposing his true abilities 6.
• Worldline preservation: Key events must remain on track; Otherworlders are identified as interference requiring removal 1 8.
• Penalties: Violations can cost lifespan or cultivation, or result in erasure. Failure of the broken-engagement mission specifically carries a fifty-year lifespan deduction 1.
• Ultimate reward: Completing all main missions promises unrestricted use of his strength and an opportunity to reach Dou Di 1.

Emperor Realm Soul

His soul is his principal tool for covert observation and precision interference 1 34.

• Surveys all of Wutan City and detects minute movements across extensive areas of the mountains 1 5 11.
• Identifies concealed cultivation, surveillance marks, tracking devices, poison residues, and disguised hostile agents 1 2 45 48.
• Probes Li Ming’s memories and recognizes his Otherworlder origin 8.
• Alters tracking marks, plants a tracking mark on Han Feng’s Storage Ring, and follows its movements remotely 2 49.
• Influences emotions and behavior, including Pu Ang’s aggression and a wounded mercenary’s decision to attack 17.

Spatial Manipulation and Stealth

Xiao Yan uses fine spatial control to remove enemies without staging conventional battles 5 6 7.

• Creates or triggers spatial rifts that swallow Mo Family pursuers; one group includes a One-Star Dou Ling 5 6 7.
• Uses subtle spatial fluctuations to destabilize terrain during an apparently panicked defense 12.
• Moves through academy patrols without using Dou Qi, relying on bodily control and spatial manipulation 44.
• Captures a Soul Hall spy through a spatial rift 44.

Green Lotus Core Flame and Flame Mantra

He absorbs the flame’s origin and uses it both offensively and for bodily tempering. The Flame Mantra and his soul control later help him suppress its resistance, heat, and aura 29 35.

• Coats a dagger with flame, melts weapons, and launches flame-covered stone fragments 30.
• Fuels a canyon fire formation with the flame and geothermal heat 31.
• Sends concealed fiery energy through underground roots to prepare an ambush 39 40.
• Burns away tracking devices and eliminates hostile agents 44 45.
• Uses the Earth Vein Veil to conceal the underground flame disturbance from observers 30.
• Has located the Fallen Heart Flame beneath the academy’s Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower, but has not absorbed it in the documented chapters 41.

Soul Projection and Phantom Flame Marks

These techniques extend his ability to mislead observers and neutralize threats without open combat 39 40.

• Soul Projection: Creates a convincing double that imitates his appearance, aura, and emotional demeanor. The projection has no actual combat strength 39.
• Phantom Flame Marks: Guides Mo Family survivors in their sleep to an abandoned mine; they awaken as amnesiac wanderers unable to threaten the Xiao Clan 40.

Alchemy and Medicinal Analysis

His Emperor Realm soul gives him exceptionally precise perception of medicinal ingredients, although he begins with limited practical alchemy knowledge 2 3.

• Distinguishes ingredients in weak medicinal residue and devises basic formulas 2 3.
• Rapidly memorizes the Basic Herbal Compendium and an incomplete alchemy manual 3 6.
• Collects herbs to establish a believable explanation for future cultivation gains 6 11.
• Uses Yao Lao’s pill refinement as a source of fire energy and a plausible explanation for unusual abilities 42.
• Detects Vein-Eroding Powder in Bai Cheng’s proposed alchemy test and refuses the commission 48.

Engineered “Accidents”

Xiao Yan combines terrain, beasts, plants, unstable equipment, and opponents’ assumptions to conceal his interventions 5 17 45 48.

• Directs limited magical-beast disturbances against spies without unleashing a citywide beast tide 5.
• Activates hallucinogenic grass so Captain Wang kills the fleeing Otherworlder Li Ming 8.
• Uses loose stones, ravines, traps, and wolf packs against Mo Family pursuers 11 19.
• Disrupts Su Xiao’s Qi Gathering Stone at a breakthrough’s critical moment, producing an apparent fatal cultivation deviation 45.
• Triggers an avalanche against the Wolf Fang squad and draws poisonous mosquitoes toward disguised Bai Family attackers 46 48.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Heavy Xuan Ruler — Carried during mountain herb gathering and used in a staged defensive encounter 11 12.
• Iron saber and rusty sword — Ordinary-looking weapons suited to his weakling disguise; Xiao Ding gives him an old iron saber before his first journey 5 6 41.
• Iron dagger — Used to kill the black-robed elder and later coated with the Green Lotus Core Flame 29 30.
• Jade flame bottle — Stores the weakened residual flame left after he absorbs the Green Lotus Core Flame’s origin 30.
• Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map — First copied from a concealed carving in Black Wind Valley. Later fragments provide spatial clues and clearer coordinates pointing east 10 39 40.
• Pu Ang’s spatial ring — Contains low-grade pills, cultivation supplies, and mostly unreliable strategy notes 20.
• Mother’s ancient ring — Bears the character “Xiao” and contains ancestral insights concerning space, souls, and flame 34 37 39.
• Half Flame Jade Pendant — Resonates with the Green Lotus Core Flame and the ancient ring; also used to draw out the hidden Misty Cloud Sect elder 34 37 39.
• Mo Family Black Iron Token — Stolen as bait and later planted at the elder’s hideout. Xiao Yan copies its patterns before returning it through his scheme 35 38 39.
• Qi-Devouring Stones and explosive talismans — Used to manufacture misleading energy traces, disrupt enemies, and stage apparent accidents 37 46 48.
• System-granted learning resources — Body Tempering Pill formula, Dou Zhe-level recovery art, Heavenly Flame Sensing Technique, incomplete alchemy manual, and basic pill-refining materials list 4 5 6 20.
• Three Qi Condensation Pills — A gift from Ya Fei delivered by Mittel Tengshan; Xiao Yan does not immediately use them 35.

Relationships

• Xiao Zhan — Father and Xiao Clan patriarch. Offers unwavering emotional support, medicine, supplies, money, and protection; Xiao Yan conceals his true capabilities from him 2 4 5 36 40.
• Xiao Ding — Protective eldest brother. Offers to defend him during the engagement dispute and secretly escorts him toward the mountains 2 5.
• Xiao Li — Second brother. Arranges covert protection and recognizes the leverage offered by the stolen token and “Lucky Waste” reputation 33 35 36.
• Late mother — Leaves the sealed box, ancestral ring, and broken pendant that motivate Xiao Yan’s investigation into the ancient Xiao Clan 33 34 37 39.
• Yao Lao — Teacher, adviser, and combat ally. Guides flame absorption and pill refinement, while Xiao Yan hides his transmigration, system, and full strength from him 29 30 38 42.
• Nalan Yanran — Former fiancée and opponent under the Three-Year Agreement. Her rejection is a required story milestone rather than Xiao Yan’s principal personal grievance 2 3 33.
• Xiao Shi — Loyal servant. Xiao Yan raises his wages, gives him gloves, and confronts Mo Kui when the latter abuses him 33 35 36.
• Xiao Hu — Clan member who habitually mocks him; Xiao Yan tolerates the taunts to preserve his disguise 1 33.
• Ya Fei and Mittel Tengshan — Offer pills and possible assistance. Xiao Yan questions whether their goodwill carries strategic motives 35.
• Liu Fei — Intervenes against bullying at the Inner Academy entrance and verifies his admission 41.
• Xiao Yu — Rescued during the fire energy competition. She is grateful but increasingly doubtful that his victories are merely luck 42.
• Mo Family and Wolf Head Mercenary Group — Repeated enemies whose pursuit, greed, and cooperation he exploits to protect his secrets and the Xiao Clan 5 13 31 40.
• Han Feng — Yao Lao’s traitorous disciple and a suspected Soul Hall collaborator. Xiao Yan survives his attempt to steal the Flame Mantra, marks his ring, and follows him to a concealed meeting location 44 49.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Broken Engagement and Establishing the Disguise

• Performs the expected humiliation before Nalan Yanran, tears the marriage document, and earns a 100% disguise rating 2.
• Secretly limits the tracking mark on Nalan Yanran while retaining another surveillance mark as a potential intelligence source 2 3.
• Announces his intention to honor the Three-Year Agreement and frames his mountain journey as a weak youth’s search for improvement 3 4.
• Completes the engagement mission and receives his first flame fragment and cultivation resources 4.

Mountain Pursuit and Otherworlder Elimination

• Removes spies and successive Mo Family pursuers through beast attacks, spatial rifts, and manipulated terrain 5 6 7 11.
• Engineers Li Ming’s death at Captain Wang’s hands and Pu Ang’s death through a wounded mercenary’s surprise attack 8 17.
• Obtains the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame map clue and uncovers plans for a future attack on Xiao Clan businesses 10 16.
• Ends the surviving elder’s pursuit with a wolf-pack ambush, then leaves for Black Rock City carrying the map and Pu Ang’s ring 19 20.

Green Lotus Core Flame and Desert Cleanup

• Defeats a Peak Dou Wang elder while making his victory appear desperate and fortunate 29.
• Absorbs the Green Lotus Core Flame under Yao Lao’s guidance and secretly tempers his body 29 30.
• Eliminates bandits and pursuers who threaten to expose the flame, map, or Otherworlder connection 30 31.
• Returns to Wutan City with a caravan, covertly helping its guards defeat bandits while maintaining an inconspicuous identity 32.

Wutan City Intrigue and Family Inheritance

• Investigates a counterfeit Heavenly Flame Fragment and learns of a hidden Misty Cloud Sect elder targeting the Xiao Clan 33.
• Opens his mother’s box, steals the Black Iron Token, and uses false evidence to turn the Mo Family against the elder 34 35 37 38.
• Embraces the “Lucky Waste” nickname as cover for precisely engineered victories 36.
• Unlocks ancestral insights, learns Soul Projection, and develops a long-term plan to pursue the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame and restore the Xiao Clan 39.
• Neutralizes the remaining local Mo Family threat without killing its survivors. After leaving home, discovers a primordial-flame record and another map fragment in the desert 40.

Inner Academy and Soul Hall Investigation

• Enters Jia Nan Academy’s Inner Academy as an apparently Third Stage Dou Qi student and locates the sealed Fallen Heart Flame 41.
• Protects Xiao Yu during the fire energy competition while disguising his interventions as luck 42.
• Investigates student-targeting Soul Hall spies, disrupts their handoff, and kills Su Xiao through an apparent cultivation accident 44 45.
• Removes hostile Hunters and the Wolf Fang squad, then exposes disguised Bai Family attackers through another staged disaster 46 48.
• Turns Han Feng’s ambush into an intelligence opportunity. Rather than finishing him, Xiao Yan marks his Storage Ring and identifies a suspected Soul Hall meeting site 49.

Notable Quotes

“Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—never scorn a youth for being poor!” 2

“Mercy toward an enemy is cruelty toward yourself.” 30

“Chaos is good. Only in chaos can the real game stay hidden.” 38