Xiao Yan

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Xiao Yan (萧炎)
Alias(es)	Yao Yan; Yan Xiao—identities used while traveling and operating in the Imperial Capital 74.
Gender	Male
Age	Fifteen when Nalan Yanran visits the Xiao Clan 3.
Affiliation	Xiao Clan of Wutan City; later agrees to represent the Mittel Family at the Battle at the Cloud Summit 2 95.
Occupation/Role	Cultivator; Yao Chen’s disciple; certified Fourth-Rank Alchemist; Jia Ma Empire Alchemist Tournament champion 6 83 100.
Cultivation	Seven-Star Great Dou Master—the latest documented realm 71.
Cultivation Method	Flame Mantra, advanced to Low Earth Tier 71.
Status	Alive; operating as Yan Xiao following his tournament victory 100.
First Appearance	Mentioned in Chapter 1; appears in the Xiao Clan hall in Chapter 2 1 2.

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Dou Zhe at age ten	52	Nalan Jie recalls his childhood achievement, attained before otherworldly inheritances appeared.
Four-Star Dou Zhe	3 5	Reveals his concealed Dou Zhe strength during the engagement dispute; Xiao Lin’s assessment confirms his exact rank.
Eight-Star Dou Zhe; Low Xuan Tier Flame Mantra	12	Refines the Fatal Flame despite severe internal burns. Yao Chen suppresses the flame with the Bone Spirit Cold Flame.
Dou Shi	19	Breaks through after ten days with the Rotation-Speed Pill and Burning Blood training. Gains Dou Qi Gauze protection, easier flame control, and stronger Soul Force.
Seven-Star Dou Shi	31	Reaches this level after obtaining and devouring the fifth-rank Netherflame Leopard’s and Azureflame Eagle’s flames.
Second-Rank Alchemist certification	43	Passes the Black Rock City examination, impressing Frank, Otto, Lin Fei, and Xue Mei.
Two-Star Great Dou Master; Middle Xuan Tier Flame Mantra	49	Refines the Azure Water Flame alongside his existing beast flames. Forms a Dou Crystal and crimson-blue Dou Qi Armor.
Four-Star Great Dou Master; High Xuan Tier Flame Mantra	70	Completes ten days of Green Lotus Core Flame refinement. Its fusion with his earlier flames produces the Green Lotus Annihilation Flame.
Seven-Star Great Dou Master; Low Earth Tier Flame Mantra	71	Completes the Undying Flame refinement after roughly half a month. Can separate and wield the Undying Flame and Green Lotus flame simultaneously.
Fourth-Rank Alchemist certification	82 83	Refines a fourth-grade pill under Fa Ma’s assessment and receives the corresponding alchemist robe.
Fifth-grade pill refinement	98 100	Creates the Four-Pattern Purple Spirit Pill with Elder Dan’s guidance and wins the Alchemist Tournament. This is a demonstrated achievement, not a documented Fifth-Rank certification.

Background / History

Xiao Yan was born into the Xiao Clan of Wutan City and displayed exceptional cultivation talent from childhood. Nalan Jie remembers him becoming a Dou Zhe at ten. His grandfather and Nalan Jie had served as generals in the same court, linking the two families before the dispute over his engagement 3 52.

Two years before Nalan Yanran’s visit, Xiao Yan lost a clan competition to his older cousin Xiao Tian. Yao Chen credits that defeat with breaking his complacency and motivating serious cultivation. The teacher subsequently absorbed Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi for a year to temper his character, allowing him to experience how differently people treated a fallen genius 6.

By the engagement confrontation, Xiao Yan had recovered his strength but continued concealing it. His father knew of the mysterious teacher supporting him; Yao Chen’s pills had also helped Xiao Zhan reach Dou Ling 3 5.

Appearance

Xiao Yan has fair, delicate features and dark eyes. Later descriptions emphasize his slender, tall figure. His disguises substantially change his face, but his build and enormous black ruler remain recognizable to Ya Fei 7 74 100.

• Usual equipment: Black clothing or robes, often with the Heavy Xuan Ruler carried on his back 74 76.
• Disguised faces: Uses the Thousand Illusion Mask to appear as a sinister middle-aged man or an angular-faced youth 20 74.
• Flame-altered eyes: Purple-black wisps appear in his eyes following the Undying Flame refinement 70 71.

Personality

Xiao Yan combines fierce pride with a preference for concealing his advantages. He reveals his strength when the Misty Cloud Sect insults his father, yet ordinarily avoids showing off or exposing his alchemist identity unnecessarily. By his arrival in the Imperial Capital, he can deliberately suppress the anger stirred by Misty Cloud Mountain and return to a composed state 3 22 74.

His ambition can become reckless. With the Three-Year Agreement approaching, he insists on absorbing the Undying Flame soon after surviving another Heavenly Flame refinement, fearing that ordinary cultivation cannot guarantee victory. Nevertheless, he accepts Yao Chen’s demand that he rest first 70.

He is generous toward people he chooses to support, giving Xiao Ning a valuable pill and supplying his clan and brothers with cultivation resources. Damaged trust is harder to repair: he remains distant toward Xiao Mei despite her attempts to reconnect 6 13 22 74.

Abilities & Skills

Flame Mantra

An evolving cultivation method that devours flames to improve its tier and strengthen Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi 12 49 70 71.

• Initially places him at a disadvantage because its Low Yellow Tier foundation limits his combat endurance 4.
• Supports the fusion of different flames and the control needed to develop Buddha’s Fury Fire Lotus 49 77.
• Does not advance from every absorption: the two fifth-rank flames merely merge into the Fatal Flame when refined on their own 40.
• Heavenly Flame refinement remains potentially fatal despite protective pills and Yao Chen’s intervention 68 70.

Flame Control

Xiao Yan acquires six individual flames and develops stronger fused forms 49 70 97 98.

Flame	Acquisition / Development	Properties and limitations
Fatal Flame	Extracted by Yao Chen from an immature fifth-rank ape-like magical beast and refined by Xiao Yan 11 12.	Causes lingering, corrosive burns and penetrates medicinal protection during refinement. Yao Chen suspects an extremely rare instant-kill effect 12 40.
Nether Flame	Taken from a fifth-rank Netherflame Leopard 31.	Used in flame fusion, alchemy, and combat against Nalan Yanran 77 90 97.
Qingyun Flame	Taken from a fifth-rank Azureflame Eagle 31 49.	Combined with Nether Flame for his first Buddha’s Fury Fire Lotus 77.
Azure Water Flame	Extracted from the sixth-rank Nether Sea Flood Dragon Beast with Yao Chen’s assistance 48 49.	Enables another Flame Mantra evolution when refined with the earlier flames 49.
Crimson-blue fused flame	Formed from the Fatal Flame, Azure Water Flame, and two fifth-rank beast flames 49.	Yao Chen judges it stronger than an ordinary seventh-rank beast flame; its precise abilities remain unknown 49.
Green Lotus Core Flame	Secured beneath the Tagor Desert and later refined 54 70.	Ranked nineteenth among Heavenly Flames; can be controlled separately after subsequent refinement 54 71.
Green Lotus Annihilation Flame	Fusion of the Green Lotus Core Flame with his earlier flames 70.	Yao Chen estimates its power is at least comparable to a Heavenly Flame ranked fifteenth 70.
Undying Flame	Discovered on Heart of the Lake Island and refined afterward 61 70 71.	Carries destruction-and-rebirth properties. Yao Chen observes it transforming Xiao Yan’s constitution 70 71.

• The Fatal Flame strengthens Burning Blood training and becomes easier to control after his Dou Shi breakthrough 19.
• His familiarity is greatest with the earliest three flames, which he can stabilize more readily during alchemy 97.
• Possessing an apparently otherworldly flame leads him to question whether he qualifies as an Inheritor; the identity remains uncertain 40.

Buddha’s Fury Fire Lotus

An explosive attack created by forcing distinct flames into a lotus through the Flame Mantra 77.

• His first successful lotus combines Qingyun Flame and Nether Flame, overwhelms Mu Zhan’s Wood Spirit Impact, and severely wounds him despite his temporary Dou Ling-level power 77.
• The initial fusion leaves Xiao Yan pale, with charred marks on his palm 78.
• He later prepares a version incorporating the Green Lotus Core Flame against a Dou Wang-level threat, but the passage does not document its release 78.

Eight Extremes Collapse

A High Xuan Tier close-combat technique that stacks concealed forces within a strike 4.

• Shatters Yun Xiaotian’s illusory wings when aimed at their roots 4.
• Breaks Nalan Yanran’s incoming wind blades and forms the basis of his final counterattack during their sparring match 90 91.

Heavy-Weapon Techniques

Xiao Yan uses both his ruler and substitute heavy swords, changing weapons when concealment requires it 4 20.

• Flame Splitting Wave Ruler: An Earth-tier attack used with a heavy sword against Xiao Zha after a feigned retreat 20 21.
• Disorder-Splitting Wind Ruler Technique: Yao Chen’s adaptation of the acquired hammer technique; successive swings accumulate power and force Nalan Yanran back 18 90.
• Thrown ruler attacks: Disrupts Yun Xiaotian’s accumulating slash sequence by throwing the Heavy Xuan Ruler before closing in 4.

Movement and Fire-Blowing Palm

He combines the Flowing Cloud and Water Movement Technique with a Low Xuan Tier palm technique for evasion, positioning, and propulsion 4 22.

• Fire-Blowing Palm destroys Yun Xiaotian’s sword aura 4.
• Its recoil launches him above pursuing puppet attacks 21.
• He directs it against Nalan Yanran’s updraft to propel himself back toward her 91.

Alchemy and Soul Control

Yao Chen teaches Xiao Yan pill refinement; Elder Dan later offers ancient formulas, ninth-grade refining experience, and a soul-cultivation method 6 89.

• Refines several hundred first- and second-tier medicines for the Xiao Clan before departing 22.
• Recognizes that Ge Ye’s Qi Gathering Powder has lost roughly thirty percent of its potency 5.
• Identifies the flawed Windwalk Pill formula during the tournament’s second round 95.
• Controls three flames simultaneously, then introduces a fourth at the precise moment needed to create the Four-Pattern Purple Spirit Pill 98.
• Saves Nalan Jie from poisoning and refines the Seven Illusory Azure Spirit Saliva to restore Elder Dan 87 88.

Borrowed Power from Yao Chen

Yao Chen can lend Xiao Yan power, conceal his aura, or control his body through the Heaven-Tier technique Possession 17 20 31 48.

• Enables winged flight, access to dangerous locations, and combat far beyond Xiao Yan’s personal realm 15 16 48 60.
• The Bone Spirit Cold Flame used during these interventions belongs to Yao Chen, not Xiao Yan 12 48.
• Yao Chen sometimes withholds assistance to force Xiao Yan to gain genuine combat experience 20.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Heavy Xuan Ruler — Signature enormous black weapon; useful for defense and heavy strikes, but distinctive enough to compromise a disguise 4 20 74.
• Heavy sword — Substitute weapon used when investigating Xiao Zha and during disguised combat 20 90.
• Thousand Illusion Mask — Alters his facial appearance for infiltration and travel under aliases 20 74.
• Bone Flame Ring — Houses Yao Chen’s remnant soul and his lifetime collection 5 88.
• Holy Pill Ring — Cracked yellow ring given to Xiao Yan by his mother; houses Elder Dan’s soul 5 84 89.
• Green Lotus Platform and eleven lotus seeds — Taken alongside the Green Lotus Core Flame; the platform supports his refinement preparations 54 68.
• Protective refinement supplies — Includes the Blood Lotus Pill, Ice Spirit Cold Spring, Naling, and medicines protecting his meridians, mind, and soul 68.
• Demonic Flame map fragment — Secured through his agreement with Ya Fei; Yao Chen suspects a connection to the third-ranked Purifying Lotus Demon Flame 75.

Relationships

• Yao Chen / Yao Lao — Teacher, protector, and trusted adviser. Their affectionate banter accompanies dangerous training, alchemy, and political maneuvering 6 17 70.
• Xiao Zhan — Father and Xiao Clan head. Xiao Yan defends his dignity, supplies clan medicines, and arranges safeguards before leaving Wutan City 3 22.
• Xiao Ding and Xiao Li — Elder brothers. He reunites with them in Stone Desert City and leaves cultivation methods and techniques before heading to the capital 71 74.
• Xun’er — Close companion and emotional attachment. She secretly has Ling Ying monitor his safety; memories of her help sustain him during the Undying Flame ordeal 7 68 70.
• Nalan Yanran — Former fiancée and Three-Year Agreement opponent. As Yan Xiao, he saves her grandfather and spars with her without revealing his identity 5 84 87 91.
• Ya Fei — Business ally and confidante. He agrees to oppose Mu Zhan’s coercive pursuit and publicly poses as her suitor 15 74 75 76.
• Hai Bodong — Senior interested in his talent and map knowledge. Recruits Yan Xiao to represent the Mittel Family under undisclosed terms 83 91 95.
• Elder Dan — Ancient alchemical mentor. Xiao Yan restores his soul and promises to conceal his survival and deliver his ring to the Dan Family 88 89.
• Xiao Tian — Older cousin and cultivation rival. His earlier victory helped motivate Xiao Yan’s growth 6 13.
• Xiao Zha — Cousin whose puppet-making inheritance arouses suspicion. Xiao Yan investigates and fights him in disguise 19 20.
• Yun Xiaotian — Misty Cloud Sect rival defeated during the engagement dispute; later seeks public revenge 4 92.
• Mu Zhan — Rival confronted over Ya Fei; defeated by Buddha’s Fury Fire Lotus 75 77.
• Nalan Jie — His grandfather’s former colleague and a defender of his dignity. Expresses gratitude to Yan Xiao without knowing his true identity 52 89 92.
• Gu He — Alchemist suspicious of Yan Xiao’s teacher and Heavenly Flames. Xiao Yan conceals his history and feels some guilt over Gute’s death 64 100.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Engagement Dispute and Three-Year Agreement

Xiao Yan ends his concealment to challenge Yun Xiaotian after the Misty Cloud Sect’s insults. He defeats him, accepts Nalan Yanran’s proposed three-year challenge, and writes a “Divorce Letter” declaring that she has no further connection to the Xiao Clan. He also rejects the offered compensation pill and exposes its defects using a superior pill prepared by Yao Chen 3 4 5 6.

The confrontation raises his fortune value from 161 to 319, slightly accelerating Xiao Lin’s Plane Embryo recovery. Xiao Lin nevertheless later questions whether Xiao Yan will remain the era’s eventual Child of the Plane amid other rising prodigies 5 11.

Wutan City’s Rival Families

Before leaving home, Xiao Yan participates in Yao Chen’s raids on the Jia Lie and Ao Ba families, loots their treasures, and learns how manipulated memories can turn political opponents against one another. Their plan is disrupted when weakened victims disappear or die, leading him to investigate Xiao Zha’s soulless puppets 17 18 19 20.

He subsequently informs Xiao Zhan of his suspicions, supplies hundreds of medicines, and asks Yao Chen to leave protective measures for his father 22.

Pursuit of Stronger Flames

When fifth-rank beast flames fail to evolve the Flame Mantra, Xiao Yan turns toward rarer flames and gathers protective ingredients through the Alchemist Guild. With Yao Chen’s assistance, he obtains the Azure Water Flame, Green Lotus Core Flame, and Undying Flame 40 41 43 48 54 61.

Absorbing the latter two advances him to Seven-Star Great Dou Master and raises the Flame Mantra to Earth Tier before his return to the Imperial Capital 70 71 74.

Yan Xiao in the Imperial Capital

Under his new alias, Xiao Yan defeats Mu Zhan for Ya Fei, obtains Fourth-Rank alchemist credentials, and cures Nalan Jie to secure medicine for the ring’s dying occupant. Elder Dan’s awakening opens a connection to the Pill Tower and Dan Family 74 75 77 83 84 87 88 89.

His disguised sparring match with Nalan Yanran ends without a winner when Hai Bodong intervenes. Meanwhile, the Misty Cloud Sect prepares the Battle at the Cloud Summit to promote Yanran and capitalize on her approaching duel with Xiao Yan 90 91 92.

Alchemist Tournament

Xiao Yan becomes the Jia Ma contestants’ leading hope against Yan Li. Guided by Yao Chen and Elder Dan, he overcomes a flawed formula and risky flame transitions, ultimately producing a fifth-grade pill and winning the championship 95 97 98 100.

His victory attracts recruitment interest and Gu He’s scrutiny. He maintains his disguise and gives a fictional account of his teacher and flame acquisition; the Three-Year Agreement remains unresolved in the provided chapters 100.

Notable Quotes

“From this day forward, you, Nalan Yanran, have absolutely nothing to do with my Xiao Clan!” 5

“Some things, once lost, are lost for good. There’s no repairing them.” 13

“If I cultivate step by step, even with the Green Lotus Annihilation Flame’s help, I can’t say with certainty that I’ll defeat her.” 70

“Of course. Three years of bitter cultivation, all for this day!” 74