Yao Lao

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Yao Chen (药尘) 19 22
Alias(es)	Yao Lao (药老); Venerable Yao 22 28
Gender	Male 19
Affiliation	Xiao Yan’s teacher; assists the Xiao Clan 28 101 102
Occupation/Role	Renowned alchemist; cultivation and alchemy mentor 22 152 158
Status	Deceased; survives as a remnant soul housed in Xiao Yan’s black ring 28 66 72
First Appearance	Knocked out of the ring by Xiao Yi 19

Power Progression

Yao Lao’s documented progression concerns recovering his soul strength and refining capacity; no new Dou Qi realm is specified.

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Weakened remnant soul	28	After years of slumber, his absorbed Dou Qi cannot sustain prolonged activity. Xiao Yi’s Wooden Sword further damages his soul origin.
Recovering refining capacity	56	Xiao Yan’s continuing Dou Qi supply allows him to refine higher-grade medicines, including the Bone-Reconnecting and Flesh-Regrowing Pill.
Fifth-grade pill refinement demonstrated	101 102	Completes an Earth Vein Miasma-Breaking Pill, though the effort substantially dims his soul form.
Soul form strengthened	126	The medicinal fragrance produced during Supreme Lord Lao’s refinement nourishes his soul, making it appear slightly more solid.

Background / History

Yao Chen was once known across the Dou Qi Continent as Venerable Yao, an alchemist who stood near the pinnacle of his profession. He had roamed the continent for centuries and survived numerous life-and-death battles, including an encounter with a bearer of the Woeful Poison Body 22 49 158 164.

His disciple Han Feng betrayed him. Yao Lao associates his downfall with that betrayal and the Hall of Souls, whose soul attacks, soul-seizing methods, and pursuit of powerful alchemists make it especially dangerous to him in his weakened state 28 41. The betrayal remains painful enough that, during an angry outburst, he mistakes Xiao Yan for his former disciple and accuses the boy of destroying him over the Flame Mantra 41.

After years of slumber, Yao Lao survives within an ancient black ring worn by Xiao Yan. He secretly absorbs Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi to sustain himself; once exposed, he takes responsibility for guiding the boy’s recovery and cultivation 27 28.

Appearance

• Spectral body: A translucent elderly figure who floats in the air and can withdraw into the ring as a streak of light or pale smoke 19 80.
• Hair and beard: White hair and beard, with clouded eyes and an aged, hoarse voice 19 50.
• Visible exhaustion: His soul form becomes dimmer after demanding refinement or extended activity outside the ring 28 91 102.

Personality

Yao Lao retains considerable pride in his former reputation. He frequently boasts of his alchemy, dismisses lesser threats, and initially considers using a Heavenly Flame for ordinary blacksmithing beneath his dignity. Xiao Yi’s refusal to respect that dignity repeatedly provokes his temper 22 50 58 90.

Despite his resentment and harsh manner, he remains protective of younger people. He treats injured children with gentle soul power, warns Xiao Yan against morally dangerous choices, and refuses to support the creation of malicious poisons. Supreme Lord Lao explicitly praises his enduring wish to protect the young and pass on alchemy despite his broken soul 48 49 125 158.

As a teacher, he combines demanding discipline with teasing and physical reprimands. He uses Xiao Yan’s rivalry with Xiao Yi as motivation, enjoys embarrassing his disciple, and becomes deeply anxious when Xiao Yan chooses a comfortable local life over pursuing greater strength 77 130 150 151 178 179.

His encounter with Supreme Lord Lao changes his outlook. He rejects the idea of exploiting Xiao Yi to obtain further divine guidance and adopts the pursuit of the Great Dao as a goal beyond revenge. Studying Daoist practices later gives him a more playful enthusiasm that Xiao Yan sees as a welcome release from his usual burdens 127 136.

Abilities & Skills

Alchemy

Yao Lao possesses extensive knowledge of medicinal ingredients, formulas, refining methods, and unusual constitutions 101 158 172.

• Restorative medicine: Produces ointments and pills that improve circulation, disperse stagnant blood, heal frostbite, reduce scarring, and encourage flesh growth 56.
• Limb regeneration: Uses Bone-Reconnecting and Flesh-Regrowing Pills with medicinal baths to regrow the injured children’s missing limbs while their bones are still developing 56.
• Fifth-grade refinement: Creates the Earth Vein Miasma-Breaking Pill, which purges impure energy, stabilizes dantian energy channels, and helps earth-attribute cultivators overcome cultivation barriers 101.
• Instruction: Teaches Xiao Yan Fire Control and the use of soul perception to monitor changes inside a medicine cauldron 158.
• Limits: Refinement consumes his available strength. Supreme Lord Lao’s pills and refining methods remain beyond his ability to fully understand 50 102 125 126.

Bone Spirit Cold Flame

Also called Gu Ling Cold Flame, this bone-white Heavenly Flame is Yao Lao’s greatest remaining source of strength as a soul 40 58.

• Melts extremely hard ingredients and alternates heat with cold to isolate and remove impurities during pill refinement 101.
• Harmonizes otherwise violently conflicting medicinal energies under precise control 101.
• Melts scrap metal into parts for Xiao Yi’s tricycle 58.
• Supplies the flame Xiao Yan uses to cut a groove in a bronze bell for battlefield sonic amplification 115.
• Fails to respond while Yao Lao is sealed in Xiao Yi’s jar; he cannot determine whether the cause is weakened soul power or the unfamiliar seal 40.

Soul Power and Perception

His remnant soul can manipulate objects, examine bodies, sense energy fluctuations, and interact with the surrounding world 80 101 107 128.

• Gentle protection: Envelops the injured children in warming soul power that eases cold and fear 47 48.
• Energy restraint: Forms an invisible soul-power net to contain a destructive reaction during fifth-grade refinement 101.
• Detection: Notices surveillance and identifies a concealed, sealed Dou Ling expert through suppressed energy fluctuations 98 107.
• Reading objects: Can obtain vague impressions of an owner’s history from a medicine cauldron, but only at considerable soul-power cost 125.
• Vulnerability: Xiao Yi’s Wooden Sword damages his soul origin, while the Red Cord prevents him from leaving the ring or extending soul power outside it 28 51.

Dou Qi Absorption and Cultivation Guidance

Yao Lao absorbs Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi to recover while regulating the boy’s growth 50 51.

• Diagnoses hidden injuries caused by Xiao Yan’s powerful transmigrator soul driving cultivation faster than his immature body can withstand 28 50.
• Keeps Xiao Yan near third-stage Dou Qi while preserving his daily cultivation habits and allowing his body to recuperate 51 56.
• Initially estimates that the restrictions can gradually end around age fifteen, supported by restorative medicine 51.
• Revises his approach after Supreme Lord Lao’s Body Tempering Pill transforms Xiao Yan’s physique: his own medicines would now contaminate the newly purified body 130.
• Directs physical training with the Heavy Mysterious Ruler and explains the benefits and dangers of the Flame Mantra 147 152.

Daoist Inner Elixir Cultivation and Divination

After obtaining Daoist classics from Xiao Yi, Yao Lao distinguishes medicinal refinement as outer elixir cultivation from refining one’s essence, qi, spirit, and character as inner elixir cultivation 136.

• Gives Xiao Yan an Inner Elixir Heart Method intended to build his foundation without the contamination caused by medicinal pills 136.
• States that the method does not interfere with Xiao Yan’s other cultivation methods 136.
• Uses implements borrowed from Xiao Yi to cast divinations, predicting Dou Di attainment, a love calamity, and danger at the Xiao Clan’s main gate 136.

Analysis and Worldly Knowledge

• Deduces how Xiao Yi’s firearms propel pellets through explosive gas without Dou Qi; distinguishes the limited threat of small rounds from larger cartridges that might threaten Da Dou Shi armor 78.
• Identifies Crazy Moon as the creator of the Jade Pivot Void Danger Scripture and explains its unusual combat effects and severe cultivation drawbacks 172.
• Conceals his suspicions about the Xiao Clan’s former glory and bloodline secrets because Xiao Yan is not yet strong enough to shoulder them 49 170.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Ancient Black Ring — Houses his soul and serves as his usual refuge. Xiao Yi jokingly calls it the “Star of Yao Chen” 19 80 183.
• Medicine Cauldron — A longstanding refining tool whose history allows Supreme Lord Lao to read painful episodes from Yao Lao’s life 125.
• Back Scratcher — Used for scratching his back and reprimanding Xiao Yan; he can wield it through soul power 80 130 158 179.
• Heavy Mysterious Ruler — An enormous, unusually heavy black ruler that suppresses Dou Qi. Yao Lao gives it to Xiao Yan and orders him to carry it constantly as training 147.
• Flame Mantra — A yellow-tier low-grade technique that evolves by devouring Heavenly Flames. Yao Lao presents it to Xiao Yan while warning that the process has killed its previous cultivators 152.
• Wind Scroll Technique — A black-tier high-grade alternative offered alongside the Flame Mantra; Yao Lao retains it after Xiao Yan chooses the latter 152 153.
• Ritual offerings — Xiao Yi’s incense and offerings let him taste food with “incense chopsticks” and temporarily travel farther from the ring 58 72 89.

Relationships

• Xiao Yan — Disciple and host of his ring. Yao Lao selects him for his talent, temperament, and suitability for his cultivation method, then guides his physical recovery, training, and alchemy 28 51 147 158.
• Xiao Yi — Difficult collaborator whose soul-suppressing techniques both threaten and intrigue him. Yao Lao repeatedly considers taking him as a disciple but does not do so in the documented chapters; he later recognizes Xiao Yi’s ability to motivate Xiao Yan 28 51 127 151 179.
• Han Feng — Former disciple and betrayer. Yao Lao remains intensely resentful and imagines subjecting him to Xiao Yi’s humiliating methods 28 41 166.
• Supreme Lord Lao — Revered senior who demonstrates an incomprehensibly higher level of alchemy, exposes Yao Lao’s past, and recognizes his preserved benevolence 125 126 127.
• Xiao Zhan — Father of his disciple and beneficiary of his assistance. Xiao Zhan’s gratitude toward Xiao Yan’s mysterious teacher deepens during the Mittel negotiations 102 103.
• The recovering children — Patients whose injuries, frostbite, scars, and lost limbs he treats in the Old Courtyard 48 56 58.
• Hall of Souls — A feared hostile force associated with his past. Its soul-capturing methods lead him to consider whether Xiao Yi’s exorcism techniques could become its natural counter 28.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Exposure and Xiao Yan’s Recovery

• Xiao Yi knocks him out of the ring, exposing the elderly soul responsible for absorbing Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi 19 27.
• Yao Lao advises Xiao Yan to reconcile with Xiao Yi rather than create another enemy and asks him to keep the soul’s existence secret 25.
• He explains Xiao Yan’s hidden injuries and proposes controlled Dou Qi absorption, but Xiao Yi responds by binding the ring with Red Cord and threatening to drop it into a latrine. Xiao Yan intervenes and saves the ring 50 51.

Healing the Children and Staging the Exorcism

• His medicines restore the children’s health and regenerate missing limbs. He then helps forge a tricycle to carry them home, persuaded by Xiao Yi’s promise of regular offerings 56 58.
• He agrees to pose as the malevolent spirit behind Xiao Yan’s declining cultivation, giving Xiao Zhan and the clan an explanation for the boy’s extended recuperation 67.
• He performs the ghost role during the ritual and reluctantly wears an offered costume in exchange for greater freedom outside the ring 70 71 72.

Black Sand Alliance Crisis

• With Xiao Yi’s offering ritual, he leaves the ring to gather intelligence about the three families’ negotiations 89 91.
• He proposes using high-grade alchemy to secure powerful assistance and advises Xiao Yan to conceal his identity 91.
• His fifth-grade Earth Vein Miasma-Breaking Pill becomes the Xiao Clan’s bargaining chip with Mittel, although producing it substantially exhausts him 101 102.
• His flame later helps convert the Ao Ba Family’s bronze bell into a megaphone for Xiao Zhan’s Furious Lion Vajra attack 115.

Supreme Lord Lao’s Guidance

• Despite lingering distrust of Xiao Yi, Yao Lao participates in the cave ritual and respectfully requests instruction when Supreme Lord Lao appears 123 124 125.
• The demonstration forces him to reconsider the limits of his own knowledge. He resolves to recover and improve honorably rather than manipulate Xiao Yi for another encounter 125 126 127.
• He adapts Xiao Yan’s training to the transformed body produced by the immortal’s pill and later incorporates Daoist inner elixir cultivation into his teaching 130 136.

Preparing Xiao Yan for the Wider World

• Yao Lao introduces the Heavy Mysterious Ruler, oversees Xiao Yan’s choice of the Flame Mantra, and begins formal alchemy instruction 147 152 158.
• When Xiao Yan becomes content with Wutan City, he urges training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range followed by a search for a Heavenly Flame in the Tagor Desert 178.
• Xiao Yan’s refusal leaves him considering Xiao Yi’s help in restoring the boy’s ambition. By the end of the documented period, Xiao Yan departs Wutan City for the wider world 179 188.

Notable Quotes

“Better to untie a knot of enmity than tighten it.” 25

“Cultivation is like rowing against the current: if you don't advance, you fall back. You cannot waste even a single day.” 51

“An unsettled, impatient mind is an Alchemist's greatest taboo.” 158