YE YAN:
Ye Yan, also known as Xiao Fei Fei, was an influential figure in the history of Glory City. He was a legendary spiritualist and the founder of both Glory City and the Snow Wind Family. Despite his physical body being deceased, his spirit resided within a bird-form soul puppet. Ye Yan’s spiritual rank was once legendary but is now at the gold level. He belonged to the Thunder Family, with the Snow Wind Family being a branch of his lineage. His spirit was sealed within the Heavenly Sacred Border to safeguard Glory City and its inhabitants.
Appearance:
Ye Yan possessed a strong sense of pride and viewed everyone in and around Glory City as his descendants, deserving of respect. Despite his frustration with Nie Li, he reluctantly acknowledged that Nie Li’s knowledge surpassed his own.
It is speculated that Ye Yan remained trapped within the Heavenly Sacred Border until the Thunder God’s Meteorite Sword was removed by an unknown individual, leading to the dissipation of his spirit.
Current life:
In the Heavenly Sacred Border arc, Ye Yan offered to mentor Nie Li, but Nie Li rejected his offer. To prove Nie Li wrong, Ye Yan demonstrated five cultivation techniques. Although impressive by Glory City’s standards, Nie Li calmly pointed out the flaws in the techniques.
Following his failed attempt to impress Nie Li, Ye Yan is further humbled when Nie Li questions him about soul attributes, to which Ye Yan cannot provide satisfactory answers, highlighting Nie Li’s superior knowledge. Frustrated with his inability to make progress with Nie Li, Ye Yan turns his attention to Xiao Ning’er, offering to teach her instead. However, Xiao Ning’er politely declines his offer, stating that her cultivation technique is a gift.
Nie Li intervenes, accusing Ye Yan of attempting to manipulate Xiao Ning’er. He proposes a deal: he will reveal his cultivation technique to Ye Yan only if Ye Yan helps them locate the Thunder God’s Meteorite Sword. Nie Li even goes as far as to bet that he can subdue the sword. Initially, Nie Li offers Xiao Ning’er’s cultivation technique as part of the bet, but Ye Yan demands Nie Li’s Heavenly God technique if he fails, along with Xiao Ning’er’s technique just to disclose the sword’s location. If Nie Li succeeds in subduing the powerful sword, Ye Yan also agrees to follow him. After Ye Yan agrees to the terms, Nie Li reveals Xiao Ning’er’s Lightning Dragon technique to him.
Nie Li successfully tamed the Thunder God’s Meteorite Sword by overcoming the demon spirits within it. Ye Yan’s soul was connected to the sword, but Nie Li subdued it, and Ye Yan required a new vessel for his soul. Nie Li created a soul puppet based on blueprints from the Heavenly Marks Family’s treasury to contain Ye Yan’s soul. Ye Yan retained the strength of a gold-ranked demon spiritualist and was named Xiao Fei Fei. Despite feeling insulted, Ye Yan fell into despair.
Dark attack:
On their way back to the City Lord’s Mansion, the group was attacked by 27 darkly dressed assailants, including 4 gold-ranked and the rest silver-ranked. Nie Li assigned Ye Yan to confront the gold-ranked enemies, but he found it challenging to battle using the soul puppet. During the skirmish, a gold-ranked demon spiritualist named Deacon Yun Hua targeted Nie Li directly, but Nie Li quickly defeated him while immobilizing the others with his Gravity Field. Ye Yan was able to overcome three of the gold-ranked attackers single-handedly, making the fight less arduous.
After delivering the captured leaders to the Alchemy Association, Nie Li and Ye Yan finally make their way back to the City Lord’s Mansion. There, Nie Li shares more of his knowledge and reveals the depth of his soul to Ye Yan, earning his respect once and for all.
Demonic Beast Array Arc
Shortly after, Ye Xiu pays a visit to Nie Li to inquire about a mysterious book Ye Mo had discovered. He is taken aback to find Nie Li accompanied by a soul puppet.
With his knowledge, Ye Yan identifies the soul puppet as a form of demon spirit control technique with a manipulation inscription pattern. However, Nie Li dismisses this, claiming to understand only 20% to 30% of it. Nie Li then reveals it to be the Ten Thousand Demonic Beast Array, which he agrees to deploy only if he can reside in Ye Ziyun’s courtyard.
This revelation incites Ye Zong’s fury, and he is prepared to confront Nie Li directly. However, Ye Yan intervenes, disclosing himself as Ye Zong’s ancestor. He explains his choice to become a soul puppet and urges Ye Zong to treat Nie Li with the same respect he shows him.
Subsequently, Nie Li assigns Ye Yan the task of creating a detailed map of the City Lord’s Mansion to aid in planning the Ten Thousand Demonic Beast Array and locating the Dark Guild’s stronghold.
Training
During the events of the Taking Down the Sacred Family arc, it took some time, but Ye Yan successfully pinpointed the location of the Dark Guild’s base. He informed Nie Li that the base was situated in an extensive underground crypt, with indications of Troglodytes and Dark Elves present.
In the Training in the Mountains arc, Nie Li resolves to depart from Glory City to train and investigate the Dark Guild’s base. With only three months until his encounter with the Demon Lord, he urgently needs to bolster his strength. He entrusts Ye Yan with delivering letters to his friends and family but declines Ye Yan’s offer to accompany him.
In the subsequent Duan Jian’s Revenge arc, when Ye Yan informs Nie Li about the competition to find the Master of Nether’s disciple, Nie Li initially brushes off Yu Yan, which irritates her. Nie Li quickly clarifies Yu Yan’s identity to Ye Yan.
Ye Yan goes on to explain to Nie Li that the competition not only delays the Wugui Family’s imminent attack but also presents a significant opportunity for Nie Li. With his potential, Nie Li could be a strong candidate to become the disciple, inheriting the entire Nether Realm and ensuring Glory City’s safety. Nie Li agrees and decides to gather his friends to accompany him.