Yan Emperor
Since the Battle of Banquan is treated as a historical fact by Sima Qian in his "Records of the Grand Historian", it would appear that this is a pivotal transition point between mythology and history. Ironically, Yan Emperor enters history only with his submission to the will of the Yellow Emperor. In any case, the title of "flame emperor" apparently lapsed after this time, while his tribe's descendants were said to be perpetuated through intermarriage with that of the Yellow Emperor, and Han Chinese throughout history have referred themselves as the "Descendants of Yan and Huang".