Zhu Yan

## [source]

**Zhu Yan** was a noble from the Zhu Family in the Sky Fortune Kingdom. He had a fourth grade martial talent and was a disciple of the Heavenly Abode’s Sword Sect within the Seven Profound Martial House.

In Lin Ming's martial road, Zhu Yan was his first and greatest rival in Sky Fortune Kingdom.

## Physical Description

### **First**

Two young men strode out from the gate; one of them was wearing blue clothes with a long sword attached to his waist. His hair was tied up into a gold colored head piece and he had a handsome appearance.

### **17 Years Old**

This person wore embroidered robes and a golden crown tied up his hair. He had an elegant sword strapped onto his waist and his appearance was bold and heroic. Moreover, the corners of his lips had a slight touch of taunting contempt to them, as if to show off his disdain for all others.

### **130 Years Later**

Although this person’s appearance had greatly changed, Lin Ming was still able to recognize him.

There were far too many shadows of the past on his appearance. And, his saber hadn’t changed for over 130 years.

This old man appeared to be around 60 years of age and he wore a bamboo hat. His face was engraved with the years of wind and frost. From the outline of his face, one could vaguely sense that in his youth, this old man had also once been a considerably dashing individual.

This old man only had a single arm. His hair was white and a full white mustache fell down like whiskers. There was a deep scar on his face. It started from his eyebrows and extended down to his neck, nearly splitting through his entire face.

## Personality

In his youth, Zhu Yan was particularly cruel and condescending due to his superior heritage and talent in the kingdom. He also views the commoners as being weak and bottom-feeders that he could just easily dispose of. He is also vengeful to those that even slightly oppose him.

At most, Zhu Yan was sinister, vicious and subject to changing moods. Moreover, Zhu Yan was a proud person that had an ambition reaching the heavens.

In the far future, however, he experiences a long journey of vengeance and strife that would transform his disposition. The mortal life dawned him of his insignificance in this world, which forever changes him. He becomes servile and foregoes his past animosity. Unlike his past, the old Zhu Yan becomes much more calm and kind towards others.

## Plot

In Green Mulberry City, Zhu Yan had stolen away Lin Ming's first love – Lan Yunyue.

Afterwards, Lin Ming had firmed his determination to enter the Seven Profound Martial House. He took his small amount of money and travelled to the Sky Fortune Kingdom to partake in the examinations there. Because he just happened to encounter Zhu Yan by chance when he was registering, one of Zhu Yan’s friends had Lin Ming secretly expelled from his living quarters in order to curry favor. Because of that, Lin Ming went to Great Clarity Pavilion where he worked as a deboner, and it was there that Lin Ming obtained the Magic Cube.

Afterwards, Lin Ming’s cultivation rapidly rose. When his true ability was revealed to the world, this caused Sky Fortune City’s royal family to take notice of him and do everything in their power to win him over.

As for Zhu Yan, because there was a grudge between him and Lin Ming, he was forced to endure great pressure and isolation.

Even his lord, the Tenth Prince Yang Zhen, had started to force Zhu Yan’s hand in his quest for the throne. Yang Zhen had forced Zhu Yan to break his engagement with Lan Yunyue.

Finally, Zhu Yan was defeated by Lin Ming. After that one battle, he was severely wounded. But before he could recover, Zhu Yan was expelled from his family and the patriarch publicly severed all relations with him.

Then, whether it was the Zhu Family or the Tenth Prince, Zhu Yan had lost all value to them. Instead he had become a burden.

Thus, Zhu Yan had been expelled. Alone, with nothing but his injuries, Zhu Yan left his family and lord and started to roam the world.

Over 130 years had passed and the endless changes of mortal life had been and gone. Zhu Yan was no longer the proud and arrogant youth of the past, one would find it hard to imagine that such a person had undergone such a dramatic transformation.

He had done many things in the last 100 years, experiencing innumerable hardships, feeling the warmth and coldness of the human heart. Zhu Yan deeply understood the hundred changes of the humans.

From then on he worked as a stableman, a soldier, an assassin, a warrior, and much more. Without the protection and shelter of his family, Zhu Yan could only rely on himself to cultivate the martial path, struggling for resources everywhere.

Afterwards, for more than half a year now, he had been part of a war in a mortal nation. When a nation was destroyed by another nation, the royal family fled the capital and the prince and princess were separated.

As for Zhu Yan, he and his subordinates were assigned to seek out the lost children of the royal family. He didn’t do all of this for glory and riches. This was because Zhu Yan didn’t have much life left to live. The only reason he did this was because he was loyal to the emperor of the old dynasty, who had already passed away. Once, this great emperor had saved his life.

When Zhu Yan was severely wounded and was on the precipice of death, the emperor didn’t give up on him. Rather, the emperor gave his horse to Zhu Yan and afterwards he even spent an exorbitant amount of money to help cure his wounds, even if that didn’t manage to cure Zhu Yan's wounds in the end.

As they were searching for the lost princess, Zhu Yan and his team had stumbled upon a masked man in the middle of a snow storm. This man was Lin Ming.

Somewhere, somehow, there seemed to be some inexplicable karmic cycle that brought Lin Ming and Zhu Yan, people of two completely different worlds, back together.

At one point, Lin Ming saved the lives of Zhu Yan and gave a medicinal pill in order to sever the karmic cycle. It was at that point that Zhu Yan had told him of his martial road, drinking together wine as they travel in the snowy blizzard.

The warm wine, the simple sheepskin covering, the fluttering wind, the boundless desert…

As well as two people who had once known each other and fought each other. Although their lives had taken completely different paths, at this point they were two people with similar moods, seemingly watching the fading horizon…

This was a scene that couldn’t be described with words.

Men do not cry easily, but that is because they haven’t reached the source of sadness. Lin Ming didn’t know just what feeling was in his heart. He stood up, silent, welcoming the strong winds.

Whether it was mortals or the Empyreans and True Divinities that stood above all, everyone had their own suffering, their own bitterness.

Zhu Yan’s life also had its tumultuous rises and falls. Perhaps his experiences might not be worthy of mentioning to those who came from a higher realm. In comparison, Lin Ming’s experiences were great matters that concerned the continued existence of the Divine Realm.

Between these two, there were certainly differences.

But in Lin Ming’s eyes, people may be divided into the weak and strong, but when it came to suffering of the self, there was no difference.

The pain in Zhu Yan’s heart when he faced his tribulations was likely no less than his own.

Zhu Yan’s life, Lin Ming’s life, were both equal.

From this meaning, Lin Ming was also a mortal.

Zhu Yan had experienced the ups and downs of mortal life. He dreamed and hoped that he would rise in the future and strived for it, doing everything in his power to accomplish it, but in the end… he failed.

Although he failed, he clearly recognized himself and recognized his own fate. He found himself and transformed himself, finding a new faith and fighting for it.

Without seeking riches and glory, only seeking peace of mind after death.

## Quotes

* (Zhu Yan's mortality)

> "*My future was nothing but dark gloominess. I was able to see the fickleness and changes of the human heart and at that time my life was without any rays of hope. But, I was unwilling. The young me had a heart higher than the heavens. I thought, this world is unfair to me! I hardened my resolve to break into the Xiantian realm and have all those people who doubted and betrayed me know that they were mistaken.*
>
>

> *“I wanted to prove to myself that I didn’t need to depend on my family or anyone else, that I could fight my way through life on my own…*
>
>

> *“I wanted to make a name for myself and return to my homeland with riches and glory. I wanted my family to know just how stupid they were for abandoning me.”*
>
>

* (The endless competition, the waning of the years, and the fading of one's past glory)

> *"For resources, I risked my life countless times to obtain them. I wanted to soar to the heavens with a single step, but it was only afterwards I realized the truth. Reality, is far… too brutal. The young me simply wasn’t strong at all. Those people that struggled with me were far, far stronger than I was, and there was a never-ending sea of them.*
>
>

> *“This sort of competition couldn’t even be described as tragic. To lose meant death!*
>
>

> *“Several times as I was fighting for lucky chances I received heavy wounds. However, because I didn’t have good medicines to restore my body, the hidden wounds within me began to accumulate.*
>
>

> *“Thus, my injuries became heavier and the condition of my body became increasingly poor. As I aged, my chances of breaking into the Xiantian realm became more and more uncertain…*
>
>

> *“Later, I accidently learned that my opponent had already reached an incomprehensibly lofty height. He entered the four Divine Kingdoms and even broke through the void with his martial path, ascending to the starry skies.*
>
>

> *“But as for me, let alone the Xiantian realm, even breaking into the Houtian realm was difficult. The difference between us two was greater than the heavens and earth!*
>
>

* (Due to his mortality, Zhu Yan thoroughly realized his weakness and learned 'live without regrets')

> *“Your idealistic dreams might seem wonderful, but reality is just brutally cruel. I finally realized that the young me was far too naïve. With my heart that was higher than the heavens, I was sure that I would have tremendous success in life. I thought I could return home, famous and renowned, and slap the faces of all those who spoke ill of me. But in truth, I failed to achieve any of that…*
>
>

> *“Later I understood that there were too many people who were just like me. They all thought they were different, existences that were unique in this world. Everyone dreams of accomplishing their desires, but we… are inevitably nothing more than mortals.*
>
>

> *“I eventually had to accept the path that destiny had arranged for me and wake up from that beautiful dream I had… because, I… was no longer young…*
>
>

> *“During those days, although I experienced innumerable tribulations, these tribulations slowly grinded away my edges and corners, causing my character to change and become completely different from what I used to be…*
>
>

> *“I began to learn how to restrain myself, learn how to think deeply of my actions and their consequences, learn to accept reality for what it was, learn to be grateful…*
>
>

## Trivia

* Ranked #39 then later #32 in the Ranking War - Ten Thousand Killing Array / Seven Profound Martial House
* He snatched Lin Ming's sweetheart Lan Yunyue and they became engaged
* He got defeated by Lin Ming in their match
* His strength is above 4000 jins
* He's on the side of the tenth prince Yang Zhen
* After his defeat against Lin Ming he got expelled from his family by order of the Cloud King, he had to leave the Seven Profound Martial House and then divorce Lan Yunyue.
* If in the past Zhu Yan was like a mountain that Lin Ming could only cross with immense effort, now Zhu Yan could only be a stepping stone on his road of martial arts. Lin Ming would only step on it to reach a higher peak. This was after finding the magic cube and attaining inscription skills.

### **130 years later**

* In the future he no longer went by his old name, but instead called himself by a single character – Flame.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chapter 1936-1
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Chapter 1938B – Live Without Regret
3. ↑ Chapter 1936-1