Yan Song — I Shall Seal the Heavens

Yan Song is an Eastern Lands alchemist whose five-elements pill method inspires Meng Hao, and whose obsession with an ancient Spirit Severing Pill legacy ends in self-detonation.

Biography

Alchemy duel in Holy Snow City

Yan Song arrives dismissive of local alchemy and formally challenges the man he assumes is Zhou Dekun's disciple. He uses five-elements powders, Nascent Soul fire, and Pill Tribulation lightning to produce a six-colored pill. Meng Hao adapts the concept through plant refinement, reaches Self-Contained Pill Aroma, and creates a superior result. Yan accepts the loss but mistakenly credits Zhou Dekun as the hidden architect, increasing his reverence for the wrong grandmaster. (Chapters 361–366)

Planning the Crow Divinity infiltration

Yan later invites Meng Hao and three Nascent Soul eccentrics to seek an ancient Spirit Severing Pill legacy. Because Crow Divinity Mountain is protected by a Spirit Severing Totem God, he assigns each expert to infiltrate a tribe, build a reputation, and gain lawful entry. Maps contain slight deliberate inconsistencies, showing that he coordinates the mission while withholding complete trust. (Chapters 370–424)

Golden Crow conflict and death

Inside the seventh volcano, Yan identifies the supposed treasure as a Golden Crow Pill whose spirit protects a dead tree. He and the other experts attack despite Meng Hao's defense of the sentient pill. When the Golden Crow transmogrifies, Yan crushes an escape medallion and then chooses self-detonation. The spirit's “If Not a Pill” art traps the explosion inside a furnace and converts Yan's body and released power into a blood-colored medicinal pill. (Chapters 428–432)

Appearance and personality

Yan later appears in a long white robe with hair whipping around him and lightning-like eyes. He is proud of Mount Alchemy, capable of recognizing superior technique, and meticulous enough to plan an infiltration for years. That intelligence coexists with possessive greed: he insists a pill spirit remains merely a pill and therefore an object to be harvested. (Chapters 363–365 and 389–432)

Abilities and cultivation

Yan reduces objects corresponding to the five elements into powders rather than relying on whole medicinal plants. He combines them with Fire-type Nascent Soul flame and deliberately draws Pill Tribulation lightning into the furnace, using the lightning to release the elements' full interaction. The method is powerful but not exclusive; Meng Hao can understand and improve its principles through a different alchemical path. (Chapters 363–365)

Nascent Soul cultivation

His Fire-type Nascent Soul supplies reddish-orange flame and enough combat power to join four-expert formations. He can project a sliver of will, disguise himself among tribal vassals, and move through dangerous restrictions, but Meng Hao's stronger divine abilities can injure and drive him back. (Chapters 363 and 370–431)

Self-detonation and conversion

Yan's last resort releases his Nascent Soul body as an explosion while he attempts escape. The Golden Crow spirit's furnace blocks outward destruction and turns the released life and cultivation into refinement power. The technique is therefore lethal to Yan and, against a superior alchemical containment art, becomes fuel for the opponent. (Chapter 432)

Relationships

Meng Hao: Superior alchemist, recruited expedition member, and final opponent over the Golden Crow.
Zhou Dekun: Mistakenly revered as the mastermind behind Meng Hao's alchemy.
Li Tian, Mo Li, and Wang: Fellow Nascent Soul treasure seekers whose alliance is built on temporary interest and mutual suspicion.

Items

Eight-sided Feng Shui compass: Teleports the expedition toward its assigned tribes.
Escape medallion: Crushed during the final crisis but fails to save him from the Golden Crow's art.