It's kind of tiresome how Xiao Yan is totally incapable of coming up with any tactics or strategies to beat stronger opponents. He's always just running forward openly, no matter what kind of an enemy, and wins through plot armor or deus ex machina. It really shows the author's lack of ability. Normally I'd say the author is 14 years old and thus it's natural, but in this case I know it's because many of the xianxia authors push out content like a factory nearby them is pushing out bicycle tires. It's not a creative process, it's an industrial process.