Emperor Li ruled emperor Li's Realm. He established the Dali Dynasty and ruled both the Upper and Lower Worlds. The Upper Worlds were ruled directly by Emperor Li, while the Lower Worlds were ruled by the members of Emperor Li's royal family. Furthermore, suitable talents were selected from the Lower Worlds and sent to the Upper Worlds for further training. The Dali Dynasty's Lower Worlds were divided into Nine Counties, which somewhat resembled the Nine States in Emperor Xia's Realm.
What differed was that sheriffs ruled all Nine Counties with absolute power within the country they were in charge of. Conventionally-speaking, they were usually the most powerful person to be found in the county.
The County of Yan ranked within the top three among the powers of the Nine Counties of the Lower Worlds of Dali Dynasty. The County of Yan had been famous for years for producing swordsmen.