 He was Zhuye Chixin's third son.In 869, during the reign of Emperor Xuānzong's son Emperor Yizong, as the Tang imperial general Kang Chengxun was commissioned to suppress the rebellion of Pang Xun at Xu Prefecture (徐州, in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), he invited Zhuye to bring his Shatuo soldiers and serve under him.Zhuye agreed, and then-14-year-old Li Keyong fought in the campaign so fiercely that he became known as the "Son of the Flying Tiger" (飛虎子).