Xiao Family

Biodata

Background

About a century before the story, the Xiao Family moved to Wutan City under the leadership of the Dou Wang Xiao Lin. It became the city's foremost family, but lost that position to the Jia Lie Family after Xiao Lin's death; it nevertheless remained Wutan City's third-largest family 21.

The family is connected to the fallen Xiao Clan, one of the Eight Ancient Clans. Its hereditary Clan Leader's Token was a crystal-clear fragment of the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade, an heirloom passed down through successive clan leaders 84 85.

The Xiao Family accepted Xiao Xun'er as a resident after receiving a letter from the dying head of the Xiao Family of Gao An City. Xiao Zhan was wary of the powerful backing behind her, but formally recognized her as a member of his family 21.

Members and Governance

• Xiao Zhan — Clan Leader during the conflict with Hun Han; father of Xiao Yan. His leadership relied in part on Xiao Yan's engagement to the Nalan Family, and he opposed dissolving it 77 78.
• Great Elder — Senior elder who prioritized the family's survival and negotiated its eventual agreement with Hun Han 79 83 85.
• Xiao Ying — Second Elder; strongly criticized Xiao Zhan's handling of the broken engagement and market crisis 79 82.
• Xiao Ding Tian — Third Elder; supported removing Xiao Zhan from leadership after the engagement dispute 79.
• Xiao Yan — Xiao Zhan's son and Nalan Yanran's former fiancé; his refusal to accept the proposed peaceful dissolution helped trigger the family's later conflict with Hun Han 77 79.
• Xiao Yu — Granddaughter of the Second Elder; Hun Han and Gu Xun'er stopped Xiao Yan from approaching her while she bathed in the back mountains 88.

The Great Elder announced Xiao Zhan's dismissal after the engagement was broken without compensation, arguing that he had placed his son's feelings above the family's interests. Xiao Zhan rejected the elders' authority to remove him, though later negotiations describe the three Great Elders as leading the family 79 85.

Economy and Holdings

• Wutan City market — Provided more than eighty percent of the family's economic income. A collapse of the market threatened its financial survival 82.
• Miterer Auction House supply line — The family depended on the auction house for roughly half of its goods. During Hun Han's campaign, the auction house stopped supplying the Xiao Family and demanded repayment of outstanding debts within seven days 82.
• Clan Leader's Token — A fragment of the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade retained as the family's ancestral heirloom until it was handed to Hun Han 84 85.
• Technique Pavilion — Guarded by the family's sole Dou Ling-level expert, who used the Xiao Family's Raging Lion Fury and attempted to assassinate Hun Han 84 85.
• Talisman sales rights — After yielding the ancestral token, the family received one thousand Lightning Strike Talismans and one thousand Wind Soaring Talismans through Ya Fei 85.

Conflict with Hun Han

Broken engagement

Hun Han came to the Xiao Family as Nalan Yanran's Little Martial Uncle to seek a peaceful dissolution of her engagement to Xiao Yan. He offered five Qi Gathering Powders and two Three-Patterned Clear Spirit Pills as compensation, but Xiao Yan rejected the offer and challenged Hun Han to a future duel 77.

Xiao Zhan refused to dissolve the engagement, treating it as a threat to the family's prestige and its political connection to the Nalan Family. Hun Han revealed himself as a four-star Great Dou Master, matching Xiao Zhan's cultivation despite being only six or seven years old 78.

The engagement was ultimately broken without the offered compensation. The elders blamed Xiao Zhan and Xiao Yan for alienating both the Nalan Family and the Yun Lan Sect 79.

Market suppression

Hun Han supplied the Jia Lie Family and Ao Ba Family with five hundred Lightning Strike Talismans each, ordering them to suppress the Xiao Family's market stalls. Ya Fei handled the pricing and profits through the Miterer Auction House 81.

The campaign rapidly destabilized the Xiao Family. Merchants moved to its rivals, the Miterer Auction House halted deliveries, and ninety percent of the family's business partners demanded immediate settlement of past debts 82.

Forced settlement

Seeking relief, Xiao Zhan, Xiao Yan, and the three Great Elders appealed to Hun Han. He demanded the Clan Leader's Token as the price for a business arrangement, offering exclusive sales rights to the Wind Soaring Talisman if they agreed within three days 83 84.

After a failed assassination attempt by their Dou Ling guardian, the elders surrendered the jade token to Hun Han. In return, the Xiao Family became his business partner and received talismans for resale 85.

Hun Han later required Xiao Yan's ancient black ring as an additional condition for releasing the captured elder. The family gave up the ring, which contained Yao Chen's remnant soul 85 86.

Relationships

• Hun Han — Initially an adversary following the broken engagement; later a coercive business partner. Hun Han spared the family from harsher retaliation because Xiao Clan blood also flowed through him 77 85 86.
• Nalan Family — Connected through Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran's arranged engagement; the relationship was effectively lost when the engagement was dissolved 75 79.
• Yun Lan Sect — The family feared retaliation after offending Hun Han, Yun Yun's junior disciple and the sect's Little Martial Uncle 79 82.
• Miterer Auction House — A major supplier and later an important business partner; Ya Fei used the auction house to enforce Hun Han's commercial pressure on the family 80 82 88.
• Jia Lie Family and Ao Ba Family — Wutan City rivals who used Hun Han's talismans to seize customers and weaken the Xiao Family's market 81 82.
• Gu Xun'er — Resident of the Xiao Family who refused Xiao Zhan's request for financial aid, choosing not to oppose Hun Han 21 82.