Fang Clan

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Fang Clan (方家)
Affiliation	Liangshui City 1 54
Occupation/Role	Martial clan; originally one of Liangshui City’s Five Great Families 54
Headquarters	Fang Mansion, Liangshui City 1 165
Status	Active 705
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Seventh Rank	165 166	Clan Head Fang Lingyuan was the clan’s sole Seventh Rank martial artist during the conflict with the Lin Family.
Two Seventh Rank fighters	169	Fang Han’s breakthrough gave the clan two Seventh Rank combatants and prompted the decision to eliminate the Lin Family.
Sixth Rank	503	Fang Lingyuan advanced to the Sixth Rank after receiving improved cultivation arts.
Middle Third Grade	705	Fang Han assessed the clan’s strongest current martial artist as only a Middle Third Grade fighter, leaving it vulnerable to stronger outside enemies.

Organization

The Fang Clan is led by Clan Head Fang Lingyuan. Its core council consists of four elders with distinct responsibilities: Transmission Elder Fang Yuan, External Affairs Elder Fang Mingde, Guard Elder Fang Tu, and Law Enforcement Elder Fang Zhenshan 229.

• Clan Head Fang Lingyuan — directs the clan’s major military, commercial, and diplomatic decisions 169 229.
• Transmission Elder Fang Yuan — handles communications and clan assignments; he frequently serves as the intermediary between the clan and Fang Han 33 229 230.
• External Affairs Elder Fang Mingde — oversees external matters and proposed leveraging Fang Han’s sect connections during the silver-mine crisis 229.
• Guard Elder Fang Tu — commands or participates in combat operations and protects the clan’s interests 33 34 229.
• Law Enforcement Elder Fang Zhenshan — participates in council decisions and operational planning 169 229.
• Martial Hall — trains the clan’s younger disciples; students who fail to reach the Flesh Refining Realm by age sixteen lose the right to continue training there 1.

History

Early prominence and internal training

The Fang Clan maintained a Martial Hall for its descendants and collateral branches, enforcing a strict cultivation standard for young disciples. Fang Han began as a collateral descendant training within this system 1.

The clan rewarded exceptional achievements that enhanced its reputation. After Fang Han defeated Lin Jiao of the Lin Family, Fang Lingyuan granted him three hundred taels of silver and one hundred Blood Vitality Pills, declaring that the clan would not mistreat talented disciples who brought it glory 20.

Black Snake Bandits campaign

After a Fang Clan merchant caravan suffered severe losses in an attack at Black Cloud Ridge, Elder Fang Yuan assembled the ten leading Inner Hall disciples for a retaliatory campaign led by Fang Tu 33.

Five Inner Qi Realm elders breached the Black Snake Bandits’ stronghold, allowing Fang Han, Fang Hong, and dozens of Fang Clan martial artists to storm the gates. The clan exterminated the bandits and their three chiefs without allowing any survivors to escape 34. Fang Lingyuan personally welcomed the returning force, regarding the victory as both restitution for the caravan losses and a warning to hostile forces around Liangshui City 35.

Fang Han’s rise and sect connection

Fang Han’s ascent transformed the clan’s standing. He became the chief of the Inner Hall, earned the title of the Fang Clan’s “Qilin Child,” and was identified by Fang Lingyuan as a key figure in the clan’s future 61 63.

His successful admission into the Azure Profound Sect was treated as a major clan event—the first such achievement in decades—and sparked celebration throughout Fang Mansion 96. Other Liangshui City clans recognized that the Fang Clan’s balance of power would shift because of this connection to one of Qingyang Prefecture’s Seven Sects 96.

Fang–Lin conflict

After an attempt on Fang Han’s life was linked to the Lin Family, the Fang Clan retaliated against Lin-controlled mines, shops, and estates. The conflict escalated into repeated clashes across Liangshui City 110.

Over the following year, the clan lost thirty-seven martial artists, including five Ninth Grade martial artists, in its struggle with the Lin Family 165. Once Fang Han reached the Seventh Rank, Fang Lingyuan and the four core elders approved a surprise offensive intended to remove the Lin Family permanently 169.

The Fang Clan attacked Lin Mansion and Lin businesses simultaneously, overwhelming the Lin Family’s defenses. Fang Han killed Lin Yaotian, the Lin Family’s mid-Seventh Rank Clan Head, and the Lin Family was destroyed 169 171. The clan later hunted down and executed remaining Lin Family members who were plotting revenge 175.

Silver mine crisis and the Gong Clan

The discovery of a silver mine placed the Fang Clan under pressure from the Gong Clan, which demanded the mining deed through the backing of Nether Pavilion true disciple Gong Xing. The mine’s estimated value exceeded all of the Fang Clan’s existing assets combined, but the elders acknowledged that the clan could not defeat the Gong Clan directly 229.

Fang Mingde proposed securing the support of an Azure Profound Sect true disciple through Fang Han, even if the clan had to surrender part of the mine’s profits 229. Before that arrangement was finalized, Fang Han returned to Fang Mansion as an Azure Profound Sect true disciple and crushed the Gong Clan delegation 231 232.

Fang Han subsequently defeated Gong Xing at Fang Mansion and forced him to flee. The victory elevated the Fang Clan above the Yue, He, and Sun Clans in Liangshui City; these clans adjusted their businesses and policies to avoid provoking it 235.

Expansion and foundation-building

The Fang Clan’s influence later expanded into several surrounding cities, and its industries grew to more than ten times their former scale. Fang Lingyuan nevertheless considered the expansion unstable because the clan’s own martial foundation and available manpower remained insufficient 503.

Fang Han strengthened the clan by providing cultivation manuals and pills. The clan had already received five mid-grade cultivation arts, while Fang Han later delivered three top-tier cultivation arts and additional cultivation resources 503.

Military Capacity

• The clan fielded five Inner Qi Realm elders during the extermination of the Black Snake Bandits; Fang Tu was an Eighth Grade martial artist at the time 34.
• Its forces included Inner Hall disciples and martial artists at or above the Tendon Refining Realm during the Black Snake campaign 34.
• The clan was capable of coordinated surprise attacks, simultaneous assaults on multiple properties, and rapid postwar takeover planning during the operation against the Lin Family 169 171.
• Despite its expanded influence, Fang Lingyuan later acknowledged that the clan lacked enough capable martial artists to secure all of its businesses independently 503.

Relationships

• Fang Han — collateral descendant and the clan’s principal protector, whose achievements in the Azure Profound Sect repeatedly raised the clan’s status and military security 1 96 235 503.
• Azure Profound Sect — the sect connection established through Fang Han gave the clan political leverage against outside forces, particularly during the Gong Clan dispute 96 229 231.
• Lin Family — former rival among Liangshui City’s great clans; a prolonged conflict culminated in the Fang Clan’s destruction of the Lin Family 110 165 171.
• Gong Clan — attempted to seize the Fang Clan’s silver mine; its intimidation campaign was defeated after Fang Han returned to Liangshui City 229 231 232.
• Nether Pavilion — indirectly hostile through Gong Xing and the Gong Clan’s backing; Gong Xing’s defeat greatly increased the Fang Clan’s prestige 229 234 235.
• Wang Clan — an old allied clan; Wang Miao cited the friendship between the Wang and Fang Clans when choosing to support Fang Han 119 168.
• Yue, He, and Sun Clans — rival Liangshui City clans that accepted the Fang Clan’s dominance after Gong Xing’s defeat 235.
• Thunderlight Pavilion remnants — potential future threat; Fang Han feared surviving disciples could target the comparatively weak Fang Clan for revenge 705.