Shining Gold People

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Shining Gold People
Alias(es)	Shining Gold Civilization; 烁金人
Species/Race	A trans-racial ancient civilization whose members are recruited from qualified twin pairs
Affiliation	World Bank; Shining Gold Council of Elders
Occupation/Role	International banking and currency settlement, trade, secret-arts research, and diplomatic or military intervention
Status	Active; its Council of Elders was reorganized under Tan and the civilization began preparing for war 578 593
First Appearance	151

Background / History

The Shining Gold Civilization was one of the five ancient civilizations—alongside the Angel, Shadow, Purgatory, and Giant Dragon civilizations—that established the world’s first age of civilization. Ancient Shining Gold writing was developed as phonetic notation for pure energy, allowing powerful incantations to invoke forces far beyond modern understanding 151.

Ancient Shining Gold Civilization was highly inclusive: any race could join by meeting its standards and passing selection. Its expansion to recruit more members eventually brought it into conflict with the Shadow, Purgatory, and Giant Dragon civilizations, which formed an alliance against Shining Gold infiltration and encroachment. Angels were not targeted because they are naturally born rather than twin-based and remained detached from worldly affairs 168.

After its decline and the loss of its divine artifact, the civilization officially renounced its former ambition to unify the world. Using its wealth, it founded the World Bank; the Bank’s Gold Vouchers and Silver Vouchers became widely used international currencies because of its neutrality and creditworthiness 166 168.

The Demon Tyrant later characterized this restraint as a façade imposed by the loss of the Shining Gold divine artifact. He argued that the civilization’s dependence on absorbing outside twins creates a continuing need to remain more appealing and powerful than competing civilizations—a motive he called its “original sin” 342.

Membership and Precepts

Selection and Training

Shining Gold People are selected from twins who can communicate mentally. The stated foremost requirement is a male-and-female twin pair; candidates are located worldwide and sent to specialized schools, but entire classes may fail to produce even one accepted pair 168.

• Candidates are expected to sever ties with their former families and nations after joining the civilization 190.
• Those who fail Golden Valley’s exceptionally harsh training are expelled from the Shining Gold Civilization 508.
• Young members train in Golden Valley under deliberately austere conditions: rough clothing, self-grown or hunted food, mining labor, and intensive cultivation 501 505.
• The ascetic system is intended to suppress material desire, strengthen willpower, and maintain inner calm when members later operate in secular society 501 505.

Twin Resonance and Celibacy

A Shining Gold pair’s mental connection is central to its cultivation and divine arts. Twins can communicate through consciousness, and paired training may create golden halos and a compass-like formation around them 168 183.

Celibacy is a basic requirement. The civilization teaches that romantic or sexual desire weakens emotional control; if either twin develops lust for another person, their psychic connection disappears 190.

• Shining Gold People do not marry or have children; their population is replenished through recruitment from outside societies 190.
• Their doctrine does not demand the absence of all desire, but demands that members control any desire they possess 190.
• Sound and Meteor’s relationship became a major internal crisis because it violated this taboo 400 503.

Society and Institutions

World Bank

The World Bank is the Shining Gold People’s principal institution in the secular world. It provides currency settlement, investment, trade services, futures trading, and financial influence across nations 166 183.

• World Bank profits are extensively invested in secret-arts research intended to restore the civilization’s ancient capabilities 201.
• The Bank enabled the Shining Gold People to enter worldly commerce while maintaining a position above ordinary political disputes 503.
• Its growing financial power also tied the civilization tightly to the Bank’s continued credibility and dominance 503.

Council of Elders

The Shining Gold Council of Elders governs major civilizational matters, including foreign policy, discipline, military authorization, and research priorities 506 610.

• Before its reorganization, the Council consisted of twelve elders seated in Golden Valley 578.
• Elder Mu and Elder Lin were prominent representatives in negotiations with the Golden Shield Empire and the Moonlight Royal Court 506 512 513.
• Tan challenged the Council’s authority after returning from Hell, leading it to vote for reorganization and new elder elections 578.
• Tan subsequently rose from the debt collectors to power, while World Bank policy shifted toward open war preparations 593.

Golden Valley

Golden Valley is the Shining Gold People’s stronghold and the birthplace of their civilization. Its inner canyon is closed to outsiders and contains both harsh training grounds and closely guarded secrets 501.

• The outer city near the canyon’s seaward exit is a modern financial and tourism center built to serve the World Bank’s international business 501.
• Gold-adorned buildings, financial services, tourism, and a large non-Shining-Gold labor population distinguish the outer city from the inner valley 501.
• The inner valley rejects modern conveniences such as electricity, running water, and steam technology in favor of ascetic training 505.
• Training beside gold is meant to strengthen members’ connection to the lost Shining Gold divine artifact, the Golden Compass 505 508.

Abilities & Skills

Ancient Shining Gold Language

Ancient Shining Gold language consists of symbols that can replace mysterious artifacts in the casting of Secret Art incantations. Individual characters can become mysterious items once mastered, while complete structures may directly activate Secret Arts 182 201.

• The language is difficult even for modern Shining Gold People to read, as their contemporary language has diverged significantly from the ancient script 151 166.
• Learning each character places an enormous burden on the mind 182.
• The language reaches its fullest power when wielded by a true Shining Gold Person 342.
• Their individual strength varies greatly because it depends on comprehension of Ancient Shining Gold Language rather than innate extraordinary physiology 501.

Divine Arts

Shining Gold divine arts are powered through ancient language, twin resonance, and connection to their civilization’s artifact system.

• Golden armor can form around a user through Ancient Shining Gold incantations 454.
• Their authority in battle exerts pressure stronger than dragon might, while golden armor offers exceptional defense and golden swords possess severe cutting power 458.
• Their close-combat system was formidable enough that the Shining Gold People once passed it to conquered angels for the training of battle angels 458.
• Without their divine artifact, their overall combat strength has declined sharply compared with the ancient era 501.

Divine Arts Differential Engine

The Divine Arts Differential Engine is a platform developed by Shadow that combines ancient-language expertise with engineered support. It requires an ancient-language specialist as its core to establish artifact connections and provide the spiritual comprehension needed for divine arts 508.

• It can compose and adapt ancient language, allowing users to cast divine arts they do not personally know with greater speed and power 508.
• Shadow’s engine incorporates substantial human technology: approximately sixty-four percent of its technology and over eighty percent of its manufactured components are human-derived 512.
• Rock used the system to cast divine arts despite having lost twin resonance, gaining wings, automated shields, a battle scepter, and weapon cabinets before overloading the system’s power and being annihilated 510 511.
• During the Tedga Hills campaign, the engine linked Shining Gold warriors together and supplied divine-arts support under Shadow’s guidance 610.

Notable Members

• Tan — Director of the World Bank’s Bad Debt Processing Office, leader of the debt collectors, candidate elder, and later a central figure in the Council’s reorganization 507 578 593.
• Shadow — Tan’s twin sister; an exceptional Ancient Shining Gold Language scholar and developer of the Divine Arts Differential Engine 507 508.
• Rock — Sound’s twin and a former World Bank director; sought to restore his original homeland, violated Shining Gold precepts, and died after overloading the Differential Engine 190 510.
• Sound — Rock’s twin; a World Bank representative whose forbidden love for Meteor led to her imprisonment and later role as an intermediary in negotiations 190 503 508.
• Elder Mu — Presiding elder during the Golden Valley negotiations and a leading representative of the Council of Elders 506 513.
• Elder Lin — Elder involved in magitech cooperation, fire-crystal negotiations, and Shining Gold diplomacy in the Emerald Forest 512 542 548.
• Pan and Yin — Golden-haired twin commercial directors who represented the World Bank in the hydrogen-airship investment negotiations 182 183.
• Suo and Pei — Elite World Bank debt collectors and military advisers who led Shining Gold warriors at Triumph Fortress 460 607 610.

Relationships

• World Bank — The Shining Gold People’s financial arm, source of international influence, and institution through which they issue currency, finance projects, and conduct trade 166 503.
• Golden Shield Empire — Initially a major diplomatic and commercial counterpart; relations deteriorated over energy currency, Sound’s imprisonment, assassination attempts, and the World Bank’s support for the Art County Confederation 501 505 513 516.
• Moonlight Royal Court — The Shining Gold People sought friendly relations, World Bank investment opportunities, and access to the revived World Tree 340 405.
• Angel Civilization — Historically conquered by the Shining Gold People; their modern relationship remains delicate because renewed cooperation could provoke other ancient civilizations 458 544.
• Shadow Civilization — A historic opponent that resisted Shining Gold expansion; the Shining Gold People later attacked Deepwell City using the Psychic Wave Blade, causing the fall of the city and devastating Shadow Clan losses 168 600 603.
• Giant Dragon Civilization — A historic rival wary of renewed Shining Gold ambitions, particularly their potential use of World Bank influence to dominate secular civilization 168 459.
• Art County Confederation — Received Shining Gold and World Bank support as a counterweight to the Golden Shield Empire, including the Steam Energy Development Company 505 516.
• Emerald Royal Court — Joined the Shining Gold-led International Alliance while retaining independent trade relations after negotiations involving Elder Lin 542 548.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Return to High-Level Diplomacy

The Shining Gold People re-entered major international affairs through World Bank investments, beginning with the City Alchemist Association’s hydrogen-airship project. Pan and Yin sought a forty-percent share of future profits in exchange for investment 182.

Their delegation later received the Golden Shield Empire’s highest diplomatic honors, including a state banquet attended by Queen Christina. The visit’s significance reflected the civilization’s renewed interest in the World Tree, finance, and the Empire’s growing influence 395 400.

Sound’s Taboo and the Golden Valley Negotiations

Sound’s love for Meteor breached the civilization’s greatest taboo. Although she was imprisoned rather than given the harshest punishment, the case became public and damaged the Shining Gold People’s standing among foreign observers 503 505.

The Golden Shield Empire’s delegation visited Golden Valley for negotiations over energy currency and Sound’s release. The talks ultimately collapsed as the World Bank and Empire each defended their financial sovereignty, pushing the conflict from competition toward confrontation 501 513 515 516.

Reform and Expansion of Conflict

Tan’s challenge to the Council of Elders led to an institutional reorganization and elections. Under her influence, the Shining Gold Civilization and World Bank began actively preparing for war 578 593.

The Shining Gold People attacked Deepwell City with the Psychic Wave Blade, a weapon particularly lethal to the Shadow Clan. The assault killed the Shadow High Chieftain, caused Deepwell City’s fall, and left more than half of the Shadow Clan dead or wounded 600 603.

Battle of Triumph Fortress

At Triumph Fortress, Tan authorized Suo, Pei, and forty-three Shining Gold warriors to directly support the Barbarian Legion against the Golden Shield Empire. Their Divine Arts Differential Engine linked the force and supplied divine-arts support 610.

The warriors proved individually superior to Magitech Titans in direct one-on-one combat, but the Empire’s coordinated magitech battlefield system denied them effective openings. After the Gods aerial fortress supported the remaining Titans, the Shining Gold force was surrounded and eliminated 611 612.

Notable Quotes

“Shining Gold People do not reject desire, but we cannot have desires we are unable to control.” 190

“The Shining Gold Civilization's nature is plunder and invasion, a nature born from its racial sense of crisis.” — Demon Tyrant 342