Xie Family

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Xie Family (谢家)
Organization Type	Aristocratic clan 10 231
Rank	Second-rank noble house; one of Great Jing’s leading clans below the imperial family 10
Base	Capital City, Great Jing Kingdom 16 230
Leader	Xie Chongyi, family head 230
Senior Authority	The unnamed Xie Family Ancestor, a Xiantian expert 230
Principal Interests	Water transport, landed estates, court patronage, martial cultivation, and secret human-refining alchemy 10 18 58
Status	Active; postpones retaliation against Chen Ye while prioritizing a secret project 239
First Appearance	Mentioned in connection with Lord Xie of the Inspection Bureau and the Gao Family’s proposed transfer of Chen Ye 3

Organization and Members

The family head manages reports, court affairs, and operations outside the estate, but consults the secluded ancestor on major threats and the family’s larger plans. The ancestor’s courtyard is closed year-round and forbidden to ordinary servants 230 235.

Member	Position / Cultivation	Notable Details
Xie Family Ancestor	Senior authority; Xiantian	Conceals his martial aura completely. Directs the family’s investigation of Chen Ye and gives priority to its “divine realm” affairs 230.
Xie Chongyi	Family head; Bridge Sea Realm	Took forty years to reach Bridge Sea. Orders the post-station attack on Chen Ye and later suppresses news of its failure 230 236.
Xie Xuan	Heir	Defeats and badly injures Cui Yingtang after the Shao Family Dyke dispute 67.
Xie Xuan’an	Prominent young family member; Bridge Sea Realm	Commands the campaign against Heavy Martial Pavilion. Killed by Chen Ye during an attempted assassination 130 198 217.
Xie Yunce	Seventh Young Master; peak Dragon Elephant Realm	Biological nephew of the family head, with maternal ties to the Lu Family. Defeated and forced to compensate Chen Ye after abusing Su Guang 220 221.
Xie Guanyun	Family member leading a search party	Uses a blood-consuming secret technique against Yuan Muzhi. His subsequent disappearance prompts Xie Xuan’an to investigate the tomb 206 208.
Hu An	Chief steward of the outer residence	Attempts to recruit Zuo Dongxi to deliver Chen Ye to the family 231.
Li Anye	Steward; fourth Mortal Shedding	Served the family for over a decade. Killed after ordering an attack on the Cui collection party 59 60.
Sun Bo’an	Long-serving trusted aide	Leads the covert mission to activate the Supramundane Divine Statue. Later found murdered 204 214.
Geng Shu	Xie Xuan’an’s retainer	Killed by Heavy Martial Pavilion hall master Xiong Lie at Yao Pass 198.
Wang Xuan and Ma Jun	Dragon Elephant Martial Masters	Command the ambush against Chen Ye; both are killed in single strikes 217.
Xu Ziqian, Sheng Huai, and Fu Chen	Three Attendants employed for covert operations	Lead the post-station attack ordered by Xie Chongyi; all three are killed 235 236.

Influence and Resources

Court Patronage and Commerce

• Water transport: The family controls water routes and has students and former subordinates throughout the imperial court. Its dominance restricts the rival Cui Family largely to land trade routes 18.
• Official appointments: Its intervention helps secure a Gao Family member’s entry into officialdom. Gao Boyan treats this as a reward for years of service 10.
• Imperial connections: Hu An offers Zuo Dongxi a recommendation for a Golden Guard position in exchange for betraying Chen Ye 231.
• Landed income: Xie estates border Cui land at Shao Family Dyke, where tenants cultivate fields belonging to both houses 58.
• Poor public reputation: Merchants and escorts describe the family as predatory. One escort complains that an unpaid Xie contract left his men without enough money for a decent New Year 16.

Military Forces

• Expedition fleet: At least twenty vessels are mobilized for the Danfeng campaign. The flagship stands a story taller than the Cui flagship 124.
• Elite troops: The family fields Elephant Armor Guards, Blade-Axe Slaves, Servant Soldiers, and cultivated retainers 143 217.
• Coalition leverage: Xie Xuan’an brings the largest contingent among the participating families to Danfeng Prefecture, strengthening his position in negotiations over unified command 187.
• Valuable equipment: Chen Ye captures more than thirty sets of Elephant Armor after defeating Xie Xuan’an’s force. A later assassination party rides superior northern horses 218 236.
• Internal discipline: Guards fear that betraying the family head will result in death even if they survive captivity 236.

Martial Arts and Alchemy

Killing-Oriented Martial Inheritance

The Xie Family’s martial arts are known for killing, contrasted with the Wang Family’s emphasis on transformation and the Cui Family’s emphasis on cultivation 27.

• Xie Xuan’an’s first-rate cultivation and swordsmanship give him a solid foundation and an advantage over Luo Zheng at Yao Pass 198.
• His sword techniques include remote control of a flying blade 198.
• The family’s strongest protection is its Xiantian ancestor, whose presence initially makes direct confrontation impractical for Chen Ye 18 232.

Blood-Consuming Secret Techniques

Family members possess emergency techniques that exchange bodily resources for a temporary increase in power 206 221.

• Xie Guanyun: Uses heart’s blood to sharply raise his cultivation and combat strength 206.
• Xie Yunce: Burns blood and qi to strengthen himself and create a defensive barrier 221.
• Cost: Such techniques can cause cultivation regression, foundation damage, or reduced lifespan. Chen Ye recognizes Guanyun’s method as belonging to this dangerous class 206.

Human-Refining Alchemy

The family secretly treats people with rare constitutions as medicinal ingredients. Gao Boyan initially explains that the Xie family head requires annual medicine made from True Yang-bearing blood and qi to treat an old cultivation-deviation ailment 10.

• Selection: True Yang-bearing people are scarce; those possessing “Triple Yang” are especially prized 10.
• Preparation: The Gao Family uses Blood Ginseng Pills and the Foundation Cultivation Technique to stimulate a candidate’s True Yang before transfer 10.
• Concealment: Recruitment is disguised as the selection of promising martial arts students, with ordinary youths mixed into the process as cover 10.
• Longevity products: Xie Xuan’an carries three Longevity Treasure Pills made through the family’s human-refining technique, capable of extending life and assisting cultivation 218.
• Formula development: Heavy Martial Pavilion possesses an improved formula derived from Xie methods. Xie Xuan’an seeks to recover it, while Chen Ye later obtains documents explaining the refinement of special constitutions into life-prolonging pills 132 195 208.
• Chen Ye’s value: Xie Xuan’an recognizes his True Yang Physique as exceptional medicinal material. The ancestor likewise considers his abundant True Yang beneficial to the family’s plans 217 230.

Supramundane Divine Statues

The family possesses knowledge and access tools for mysterious statues connected to its alchemical operations and “divine realm” affairs 195 204 230.

• Sun Bo’an activates a statue using a jade token and a method taught by Xie Xuan’an 204.
• Its invisible ripple briefly immobilizes Heavy Martial Pavilion disciples, then drives them to attack one another 204.
• The resulting mental disruption enables Xie Xuan’an to reverse a losing battle and kill Elder Su 204 205.
• Chen Ye later finds a statue that dangerously agitates his internal True Yang Radiance. A jade plaque taken from Xie Xuan’an bears matching runes 208 218.
• After Xie Xuan’an’s disappearance, Xie Chongyi reports that the other statues remain intact 230.

History

Gao Family Supply Network

The Gao Family spends years procuring “talent” for the Xie Family in return for patronage. Chen Ye is selected because of his True Yang, acceptable aptitude, and isolated family circumstances, which make him a convenient victim with few potential complications. Zhang Tieyi is assigned to hand him over 10.

Chen Ye acts before the transfer, killing Zhang Tieyi and escaping. He finds a letter written by Gao Yunheng bearing the Xie Family’s wax seal, further confirming the connection between the households 11 12.

Shao Family Dyke Dispute

At Shao Family Dyke, Li Anye forces the indebted Han household to sign indentures. When Cheng Defu demands a copy to protect the Cui Family’s share of the debt, Li refuses and escalates the confrontation into violence. Chen Ye kills him after he orders the Cui party’s deaths 58 59 60.

The village head then reports that the Xie Family has blocked an irrigation canal, damaging harvests on Cui fields. Cui Xijun plans to demand an explanation in the Cui Family’s name. Cui Yingtang separately challenges several Xie youths, injuring them before suffering a severe defeat at Xie Xuan’s hands 60 62 67.

Danfeng Campaign and Gao Yunheng’s Death

The Xie fleet reaches Danfeng ahead of the Cui fleet. Gao Yunheng gives Xie Xuan’an an elaborate welcome while relegating the Cui reception to lesser officials. Xie’s stated mission is rebellion suppression, but the expedition also offers prestige, military accomplishments, and influence for his family 124 130.

Chen Ye later kills Gao Yunheng and members of the Xie retinue. Xie Xuan’an responds with fifty Elephant Armor Guards and an extensive search of the Hunting Ground, but the surviving tongueless servant cannot identify the killer. Chen Ye returns to camp undetected while rumors blame Heavy Martial Pavilion 142 143.

Capture of Heavy Martial Pavilion

Xie Xuan’an supports the formation of a coalition, then presses for an early attack on Nanhu Prefecture before imperial reinforcements can claim the military credit. His private objective includes recovering an occupied estate containing precious pills, a new formula, and a Supramundane Divine Statue 187 195.

At Yao Pass, Geng Shu is killed, but Xie Xuan’an defeats Xiong Lie and Luo Zheng, allowing the coalition to capture the position. During the fortress battle, Sun Bo’an’s covert activation of the statue breaks the Pavilion’s cohesion and allows Xie to rally the army 198 204 205.

Xie prioritizes the alchemical chamber and sends a family search party after Yuan Muzhi. Chen Ye follows the party into an ancient tomb and claims the foremost merit for killing Yuan. Xie Guanyun’s disappearance and bloodstains in the tomb subsequently draw suspicion toward Cui Changfeng’s subordinates 205 206 208.

Xie Xuan’an’s Death

Chen Ye coerces Feng Zhao into reporting Xie Xuan’an’s movements. After Sun Bo’an’s murder, Xie traces suspicious contacts between Sun, Feng Zhao, and Chen Ye. The tongueless servant then recognizes Chen as Gao Yunheng’s killer 194 214.

Unable to act openly without provoking the Cui Family, Xie disguises an assassination plan as an operation against Pavilion remnants. Chen Ye destroys the first ambush, then ambushes Xie himself. Although Xie initially dominates their duel, Chen’s tenfold combat-power technique enables him to kill the Bridge Sea expert 214 217.

Chen eliminates witnesses and presents the slain Xie troops as rebels. Cui Changfeng learns the truth privately and arranges his withdrawal from Xie territory 218.

Continued Conflict with Chen Ye

In Linchuan, Xie Yunce has Su Guang hung at the gate and dismisses him as a slave. Chen Ye defeats Yunce, destroys his emergency defensive technique, and forces him to offer compensation. Zhang Rang and Cui Changfeng intervene to prevent the killing of a direct Xie descendant 220 221.

After Chen Ye becomes Duke of Zhenyuan, Xie Chongyi briefs the ancestor on his origins and possible involvement in Xie Xuan’an’s death. The ancestor orders investigation rather than immediate confrontation, citing Chen’s reputation and the priority of the family’s divine-realm plans 230.

Hu An then tries to exploit Zuo Dongxi’s old friendship with Chen Ye, offering a Golden Guard recommendation for delivering him to the Xie Family. Zuo secretly warns Su Guang instead. Learning of the plot and the Xiantian ancestor behind it, Chen decides to leave the capital 231 232.

Xie Chongyi exploits that departure to send three Attendants and elite guards after him. Their post-station ambush fails because Chen has already reached Bridge Sea. The attackers are killed, and Chongyi suppresses the incident while concluding that Chen must eventually be eliminated 235 236.

When Chen destroys the Gao Family and exposes its human-pill crimes, the investigation also exposes its connection to the Xie Family. The ancestor again postpones retaliation, ordering Chongyi to gather Blood-Baleful Aura at the front for the secret project 239.

Relationships

• Gao Family — Supplier and client household. Procures human ingredients in exchange for Xie patronage; its ties with the Xie weaken after Gao Yunheng’s death and Xie Xuan’an’s disappearance 10 237.
• Cui Family — Longstanding rival over commerce, court influence, land, and military credit. Its protection repeatedly obstructs attempts to eliminate Chen Ye 16 18 62 214 218.
• Chen Ye — Escaped intended ingredient turned major enemy. Kills Xie personnel, infiltrates its operations, takes its resources, and defeats successive assassination attempts 10 194 208 217 236.
• Heavy Martial Pavilion — Military enemy holding an occupied Xie estate and an improved alchemical formula. Its fortress becomes the focus of Xie Xuan’an’s resource-recovery campaign 132 195 205.
• Feng Zhao — Serves in Xie Xuan’an’s household while secretly acting as Chen Ye’s coerced informant. Later seeks Xie protection before being assassinated 194 195 226.
• Lu Family — Maternal family of Xie Yunce, reinforcing his position among the Xie younger generation 220.
• Zuo Dongxi — Target of an unsuccessful recruitment scheme intended to lure Chen Ye into the family’s hands 231 232.