Xiao Clan

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Xiao Clan (萧家)
Affiliation	Wutan City; allied with the Mittel Auction House and City Lord's Mansion
Occupation/Role	Cultivation clan; operator of the Drug Hall, apothecary, merchant caravans, and trade routes
Status	Active
First Appearance	1

Background and History

The Xiao Clan is a Wutan City clan led by Xiao Zhan. At the beginning of the story, it possesses a Drug Hall and local trade routes but faces internal disrespect toward its collateral branch and younger members; Xiao Yan is openly ridiculed after his broken engagement, while Xun’er is dismissed by some disciples as an insignificant adopted daughter 1 6.

Xiao Chen, a collateral-branch elder, becomes the central force behind the clan’s revival. After Xiao Yan’s overnight return to the Dou Zhe realm, Xiao Zhan promotes Xiao Chen to a senior elder and entrusts him with the Drug Hall and trade routes 5. Xiao Chen later gains unrestricted access to a private medicine room and establishes Xiao Yan’s priority access to medicinal resources 11.

Commercial expansion

When the Jia Lie Clan attempts to crush the Xiao Clan’s Medicine Hall through price cuts and inferior medicine, Xiao Chen counterattacks with improved pill formulas, lower production costs, and Mittel Auction House distribution. The strategy rapidly empties Jia Lie medicine shops and establishes a long-term exclusive supply partnership between the Xiao Clan and Mittel 8 9.

Under Ya Fei’s management, the Xiao Clan Apothecary opens branches in Wutan City’s eastern, western, and southern districts. Its affordable, high-quality pills turn it into one of the city’s most visible businesses 13. Xiao Zhan subsequently places all clan businesses under Xiao Chen’s management 13.

The clan later formalizes its connection with Mittel by granting Ya Fei a 30% stake in the apothecary. In return, the Xiao Clan secures access to Mittel’s sales network, medicinal-material supply chains, intelligence network, political leverage, and future expansion opportunities 16.

Consolidation and external recognition

Xiao Chen purges corruption from the merchant caravans after exposing Steward Zhang’s embezzlement of 900 jin of medicinal herbs and Steward Zhao’s misuse of delayed payments. Both are beaten, expelled, and barred from future employment, prompting immediate improvements in the caravan’s discipline and accounting 19.

Following a record-setting Mittel auction, the Xiao Clan’s commercial activity attracts attention beyond Wutan City. Mittel Headquarters opens its central Jia Ma Empire trade routes to the clan, though Xiao Chen delays a deeper alliance until its foundation is stronger 30.

Organization and Administration

Position / Asset	Holder or Function	Notes
Clan Head	Xiao Zhan	Leads the clan and increasingly relies on Xiao Chen’s strategy.
Consecrated Elder	Xiao Chen	Granted status and resources equal to the clan head after refining an initial third-grade pill 18.
Drug Hall	Managed by Xiao Chen	Oversees medicine procurement, refining, sales, and access to medicinal resources 5 11.
Merchant caravans and trade routes	Managed by Xiao Chen	Subject to audits, anti-corruption enforcement, and defensive rerouting 19 31.
Xiao Clan Apothecary	Managed in partnership with Ya Fei	Holds a long-term relationship with Mittel; Ya Fei receives a 30% stake 13 16.
Merchant Association	Xiao Clan business structure	Receives official support from the City Lord’s Mansion 21 31.

Commerce and Resources

• Improved pill formulas — Three formulas devised by Xiao Chen allow the clan to undercut the Jia Lie Clan with higher-quality medicine at comparable prices 8 9.
• Mittel distribution agreement — Mittel receives exclusive sales rights to Xiao Clan pills under an initial fifty-fifty profit split 8.
• Xiao Clan Apothecary — Expands to three Wutan City branches under Ya Fei’s management 13.
• Third-grade pill production — Xiao Chen’s superior third-rank Bone Tempering Pill sells for 7,200 gold coins and helps establish Ya Fei as Wutan City branch president 20.
• Spirit-Gathering Pill Recipe — Obtained by Xiao Chen after the Jia Lie Family’s surrender; intended to become a major apothecary asset, though its Seven-Star Grass ingredient is scarce in Wutan City 25.
• City Lord’s Mansion endorsement — The clan offers the City Lord’s Mansion 60% of merchant-association profits in exchange for official support and protection of its trade routes 21.

Military Strength and Security

The Xiao Clan’s martial reputation rises alongside its business power. Xiao Chen and Xiao Zhan expose a Jia Lie Family arson attempt against a clan warehouse, capturing the attackers with confessions and a Jia Lie token; the public revelation destroys the rival family’s reputation 15.

When Jia Lie Family guest elder Han challenges the clan, Xiao Chen defeats the Dou Ling in three moves and shatters his Dou Qi Armor. Xiao Chen then has the clan publicize him as a Dou Ling to deter future aggression 25.

Ahead of the Three-Year Agreement, the clan strengthens patrols, guards the rear mountain, and avoids revealing its full strength to Misty Cloud Sect observers 27 28. It later avoids an Outer Sect ambush by rerouting its caravans while the City Lord’s Mansion and Mittel cut off the attackers’ political and commercial options 31.

Relationships

• Xiao Zhan — Clan head; promotes Xiao Chen, delegates the Drug Hall, trade routes, and eventually all clan businesses to him 5 13.
• Xiao Chen — Consecrated elder, chief strategist, alchemist, and protector responsible for the clan’s commercial and political rise 18 21.
• Xiao Yan — Direct descendant whose rapid cultivation recovery becomes a symbol of the clan’s revival and future strength 4 28.
• Xiao Xun’er — Adopted daughter within the clan; entrusted Xiao Chen with protecting the Xiao Clan and Xiao Yan before her departures 13 29.
• Ya Fei — Mittel partner and 30% stakeholder in the Xiao Clan Apothecary; provides management, intelligence, supply access, and political connections 16 30.
• Mittel Auction House — Exclusive pill distributor and commercial ally that opens central Jia Ma Empire trade routes to the Xiao Clan 9 30.
• City Lord’s Mansion — Officially supports the clan’s merchant association and trade routes in exchange for a share of profits 21 31.
• Jia Lie Family — Former commercial rival that submits its shops and trade routes to the Xiao Clan after Guest Elder Han’s defeat 25.
• Misty Cloud Sect — External adversary that investigates, provokes, and attempts to disrupt the clan before the Three-Year Agreement 27 31.

Story Role and Major Arcs

Revival through Xiao Yan

Xiao Yan’s breakthrough from Three-Stage Dou Qi to Dou Zhe overturns the clan’s perception of him as worthless. His subsequent rise to Great Dou Master and High-Rank Dou Ling transforms him into the clan’s foremost younger-generation talent and raises the stakes of the Three-Year Agreement 4 22 28.

Defeat of the Jia Lie Family

The Xiao Clan defeats the Jia Lie Clan first through pill quality, Mittel distribution, and political leverage, then through the exposure of sabotage and Xiao Chen’s public victory over Guest Elder Han. The Jia Lie Family relinquishes its shops and trade routes, leaving the Xiao Clan with influence over roughly 60% of Wutan City’s businesses 9 15 25.

Conflict with the Misty Cloud Sect

The Misty Cloud Sect initially sends envoys to test and humiliate the clan over Xiao Yan’s challenge to Nalan Yanran. Xiao Chen rejects their intimidation, rallies the younger generation, and prepares the clan for the coming confrontation 27.

When the Outer Sect targets Xiao Clan caravans, the clan uses the City Lord’s Mansion, Mittel’s supply control, intelligence, and route changes to neutralize the operation without direct battle 31.

Trivia

• Xiao Chen originally enters the clan as a collateral-branch elder before becoming its Consecrated Elder 1 18.
• The clan’s ascent is driven as much by alchemy, trade, alliances, and intelligence as by cultivation strength 8 21 31.
• Xiao Chen repeatedly emphasizes that the clan must not depend solely on borrowed authority from the City Lord’s Mansion and must strengthen its own foundation 21.