Vermilion Bird Domain, Cloud City.
The Four Domains of Firmament Star were unimaginably vast, encompassing thousands upon thousands of Dao Provinces.
Cloud City in the Vermilion Bird Domain lay in a place called Yellow Wind Dao Province, where it ranked as a major city.
Three forces were the strongest in Cloud City: a branch of the Shang Clan, a branch of the Bai Clan, and the Ancient Water Sect.
These three forces held a firm grip on Cloud City's economic lifelines and its various cultivation resources, and each had a Saintly Dao Tradition backing it.
Recently, however, life had not been easy for the Shang Clan's branch.
Inside the main hall of the Shang Clan in Cloud City.
Shang Long was meeting with several elders, his expression grave.
"Steward Bai came to report today that people from the Bai Clan went to cause trouble at our shops again. They smashed quite a few things."
"Also, the spirit stone vein to the north has been seized."
"If this keeps up, we're finished."
"People from the Bai Family came to propose marriage again the day before yesterday."
"Damn it, those people have absolutely no shame. After all their underhanded tricks, they still have the nerve to propose marriage."
"Alas, with disaster befalling the Shang Clan's main line, the Bai Family was bound to seize the chance to throw stones at us while we were down. That was to be expected."
As the elders discussed the matter, Shang Long's head began to ache.
As news spread of the devastating blow suffered by the Shang Clan, its branches everywhere had been affected to varying degrees.
Honestly, he felt little sense of belonging toward the Shang Clan's main line. He could even be said to resent them.
Those members of the main line spent all