Xiao Family

Biodata

Background

The Xiao Family’s unnamed ancestor was a friend of the Guanxuan Sword Master, Ye Guan; the two once addressed each other as brothers. According to Fang Xiao, the ancestor made substantial contributions during the Guanxuan Universe’s early years. The family subsequently received considerable benefits through that connection 4 9 10.

Over successive generations, the family developed extensive marriage ties with powerful Guanxuan Realm lineages. Although it remained second-tier, even first-tier families showed it deference. Nanling Zhao attributed its later arrogance partly to this exceptional standing and its contempt for weaker families 10 16.

Organization and Members

Leadership Naming Discrepancy

• Chapter 4 introduces the current family head as Xiao Yun, then calls the same negotiating figure Xiao Yuan. From Chapter 9 onward, Xiao Feng is identified as family head; the supplied passages do not explain the discrepancy 4 9 16.

Power and Influence

Political Connections

• Ancestral prestige: The family’s relationship with the Guanxuan Sword Master distinguishes it even among other second-tier lineages 16 45.
• Marriage alliances: It is related by marriage to numerous great lineages in the Guanxuan Realm 10.
• Academy cooperation: Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy’s Council of Elders ordered the cancellation of an already-awarded admission place to accommodate the family. Academy leaders later coordinated with it to suppress Ye Tianming’s complaint 4 11 12.
• Access to intermediaries: During the investigation, Xiao Feng dispatched relatives to seek help from the Qingzhou An and Ye clans, the Nanling Clan, the Divine Spear Clan, the Nanli Clan, and other major families 9.
• Cross-provincial pressure: Academies in Yongzhou, Panzhou, Wu Province, and You Province refused to shelter Ye Tianming because of the danger of offending the Xiao Family and Qingzhou Academy 18 19 20.

Military Strength and Limits

• Combat personnel: The family fields black-clad assassins, swordsmen, and elite younger cultivators, including Dharma Aspect, Divine Being, and Time Immortal Realm members 13 35 44 49.
• Restricted institutional access: Despite years of effort, it had failed to place someone in the Inspection Court, Shadow Court, or Inner Pavilion when the Qingzhou investigation began 9.
• Vulnerability to central investigation: Xiao Feng feared that the Inspection Court and Shadow Court would not accommodate the family’s connections. Their involvement prompted an urgent appeal for protection 9 16.
• Reputational constraints: Xiao Qun selected the similarly aged Xiao Bei to fight Ye Tianming partly to avoid accusations that the family used its elders to bully a junior 50.
• Official protection still matters: Xiao Qun refrained from attacking Song Shi because killing an academy head would create substantial trouble 50.

History

Qingzhou Admission Dispute

After someone took a Xiao Family special-admission place in Nanzhou, the family sought a replacement in Qingzhou. The Council of Elders ordered Ye Tianming’s place canceled. Fang Xiao refused to comply, arguing that the academy should not sacrifice a student’s future to accommodate a powerful lineage 4.

Xiao Nu offered Ye Tianming fifteen Qi Drawing Pills for the place, then threatened his family when he refused. Elder Yu protected Xiao Nu, destroyed Ye Tianming’s Cloud Recorder, and removed Fang Xiao from his Inspectorate post. Fang Xiao also accused them of interfering with his granddaughter’s opportunity to enter the Main Academy 5.

Rather than abandon his complaint, Ye Tianming charged onto the Guanxuan Dao and sought an audience with the Guanxuan Sword Master 5.

Qingzhou’s Self-Investigation

Ye Tianming’s success on the Guanxuan Dao triggered Qingzhou’s self-investigation. Xiao Feng mobilized the family’s elders and connections to prevent the inquiry from reaching its final review. An internal report blamed Xiao Nu for pocketing twenty Divine Tribulation Pills and two hundred thousand spirit crystals intended for the transaction 9.

Xiao Qun identified the Fang Family’s support as the greatest immediate obstacle. He proposed pressuring its younger members and threatened destruction if it continued backing Ye Tianming. Xiao Feng initially warned against openly wiping out a family whose ancestor had served the Guanxuan Universe, but agreed to prepare for confrontation 9 10.

Qingzhou Academy’s leaders, fearing exposure of corruption extending across generations of elders, chose cooperation with the Xiao Family over punishment. Yuan Qi conveyed its settlement terms and threatened the Ye Family if Ye Tianming resisted 11 12.

Intervention and Pardon

Nanling Zhao rescued Ye Tianming and attempted to take his petition to the Guanxuan Realm. Xiao Family attackers intercepted them, offered to owe the Nanling Clan a favor if she withdrew, and threatened to slaughter the surrounded Ye Family. After identifying themselves through that offer, the attackers denied being from the Xiao Family 12 13.

When central authorities began gathering evidence and sending forces to protect Ye Tianming, Xiao Feng went to the Nanzhou Ye Residence and pleaded on his knees. The young man there acknowledged that his taking a Xiao Family admission place had begun the chain of events. He spared the family out of consideration for its ancestor 16.

The investigation was halted, Nanling Zhao was suspended, and Ye Tianming’s protectors withdrew. The family’s prestige increased after escaping punishment. Xiao Feng nevertheless cautioned that their ancestor’s favor might not save them twice and proposed killing Ye Tianming through others rather than acting too openly 16 17.

Pursuit into the Transcendent Dao Field

Song Shi accepted Ye Tianming into the Central Divine Province academy and rejected Xiao Quan’s demand to expel him. Mu Guanchen also warned that the Xiao Family remained a threat to the Ye Family 24 28 29.

In the Transcendent Dao Field, Xiao Xue attempted to assassinate Ye Tianming but was killed. Xiao Lin subsequently confronted him over her death. Ye Tianming turned the assembled factions against the Xiao Family by presenting its intervention as an attempt to monopolize the Transcendent Civilization’s legacy 35 36 44.

Li Zheng and Gu Qi prevented Xiao Lin from attacking. Facing collective opposition, he withdrew, then ordered the family informed that Ye Tianming’s combat strength might rival an Immortal Realm cultivator. Ye Tianming later killed Xiao Lin and his accompanying disciples with an Earth Dharma Aspect 45 48.

Attack at the Central Divine Province Academy

A black-robed Xiao Family swordsman intercepted Ye Tianming at the academy’s foot, declaring that the family intended to kill him before Song Shi and his teacher. When Ye Tianming counterattacked, Xiao Bei intervened and manifested a three-thousand-zhang Dharma Aspect empowered by time 48 49.

Inside the academy, Xiao Qun threatened Song Shi and the unidentified force supporting Ye Tianming. Xiao Bei’s opening attack badly injured Ye Tianming but failed to kill him despite a six-realm cultivation gap. Both Xiao Bei and Xiao Qun recognized the danger of allowing him to develop further; the battle remained ongoing in the supplied account 49 50.

Relationships

• Guanxuan Sword Master — Ye Guan — Historical friend of the family’s ancestor and the foundation of its exceptional political standing 4 10 16.
• Qingzhou Guanxuan Academy — Collaborator in the admission seizure and subsequent suppression of the investigation 4 11 12.
• Ye Tianming and the Ye Family — Targets of an escalating feud involving admission theft, family threats, and repeated assassination attempts 5 13 35 49.
• Fang Xiao and the Fang Family — Opponents whose insistence on pursuing the complaint prompted threats against their younger generation 5 9 10.
• Nanling Zhao — Inspector who resisted the family’s pressure and protected Ye Tianming; later planned to unite prominent young allies against lawless factions including the Xiao Family 13 23.
• Song Shi and Mu Guanchen — Educators who sheltered Ye Tianming despite the family’s demands and threats 24 29 49.
• Li Zheng and Gu Qi — Opposed Xiao Lin’s attempt to kill Ye Tianming after agreeing to cooperate over Little Pagoda 44 45.

Trivia

• “The Xiao Family is heaven” is not an established family declaration. Ye Tianming attributed the claim to them while provoking the crowd; the Xiao Family members present were bewildered and questioned whether anyone in their family had said it 44.
• The offered pill count is inconsistent. Ye Tianming identifies Xiao Nu’s offer as fifteen Qi Drawing Pills, while an elder’s later internal report says ten 5 9.