Tang Household

Biodata

Power Progression

History

Farming Origins and Entry into Cultivation

The Tang family originally lived in Dangwu Village, supporting itself through farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering five-spirit fat. Tang Yuan’s long absences left his wife, Miao, responsible for raising their children. Although Yuan was a cultivator, he initially presented himself to the children as an ordinary hunter 24 25 56.

Tang Yuan later left cultivation supplies, manuals, letters, and one hundred Spirit Stones for his six children. He insisted that they conceal these resources and resolve their own difficulties, saying that excessive intervention would affect their destinies and fortunes. He also identified his nephew Tang Miao as a natural Aperture Opener 53 55 68.

The four eldest siblings became capable of cultivation through the Earth Flood Dragon Hou Fei’s pills. Carefree Cave’s Spirit Springs gave them a cultivation environment far richer in Spiritual Qi than the surrounding desert 60 62 101.

Securing Resources and Territory

A demonic rat threatened the family’s early development. After negotiations for outside assistance, the Mystic Spoon killed the rat, and Hou Fei helped clear low-level Demon Beasts from nearby coal and copper mines. Tang Tiansong planned to employ villagers at the mines while preserving enough labor for the family’s farmland 60 64 65.

The siblings also established a hunting partnership with Tang Qilang, Tang Yuan and Miao’s white-lynx godson. Guided by Qilang, the family hunted Demon Beasts and gathered herbs and spirit fruits in Three Graves Mountain. Over four years, these activities brought in 456 Spirit Stones, more than three hundred of which went toward cultivation resources 66 69 76.

As neighboring settlements accepted Tiansong’s protection, he became their clan head and reorganized Dangwu Village into a town. By 4041, Tang rule extended over five settlements and more than thirty thousand people 75.

The Coming Opportunity and Tiansong’s Death

The household’s growth took place under the threat of a great fortuitous opportunity expected near Dangwu Yuan and Gazing Dragon Lake. Cui Xueyong warned that surrounding cultivation lineages might slaughter Dangwu Village to seize its resources. Tiansong consequently prioritized rapid cultivation and the development of the family’s fighting strength 56 59 64 71.

His engagement to Yu Wei raised the household’s profile across Gazing Dragon Lake. With Wu Changgeng’s advice and gifts from other lineages, the family collected 216 Spirit Stones. All five Tang-controlled villages celebrated the engagement on the ninth day of the tenth month of 4041 86 92.

On the sixth day of the sixth month of 4042, Tiansong attended Tang Jincan’s wedding at Iron Bridge Village. Ye Hailiang had arranged an ambush involving four Qi Refinement cultivators who intended to eliminate the Tang Household before the anticipated opportunity appeared. Tiansong sent Tang Miao home to warn the family and died resisting the attackers 97 98 99.

Succession and Recovery

Miao named Tang Tiandong household head after Tiansong’s death. Tiandong and Tang Tianzi went to Iron Bridge Village, leaving Tang Tianya in temporary command at home. They killed three of the attacking cultivators and destroyed the Ye Household; Cui Xueyong subsequently killed Tang Jincan after he tried to implicate Tang Miao 100 101 102 103 105.

With its strongest resident cultivator dead, the household recalled its three thousand troops and sought outside protection. Tiandong secured three years of dragon patrols and limited emergency assistance from the Long Household in exchange for two spirit swords 104 105.

The household subsequently continued expanding under Tiandong. By Tianya’s return after eleven years in the Azure Origin Sect, it governed approximately eighty thousand mortals and had more than fifty cultivators. Much of its cultivation funding had gone to Tianya, whose exceptional sword talent made him a major investment in the lineage’s future 118.

Leadership and Members

Leadership

Notable Family Members

• Miao — Tang Yuan’s wife and mother of the six siblings. Advises Tiansong on public support and directs the family’s immediate response to his death 24 65 100.
• Tang Tianlan — Second child and one of the first four sibling cultivators. Later reaches Qi Refinement Third Layer and plans to search for Tang Tianshu with Qin Miao 60 118.
• Tang Tianzi — Third child; uses powerful Purple Lightning Talismans to avenge Tiansong. She later has a son, Tang Xingle, with Cui Xueyong; the child takes the Tang surname 102 118.
• Tang Tianya — Fifth child and gifted sword cultivator. Initially refuses sect recruitment, but later joins the Azure Origin Sect and receives substantial support from the household 83 101 118.
• Tang Tianshu — Youngest sibling. Participates in efforts to hatch the dragon egg fossils; his later disappearance prompts a long search by his family 66 86 118.
• Tang Miao / Qin Miao — Adopted son of Tang Xiao and trusted companion of the siblings. A natural Aperture Opener with a Vajra Sacred Body; later resumes the surname Qin 55 71 103 118.
• Tang Qilang — White lynx adopted as Tang Yuan and Miao’s godson. Guides the siblings through Three Graves Mountain 66.
• Tang Xingxiang — Tiansong’s son, identified at eleven years old as a natural-born Aperture Opener 118.

Territory and Administration

Settlements

• Population in 4041: 30,951 people; the five villages contain 5,856 households 75 92.
• Later population: Approximately 80,000 mortals 118.
• Local administration: Village officials handle routine matters such as house dimensions and field divisions. Deaths, cultivation affairs, and external attacks require the household head’s attention 76.
• Military: Three thousand full-time soldiers. For the Western Rong expedition, Tiansong orders the ten strongest household cultivators and one thousand elite cavalry to assemble 75 97.
• Lineage Affairs Office: Central venue for administration and the distribution of cultivation resources 76 95.

Welfare and Economic Policy

• Tiansong repeatedly rejects increasing miners’ workloads, arguing that unequal treatment and excessive demands could undermine household unity 75 95.
• Ordinary wealth does not solve the lineage’s shortage of Spirit Stones: even expanded coal and refined-copper production would purchase relatively few 84 95.
• The household’s thirty thousand mortal subjects are treated as a foundation of its strength, not merely dependents of its cultivators 95.

Cultivation Resources and Defenses

Cultivation Sites

• Carefree Cave — Its Spirit Springs make the Spiritual Qi concentration more than ten times that of the surrounding area 62.
• Yellow Poplar Cottage and Mystic Spoon Pavilion — Expanded by Tiansong with a simple defensive formation and a three-story pavilion. The upper secret chamber shelters the Mystic Spoon while admitting sunlight and moonlight 73.
• Farmland and mines — The household possesses coal and copper mines and hundreds of thousands of mu of fertile farmland, making its holdings attractive to rivals even without the anticipated opportunity 104.

Weapons and Special Assets

• Seven Stars Sword — Supplied by Tang Yuan; naturally suppresses fierce beasts and Demon Beasts. Initially used by Tianlan, it is later given to Tianya 65 72 118.
• Purple Lightning Talismans — A decisive weapon against the cultivators involved in Tiansong’s death. Their power makes an enemy suspect Foundation Establishment backing; Tianzi’s claim that the household possesses several hundred is made during that confrontation 102.
• Great Kun Moonlight Spiritual Qi — Five strands left by Tang Yuan. Tianzi proposes using them in talisman refinement, but Tiansong initially insists on preserving them for their future value 59.
• Mystic Spoon and Hou Fei — Kill the demonic rat and help clear the mines. Hou Fei also supplies Aperture-Opening Pills, but secretly hopes to seize a Tang family member’s body. Tang Yuan later takes the spoon away while seeking a way to revive Tiansong 64 92 101 107.
• Three dragon egg fossils — Show faint vitality after Hou Fei infuses them with Great Kun Moonlight; family members participate in attempts to hatch them 75 86.

Contracted Protection

External Relationships

• Cui Household — An early cultivation connection through Cui Xueyong’s courtship of Tianzi. A spirit-incantation contract ties unpaid assistance fees to a possible marriage, while Cui Lihai privately considers using the relationship to annex Tang holdings. Xueyong nevertheless repeatedly aids the Tang siblings 60 101 103.
• Tong Household — Proposes a marriage alliance between Tong Lingling and Tiandong. Although Tiandong later considers marrying Long Zhiyu instead, Lingling is identified as his wife by Tianya’s later return 93 100 118.
• Long Household — Becomes a defensive partner through Long Zhiyu, helping compensate for the loss of Tiansong’s fighting strength 104 105.
• Azure Origin Sect — Governs the region containing Tang territory. Tianya initially rejects recruitment, then joins after the household’s crisis; his sect cultivation is heavily supported by Tang resources 79 83 101 118.
• Wu Changgeng — Offers financial assistance and devises the engagement-notice strategy that helps the household raise cultivation funds 85 86.
• Gaoxin Clan and Yang Yue’ao — Receive emergency supplies in exchange for intelligence and promises of covert support against Gu Husha. Tiansong refuses to guarantee indefinite aid 78 79.
• Guishi Clan — Receives Tang money and grain and supplies information used in attacks on Gu Husha’s grain stores, preventing another eastward invasion for at least three years 97.
• Western Rong under Gu Husha — A military threat on the western frontier. A Heavenly Gate Realm protector and restrictions on Foundation Establishment cultivators complicate any attempt to conquer its cities 56 78.
• Ye Household — Former marriage partners who help arrange Tiansong’s fatal ambush. The Tang siblings destroy the household in retaliation, then agree to sell Iron Bridge Village to the Cui Household for three hundred Spirit Stones and future annual spirit-rice payments 68 98 102 103.

Rules and Ideals

• Do not murder one’s own kin: A lineage rule attributed to Tang Yuan and upheld by Tiansong when he refuses to kill Tang Jincan despite his misconduct 57 103.
• Do not kill indiscriminately: Tiandong cites his father’s instruction when rejecting a wider massacre after the destruction of the Ye Household 103.
• Follow the righteous path: Tiansong instructs cultivators to remain united, help one another, and support ordinary household members 95.
• Rely on the household’s own strength: Tiansong initially opposes sending Tianya to a sect, fearing exploitation and preferring quiet cultivation until the anticipated opportunity arrives 83.

Notable Quotes

“The Tang Household will never bully others, but neither are we afraid of being bullied.”
— Tang Tiansong 95

“The Tang Household never lets a grudge last overnight!”
— Tang Tianzi, after learning of Tiansong’s death 100