Shang Clan

Shang clan banquets are held outdoors in a roomy courtyard that is neither luxurious nor elegant and is rather old, with a dozen or so tables arranged in a circle and looking crowded from that alone. ^{ch. 269}

On Auspicious Festival day, Shang clan inner city is decorated with lanterns and colored banners, while large stores close and people walk the streets setting up stalls. ^{ch. 326}

At Shang clan leader’s succession ceremony on Shang Liang Mountain, grand music plays, countless birds and peacocks fly around, and golden flowers rain from the sky. A long clear rainbow road extends from the mountain interior, and clouds gather overhead as light shines brightly and gathers into a throne. ^{ch. 1072}

The city covers the whole of Shang Liang mountain rather than a village slice of a peak. Shang has remodelled that mountain for thousands of years, with an outer city on the surface and an inner city dug into the mountain. ^{ch. 260} Wei Yang’s tour states that Shang clan city is first in the Southern Border by size, that the city holds over ten thousand shops and hundreds of thousands of people, ^{ch. 265} and that Shang trade reaches across the region. ^{ch. 261}

Shang Yan Fei is named as the leader of Shang clan. ^{ch. 258} He hosts a clan banquet for the young masters and for Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing after Shang Xin Ci is acknowledged. ^{ch. 269}

The ten contesting young masters form three main factions. Shang Qiu Niu, the eldest son, stands as the first with elder and clansman support. Shang Pu Lao, Shang Suan Ni, and Shang Bi Xi form a second bloc. Shang Chao Feng and Shang Fu Xi form a third: Chao Feng controls the Gu battle zone, Fu Xi the auction zone, and together they hide their strength while waiting for a chance to rise. Fang Yuan’s count of the rest names Shang Ya Zi as a loner with little influence, Shang Chi Wen as bubbly without ambition, and Shang Pi Xiu as talented but too scheming, while Shang Xin Ci is still outside the ten at that auction stretch. ^{ch. 305}

Shang’s battle stage is unique among Southern Border clans for letting demonic Gu Masters become external elders. ^{ch. 321} Among five great elders, three are external. ^{ch. 327} Above the ten young masters sit young clan leader Shang Tuo Hai, the five elders, Shang Yan Fei, and the Shang supreme elder. ^{ch. 333}

Shang Bu Li is titled Two faced man, named the number one general under Shang Yan Fei, and placed as a Shang clan elder whose authority in the city sits above Wei Yang and above the ten young masters. ^{ch. 306} Wei Yang is remembered as having dominated the battle stage at rank three middle stage, with each of those defending battles treated as a classic. ^{ch. 321} Yi Huo is one of the five great elders under Shang Yan Fei, ranked above Wei Yang, and publicly treated as the elder with the highest chance of advancing to rank five. Yi Huo and Wei Yang both rose by ruling the Shang clan battle stage. ^{ch. 355}

The Auspicious Festival commemorates the Shang ancestor who founded the clan thousands of years earlier. The text gives the founding story on that day: a poor mortal trader obtained a Gu Master inheritance token, rose step by step, and finally founded Shang clan city. ^{ch. 326}

On Shang Liang Mountain, Shang Bu Li opens Shang clan leader’s succession ceremony before Southern Border super forces, demonic experts, and lone cultivators. Shang Xin Ci walks the clear rainbow road and becomes Shang clan’s new clan leader after the battle of Yi Tian Mountain shifts Southern Border power. Shang Qing Qing, a senior female immortal of Shang clan, is the one who singlehandedly supported that choice and watches from the background to control the situation. ^{ch. 1072}

When Fang Yuan sends letters trying to sway Southern Border’s clans, Shang clan holds to its long standing neutrality and replies at once, rejecting his suggestion. ^{ch. 1348}

Shang clan ranks among Southern Border’s top super forces, and its rank eight Gu Immortal is Shang Wu Jie. ^{ch. 1386}