Rong Xiangsheng

Rong Xiangsheng is the patriarch of Flat Sky City's Rong Clan and its strongest active Spirit Burning cultivator. A darkness-bloodline expert and careful ambush planner, he leads his clan against the Zhu Clan while obeying an ancestral order to collude with the Harpies. Exposure of that alliance reverses the battle and leaves him a prisoner. (Chapters 765–775)

Biography

Countering the Zhu investigation

Rong discovers that an intruder using a steward's identity has entered the clan accounting office and inspected its records. He correctly suspects Su Chen, worries that the apparent opportunity to attack may be bait, and consults an unseen Harpy ally before acting. Rather than wait passively, he sends one brother as part of a lure and brings the Rong elders into an ambush meant to draw the Zhu leadership away from its residence and defensive trump cards. (Chapter 765)

The plan initially works. Rong's group confronts Zhu Yunyan, struggles against Zhu-controlled experts—including their own brother Rong Xiangqian—and then unveils three Qian Clan Spirit Burning allies. Rong had brought those allies early because his compromised records forced the schedule forward. His force gains the advantage, although the preparation is incomplete and the Zhu Clan's numbers and puppet combinations keep the battle costly. (Chapters 767–768)

Exposure and capture

Su uses a prediction to expose three concealed Harpies and publicly accuses the Rong Clan of betraying humanity. The Qian brothers, who had not known about the foreign alliance, immediately switch sides to prove their innocence. Rong and his relatives are overwhelmed and captured. Interrogation later establishes that the order came from clan ancestor Rong Guluo and that Rong Xiangsheng and the others disagreed but believed they had no meaningful choice. Rong remains alive in custody at his last mention; the corpus does not give his sentence or death. (Chapters 769 and 775)

Appearance and personality

The corpus does not provide stable details for Rong Xiangsheng's face, age, height, clothing, hair, or build. His expression is repeatedly cold, steely, or furious, and his glare is sharp enough to make Su react physically across the battlefield. (Chapters 765 and 769)

Rong is cautious, calculating, decisive under pressure, and loyal to his clan's hierarchy even when he disagrees with it. He detects bait, consults allies, and converts an information leak into an early counterambush. He also lies to the Qian Clan about the Harpy connection and accepts betrayal of humanity under ancestral command. His reluctance to strike the controlled Rong Xiangqian shows genuine attachment to his brother within that ruthless political framework. (Chapters 765–775)

Abilities and cultivation

Rong is a peak Spirit Burning Realm cultivator with eight Divine Palaces and is the strongest individual in the initial clan battle. The Rong bloodline controls darkness and favors concealment and ambush, leading the Zhu Clan to call its members “gophers.” Bright Refraction Beast power can burn away many of these shadows, providing a direct counter, while the corpus does not name Rong's precise inherited beast or list his personal darkness techniques separately. (Chapters 767–768)

His principal demonstrated tool is Umbral Sands, darkness energy fused with special metal. Under his control it changes rapidly among dagger, sword, spear, whip, chains, shield, or armor. He uses razor-edged chains offensively and reshapes it into a shield against Zhu attacks, illustrating unusual tactical flexibility. The supplied evidence does not define its range, energy cost, destruction, or possession after Rong's capture, and it is not finalized as an inventory entry. (Chapter 768)

Rong is also an effective ambush commander. He times the Qian brothers' intervention, uses a compromised brother to bait pursuit, and chooses ground that separates the Zhu elders from prepared defenses. These results depend on relatives, foreign concealment, and allied Spirit Burning cultivators; when the Qian Clan defects, Rong cannot reverse the numerical and political collapse alone. (Chapters 765–769)

Relationships

• Su Chen: The investigator who infiltrates Rong records, anticipates the clan's trap, and exposes its Harpy allies. Su's intervention converts Rong's apparent advantage into capture. (Chapters 765–769)
• Zhu Yunyan: Head of the enemy Zhu force. Rong attempts to ambush her family, while she counters with controlled experts and later interrogates him about the foreign alliance. (Chapters 767–775)
• Zhu Xianyao: A younger Zhu leader whose investigation helps trigger Rong's counterattack. She supports the battle in which the alliance is exposed. (Chapters 765–769)

Items

The finalized item inventory for Rong Xiangsheng contains no entries.