Xiang Shan

Manhua

Introduced as the former Western Army Commander of Blue Sky Pass, Xiang Shan starts off as one of the most prestigious Human Race officers under the 9th Rank Open Heaven Realm.

## Personality

Though not the most open individual, Xiang Shan is both extremely shrewd and loyal to his comrades.

## Background

Though extraordinarily powerful, Xiang Shan has to re-cultivate himself back to the 8th Rank Open Heaven Realm after having given up a piece of his Small Universe due to Ink corrosion in the past. Despite this, Xiang Shan quickly reclaims his spot as one of the top Human Race powerhouses on Ink Battlefield, and by extension the 3,000 Worlds.

## Past

In the past, Xiang Shan was famous for having personally slain 7 Territory Lords in one-on-one combat during his time on Ink Battlefield. However, around 3,000 years before Yang Kai arrives on Ink Battlefield, Xiang Shan is ambushed by a Territory Lord while engaging in combat with another, and his Small Universe is corroded by Ink. This forces Xiang Shan to give up a piece of his Small Universe, dropping his rank down to tge 7th Rank Open Heaven Realm.

## History

### Trap

Xiang Shan is first seen very obviously promoting to the 8th Rank Open Heaven Realm in the middle of the Blue Sky Pass War Zone as Yang Kai and several Elite Squads are in combat with the Ink Clan. Eventually, Xiang Shan's promotion is revealed to be trap that successfully draws out several Ink Clan Territory Lords, including the notoriously cautious Hong Hu, so that he can be successfully killed or captured by the several Human Race 8th Ranks of Blue Sky Pass. As a result of this battle, Blue Sky Pass firmly establishes an Outpost in the Ink Clan's former territory, demonstrating that the Human Race is indeed now capable of mounting an offensive expedition.

### Great Evolution Army

A short-while later, Xiang Shan is made the Eastern Army Army Commander of the newly formed Great Evolution Army sent to recapture Great Evolution Pass. In this role, Xiang Shan changes the original strategy of the Eastern/Western and Northern/Southern Great Evolution Armies to directly pincer Great Evolution Pass. Instead, Xiang Shan orchestrates a 150 year long war of attrition in which the Eastern-Western Army, with aid of Smiles Old Ancestor, wear-down the strength of the Great Evolution War Zone's King City and Royal Lord as the Northern/Southern Armies keep the Ink Clan contained with Great Evolution Pass.

This strategy is ultimately successful, and the Ink eventually have no choice but to surrender Great Evolution Pass to the Great Evolution Army, allowing the Human Race to finally the fill the only gap in their more 100 Mountain Pass defense-line. Later, after Yang Kai acquires the Source of Great Evolution Pass, Xiang Shan, Southern Army Army Commander Ouyang Lie, and Northern Army Army Commander Mi Jing Lun engage on a successful expedition by the Great Evolution Army to both achieve total victory over the Great Evolution War Zone's King City and arrive at the Source Area of Ink Battlefield.

However, in the ensuing great battle with the Ink Clan armies stemming from the Heavenly Beginning Great Restriction, in which the main body of Ink has been imprisoned for over 1,000,000 years, Xiang Shan and the other Human Race powerhouses are eventually forced to retreat back to the 3,000 Worlds after Ink GSGs dramatically shift the tide of the war.

### Head Office Division

After the Old Ancestors sacrifice themselves to all but wipe out the Ink Clan's 9th Rank and above powerhouses, Xiang Shan becomes the head of the Human Race's first ever central government, the Head Office Division. In this role, Xiang Shan, with the assistance of the at least equally brilliant Mi Jing Lun, helps to govern and distribute the various Human Race forces in the last-standing 13 Great Territory Battlefields that precede High Heaven Territory.

Eventually, Xiang Shan is pleased to see a now extremely powerful 8th Rank Open Heaven Realm Yang Kai return to the aid of the Human Race, and he immediately pressures him to become the Army Commander of Mysterious Nether Territory. Over the course of the 3,000 Worlds War against the Ink Clan, Yang Kai's extraordinary strength proves to even far exceed Xiang Shan's, and the Ink Clan likewise agrees to a treaty with Human Race to keep 8th Rank powerhouses and above absent in combat in all but 6 of the remaining Great Territory battlefields so that the younger generations of each force is given room to grow. Xiang Shan then takes this chance to close up in an attempt to promote to the 9th Rank Open Heaven Realm while Mi Jing Lun runs the Head Office Division.

### 9th Rank Open Heaven Realm

Though Xiang Shan was a straight promote 7th Rank Open Heaven Realm cultivator in the past, the damage to his Small Universe from his drop in rank prevents him from being able to breakthrough to the 9th Rank Open Heaven Realm. Likewise, when the Universe Furnace later appears for the 1st time in 40,000 years, all treaties with the Ink Clan are called off, and Xiang Shan is among the numerous Peak 8th Rank Open Heaven Realm cultivators to enter the furnace for a chance to acquire on its Best Quality Open Heaven Pills and promote to the 9th Rank Open Heaven Realm. Luckily, Xiang Shan succeeds in acquiring a pill, but his solo promotion is unfortunately interrupted by a battle occurring between a group of Ink Clan lead by a newly promoted Royal Lord, a Human Race force lead by the newly promoted 9th Rank Open Heaven Realm Ouyang Lie, and 9th Rank Open Heaven Realm-equivalent Chaos Spirit King.

Things only get worse for Xiang Shan's extremely obvious promotion when the newly promoted Royal Lord, Mo Na Ye, arrives on the scene, and the Human Race forces are very quickly suppressed as they try to protect the former. Though the arrivals of the newly promoted 9th Rank Open Heaven Realm Yang Xue and the Ancient Dragon Yang Xiao seem to help stall the Ink Clan's progress toward Xiang Shan, things truly come to a head when Yang Kai arrives on the scene. Through the subsequent use of two hidden 8th Rank Ink Disciples, Mo Na Ye successfully carries out an ambush on Yang Kai while forcing Xiang Shan to give up on his promotion.

However, Yang Kai then surprisingly uses a Secret Art known as the Three Parts Reunification Art to merge with his clones Fang Tian Ci and Ying Bao in order to break his limits and promote to the 9th Rank Open Heaven Realm. With the boost of the newly promoted Yang Kai, both a Royal Lord and several Pseudo Royal Lords are killed, and a severely injured Mo Na Ye being forced to retreat. With the situation settled, the efficacy of the previously taken Best Quality Open Heaven Pill proves enough to allow Xiang Shan to finally breakthrough to the 9th Rank Open Heaven Realm.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chapter 5799
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 5160
3. ↑ Chapter 5169
4. ↑ Chapter 5163
5. ↑ Chapter 5270