🌸 The Golden Age of Murim

Murim Year 412 is an era where secret manuals and traditions scattered by the Great War between Good and Evil and inter-sect conflicts have been restored, and exchange, duels, and competition between sects have become active. Three masters of the Life-and-Death Realm and numerous Profound Realm masters exist in one era, and the level of the rising stars approaches that of the elders of the past. With the growth of merchant groups and escort bureaus, transportation and information networks have developed, and later generations will record this as the Era of Universal Prosperity.

⚔️ The Ten Great Masters of the World (天下十大高手)

《The Divine Sovereigns (神尊帝皇)》

Alone at the pinnacle stands the Martial God (武神), the peerless number one of the world whose identity remains unknown. Below him, the Two Sovereigns (二尊) look down upon the Murim: the Demon Sovereign (魔尊), the absolute ruler of the Heavenly Demon Cult, and the Fist Sovereign (拳尊), the supreme pugilist of Shaolin.

Next are the Three Emperors (三帝): the Blood Emperor (血帝), who established his throne with the blood of the Unorthodox path; the Blade Emperor (刀帝), the leader of the Unorthodox Overlord League who has reached the ultimate heights of blade techniques; and the Sword Emperor (劍帝), who leads the Orthodox path as the leader of the Murim Alliance.

Finally, the Four Sovereigns (四皇) support the balance of the world: the Poison King (毒皇), who rules over poisons and hidden weapons; the War King (鬪皇), who completed the Hegemonic Way of fist and foot; the Spear King (槍皇), master of the single spear that cleaves the battlefield; and the Sound Empress (音皇), who shakes the soul with sound arts.

Their hierarchy is clear:

One God > Two Sovereigns > Three Emperors > Four Sovereigns

However, there is no officially recognized ranking among the absolute masters belonging to the same title group. Only at the end of a life-and-death duel is it proven who stands in a higher sky.

⚪ The Murim Alliance

The Murim Alliance is the largest coalition of the Orthodox path, formed around the Nine Great Sects and One Union and the Five Great Clans. It emphasizes chivalry, righteousness, order, and justification, handling dispute mediation between sects, declaring subjugation orders, hosting martial arts tournaments, and maintaining order in the Jianghu.

The leader is generally the highest power of the Orthodox path who has reached the Profound Realm. Sect leaders and clan heads mostly belong to the Transformation Realm, and major elders correspond to the Transcendence Realm. While the Murim Alliance represents the legitimacy of the Jianghu, internal interests and political conflicts between sects exist.

⚫ The Unorthodox Overlord League

The Unorthodox Overlord League is the largest coalition of the Unorthodox path, integrating various unorthodox sects and forces. It values freedom, utility, and the Hegemonic Way, determining status based on skill and merit rather than origin or justification.

The league leader is an absolute powerhouse of the Profound Realm, subordinate force leaders are mostly in the Transformation Realm, and major executives range from the Peak to Transcendence Realms. Internal competition and secret feuds are fierce, but they coalesce quickly when a powerful leader appears. Organizations in charge of intelligence, infiltration, tracking, and assassination are also operated directly under the league leader.

🔴 The Heavenly Demon Cult

The Heavenly Demon Cult is a massive religious organization centered around the Heavenly Demon. It regards strength, will, and loyalty as the highest values, inheriting unique martial arts and rules distinct from the Central Plains sects.

The Heavenly Demon is an absolute powerhouse of the Profound Realm, and the Left and Right Protectors and subordinate sect leaders mostly belong to the Transformation Realm. The cult strictly maintains internal loyalty and command structures, treating betrayal and disobedience as grave sins. While the Orthodox path views them with fear and caution, the Heavenly Demon Cult is not a force that pursues only disordered slaughter.

The Murim Alliance, the Unorthodox Overlord League, and the Heavenly Demon Cult compete for hegemony in the Jianghu through different values and methods. If the balance between these three forces collapses, sects, merchant groups, cities, and civilians can all be swept into a massive war.

🥋 Secular Realm System

Martial artists build internal energy in their dantian through heart laws and perform martial arts using the accumulated true qi. As internal energy deepens, attack power, defense, recovery, and endurance increase. At higher realms, one can handle sword qi, blade qi, spear qi, and materialized astral qi (Gang-gi).

The realms of secular martial artists rise in the following order:

3rd Class → 2nd Class → 1st Class → Peak → Transcendence → Transformation → Profound → Life-and-Death

3rd Class consists of entry-level disciples and new warriors; 2nd Class includes general warriors and guards; 1st Class is the level of first-generation disciples and sect executives. The Peak Realm corresponds to elite executives and top-tier assassins, while Transcendence includes elders of prestigious sects and heads of elite organizations.

Transformation is the domain of sect leaders, clan heads, protectors, and core force leaders—super-masters who freely utilize astral qi. The Profound Realm is the level of the strongest humans who sway the balance of the entire Jianghu, such as the Murim Alliance Leader, the Overlord League Leader, and the Heavenly Demon. The Life-and-Death Realm is considered the final human realm reached by only a tiny few in history.

Every martial art has mastery stages: Initial → Mature → Consummate. Initial is basic operation, Mature is free application, and Consummate is the stage of fully realizing the true meaning of the martial art.

In the same realm, victory or defeat depends on proficiency, martial art compatibility, talent, practical experience, weapons, and psychological warfare. However, as the realm increases, the gap between stages grows, and generally, a difference of one stage or more is difficult to overcome.