⚔️ Great War: Wuji Heavenly Scroll

• 🗺️ The World of Murim

Jianghu is a world where martial artists who have learned martial arts live, risking their honor, power, and survival. The Murim Alliance and prestigious sects are located in the center of the Central Plains, while the Five Great Families, the Nine Schools and One Gang, Sapa forces, and numerous cities are scattered across the north, south, east, and west.

The headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Cult is in the southwest, and outside the Central Plains, external forces such as the North Sea Ice Palace, Southern Barbarians, Western Potala Palace, and Hainan Sect rule their own territories. The government does not intervene in Murim disputes unless large-scale civilian massacres or treason occur.

-🥋 Martial Arts and Realms

Martial artists accumulate internal energy in their dantian through internal arts and learn martial arts including sword, saber, spear, fist, and palm techniques. As internal energy deepens, attack power, defense, recovery, and endurance strengthen, and at high realms, one can freely handle Sword Qi and Sword Gang.

The realms of secular martial artists are as follows:

3rd Class → 2nd Class → 1st Class → Peak → Great Peak → Transcendent → Profound → Life and Death

Every martial art has separate mastery stages:

Initial → Mature → Ultimate

Even in the same realm, victory or defeat depends on martial arts mastery, compatibility, practical experience, weapons, and psychological warfare. However, a difference of one realm or more is absolute and cannot be easily overturned by simple will or surprise attacks.

Currently, Alliance Leader Yu Seol-hwa, Sapa Union Leader Jang Mu-hyeok, and Heavenly Demon Cheon Mu-jin are all at the Mature stage of the Profound Realm. Namgung Family Head Namgung Yeon, Black Night Society Leader Baek Ya-ryeong, and Poison Demon Dang So-rin have all reached the Ultimate stage of the Transcendent Realm.

-🏯 The Three Great Factions

⚪ Murim Alliance

The largest alliance of the Righteous faction, emphasizing chivalry, righteousness, justification, and order. Centered around the Nine Schools and One Gang and the Five Great Families, it handles dispute mediation, subjugation orders, martial arts tournaments, and the maintenance of Jianghu order.

Alliance Leader Yu Seol-hwa is cautious and fair, refusing to condemn without evidence. Namgung Family Head Namgung Yeon is a staunch swordsman who cooperates with the Righteous faction but prioritizes her family's independence and honor.

⚫ Sapa Union

The largest alliance integrating various Sapa sects. It values freedom, utility, and merit over justification, and within the union, skill and performance determine status.

Union Leader Jang Mu-hyeok delegates authority to capable subordinates but never forgives betrayal. The Black Night Society is not an independent force but a direct subordinate organization of the Union Leader, with its head Baek Ya-ryeong overseeing intelligence, infiltration, tracking, assassination, and monitoring of illicit trade.

🔴 Heavenly Demon Cult

A massive force independent of the Central Plains Murim. It values strength, will, and performance over bloodline and justification, and cultists obey the authority and commands of the Heavenly Demon.

Heavenly Demon Cheon Mu-jin is an absolute ruler who despises flattery and meaningless slaughter. Poison Demon Dang So-rin is a direct subordinate of Cheon Mu-jin, in charge of poison arts, medicine, detoxification, and secret investigations.

-📜 The Wuji Heavenly Scroll and the Great War

Thirty years ago, the Righteous faction, the Sapa Union, and the Heavenly Demon Cult fought a great war to claim the Wuji Heavenly Scroll.

The Wuji Heavenly Scroll is not just a manual for peerless martial arts. It is an ancient heavenly scroll said to contain the principles for completing the Realm of Life and Death and surpassing human limits.

To end the war, the three previous leaders divided the scroll into three volumes.

Upper Volume: Kept by the Murim Alliance Middle Volume: Kept by the Sapa Union Lower Volume: Kept by the Heavenly Demon Cult

The three factions maintained a thirty-year truce under an agreement not to invade each other's storage locations.

However, on the day before the truce renewal, all three volumes, which were strictly sealed, disappeared simultaneously. No traces of external intrusion or broken seals were left.

The Murim Alliance suspects the Sapa Union, the Sapa Union is wary of the Heavenly Demon Cult, and the Heavenly Demon Cult tracks both external conspiracies and internal traitors. With attacks on messengers, manipulation of information, disappearance of convoys, and disputes over strongholds, Jianghu is heading toward all-out war again.

Throughout the incidents, sword marks and records reminiscent of Mumeong, a hidden master who disappeared long ago, are discovered. However, no one knows Mumeong's age, realm, status, or purpose.

-⚖️ Laws of Survival in Jianghu

In Jianghu, those who rely only on strength die, and those who rely only on justification die.

Do not recklessly confront those in higher realms; first check the opponent's sect, title, and martial arts lineage. If poisoned, detoxification and treatment take priority over meditation, and mysterious manuals or elixirs may be traps rather than fortuitous encounters.

Rumors in inns are clues, not the truth, and the source and purpose of information handled by the Beggars' Gang, Haohui Gate, and Black Night Society must be verified. Favors and promises build forces, but betrayal and grudges are tracked through generations.

The most important rule to remember is this:

Not knowing those stronger than yourself is the greatest danger.

☁️ The Celestial Realm Beyond Life and Death

The Realm of Life and Death is the final realm humans can reach. Beyond that, starting from the Natural Realm, it is classified as the domain of Immortals.

Natural Realm → Void Realm → Heaven-Person-Earth Realm → Transcendence Realm → Fish-Immortal Grade → Emperor Grade → Heavenly Venerable Grade → Primordial Heavenly Venerable

Immortals handle celestial power and the laws of heaven and earth rather than internal energy. An Immortal's true name contains existence and authority, so if an ordinary Murim warrior hears it fully, they may suffer severe internal injuries or lose their life.

Only spiritual creatures that have reached the Heaven-Person-Earth Realm or higher are called true Divine Beasts. The Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, and the Black Tortoise of the North protect their respective directions, seasons, and natural laws.

The Wuji Heavenly Scroll is not an all-purpose manual containing all the secrets of the Celestial Realm. However, it is the best clue in the mortal world that shows the first door toward the Natural Realm after completing the Realm of Life and Death.