Black Armored Army

Biodata

Background / History

The Guiyuan Sect ordered the Black Armored Army and local martial forces to guard West Ridge Iron Mine, a strategic source of military equipment. The mine survived a nighttime attack by disguised Blood Fiend Sect warriors, though the assault inflicted heavy casualties among the defenders 1 8.

After the Guiyuan Sect destroyed the Vajra Sect and took Qingyang Commandery, the army became its principal force for military campaigns and local control. Its authority was initially incomplete: local factions complied outwardly while withholding elite personnel or maintaining contact with Vajra Sect remnants 6 8.

During the escort of weapons from West Ridge Iron Mine, the army deployed 700 men—500 martial artists from local factions and 200 Black Armored Guards. It anticipated the Blood Fiend Sect's attempt to seize the shipment, lured the attackers into battle, then committed several hundred reinforcements to destroy the gathered Thirteen Villages of Hengyun bandits and Blood Flame Army soldiers 8 11.

The army later formed a Bandit Suppression Squad under Zhou Shan. Its 200-man detachment cleared major bandit groups across Qingyang Commandery, uncovered the Iron Palm Gang's collaboration with horse bandits in Ye County, and dismantled the gang 16 19 21 28.

In Luyang County, the army conducted a citywide manhunt after Commander Liu Jierong and a captain were killed. Under Zhou Shan's subsequent command, it imposed stricter entry controls, curfews, and night patrols, then carried out a broad anti-crime campaign that also targeted powerful local families 32 33 35 36.

By the time Zhou Shan passed through Hengshan County, the army's first, second, and third battalions had relocated there, apparently in preparation for a decisive conflict with the Blood Fiend Sect. It subsequently entered Yingchuan Commandery, where its forces fought the Blood Flame Army in a large-scale battle 56 66.

Organization & Ranks

Military Capabilities

Heavy Armor and Formation Fighting

The army's Guards wear heavy armor and fight as disciplined units rather than as isolated martial artists.

• Black Armored Guards formed interlocking shield cover against ambush arrows, with outer troops shielding the sides and central troops protecting the formation from above 9.
• Heavy armor and rigorous coordination allow small groups to entangle stronger individual martial artists; six or seven armored fighters can restrain someone with over ten years of cultivation 8.
• A force of 2,000 Guards can surround and kill a Superclass Martial Artist; only an Aperture-Opening Martial Artist with more than 100 years of cultivation is stated to have the strength to break through such an encirclement 16.
• The army's armor is difficult to penetrate with ordinary weapons and arrows. Siege-grade armor-piercing crossbows are needed to reliably threaten it at range 9.

Mounted Forces

• Black Scale Horses — Demonic Beast mounts issued to Centurions and above. Their scales function like natural armor, and their strength is comparable to a third-rate martial artist. 19
• Crimson Flame Horses — Mounts used by ordinary soldiers; their demonic-beast bloodline intimidates normal warhorses. 19
• Mounted charges can rapidly shatter unprepared bandit formations, while the army's riders attack with spears, swords, and sabers 20.

Siege and Prison Defense

• Qingyang City's walls are patrolled by fully armed Guards and equipped with military-grade armor-piercing crossbows 12.
• The Luyang prison is protected by watchtowers, ordinary bows and crossbows, and five Armor-Piercing Ballistas 40.
• An Armor-Piercing Ballista fires arm-thick bolts capable of piercing heavy armor from 500 paces away. A direct hit can kill a Superclass Martial Artist, while only Aperture-Opening Martial Artists can barely endure one 40.
• Ballistas cannot be safely used once allies and enemies enter a chaotic close-quarters melee 40.

Dark Division

The Dark Division is the army's covert intelligence branch. Its members are Guiyuan Sect Dark Hall disciples and do not recruit outsiders 34.

• Conducts intelligence gathering, surveillance, tracking, and investigations into hostile forces 34.
• Uses highly developed disguises and movement arts to infiltrate enemy households and follow targets without detection 40.
• Some specialists possess movement arts sufficient to evade even Innate Realm Grandmasters 40.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Heavy armor and shields for line combat 8 9
• Swords, sabers, long spears, and twin swords 8 20
• Standard bows, crossbows, and military-grade armor-piercing crossbows 9 12
• Armor-Piercing Ballistas for fixed defensive positions 40
• Black Scale Horse mounts for Centurions and higher-ranking officers 19
• Crimson Flame Horse mounts for ordinary soldiers 19
• Cultivation Power Stone, used by Commanders to test a recruit's cultivation years 7
• Official appointment letters and tokens used to verify command authority 33

Known Personnel & Relationships

• Guiyuan Sect — Parent sect and ruling power; established the army for warfare and used it to take control of county governments 8.
• Fang Yuan — General of Qingyang Commandery's Black Armored Army 12 16.
• Chen Tianhu — Commander stationed at West Ridge Iron Mine; approved Zhou Shan's entry and exceptional promotion to Centurion 7.
• Wu — First Battalion Commander; oversaw Captain selection, formed the Bandit Suppression Squad, and recommended Zhou Shan for command of Luyang County 16 18 33.
• Li Wentao — Captain who commanded the arms-escort operation and revealed the army's trap for the Blood Fiend Sect and Hengyun bandits 9 11.
• Zhou Shan — Rose from Centurion to Captain and later Commander; led the Bandit Suppression Squad and Luyang County's garrison before leaving the army sometime before Chapter 56 7 18 33 56.
• Blood Fiend Sect / Blood Flame Army — Rival organization and battlefield enemy. The Blood Fiend Sect formed the Blood Flame Army in imitation of the Black Armored Army and contested Qingyang and Yingchuan Commanderies 8 66.
• Vajra Sect remnants — Internal threat investigated by the Dark Division, particularly in Luyang County 33 34.

Notable Operations

• Defense of West Ridge Iron Mine — Guarded the mine alongside martial forces from Hengshan County after a Blood Fiend Sect attack 1 8.
• Military-supply escort — Transported newly forged equipment from West Ridge Iron Mine to Qingyang City, defeated the Blood Fiend Sect-led ambush, and destroyed the assembled Hengyun bandit force 8 11 12.
• Bandit Suppression Squad campaign — Eliminated large bandit groups across Qingyang Commandery and earned merit needed for martial-art exchanges 16 28.
• Ye County operation — Captured horse bandits, exposed the Iron Palm Gang's collusion, surrounded its headquarters, and executed gang members after public identification procedures 19 20 21 23.
• Luyang County crackdown — Enforced curfews and patrols, accepted public complaints, arrested criminals ranging from petty thugs to prominent local heirs, and defended the prison from a coordinated jailbreak 33 35 36 39 40.
• Yingchuan campaign — Advanced into Yingchuan Commandery and engaged the Blood Flame Army in a battle involving tens of thousands of troops overall 66.