Jintai Prefecture

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Jintai Prefecture
Original Name	金台府
Type	Prefecture of Great Qi 327
Location	One of Jizhou’s nineteen prefectures 412
Prefectural City	Jintai Prefectural City 193 208
Neighboring Region	Caozhou 256
Governing Powers	The Imperial Court’s prefectural authorities and the Five Great Sects 327
Major Aristocratic Families	Hong, Lin, and Su 207
Principal Martial Event	Jintai Grand Tournament, normally held every five years 301
Status	The Demon Cult’s overt forces have been purged, though senior experts remain wary of its ability to return 406

Geography

Jintai contains county seats, towns, rural villages, forests, mountains, and major sect territories. Its roads connect with Caozhou, supporting frequent trade between the two regions 256 272.

Settlements and Counties

Location	Description
Jintai Prefectural City	A bustling walled city with towering blue-gray walls. The Three Great Families have been rooted here for centuries; the Hong estate stands in its central district 208 253 327.
Yuhe County	Yang Jing and Sun Ningxiang’s hometown. Its martial resources are scarce, and hidden-strength fighters already command considerable local respect 269 371.
Heyin County	Contains Horse Mountain and Horse Mountain Village, a small farming and hunting settlement. The county becomes one of the battlefields during the Demon Cult resurgence 257 259.
Xiping County	Another county affected by fighting between the righteous forces and the Demon Cult 259.
Linshan County	The area threatened by the Demon Cult’s occupation of the Stone Mountain Secret Realm 299.
Hidden Dragon Town	A waterfront settlement on Hidden Dragon Lake’s western shore, facing the Profound Truth Sect. Its northern quarter contains villas maintained by officials, nobles, and aristocratic families seeking convenient contact with the sect 224 376.

Landmarks

• Hidden Dragon Lake — A mist-covered lake surrounding Duck Mountain Island; ferries connect the sect with Hidden Dragon Town 269 376.
• Duck Mountain Island — Home of the Profound Truth Sect. Its abundant Heaven and Earth Origin Energy sustains green vegetation and a mild climate even in winter 301 376.
• Moonwatch Mountain — South of the prefectural city and counted among Jintai’s three most celebrated mountains and waterways. Its forested slopes and mist-wreathed peaks host the 50th Jintai Grand Tournament 301 314.
• Former Glory Prosperity Gang Stronghold — Used as a temporary tournament encampment on Moonwatch Mountain. The gang was destroyed during a Demon Cult calamity thirty years earlier 314.
• Stone Mountain Secret Realm — An independent realm whose laws prevent Core-Realm experts from entering. Its occupation by the Demon Cult requires a coordinated operation by the government and Five Great Sects 298 404.

Government and Major Powers

Prefectural Authorities

• The Prefect controls military affairs, governance, and laws, backed by the Imperial Court of Great Qi. Together with the five great sect leaders, he forms Jintai’s highest ruling circle 327.
• Commandant Tan Wei is a Core-Realm official and one of the prefectural government’s three most powerful figures. He hosts the 50th Jintai Grand Tournament and oversees the subsequent secret-realm operation 316 382.
• County seats are Imperial Court administrative centers and symbols of its authority. Attacking and sacrificing an entire city would risk drawing the court’s main armies against the Demon Cult 273.

Five Great Sects

The Five Great Sects—also called the Five Great Schools—possess thousand-year legacies and control the region’s finest cultivation resources. They cooperate against common threats while competing over resources, rankings, and influence 327 404.

Sect	Known Leader	Position and Distinguishing Features
Cloudsoar Sect	Ren An	The foremost sect in Jintai. Its foundations, connections, and strength surpass its peers; it also has support from a senior figure at Pingtian Academy 301 407.
Heavenly Sword Sect	Four Seas Sword Sun Li	Second only to Cloudsoar in standing and strength. Renowned for swordsmanship and its “Seven Swords” 241 246.
Profound Truth Sect	Cao Zhen	Based on Duck Mountain Island, with a Main Peak and seven branches. Yang Jing’s tournament victory reverses its declining prestige 129 370 376.
Jadewater Palace	—	One of the five ruling sects; its disciples attend the Vajra Order’s challenge to study Li Yu as a potential future opponent 246 309.
Vajra Order	Wei Ran	Home of the Three Heroes, whose Mountain-Visiting Challenge against the Profound Truth Sect ends in defeat 253 301.

• Routine negotiations are handled by elders or senior stewards. Personal meetings between sect leaders are reserved for major affairs affecting their shared interests or the prefecture’s stability 404.
• Regional authority rests on the combined power of the Prefect and the five sect masters. Even prominent aristocratic patriarchs approach them with deference 316 327.

Aristocratic Families and Intelligence

• Hong Family — Foremost of the Three Great Families, with its principal estate in the prefectural city and a villa in Hidden Dragon Town. Hong Shixian attempts to secure Yang Jing through marriage to Hong Qingzhu, then regrets abandoning the proposal 202 241 253.
• Lin Family — Led by Lin Weiyuan, with extensive martial and commercial connections. It cultivates ties with rising talents through hospitality, material support, and personal relationships 207 327.
• Su Family — The third pillar of Jintai’s aristocracy, sharing the other families’ centuries-old roots and substantial wealth, connections, and martial strength 207 327.
• Misty Rain Tower — A neutral intelligence organization with a Jintai branch and a wider network throughout Jizhou. It buys and sells information without joining local factional conflicts; its prices are beyond ordinary people’s means 194.

Martial Culture and Resources

• Regional standing — Jintai is regarded as one of Jizhou’s martial strongholds. Its younger generation and Grand Tournament rank among the province’s best 302.
• Highest local tier — Core-Realm experts stand at the summit of Jintai’s martial world, guarding sects and deterring major threats 331 408.
• Scarcity of young experts — True Qi Realm cultivators under thirty-five are exceptionally rare. Only nine young True Qi Realm competitors appear in the 50th tournament, including concealed outsiders 334 410.
• Unequal access — Major-sect disciples enjoy dense Origin Energy, superior arts, medicinal pills, secret realms, and private training rooms unavailable to most independent cultivators and minor schools 301.
• Aristocratic investment — Great families send talented descendants to the Five Great Sects and support promising tournament contestants through resources, recruitment, friendship, or marriage alliances 207 327.
• Social influence — Connections with a rising prodigy can improve a person’s standing: Miss Jin Lian receives unusually warm treatment and an elite banquet invitation because she knows Yang Jing 193.

History

Demon Cult Calamities

Jintai had experienced earlier Demon Cult invasions, including the calamity that destroyed the Glory Prosperity Gang thirty years before the 50th tournament. Cao Zhen identifies the cult’s renewed village massacres, beginning in July, as the end of thirty years of peace 261 314.

The resurgence spreads across the prefecture, with blood sacrifices, destroyed villages, and thousands of civilian deaths. Fighting erupts near the prefectural city and in Heyin, Xiping, and Linshan counties. The righteous forces lose two Core-Realm experts, but retain advantages in terrain knowledge, reinforcements, supplies, and coordinated leadership 259.

The Five Great Sects assemble intelligence on more than two hundred confirmed cult warriors and prepare a region-wide search. Disciples at transforming strength and above are deployed across the counties, while Core-Realm experts hold key locations and stand ready to reinforce discoveries. The prefecture’s apparent tranquility during this period depends on that continuing suppression effort 262 269 272.

Southern Strongholds and the Secret Realm

Yang Jing and Lei Lie uncover correspondence exposing nearly ten subordinate strongholds beneath a central Demon Cult fortress in southern Jintai. Some hide as shops, post stations, or ordinary gangs; the documents reveal their locations, leaders, supplies, and movements. Lei Lie secures the intelligence and arranges an urgent purge with Red-Tassel Sword Qiao Xue before the network can disperse 292.

The remaining crisis centers on the Mountain-Supporting Sect, whose True Qi Realm elder has been secretly killed, and the Stone Mountain Secret Realm occupied by the cult. Because Core-Realm experts cannot enter, the Five Great Sects plan to seal the entrance and send True Qi Realm fighters inside. The government and sects eventually eradicate this stronghold together 298 404.

The defeated forces represent only one branch altar within the Demon Cult’s larger hierarchy. Their destruction restores outward peace, but experienced regional leaders do not regard it as proof that the cult can never return 406.

Jintai Grand Tournament

Format and History

Feature	Details
Established	Thirty-third year of Chengyou; 247 years before the 50th tournament 301.
Frequency	Normally every five years, with occasional schedule changes for Demon Cult uprisings, natural disasters, or warfare 301.
Scope	The Five Great Sects and more than a hundred other sects and factions send their finest disciples 147.
Authority	The Prefect presides, with the five great sect leaders serving as judges 147.
50th Tournament Venue	Moonwatch Mountain 301.
50th Tournament Date	May 5, moved forward by one month because of the Stone Mountain Secret Realm threat 299 301.
Eligibility	Under forty, with cultivation above the Qi-Devouring Realm 303.
50th Tournament Field	896 entrants; 150 pass the first preliminary round; thirty-two reach the main competition 317 320 327.
Final Audience	Nearly 200,000 martial artists, including visitors from outside Jintai 361.

50th Tournament Results

Placement	Competitor	Affiliation
Champion	Yang Jing	Profound Truth Sect 372
Runner-up	Li Tai	Registered as an independent cultivator; actually a prodigy from a great sect outside Jintai 361 372
Third	Jiang Yun	Cloudsoar Sect 311 372
Fourth	Lü Chongrui	Heavenly Sword Sect 311 372

• Previous champion — Jiang Yun won the preceding tournament and entered the 50th as the overwhelming favorite 311.
• Regional stakes — Li Tai’s outsider status makes the final a contest over Jintai’s martial reputation. Yang Jing’s victory earns support across factional lines and restores the Profound Truth Sect’s prestige 361 369 370.
• Champion’s treasure — Yang Jing receives a sacred leaf of the Six-Calamity Heaven Lotus 375 379.
• Transparent rewards — The top three receive their major prizes publicly. This practice follows a scandal two centuries earlier in which a Jadewater Palace elder stole a runner-up’s reward 372.

Pingtian Academy Recruitment

• Recommendation allocation — Pingtian Academy grants Jintai approximately twenty places, divided between the government and Five Great Sects. Cloudsoar is expected to receive the largest sect share, with two or three places available to each of the other four 407.
• Entry threshold — Candidates must be under thirty-five and in the True Qi Realm, excluding the overwhelming majority of local cultivators 410.
• Successful cohort — Thirteen Jintai candidates pass the assessment. The academy transports them on three enormous flying spirit beasts, each accompanied by a Core-Realm escort 416.
• Wider significance — The academy spans four provinces and offers resources far beyond Jintai’s sects. On arrival, Yang Jing encounters prodigies whose strength he cannot easily judge despite his unrivaled local reputation 408 412 416.