Imperial Court

Biodata

Governance and Hierarchy

Institutions and Forces

• Divine Constabulary — A court law-enforcement organization that recruits martial artists, possesses secret martial inheritances, and operates strongholds across the realm. Its members assist in the court’s campaigns against sects and Great Grandmasters 139 213.
• Xuantian Division — An official cultivator organization active in local investigations and emergency responses, including the defense of Daze City 121 491.
• Five Dragon Armies — The Great Martial Dynasty’s main armies; black, azure, white, and red forces guard the four directions, while the gold force protects the imperial capital 216.
• Golden Scale Army — The imperial guard, equipped with light but blade-resistant golden-scale armor forged from meteorites and five metals. Its thousand soldiers are at least near the Blood Replacement threshold, while squad leaders are Grandmasters 216.
• Imperial Palace and Royal Treasury — The palace complex contains layered formations, treasure lands, the Imperial Garden, Spirit Beast Garden, and the Royal Dharma Treasury. The latter is guarded by He Yi True Monarch and sealed against surveillance 600.
• Imperial Capital formations — Changluo is protected by the Yin-Yang Twin City Great Array and concentrated Dragon Qi, which strengthen the imperial side during high-level battles 492 502.

History

Great Martial Dynasty

The Great Martial Imperial Court maintained its rule through military strength, cultivation authority, and interference in the martial world. Following a historic rebellion, imperial martial arts spread among the populace through captured manuals and battlefield rewards. The court responded by firmly establishing the Heaven, Earth, and Human Rankings to monitor and influence Jianghu forces 209.

According to the Holy Monk’s account, the court encouraged rival sects, righteous and demonic factions, and aristocratic families to exhaust one another. It periodically purged the martial world whenever independent powers became too dangerous, allowing the dynasty to survive for centuries beyond its expected decline 209.

The court later publicized the Five Poisons Cult’s Myriad Slaves Divine Art and rallied the Stone Buddha Temple, Six Void School, and other forces against the cult. Its destruction of the Five Poisons Cult became the opening move of a broader campaign against the major sects and Great Grandmasters 194 209.

The “Feast of the World” was presented as a ceremony to name eight Great Grandmasters “Heavenly Beings,” but it was intended to gather and purge the remaining martial-world powerhouses. The Divine Constabulary treated the feast as the decisive step toward the court’s supremacy over Tianxia 213 214.

The Great Martial court’s apparent strength concealed Di Tongtian, the Great Martial Ancestor. As Imperial Grand Attendant, he had possessed successive emperors from within the royal bloodline and used the True Dragon Eye and Myriad Slave God Eye to intensify the loyalty of imperial Great Grandmasters until they would die for the court 220 221.

Second Yanhan Empire

Under the Second Yanhan Empire, the court continued to rule through Daoist appointments, royal Dragon Qi, military force, and alliances with major cultivation sects. It granted honorary and substantive positions to cultivators, including offices connected to the Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect 255 488.

The court was politically divided between the “Man Conquers Heaven” faction and the “Follow Heaven and Obey the People” faction. The latter gained influence over the Emperor and supported changing laws and ancestral systems in hopes of extending the dynasty’s mandate 370.

During the Old Emperor’s Heavenly Sacrifice, the court deployed its Imperial Dharma Body and capital defenses against attacks by demonic and sect forces. The sacrifice eliminated the black mist surrounding the empire, but also removed its borders and exposed the realm to external powers 502 503 507.

The loss of a royal Corpse Release Immortal and a Dharma Body severely weakened the imperial family. Provincial authority diminished, sects expanded into surrounding territories, and the court began making substantial concessions to powerful cultivators and organizations 595 596 600 602.

Policies and Political Conduct

• The court uses official ranks, cultivation resources, titles, fiefs, and marriage alliances to recruit powerful cultivators 139 492 602.
• It investigates unusually rapid cultivation progress and treats unknown high-level cultivators as potential assets or threats. When Zhong Shenxiu revealed Primordial Spirit strength, the Old Emperor ordered that he be recruited with a True Monarch title—or eliminated if he proved hostile 492.
• It permits overseas and rogue-cultivator sects to establish themselves in the Central Plains when doing so counterbalances stronger enemies such as the Six Paths of Demonic Sect 488.
• It relies on the imperial family’s cultivators as its ultimate political foundation; when those Dharma Bodies and Corpse Release Immortals fall, ordinary imperial authority rapidly loses its deterrent force 516 595 602.
• Its officials and princes remain vulnerable to internal rivalry. Assassination attempts, collusion with outsiders, and succession struggles continue even during national crises 491 492 596.

Military and Supernatural Defenses

• The Great Martial Imperial Palace was built as a fortified political and ceremonial center, with four gates, the Three Great Halls, the Three Rear Palaces, a moat, and walls nine zhang nine high 216.
• The Golden Scale Army guards the Imperial City, but its conventional elite troops were unable to stop Zhong Shenxiu’s Great Grandmaster assault on the palace 216 219.
• The Imperial Grand Attendant served as the Great Martial court’s ultimate deterrent. He occupied the top position of the Heavenly Rankings for sixty years and was regarded as more indispensable than an emperor 202.
• Changluo’s Dragon Qi suppresses visiting cultivators and empowers the imperial side. Even Yuan Dan True Persons are affected within the core imperial hall 492.
• The Imperial Family Dharma Body can wield nine dragon-shaped divine lights and gains a major positional advantage in Changluo, where Dragon Qi converges 502.
• The court can invoke the Altar of Heaven for Heavenly Sacrifices, though the Old Emperor’s attempt to preserve national fortune produced consequences he had not anticipated 503 507.

Relationships

• Di Tongtian — Great Martial Ancestor and hidden controller of the Great Martial Imperial Court; he possessed emperors from within the royal bloodline and manipulated imperial Great Grandmasters’ loyalty 220 221.
• Zhong Shenxiu — Began as a court-appointed Deputy Envoy of Exorcism, later opposed the Great Martial court as the Undying Evil Emperor, and was subsequently recruited and protected by the Second Yanhan imperial family as Donghua True Monarch 32 219 492 611.
• Divine Constabulary — A major enforcement arm that recruits martial talent and supports the court’s campaigns against sects and Great Grandmasters 139 213.
• Supreme Dragon Tiger Sect — An allied major sect whose cultivators hold official titles and whose sect master, Pure Bright Dao Marvelous True Monarch, was entrusted with recruiting or investigating Zhong Shenxiu 255 492 692.
• Fourth Prince — A leading imperial claimant who sought Zhong Shenxiu’s support during the succession struggle and later benefited from the backing of the imperial family’s Dharma Bodies 596 684.
• County Princess Qingyuan — A royal member whose engagement to Zhong Shenxiu strengthened his connection to the Second Yanhan imperial family 607 611.

Notable Quotes

“For this goal, anyone who blocks us will be trampled for His Majesty!” 213

“The Imperial Court remained behind the scenes, instigating various sects and powers to fight for empty glory, and also provoking conflict between righteous and demonic factions, while they themselves stood aloof, periodically purging the Jianghu...” 209