Lingxiao City

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Lingxiao City
Original Name	凌霄城
Type	City
Location	Xingzhou, Great Qian; adjacent to Changjun, Luori, Baihe, and Yuanhua Cities 69
Affiliation	Initially controlled by the Wang, Zhao, and Fang families; seized by Gu Jinlai and the Gu Family, later serving as part of Lingxiao Palace's territory 40 57 354
Occupation/Role	Gu Jinlai's first urban power base; later an industrial hub for Lingxiao Palace 57 354
Status	Extant
First Appearance	Chapter 40

Geography and Population

Lingxiao City was one of Xingzhou's twenty-six cities and a strategic transportation point linking Huangzhou to the north, Chizhou to the west, Jiangzhou to the east, and Lanzhou to the south. Xingzhou had once flourished as Great Qian's southern transportation hub. 69

Period	Population / Scale	Notes
Gu Jinlai's arrival	300,000–400,000 recorded residents	Considerably smaller than Changjun and Starlight Cities; its streets appeared desolate despite its nominal population. 40
After regional expansion	1.3 million including surrounding counties	Compared with Yuanhua City's 2.4 million residents including its counties. 94
Later period	About 4 million	Even after expansion, it was considered less centrally located than Starlight City. 354

History

Rule of the Three Families

Before Gu Jinlai's arrival, Lingxiao City was jointly dominated by the Wang, Zhao, and Fang families. Their united front prevented outside forces from interfering with the city, while anyone threatening their interests faced their combined retaliation. 40 41

The previous City Lord's Li family was exterminated after refusing to collude with the three families. Fang Que, the Meteor Guard Commander, Qin Guichuan, Yang Shengping, and the major families also cooperated with the Crimson Blood Demonic Sect, including the delivery of people in exchange for security and control over demonic beasts. 48 53

Though described as peaceful, the city suffered from disappearances, shuttered businesses, hurried pedestrians, and a pervasive atmosphere of fear. 40 48

Gu Jinlai's Seizure of the City

Gu Jinlai arrived as the newly appointed West City Commander under the Meteor Guard. Fang Que publicly welcomed him, but privately concluded that Gu Jinlai had been sent to investigate the city's corruption and supported Wang Dongyu as a replacement for him. 40

When Gu Jinlai moved against the Wang family, Qin Guichuan and Yang Shengping recalled the Meteor Guards and blockaded the city to prevent his escape. The Wang, Zhao, and Fang families mobilized against him. 53

Gu Jinlai destroyed the Wang family estate with upgraded fireworks and firecrackers, killing numerous Fang and Zhao experts. He then gave the Meteor Guard until dawn to eliminate the surviving remnants of the two families. With the city gates secured, the direct descendants of the Fang and Zhao families were almost entirely annihilated. 57

By the following morning, Lingxiao City had changed hands. Gu Jinlai nevertheless recognized that holding a city required more than defeating its former rulers, particularly while Star Envoy Zhang Lü remained a potential obstacle. 57 58

Consolidation and Recovery

Gu Jinlai moved into Fang Que's former residence at the Meteor Guard Garrison Headquarters and used the city's forces to suppress the Scarlet Blood Sect at Autumn Mountain. More than a thousand sect members were encircled and suppressed. 68

The Gu Family displayed the bodies of one hundred demonic beasts, including three Great Demonic Beasts, throughout the city to demonstrate its strength. The display drew citizens into the streets and intimidated Lingxiao City's remaining local powers. 68

Although Lingxiao City later faced attacks by Tiangang Gate and Meteor Guard elites, Gu Jinlai defeated the attackers outside the city, preventing fighting from spreading into the urban area. The panic subsided after his return. 99

Base of Regional Expansion

Lingxiao City became the base from which Gu Jinlai expanded across Xingzhou. He was promoted to Star Envoy with authority over Lingxiao City, Yuanhua City, and Baihe City. 99

By this period, the name “Lingxiao City” was also used for Gu Jinlai's wider military and political force. Its armies advanced through Xingzhou, fought Dragon Sparrow Villa and the Provincial Lord's Mansion, and helped bring Xingzhou under Gu Jinlai's control. 185 199

Gu Jinlai later established Lingxiao Palace as the organization intended to unite the major sects of Tannan. Its main complex was built in Starlight City, while Lingxiao City was retained as a more suitable industrial center. 332 354

Administration and Civic Reforms

After taking control, Gu Jinlai introduced reforms that sharply contrasted with the previous families' rule.

• Abolished miscellaneous market taxes, including charcoal taxes, lijin, and landing taxes. 102
• Established public medical clinics and standardized medicine prices. 102
• Created cultural and martial academies and instituted six years of compulsory education. 102
• Separated military and civil administration. 102
• Created formal promotion systems for military and political officials, giving residents, captives, and defectors a defined route to advancement. 102
• Strengthened judicial enforcement and promoted a principle of broad equality before the law. 102 188
• Allowed non-deliberate or non-serious offenders to seek leniency through military service and distinguished contributions. 102

The system retained major privileges for the Gu Family: Gu Family members could not be tried through the ordinary judiciary and were instead subject to family law. 102

By the time Xin Tianqi secretly inspected the city, Lingxiao City had more than thirty academies. Individual schools enrolled from over a thousand to several thousand students. 148

Society and Public Perception

Lingxiao City's residents gradually shifted from fearful and withdrawn to visibly hopeful under Gu Jinlai's rule. Local cultivators, including Qi Refining practitioners, began voluntarily joining the Gu Family. 114

Xin Tianqi observed that the citizens had “hope in their hearts and light in their eyes,” attributing this change to stricter enforcement of rules, greater equality, and the respect afforded to common people. 148

Visitors later described the roads outside the city as busy with farms, manors, merchants, and laborers. Even ordinary farmers were comparatively well clothed, energetic, and capable of becoming trained workers or soldiers. 197

“I saw light in the eyes of the citizens of Lingxiao City. They have hope in their hearts and light in their eyes.”
— Xin Tianqi 148

Security and Military Development

Period	Force or Measure	Details
Prior to Gu Jinlai's rule	Meteor Guard	Led by Fang Que, with command divisions extending across the city and its surrounding counties. 40
After the takeover	Gu Family and Meteor Guard	The Guard changed allegiance after the destruction of the three major families and helped eliminate their remaining direct descendants. 57
Early consolidation	Six-thousand-man force	Gu Jinlai planned to use seized estates and resources to recruit and equip six thousand soldiers. 68
Later campaigns	Demon God Guards	Elite troops equipped with ultra-heavy Mystic Steel Armor comparable in defense to Supreme Grade Treasure Armor. 185
Anti-demonic-beast warfare	Sword Heavy Cannons	Lingxiao City's artillery could be operated by small teams trained for three to five months and inflicted devastating casualties on demonic beasts. 271

Lingxiao City's military strength was a major reason surrounding sects reconsidered their positions. Its Sword Heavy Cannons, Demon God Guards, and Gu Jinlai's personal trump cards enabled victories against Dragon Sparrow Villa, the Heavenly River demonic beasts, Yellow Heaven Dao, Lizhou, and the East Sea Twelve Islands. 231 257 281 308

Industry

Lingxiao City developed into an industrial center after Lingxiao Palace's main complex was established in Starlight City. 354

Its military workshops produced and improved weapons including Sword Heavy Cannons, electromagnetic railguns, Xuan Niao fighter jets, and the Chengying Mecha program. 288 295 308

Associated Figures and Organizations

• Gu Jinlai — Arrived as West City Commander, destroyed the three ruling families, and made Lingxiao City the foundation of his rise. 40 57
• Gu Family — Occupied the estates of the Wang, Zhao, and Fang families and supplied the city's administrators, officers, and military forces. 68
• Fang Que — Former Meteor Guard Commander whose administration collaborated with the Crimson Blood Demonic Sect; he was eliminated during Gu Jinlai's takeover. 40 57
• Meteor Guard — The city's original security force; its surviving members changed allegiance to Gu Jinlai after the collapse of Fang Que's faction. 57
• Xin Tianqi — Secretly inspected the city, approved of Gu Jinlai's governance, and later supported handing Xingzhou to him. 148 186
• Cold Moon Sect — Sought to merge entirely into the broader Lingxiao City faction as its rise became impossible to ignore. 288 289
• Lingxiao Palace — Successor organization established by Gu Jinlai; its headquarters were built in Starlight City while Lingxiao City became an industrial hub. 332 354

Trivia

• The “Sixth Academy” was not the city's sixth and final academy; Lingxiao City had more than thirty academies by Xin Tianqi's inspection. 148
• Lingxiao City was originally comparable in size to Chifeng City, the Gu Family's former home, rather than to major Xingzhou cities such as Changjun or Baihe. 40
• Before Lingxiao Palace's creation, control of Lingxiao City was regarded by Gu Family members as a dramatic leap from being one of several families in Chifeng City to possessing an entire city. 229