Medicine King Gang

Biodata

Background / History

The Medicine King Gang was a newly risen challenger to the Shen Family's long-standing control of Prefecture City. It began recruiting Martial Students before the Shen Family launched a similar program, offering free entry to applicants aged fifteen to twenty. Applicants who opened their first meridian within a month could join the gang; failures were compelled to serve as herb-gathering boys in the dangerous Mangcang Mountains, where survival beyond half a year was rare 3.

Its rapid rise was built on an Azure Origin Pot secretly acquired through the legacy of Chu Yun, the “Angry Vajra,” and later seized by Shi Yong. The damaged mid-grade treasure could cultivate medicinal herbs to nearly one hundred years of age, allowing the gang to accumulate resources, train Martial Practitioners, and gather experts before the Shen Family recognized the scale of its growth 132 199 200.

When the Shen Family moved to suppress the organization, the resulting great turmoil left neither side able to eliminate the other immediately. The Medicine King Gang established itself in the West of the City, contested the North of the City, and fought the Shen Family along the southern border between their territories 84 148.

Organization and Practices

Recruitment and Personnel

• The gang recruited Martial Students without an entrance fee, but imposed mandatory herb-gathering service on applicants who failed to become Martial Artists within one month 3.
• Its failed recruits gathered herbs in the Mangcang Mountains, facing venomous creatures and exotic beasts 3.
• Low- and mid-level fighters commonly cultivated the potential-suppressing Black Fiend Art and Black Fiend Palm; this included fighters from the One to Three Meridian realms and Minor Incense Master Yu Shen 84.
• The gang also possessed the Great Strength Vajra Art, a Five Elements Version cultivation method supported by Metal Origin Powder and Metal Origin Grass 131.

Internal Structure

• The Medicine King Gang maintained seven halls: the Disciplinary Hall, Medicine Hall, War Hall, Administration Hall, Etiquette Hall, Enforcement Hall, and Transmission Hall 154.
• It had only eight or nine Meridian Connecting Realm Martial Practitioners; the heads of its halls were ordinarily drawn from that realm 154.
• Its hierarchy included a gang leader, hall masters, deputy hall masters, chief commanders, Incense Masters, Minor Incense Masters, and lower-ranked Martial Practitioners 117 148 154 173.

Methods

• The gang used gambling debts to ensnare Shen Family Martial Practitioners and turn them into informants or defectors 85.
• It employed scent-seeking worms and prepared positional ambushes against Shen Family squads 76.
• During territorial fighting, it relied on guerrilla warfare, harassment, concentrated deployments, and ruthless injury-for-injury combat methods 99 101 117.
• It attempted to recruit Zhuang Jin through Gao Shi and Incense Master Dong Pei, offering advancement and assistance against Zhuang Jin's enemies 117 118.
• In Linji County, Deputy Hall Master Sikong Rui manipulated local families with rare resources and attempted to drug and capture Zhuang Jin 173.

Resources

• Damaged mid-grade Azure Origin Pot — The gang's central rare treasure; it could cultivate medicinal herbs to an age of nearly one hundred years 199 200.
• Medicinal-herb cultivation — The gang secretly cultivated high-value herbs, including a nearly century-old Ghost Orchid Snow Lotus intended for Beauty-Enhancing Pills 199.
• Azure Origin Liquid — Its limited supply constrained the gang's cultivation resources and contributed to its increasingly unsustainable war effort 170 203.
• Meridian Opening Pills — The gang produced flawed pills using improperly aged ingredients when its Azure Origin Liquid was insufficient; even its own members distrusted them 177.
• Dragon Scale Golden Armor — Shi Yong possessed Chu Yun's Innate-grade armor, designed to complement the Indestructible Golden Body Art 203.

Conflict with the Shen Family

The Medicine King Gang repeatedly sought to weaken the Shen Family through ambushes, infiltration, territorial harassment, and attacks on supply routes. In the North of the City, it initially fielded more battle-hardened Martial Practitioners, but the Shen Family gradually compressed its territory through superior numbers, blockades, and Battle Merit incentives 97 99 102.

The gang's attempt to concentrate two townships' forces in Luqing Fang temporarily created an even-strength confrontation. Its Seven Meridian Incense Masters Dong Pei and Sect Leader Dou held off Shen Family commanders while its lower-ranked forces engaged in a large-scale battle 99.

After being driven from the North of the City, the gang redirected more forces to the southern front. Fu Honggang, its chief commander in the south, launched a full assault after perfecting his martial skills, but was killed by Zhuang Jin and Sun Mingbi. The defeat left the gang subdued, with Qiu Pan adopting a low-profile policy to avoid another direct clash 154 155 156.

As attrition depleted its inferior territory and resources, the gang plundered medicinal materials from Wanliu, Linji, and Qinghe counties. The operation was led by three Meridian Opening Realm deputy hall masters and brought the conflict into the county towns 170 171.

Key Members

• Shi Yong — Gang leader; inherited Chu Yun's legacy, concealed the true nature of his cultivation, and led the gang until his death during the Prefecture Yamen ambush 188 199 203.
• Shi Jie — Shi Yong's younger brother; reached the Eight Meridian Realm and died after attempting an Innate Realm breakthrough 200 204.
• Fu Honggang — Chief Commander on the southern front; perfected the Black Fiend Palm and his movement technique before being killed by Sun Mingbi after fighting Zhuang Jin 152 154 155.
• Dong Pei — Incense Master and strategist active in the North of the City; organized harassment, attempted to recruit Zhuang Jin, and retreated after being injured by Zhuang Jin and Liu Licheng 117 118 119.
• Sikong Rui — Deputy Hall Master of the Punishment Hall; organized medicinal-material raids, operated the Linji County stronghold, and used local families in a scheme against Zhuang Jin 173 179.
• Xie Feilong — War Hall Master and a sixth-level Meridian Connecting Realm Martial Practitioner; surrendered when confronted by Zhuang Jin, Shen Xianhong, and Mu Yuantu 188 204.
• Zhu Xi — Eleven Meridian Martial Practitioner who led an attack against Zhuang Jin on the southern front; later killed by Zhuang Jin in three moves 150 155.
• Qiu Pan — Deputy Master of the War Hall who worked with Fu Honggang; after Fu's death, he maintained a cautious, low-profile posture 123 156.

Relationships

• Shen Family — Principal rival; fought a prolonged conflict over Prefecture City, the North of the City, the southern front, and county-level medicinal resources 84 97 170 171.
• Zhuang Jin — Major enemy whose repeated victories disrupted its northern operations, southern command structure, county schemes, and eventual leadership 85 155 179 203.
• Mu Yuantu and the Prefecture Yamen — Ostensible peace mediator who joined Shen Xianhong and Zhuang Jin in killing Shi Yong and occupying the gang's territory 201 203 204.
• Fei Family and Yao Family — Linji County families targeted and manipulated by Sikong Rui as part of the gang's effort to expand influence and eliminate Zhuang Jin 173.

Demise

Shi Yong accepted Mu Yuantu's invitation to peace talks despite suspecting a trap, underestimating Zhuang Jin's breakthrough to the Innate Realm. At the Prefecture Yamen, Zhuang Jin, Shen Xianhong, and Mu Yuantu surrounded Shi Yong; he was mortally wounded and died after self-detonating 203.

The three Innate Realm experts immediately attacked the Medicine King Gang headquarters. Zhuang Jin cut through hundreds of defenders, Shi Jie was discovered dead from his failed breakthrough, and the gang's Azure Origin Pot was recovered 204.

Following the fall of its leadership and headquarters, the Medicine King Gang was dismantled. The government took control of the West of the City, while the Shen Family gained access to the damaged mid-grade Azure Origin Pot and expanded its influence 204 205.