Dao Sect

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Dao Sect
Original Name	道门
Affiliation	One of the Four Great Sects of the East Continent Mirror Kingdom; a leading orthodox sect 7 122
Headquarters	Mountain Beyond Mountain, centered on Inquiry Peak and Junzi Temple 8 12 85
Founder	The Dao Ancestor
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 4

Background / History

The Dao Sect traces its origin to Junzi Temple, once an ordinary Daoist temple on Inquiry Peak. Its founding patriarch began as a young Daoist there, received a blackwood sword and sheath during his initiation, and learned sword forms through the temple’s morning practice. 280

The future Dao Ancestor encountered an unfinished cultivation method and discovered that it could only succeed through simultaneous internal and external cultivation. He completed his first body refinement using this foundation, later developing the nine-volume method later revered as the Dao Canon. 281

At the Ninth Realm, the Dao Ancestor created the Aperture Opening Pill and established the Aperture Opening Stage. This allowed people born without all nine Acupoints open to begin cultivation, fundamentally expanding access to the cultivation path. 12 294

The sect prospered for roughly a thousand years as inheritor of the Dao Ancestor’s legacy. Its founder defeated the Sword Sect’s cultivators of his era so thoroughly that the rivalry between the two sects became long-standing. 51

In the current era, the Dao Sect has declined after an unknown calamity in the fifth layer of the Origin Spirit Realm nearly wiped out the generation of Junzi Temple disciples that entered it. The sect lost most of its high-end combat power and is openly considered the weakest of the Four Great Sects, despite its historical prestige. 239

Organization

Disciple system

Rank / Group	Notes
Registered Disciple	The sect’s lowest disciple rank. Newcomers receive identity tokens and may formally join through blood recognition. 8 10
Outer Sect Disciple	Outer disciples cultivate across the three Outer Sect peaks, earn resources through work and missions, and access the Outer Sect Scripture Pavilion. 16 67
Inner Sect Disciple	Disciples may enter the Inner Sect after meeting cultivation requirements and receiving Inner Sect waist tokens. 259
True Disciple	A higher Inner Sect status. Every True Disciple is permitted to enter Junzi Temple. 85

Leadership

Position	Known holder(s)	Notes
Sect Leader	Xiang Yan	Presides over the sect from Inquiry Peak and oversees major sect decisions. 12 93
Grand Elder / First Elder	Lu Pan	A formation master and senior protector of the sect. 12 149
Sixth Elder	Li Chunsong	Recruits disciples, oversees Medicine Mountain affairs, and reports directly to the senior leadership. 8 16
Seventh Elder	Shen Man	A secluded sword cultivator in the Purple Bamboo Forest who possesses one of the Dao Ancestor’s inheritances. 48 228
Ninth Elder	Nangong Yue	The sect’s Artifact Refining Grandmaster and caretaker of Hidden Spirit Mountain. 14 169
Tenth Elder	Chu Yinyin	A Sixth Realm elder with extensive stored cultivation resources. 12 93
Junior Uncle	Jiang Zhi	A formidable senior of Junzi Temple and future grand-teacher to Chu Huai Xu. 128
Outer Sect Deacon	Niu Yuanshan	A fair and mild-tempered deacon responsible for arrangements for new Registered Disciples. 8 10
Outer Sect Stewards	Mo Qingmei, Liu Tianfeng, others	Administrators and mission leaders for the Outer Sect. 48 187

Territory

Mountain Beyond Mountain

Mountain Beyond Mountain is the Dao Sect’s territory and is divided into several major areas. Its spiritual energy is enhanced by formations; even the Outer Sect has denser spiritual energy than the outside world. 8

• Inquiry Peak — Main peak and seat of the Dao Sect’s main hall. 12
• Junzi Temple — The Dao Ancestor’s original temple and the residence accessible to True Disciples. 85 280
• Medicine Mountain — One of the three Outer Sect peaks and the initial residence of Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang. 8
• Purple Bamboo Forest — Secluded Inner Sect area where Shen Man meditates on a giant boulder before a stone wall. 48
• Book Mountain — Location of the Outer Sect Scripture Pavilion. 67
• Hidden Spirit Mountain — A mountain of spirit artifacts where qualified disciples may seek a compatible treasure. 74 79
• Cold Pool — Site of an inheritance secret realm and the origin point of a sect-wide sword anomaly. 31 48

Cultivation & Inheritances

Aperture Opening Stage

The Dao Sect distributes an Aperture Opening Pill to Registered Disciples. The pill unblocks the body’s nine Acupoints, while an Aperture Opening Stage technique helps absorb its medicinal power. 12

• Opening all nine Acupoints unlocks the Xuanhuang Secret Treasury and permits true cultivation. 19
• Aperture Opening cultivators cannot retain spiritual energy or generate their own spiritual power; their breakthroughs primarily strengthen the physical body. 19 20
• The stage was established by the Dao Ancestor to make cultivation possible for far more people. 12 294

Dao Canon

The Dao Canon is the sect’s most revered inheritance, named by later generations rather than by the Dao Ancestor himself. It has nine volumes corresponding to the Nine Realms. 71

• Its original first volume was incomplete; the Dao Ancestor determined that internal and external cultivation were both necessary to make it viable. 281
• The method develops both the Spiritual Embryo Treasury and the Body Spirit Treasury, making it an exceptional internal-and-external cultivation path. 85
• For a thousand years, the Dao Sect’s predecessors failed to fully understand or master the method. 85 193
• Chu Huai Xu’s successful practice of its body-refining path caused the senior leadership to question whether he had uncovered the canon’s true form. 85 93

Scripture Pavilion

The Outer Sect Scripture Pavilion has four floors, arranged by cultivation realm and protected by formation barriers. 67

Floor	Contents
First Floor	First Realm cultivation techniques
Second Floor	Second Realm cultivation techniques
Third Floor	Third Realm cultivation techniques
Fourth Floor	Sorceries and techniques

Techniques are divided into Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow grades. Registered Disciples may challenge the first-floor barriers through physical force. 67

Myriad Swords Returning to the Origin

The sect preserves Myriad Swords Returning to the Origin, a sword inheritance associated with the Dao Ancestor. Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang obtained and memorized its jade slip from the fourth floor of the Scripture Pavilion. 72

The true art reflects the Dao Ancestor’s principle that all things—including a person—can be a sword. 294

Hidden Spirit Mountain

Hidden Spirit Mountain houses a vast collection of spirit artifacts and operates on mutual selection: disciples seek artifacts, but artifacts may also accept or reject them. 79 117

• Disciples ordinarily may take only one spirit artifact from the mountain. 84
• The mountain is divided into the mountain-foot, mountain-waist, and mountain-top areas, each with progressively stronger artifacts. 74 80
• Entry privileges depend on how quickly a disciple reaches the First Realm First Layer after obtaining a technique; reaching it within three days while cultivating a Heaven Grade technique grants access to the mountain top. 74
• The mountain waist begins with Mid-grade Spirit Artifacts, while the mountain top contains High-grade and a small number of Supreme Grade Spirit Artifacts. 80

Dao Ancestor relics

• Calming the Waves — The Dao Ancestor’s blackwood sword sheath. Originally an ordinary Junzi Temple sheath, it became a Supreme Grade Spirit Artifact after accompanying the Dao Ancestor for years. 85 86
• Bronze Sword / World-Saving Sword — A sealed master-devouring Evil Sword left on the mountain peak. Its first victim was the Ninth Realm Artifact Refining Grandmaster who forged it. 79
• Black Bead — A seemingly inert bead pendant attached to Calming the Waves; it escaped Hidden Spirit Mountain’s artifact restriction and later became Chu Huai Xu’s Natal Spirit Artifact. 84 89
• Medicine Cauldron — A defensive and alchemy-oriented Destined Magic Treasure suspected to have belonged to the Dao Ancestor. 90

Doctrine & Customs

Fate and affinity

The Dao Sect is regarded as the most fate-driven of the Four Great Sects. Opportunities, secret realms, and artifact selection are generally treated as matters of affinity rather than possessions to be forcibly seized. 31 67

• Fellow disciples are forbidden from openly killing one another for secret-realm treasures. 31
• The sect may purchase secret-realm gains for Contribution Points, which can be exchanged for money, techniques, pills, and other cultivation resources. 31
• Mysterious events and unexplained inheritances are often attributed to fate. 85

Self-reliance

Outer Sect disciples are expected to earn their own cultivation resources rather than depend entirely on sect support. The policy is intended to prevent talented disciples from becoming spoiled and ineffective. 16 244

Responsibility toward the Great Tribulation

As heir to the Dao Ancestor’s legacy, the Dao Sect regards itself as an orthodox force responsible for confronting the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth. Its senior members believe that “the tall ones” should bear the burden when disaster comes. 102 122

The sect has repeatedly sent its strongest eligible disciples into the Origin Spirit Realm, where Xuanhuang Origin Fragments can be obtained and where the deeper layers are tied to the realm’s future survival. 122 169

Relationships

• Sword Sect — Historical rival. The Dao Ancestor once crushed the Sword Sect’s cultivators of his generation, though he also secretly saved the sect from destruction and was permitted to study the Three Thousand Scrolls of the Way of the Sword. 51 285 339
• Spring Autumn Mountain — One of the other Four Great Sects; linked to the Dao Ancestor through longstanding rumors involving its founding ancestor. 134 282
• Luotian Valley — One of the other Four Great Sects and a competitor in regional grand competitions and Origin Spirit Realm preparations. 134 135
• Mirror Kingdom — The East Continent state in which the Dao Sect is based and whose citizens regard the sect as a premier destination for cultivation. 7
• Kunlun Cave Heaven — A hostile external cultivation power whose Nascent Soul-stage cultivators and artifacts threaten the Xuanhuang Realm. 267 379

Story Role / Major Arcs

Recruitment of the new generation

Li Chunsong brought Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang from Biyou Meadow to Medicine Mountain, where they entered as Registered Disciples. Han’s Profound Yin Physique immediately drew the elders’ attention. 8 12

Hidden Spirit Mountain anomaly

Chu Huai Xu’s ascent of Hidden Spirit Mountain caused widespread reactions among the mountain’s spirit artifacts. He retrieved the Dao Ancestor’s sword sheath while the sect’s leaders debated whether he might be connected to the Dao Ancestor’s prophecy. 79 85

East Continent Grand Competition

The Dao Sect selected Chu Huai Xu as its representative after recognizing the potential of his Dao Canon cultivation. He won the East Continent championship, bringing resources, prestige, and renewed unity to the sect. 93 168 177

Origin Spirit Realm crisis

The sect dispatched disciples against Evil Cultivators and continued preparing for the Origin Spirit Realm despite its weakened standing. The Chixi Stream mission exposed Sword Sect disciple Zhao Qianfeng’s betrayal and cost Outer Sect Elder Liu Tianfeng his life. 187 192

Black Moon Cult attack

The Dao Sect faced a major assault involving the Black Moon Cult, the Myriad Souls Banner, and multiple Nascent Soul-level Banner Spirits. Lu Pan used the Heaven and Earth Cage to protect the sect’s disciples, while Jiang Zhi willingly entered the Demonic Path to respond to the threat. 267 268

Notable Quotes

“Inner Sect, raise your swords!” 177

“A toast to the Xuanhuang Champion, Chu Huai Xu!” 177

Trivia

• The Dao Sect’s disciples are known for gathering to watch unusual breakthroughs, artifact challenges, and other displays of fate or opportunity. 67 131
• The sect’s Founding Ancestor possessed the Pure Yang Physique, counterpart to Han Shuangjiang’s Profound Yin Physique. 8
• Niu Yuanshan’s later exposure as an undercover agent shocked many Outer Sect disciples, who remembered him as fair, tireless, and mild-tempered. 10 320