Blackwater City

Biodata

Overview

Blackwater City is the principal city of Blackwater County and the most prosperous settlement within several hundred li. It contains martial arts schools, powerful local families, weapon shops, herbal-medicine shops, government offices, and major sects, but its apparent prosperity exists beside widespread hunger, refugees, corpses in the streets, and recurrent demon calamities 7 8.

The city’s security depends primarily on the Blackwater Demon Suppressing Division. Its collapse would leave the city vulnerable to destruction, while the county magistrate’s authority is chiefly civil rather than martial 26 71.

Cityscape

• Side streets are lined with sealed homes bearing faded door-god images and yellow talismans; white lanterns outside some homes mark recent deaths 1.
• The southern part of the city includes a slum district, reached through winding side streets 1.
• Refugees gather beneath the city walls, often starving and reduced to skin and bones, while wealthy martial-school and family members move through the commercial streets with servants 7.
• The city has more than a dozen martial arts schools, while major families control important resources 7.
• Moon Gazing Peak, site of the Demon Suppressing Division’s Inner Courtyard, is regarded as having the best feng shui in the city; it has abundant Spiritual Qi, a major waterfall, and peach blossom groves 95.
• Peach blossoms in Blackwater City bloom for most of the year, becoming dormant only in winter 101.

Notable Locations

• Blackwater County Yamen — The county government office. Its Miscellaneous Room employs low-ranking White Servants for work such as corpse collection, prisoner escort, and handling dangerous remains 1 7.
• Blackwater County Jail — A fortified prison surrounded by high black-brick walls, used for serious offenders 6.
• Blackwater Demon Suppressing Division — A vast southern-city complex with vermilion gates, training grounds, a library, pharmacy, blacksmith shop, and its own prison and armed personnel 26 50.
• Sacrifice Plaza — The city’s central plaza, several li across. It contains the Grand Hall of Sacrifice and a Martial Arts Arena for factional disputes and major assemblies 91.
• Taihe Money House — Blackwater City’s largest money house, noted for its backing, reputation, and dealings with the Demon Suppressing Division and martial arts schools 32.
• Wansheng Tower — A prominent three-story restaurant used by sects and powerful factions for grand banquets 97.
• Autumn Moon Tower — Once the city’s largest tavern, located beyond Peach Blossom Alley and owned by the Blood Spear Sect. It concealed Fox Demons and functioned as one of the sect’s blood chambers before the Fox Calamity was exposed 86 89.

Security and Factions

Demon Suppressing Division

The Blackwater Demon Suppressing Division is the city’s foremost protective force, responsible for slaying demons, patrolling the surrounding region, and safeguarding civilians. It is Blackwater City’s dominant authority and one of eight branch divisions under the Kaiyang Prefectural Division 26 70.

• Ye Nantian — Commander and Blackwater City’s foremost expert; he has repeatedly defended the city during demon and monster invasions 38.
• Zhou Tian — Commander who represents the Division in major disputes and recalls the losses suffered by prior defenders of the city 39 89.
• Xiao Qingshan — Deputy Commander; later granted an honorary deputy commander title after the Blackwater Division became the First Division 112 131.
• Black Armored Guards — A specialized guard unit that escorts important Division figures rather than routinely hunting demons 50.

Blood Spear Sect

The Blood Spear Sect was formerly among Blackwater City’s strongest powers, at times standing alongside the Luohe Martial Arts School and the Martial Xu Family. Its influence declined after losses to Lin Guanhuo and the Demon Suppressing Division 111.

• Its businesses, including Autumn Moon Tower, concealed blood chambers that used demons and human victims to produce essence blood pills for Sect Master Xue Tianhe 89.
• Its public confrontation with the Demon Suppressing Division culminated in a life-and-death contract at Sacrifice Plaza 89 90.
• The sect lost Xu Chen, Xu Yan, and Great Elder Xue Hai in conflicts connected to Lin Guanhuo, severely weakening its position 93 94 111.

Other Powers

• Luohe Martial Arts School — One of the city’s major martial organizations; its eldest daughter, Luo Ziyan, is a Bone Forging Realm genius 38 50.
• White Moon Gate — A top faction qualified to take a seat at the Sacrifice Plaza arena during the deathmatch 91.
• County Office — Maintains civil administration but relies on the Demon Suppressing Division for territorial defense 71.

Demon Calamities

Blackwater City exists amid frequent supernatural threats. New graves appear nightly outside the city, strange deaths occur in nearby villages and wilderness, and ordinary people are routinely killed by demons, disease, starvation, or exposure 1 7.

Fox Calamity

The Fox Calamity spread through Blackwater County as Fox Demons infiltrated human settlements while wearing human skins. Luojia Town’s constables were revealed to have fox-like features, and the calamity later proved connected to Autumn Moon Tower in Blackwater City 5 86.

Lin Guanhuo killed the Fox Immortal and the demons at Autumn Moon Tower, ending the Fox Calamity in Blackwater City. Demon corpses were subsequently removed and burned to prevent lingering Demonic energy from harming civilians 88.

Ice Bone Lion King Incident

Unnatural frost later blanketed Blackwater City despite the season, freezing residents to death and making their bodies shatter at a touch. The Demon Suppressing Division traced the phenomenon to the Ice Bone Lion King, a Blood Quenching Realm demonic beast attempting a breakthrough in the Tianman Mountain Range 112.

Major Events

Trivia

• Blackwater City’s Martial Arts Arena serves both as a venue for life-and-death disputes and as a gathering place for major factions during significant events 91.
• A fall of even one Bone Forging Realm expert is considered an earthquake-level event for the city’s power structure 94.
• The city has roughly twenty to thirty Bone Forging Realm martial artists at the time of Lin Guanhuo’s breakthrough 101.