Cloud Prefecture

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Cloud Prefecture
Original Name	云州
Alias(es)	Yun Province; Yunzhou 97 433
Type	Administrative region of Great Qi 97 188
Affiliation	Great Qi Dynasty 97 577
Location	Northeastern border of Great Qi, alongside Qingzhou and Youzhou 97
Administrative Seat	Cloud Prefecture’s capital, also called Yun Province Prefecture City 184 502
Jurisdiction	Ten prefectures and 264 counties 188
Principal Defense Organization	Cloud Prefecture Demon Suppression Department 188 502

Geography and Settlements

• Cloud Prefecture borders Qingzhou; their frontier includes extensive mountains and marshland 372 435.
• Dongsheng Town, Luo Yi’s hometown, lies within Yunlu County, Nanshan Prefecture, Cloud Prefecture 577.

Location	Description
Prefectural capital	A major cultivation-resource center with access to techniques and supplies from both the Capital and subordinate prefectures and counties 502.
Yunlu County	A poor, remote border county initially dominated by the Four Great Clans, two gangs, and three martial halls 16 136 219.
Nanshan Prefecture	Luo Qingfeng’s jurisdiction; its capital displays a sharp divide between wealthy central neighborhoods and poorer districts near the gates 308 417.
Nanyang Prefecture	Its capital is prosperous and only slightly smaller than Cloud Prefecture’s capital 268.
Fengyang County	A county dominated by the nearly five-hundred-year-old Lin Family, whose Jade Liquid Realm ancestor protects it from demons and evil spirits 239.
Fulong Commandery	A bustling city with a Demon Suppression General’s residence, governor’s mansion, and official residences arranged by rank 311.
Mount Tianquan	Known as Cloud Prefecture’s foremost sword-cultivation sect; later targeted by a suppression expedition 209 219.

Government and Defense

Demon Suppression Department

The regional department is responsible for protecting Cloud Prefecture’s ten prefectures and 264 counties 188.

Division	Personnel	Duties and Characteristics
Inner Camp	2,000	Primarily remains in the capital, patrols its streets, and conducts regular county patrols 184 188.
Outer Camp	5,000	Operates beyond the capital; Fan Yan served in this camp during his youth 184 188.
New Recruit Camp	1,000	The department’s recruit contingent 188.

• Fan Yan served as regional Commander-in-Chief before Tong Lin’s tenure. He declared his determination to protect Cloud Prefecture despite obstacles involving his own disciples and the Princess of Qi 360 502.
• Tong Lin later became Commander-in-Chief and remained in office during the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion crisis 502 762.
• Demon Suppression Generals guard the subordinate prefectures and can be summoned collectively to the regional headquarters 337.
• Gold-Bell Demon Slayers include Elder Tong, Xue Bingxuan, and Elder Chu. Their responsibilities make them difficult to deploy except in grave emergencies 361.

Civil Administration

• The prefect organized food-for-work relief, employing refugees to clean the moat and repair city walls. Luo Yi intervened to prevent officials from exploiting the workers 286.
• Aristocratic influence extends into official appointments. During Tong Lin’s command, Luo Yi encountered newly appointed Colonels who had entered the department through family connections 502.

Major Powers

Cloud Prefecture’s leading families and sects possess Condensing Pill Realm experts. Wen Wanning describes these powers as only slightly weaker than the Demon Suppression Department 208.

Power	Position
Fan Family	One of the five great families and the family of Commander-in-Chief Fan Yan. Fan Wenzhi’s assassination becomes an urgent departmental matter because of this connection 208 232.
Luo Family	A noble house dating to Great Qi’s founding; Luo Yunzhan’s background gives him influence far beyond Yunlu County 74 208.
Meng Family	One of the five great families; maintains a lavish residence in Tong’an County 208 391.
Jiang Family	Originally one of the five great families. An ambush against its ancestor leaves only four top families recognized in Wen Wanning’s account 208.
Wen Family	One of the five great families. Its ancestor cooperates with the Meng and Luo ancestors to exempt their descendants from the dangerous Mount Tianquan expedition 208 209.
Six Major Sects	First-class regional powers with Condensing Pill Realm experts 208.
Fu Long Temple and other named powers	Listed alongside the cold-blooded swords, life-chasing legs, and fragrance-detecting demons in Wen Wanning’s account of regional forces 208.

The capital’s ancient noble houses vastly overshadow Yunlu County’s Four Great Clans. Long Zhan explains that displeasing such a house could bring numerous lesser powers down upon the county clans 74.

History

Rebellion and Yunlu County’s Collapse

The Qingzhou Rebel Army destabilized Qing, Yun, and You. Great Qi’s Imperial Court left these regions to organize their own resistance rather than dispatching troops directly 105.

In Yunlu County, the inner-city authorities and Four Great Clans exploited a devastating outer-city plague to keep the rebels outside the gates. Prolonged infection left few living people visible in the outer streets 110. Subsequent demon destruction rendered much of the county uninhabitable, while the Chen and Li families were exterminated after their leaders colluded with the rebels 174.

Luo Yi’s Arrival and Regional Conflicts

Luo Yi planned to move to Cloud Prefecture with Fan Yan after the county disaster. Luo Xi chose to accompany him, having been told that her physique would benefit from the capital’s superior techniques and resources 169. After arriving, Luo Yi sought recognition of his county-issued Demon Suppression Department credentials and rewards for his completed missions 184.

The Mount Tianquan expedition exposed the region’s political divisions: noble families secured exemptions for their descendants while the Rebel Army and Scented Teachings also sent forces toward the mountain 209. Later, Fan Yan’s breakthrough to the Yin Spirit Realm and anticipated return helped stabilize the region, although Crescent County still required reinforcements against the rebels and Scented Teachings 331.

Major Demon Calamity

A peak Ninth-Rank demon infiltrated Cloud Prefecture undetected. Although the eventual losses were not especially large, the disturbance was described as the greatest the region had experienced in nearly a thousand years. Without Luo Yi, even Fan Yan and the combined Demon Suppression Generals and Gold-Bell Demon Slayers could not have resisted it 433.

Conflict with the Capital

A joint force from Prince Qi’s Mansion and the Temple entered the capital to capture Luo Yi, disregarding civilian safety. Luo Yi destroyed its Martial Dao Grandmasters and Yin Spirit experts outside his residence, shocking the watching citizens 518 519 520.

Before leaving the region, Luo Yi informed Tong Lin and Luo Qingfeng of his plans because their association with him could make them targets for retaliation 522.

Qingqiu Pressure and Defense Formation

Qingqiu representatives later exerted pressure at the regional headquarters, where Tong Lin and subordinate generals were required to report before a visiting elder 663. Luo Yi returned in disguise and killed an arrogant Qingqiu Fox demon in the courtyard 664.

A subsequent period of stability included construction of a city-defense formation centered on a Bagua formation-disk building. The work stopped when a dispute involving the Qi Family and Heavenly Secrets Pavilion drew Great Qi’s experts back to the Capital. Tong Lin was exempted from recall because Cloud Prefecture was Luo Yi’s ancestral land 762.

Notable Sites in the Capital

• Demon Suppression Department Headquarters — Includes the Foreign Affairs Hall and the commander’s courtyard; serves as the regional meeting and mobilization center 331 337 762.
• Fan Family Manor — A grand estate with gold-and-red buildings, where Luo Yi visits Fan Yan as his personal disciple 202.
• Yunmeng Palace — A restaurant reputed to be the best in the region; hosts Luo Yi, Wen Wanning, and their companions during discussions of cultivation and local tensions 235.
• Luo Mansion — Luo Yi’s family residence following his rise in status; managed by Long Zhan as head butler 326 342.
• Bagua Formation-Disk Building — A prominent central structure associated with the city-defense formation 762.

Significance to Luo Yi

• Luo Yi regards Yunlu County as the beginning of his Martial Dao journey, but Cloud Prefecture’s capital as the place where he truly “took flight,” thanks to its cultivation resources 502.
• The capital becomes a home for his family and a recurring base between expeditions and visits to the Imperial Capital 257 326 501.
• He continues to monitor its defenses after leaving, returning to investigate the halted formation and questioning Tong Lin about the crisis behind it 762.