Martial Guard

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Martial Guard
Alias(es)	Zhenwu Guard (镇武卫); Martial Guard Office
Affiliation	Great Gan imperial court
Occupation/Role	Imperial martial-law institution responsible for monitoring regions, suppressing martial forces, policing wards, and pursuing dangerous criminals
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 48

History

The Martial Guard was established roughly six centuries before the present era by Great Gan's founding emperor, a Heaven-Man. It was created alongside the Six Gates and Black Armor Army to suppress the realm's martial factions and secure imperial authority 61.

By the time of the Kunyun Prefecture arc, the Guard was expanding amid worsening conflict between the imperial court and the major sects. Rumors that the court intended to confiscate weapons had prompted sects to assassinate local officials, while the Guard, Six Gates, and Black Armor Army all strengthened their forces 48.

Jurisdiction and Duties

• The Guard is one of Great Gan's two major violent institutions alongside the Six Gates; it numbers in the thousands within Kunyun Prefecture and is charged with monitoring and suppressing the various regions 48.
• Kunyun Prefecture is divided into thirty wards. Each ward has a Martial Guard garrison that patrols and maintains order in coordination with the Prefecture Office's Inspection Division and the Six Gates' Arrest Hall 78.
• The Guard deploys personnel to hunt dangerous criminals, guard prisons and libraries, patrol districts, and reinforce county towns during major disturbances 77 103.
• During the chaos caused by the suspected appearance of the Heaven-Balancing Sea-Subduing Ruler, the Guard sent Thousand-Household Commanders to secure county towns and dispatched Pacification Commissioners and elite officers to Funing County 103.
• The Guard's authority protects its own institutions: harming a student within the Guard Academy is treated as a provocation against the Martial Guard itself 62.

Organization

Kunyun Prefecture Headquarters

The Kunyun Prefecture Martial Guard headquarters stands in the eastern part of the prefectural city and covers several thousand mu. It is divided between official administrative offices and the Guard Academy 50.

Its vermilion main gate bears the “Zhenwu Guard” plaque, while stone lions stand outside as guards 50.

Ward Garrisons

The normal head of a ward garrison is a Probationary Hundred-Household or Hundred-Household. Baoqing Ward, where the prefectural headquarters is located, is ordinarily led by a full Hundred-Household who has reached the middle three ranks 78.

Documented Posts

Post	Documented role or example
Martial Student	Trainee of the Guard Academy.
Flag Officer	A uniformed Guard officer rank held by Huang Tian after reaching the Eighth Grade 69.
Probationary Hundred-Household / Hundred-Household	Chief officer of a ward garrison 78.
Thousand-Household Commander	Senior officer responsible for city defense, ward oversight, patrols, or criminal-hunting assignments 77.
Pacification Commissioner	High-ranking prefectural officer; Bai Yuanfu is one of Kunyun's three commissioners and a Fourth Grade martial artist 67.
Assistant Commander	Senior command position; Yu Jingcheng serves as Kunyun's Assistant Commander and only Third Rank Grandmaster 75.
Deputy Commander	Provincial-level post held by Niu Kuanyu before his death 116 120.

Recruitment and Training

The Guard recruits only applicants with clean backgrounds through two routes 48:

• Direct appointment — Eighth Rank martial artists and above may enter the Guard directly.
• Guard Academy training — Ninth Rank martial artists, those who have developed internal force, and ordinary applicants must undergo training at the academy.

For ordinary trainees, failure to develop internal force within two months results in immediate expulsion; they lose even the qualification to serve as foot soldiers or clerks 48.

Academy training centers on stance work, force manifestation, blood-and-qi refinement, and martial techniques. Students who manifest force can use their identity plaques to receive medicinal soup at every meal, sustaining their daily training 52.

The academy considers entering the ranks within six months a satisfactory result worthy of continued investment. Those who require six months to a year are viewed as having ordinary aptitude and are generally assigned to labor roles 52.

Resources and Facilities

• Library Pavilion — The Guard maintains an extensive collection of historical records, martial arts, martial notes, and higher-level techniques. Its prefectural library has three floors, with more advanced materials on the upper levels 77 78.
• Martial arts access — A silver token permits a holder to select two martial arts from the second floor of the Library Pavilion 64.
• Divine weapons — The Martial Guard Office is noted for possessing techniques, martial skills, and divine weapons, making it one of Kunyun Prefecture's premier cultivation institutions 48 49.
• Medicinal support — Promising trainees may receive medicinal soup and Blood-Condensing Pills to support blood-and-qi cultivation 52 60.
• Divine Weapon Division — The provincial Guard maintains powerful weapons, including the grandmaster-grade Snow Frost Saber 127.

Known Personnel

• Huang Tian — Entered the Guard Academy without prior martial training, became a Flag Officer within a month, later served as Baoqing Ward's Probationary Hundred-Household, Thousand-Household Commander, Assistant Commissioner, and Commandant of Gold Affairs 60 69 76 93 121 127.
• Bai Yuanfu — Kunyun Prefecture Pacification Commissioner; recognized Huang Tian's potential, arranged his advancement, and supported his protection 67 75 88.
• Yu Jingcheng — Kunyun Prefecture Assistant Commander and the Guard's only Third Rank Grandmaster in the prefectural city 75.
• Xia Hong — Thousand-Household officer who arranged the Huang brothers' entry into the Guard and invested cultivation resources in Huang Tian 48 60.
• Nie Kun — Fifth Grade martial artist assigned to guard the Library Pavilion and later protect Huang Tian 77 88.
• Tie Qi — Fifth Grade martial artist assigned alongside Nie Kun to protect Huang Tian 77 88.
• Tie Chong — Martial Guard Deputy Captain who later reported to Huang Tian 111.
• Niu Kuanyu — Provincial Martial Guard Deputy Commander and Second Rank Grandmaster; he was sent as reinforcements to Kunyun but was killed after attempting to seize Huang Tian's opportunity 116 120.

Major Operations

Protection of Huang Tian

The Guard rapidly identified Huang Tian as an exceptional talent after he entered the ranks in ten days. Xia Hong provided Blood-Condensing Pills, while Bai Yuanfu and other commanders considered whether to transfer him to the more resource-rich but politically dangerous provincial Guard 60 75.

As Huang Tian drew the Flying Swan Sect's attention, Bai Yuanfu arranged protection through Nie Kun and Tie Qi. Yu Jingcheng was called out of seclusion because the possibility of a hostile grandmaster infiltrating the city was considered a threat too serious for ordinary officers to handle 77 89.

Suppression of Sect and Martial-World Disorder

The Guard confronted escalating instability caused by sect assassinations, martial-world vendettas, and competition for divine weapons. Its officers coordinated city security, reinforced county towns, pursued criminals, and attempted to contain the influx of powerful martial artists into Kunyun Prefecture 48 103.

When the suspected Void Realm divine weapon caused chaos in Funing County, the Guard's limited manpower was strained by widespread violence and the presence of numerous Fifth and Sixth Rank martial artists 103.

Funing County Reinforcement

Niu Kuanyu, Nie Kun, Tie Qi, and Huang Tian were dispatched toward Funing County as part of a provincial reinforcement effort. Niu later betrayed the mission by attempting to seize Huang Tian's treasure with criminal allies; Huang Tian killed him and ordered that the full truth be reported to the commandery and provincial Guard 116 120.