White Light City

Biodata

Background / History

According to Chen Linger's account, White Light City was originally ruled by three powers without any distinction between inner and outer districts: the military, the Xuanyuan Clan, and the Tuoba Clan. 14

A Tuoba Clan prodigy rose to the Dipper Pivot Realm in less than sixty years and suppressed the other two powers. During a later northwestern barbarian invasion, he broke through to the High Origin Realm on the battlefield, slew three enemy generals, and held back the invading force until Great Zhou reinforcements arrived. His actions saved White Light City from destruction. 14

After the war, a yellow-robed Daoist who had treated the wounded took the Tuoba prodigy into the Central Plains. The medicine shop he left behind became the predecessor of the Medicine King Shop, while his title, Lord of South Abundance Valley, remained associated with the city. The Chen Clan's ancestor had served as the Daoist's herb-gathering boy. 14

Over the following century, the city expanded and developed its current inner- and outer-city division. 14

Geography and Layout

• White Light City stands in the heart of Blue Orchid Continent, where abundant water and grass contrast with the surrounding Western Desert. 2 7
• An underground water source said to extend for a thousand li sustains the city and its surrounding life. 13
• The city is divided into an inner city and an outer city. 2
  • The inner city is chiefly controlled by two sects and three clans; people without status have difficulty entering it. 2
  • Most residents earn their livelihoods in the outer city, where land is extremely valuable and refugees seek entry for safety. 2 13
• Generations of people have lived beyond the city walls by relying on local water and grass, with the city initially leaving their nomadic settlements alone. 7

Governance and Defense

• The outer-city military is led by General Li Xuanfeng, whose forces include the Mountain Sea Guard and the Eighteen Heavy Guards. 2 11 15
• The Mountain Sea Guard serves as one of the reserve guards for the Eighteen Heavy Guards; martial artists who reach the Fetal Breath Realm may be incorporated into the latter. 15
• The Outer City's Military Supplies Camp manages provisions, weaponry, and military horses. It also hosts the Martial Lecture Hall for recruits facing their military assessment. 10
• The city maintains bounty notices through the Outer City Security Bureau, rewarding those who bring in the heads of sand bandits. This created the profession of bandit hunter. 7
• White Light City's prestige suppresses large bandit groups within roughly three hundred li of the city center, though sand banditry remains widespread beyond its reach. 7

Major Locations

• Outer City Garrison Hall — enlistment point for the city army. Wang Xuance joined the Mountain Sea Guard here. 2
• White Light Parade Ground / Grand Drill Ground — military training and assembly area for the Mountain Sea Guard. 2 9
• Military Supplies Camp — headquarters for outer-city garrison supplies and weapons; site of the Martial Lecture Hall. 10
• Medicine King Shop — the outer city's largest spiritual-medicine shop, built on grounds extensive enough to contain Water Orchid Pavilion and its lake. 5 13
• Outer City Security Bureau — accepts sand bandit heads and pays the posted bounties. 7
• Northern Gate — station of a Tower Stele Martial Hall survivor who later joined White Light City. 12
• Martial Meet Stone Hollow — a large circular pit in the outer city with walls hard enough to resist ordinary weapons; it hosts the Six Halls Martial Meet. 18

Economy and Resources

• Spiritual medicine is a major part of the city's economy. The Medicine King Shop sells herbs needed for cultivation, while refined medicinal decoctions are substantially more expensive than the raw ingredients. 5 12
• Alchemists capable of refining medicinal concoctions are honored guests among major powers in White Light City and the wider Western Desert. 12
• The outer city contains the Chen, Bai, and Li families, whose public reputation is important enough that internal murder is treated as a capital offense. 6
• A daily newspaper is sold to city residents for half a wen. 15

The Six Halls Martial Meet

The Six Halls Martial Meet is held once every six years and jointly organized by White Light City's six outer-city martial halls and the Outer City Military Governor's Office. It identifies talented martial artists for official rank and military service. 15 18

Autumn Killing Black-Yellow Drum

• The meet opens with the Autumn Killing Black-Yellow Drum, White Light City's weapon of suppression. 18
• It was forged on Hundred Forge Mountain from deep-desert earth essence, white gold essence, deep-sea silver mother, and armor-clad divine wood. 18
• The drum was bestowed after White Light City held back one hundred thousand elite Western Barbarian troops. 18
• Ordinary people can beat it but cannot release its killing power; martial practitioners can wield it as a suppressive weapon. 18

Current Threats

• Sand bandits endanger trade routes and the security of the outer city, while displaced martial artists from plague-stricken cities may become sand raiders after being denied entry without identification. 7 16
• Several Mountain Sea Guard members have disappeared during rest periods following General Li's killing of a Qilian Mountains disciple inside the city. 11 13
• The Qilian Mountains publicly accused White Light City of taking an item that did not belong to it and threatened retaliation after the disciple's death. 11
• General Li and Sword Elder suspect that upheavals in Blue Orchid Continent's cities may be connected to the Demonic Sect. 15

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Wang Xuance's refuge — Wang Xuance reaches White Light City after surviving the destruction of Tower Stele Martial Hall and chooses to enlist in its army for protection and resources. 2
• Military cultivation base — The city provides Wang Xuance with the Crane Form Stance, military lodging, training grounds, and access to medicinal resources. 2 5 12
• Qilian Mountains incident — General Li kills a Qilian Mountains disciple during a Martial Lecture Hall gathering, turning the city into the focal point of a sectarian dispute. 10 11
• Rising instability — Bandit attacks, plague-driven migration, and unexplained disappearances among the Mountain Sea Guard make travel beyond the walls increasingly dangerous. 13 16
• Six Halls Martial Meet — The city hosts the martial tournament in which Wang Xuance enters the arena to gain True Martial Qi and seek advancement. 15 18