Mount Fangcun

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Mount Fangcun (方寸山)
Alias(es)	Slanting Moon Three-Star Cave-Heaven 533 556
Type	Righteous cultivation sect and grotto-heaven
Affiliation	One of the Righteous Nine Sects; a pillar of the righteous path 501 569
Leadership	Sect Master Nong Mu; Sun Miao is widely regarded as the prospective next sect master 569
Location	Central Yu Continent; its sphere of influence includes Clear River Commandery 493 501
Status	Active 664
First Appearance	Chapter 493

Background

Mount Fangcun's own records trace its rise to two brothers who obtained cultivation methods and treasures from an ancient cave abode, then followed its records to locate the blessed land of Slanting Moon Three-Star Cave. After generations of development, it became one of the Righteous Nine Sects. 535

The sect has existed for more than two thousand years. Its founding purpose is stated as slaying evil, defending the Dao, and upholding the righteous path; its Star-Plucking Assembly has been held for more than three hundred sessions. 569

Mount Fangcun governs a vast surrounding territory and recruits new disciples once every three years. Candidates from aristocratic families and commoner backgrounds may be tested for aptitude and admitted to the mountain. 500 Disciples unable to advance to the Dao Embryo realm may be sent into the secular world to establish local branches, while sect-recognized temples and Orthodox Investiture support legitimate local deities. 516

Territory and Grounds

Mount Fangcun is a spiritual mountain where ambient spiritual energy condenses into mist and is described as more than ten times denser than that of Clear River Commandery. 501

• The mountain gate bears the ancient seal-script characters “Mount Fangcun” and is flanked by two two-hundred-zhang green-jade qilin set with spirit pearls; their divine sense deters those approaching with evil intent. 501
• A spirit spring descends from the summit as a thousand-zhang waterfall, while the main peak rises like a sword toward heaven amid surrounding peaks. 501
• Immortal cranes and azure luan inhabit the mountain, and incoming disciples travel over a sea of clouds. 501
• The eighteen lineages’ spiritual pivots converge at Evergreen Mountain, the sect’s foremost spiritual root and the seclusion site of the sect master. 578
• Mount Fangcun’s blessed land absorbs an estimated eighty to ninety percent of the spiritual energy across its tens-of-thousands-of-li territory, despite that territory being home to roughly eighty million mortals. 543

Fangcun Temple

Fangcun Temple is Mount Fangcun’s supreme treasure, second only to the divine-restriction treasure Slanting Moon Treasure Mirror. 568

• Refined and expanded by more than sixty generations of cultivators. 568
• Can be stored within a sleeve or unfolded into a cloud platform of 1,300 mu capable of holding nearly 100,000 disciples. 568
• Used for military expeditions in wartime and as the venue of the Eighteen Lineages Star-Plucking Assembly in peacetime. 568
• Its seventy-two coiling-dragon pillars bear flowing Dao patterns and envelop Cloud-Reaching Peak in Dao resonance when deployed. 568

Organization

Sect Leadership

Nong Mu, Mount Fangcun’s current sect master, comes from Cloud-Reaching Peak and has ruled for nearly five hundred years. His public appearance at the Star-Plucking Assembly was a Golden Core external incarnation with a foundation exceeding the Second Nine Heavenly Tribulation. 569

Three halls stand above the eighteen peak lineages:

• Herb Hall — Administers the sect’s spirit fields, pill rooms, spirit-beast gardens, and major merit distribution. 525
• Reward Hall — One of the three halls directly under sect governance. 569
• Evil-Punishment Hall — One of the three halls directly under sect governance. 569

Eighteen Lineages

Mount Fangcun is divided into eighteen lineages, each with its own peak, teachings, and internal standing. 504 569

Lineage	Position / Distinction
Cloud-Reaching Peak	Foremost of the eighteen lineages; three sect masters, including Nong Mu, originated from this lineage. Its disciples commonly cultivate both sword arts and the body. 514 536
Dragon Head Peak	A prominent lineage whose disciple Yuan Shujian was a previous Star-Plucking Assembly dark horse and disciple of a Dragon Court elder. 505
Little Green Peak	Reopened only recently and regarded as the lowest-ranked lineage; its small membership and violent history leave it isolated from other peaks. 503 504
Herb Hall	Nominally one of the eighteen lineages, but holds a transcendent status because it is directly governed by the sect. 525
Dragon Fang Peak	Formerly used to imprison demons; it retains a tradition of using demons to temper its disciples. 579
Firecloud Peak	Known for artifact refinement and extensive use of talismans and magical artifacts. 568 580
Dragon Scale Peak	Specializes in raising spirit beasts. 568

Little Green Peak

Little Green Peak’s predecessor, Little Clear Peak, suffered a catastrophic internal massacre when its former peak master fell into demonic madness and slaughtered more than a thousand disciples. Only one survivor remained: the current peak master. 503

The former lineage was erased from the register of eighteen lineages. Over three hundred years, the surviving peak master achieved the Great Dao Golden Core and restored the peak’s place in the sect as Little Green Peak. 503

• The peak only opened recruitment for the second time in the current year. 503
• Other lineages regard it with suspicion because of its history and the dangers associated with the Seven Kills Sword Manual. 511 533
• Its current peak master is believed to be cultivating the Seven Kills Sword Manual in the forbidden back mountain. 533
• Despite its poor standing, Little Green Peak’s landscape and feng shui are considered second only to Cloud-Reaching Peak among the eighteen lineages. 524

Cultivation and Training

Outer-mountain disciples receive the Slanting Moon Ageless Art, which extends from Qi Movement to Dao Embryo and can prolong lifespan when cultivated deeply. 501

• The art includes three spells, though none are considered exceptional. 501
• Primordial One-Qi True Explanation emphasizes “nine revolutions forming astral force, one qi returning to primordial unity.” It develops quickly at first but becomes slow later; its spiritual power can exceed that of same-realm cultivators by more than threefold. 501
• Individual disciples may receive different final jade slips based on their aptitude and lineage. 501
• Little Green Peak teaches the Five Elements Hidden-Armor Sword Classic, a sword art created by Patriarch Dixiang that balances offense and defense through the five elements. 501 580

Merit System

Mount Fangcun uses merits as its internal currency. 502

• Guarding a spirit garden earns 100 merits per day. 502
• Felling ten stalks of Moonshadow Spirit Bamboo earns 200 merits. 502
• 100,000 merits can be exchanged for a low-grade spiritual artifact. 502
• Spirit pills, spirit beasts, and magic swords are acquired through fixed merit prices. 502

Library Pavilion

The Library Pavilion regulates disciples’ access to its texts through their jade tokens and a monthly consultation limit. Additional access normally requires merits. 504

• Its first floor contains extensive general classics. 536
• Its second floor preserves Mount Fangcun’s lineage inheritance texts. 536
• Certain elder-bestowed jade tokens permit unrestricted access even to treasured Daoist canons on the third floor. 504

Major Events

• Clear River recruitment — Mount Fangcun’s visiting recruiters initially remained at the Chen Clan rather than rotating among Clear River Commandery’s three major families as custom required. Yuan Shujian later personally brought Zhou Jing to the sect. 500
• Little Green Peak’s reopening — Zhou Jing entered the sect and was assigned to Little Green Peak with an upper-grade D aptitude assessment, despite his unusual prior cultivation. 501
• Zhao Imperial Capital incident — Disciples discovered that Zhao’s capital had become a city of demons despite lying within Mount Fangcun’s wider sphere of influence. 546
• Delayed reinforcement — Mount Fangcun’s elders arrived only after the disciples’ crisis had largely passed, leading several disciples to conclude that the sect had treated them as expendable. 559
• Star-Plucking Assembly — Nong Mu expanded each lineage’s delegation from nine to sixteen disciples and added competitions in formations, chess, calligraphy and painting, music, and object identification. 569
• Heavenly Emperor’s Treasury expedition — Mount Fangcun joined Dragon Spring Sword Sect, Western Kunlun, and other forces in the East Sea expedition. Its eleven-person party entered the Treasury under Sun Miao’s leadership. 598 602
• Treasury aftermath — Although many factions suffered severe losses, Mount Fangcun emerged comparatively intact. Zhou Jing’s actions within the Treasury made his name known throughout the righteous, demonic, and unorthodox paths. 664

Reputation and Internal Condition

Mount Fangcun was once described as holding the leading position of the righteous path, but its prestige has declined in recent generations. Its disciples have reportedly endured repeated slights while traveling outside the mountain, and by the time of the Heavenly Emperor’s Treasury expedition it was ranked last among the Righteous Nine Sects. 535 664

Its weakened reputation is linked to a lack of standout disciples in recent generations, hostility toward Little Green Peak, and reports of internal strife. 535 536 556 The sect’s late response to endangered disciples further deepened disillusionment among its own members. 559

Nong Mu remains determined to make Mount Fangcun the foremost sect of the righteous path. 664

Relationships

• Clear River Commandery — Falls within Mount Fangcun’s sphere of influence; the sect recruits disciples there and maintains ties with secularized former disciples and local cultivation families. 493 500
• Western Kunlun — Received Zhuang Xiuyin, the Jade Terrace Fairy, as an honored visitor before the Heavenly Emperor’s Treasury expedition. 535
• Dragon Spring Sword Sect — Received Sword Heir Yao Xia as an honored visitor and later traveled alongside its party to the Heavenly Emperor’s Treasury. 535 598
• Demon Sect — A long-standing adversary; the demonic path was driven from Central Yu Continent through the joint efforts of the righteous and unorthodox paths. 541 556
• Dragon Clan — Shared access to the Heavenly Emperor’s Treasury alongside sects of the righteous, demonic, and unorthodox paths; true dragons guarded its entrance. 598
• Zhou Jing — Little Green Peak disciple whose accomplishments in the Heavenly Emperor’s Treasury brought widespread attention to Mount Fangcun. 664