Sword Pavilion

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Sword Pavilion (剑阁)
Type	Sword-cultivation sect; one of Jiangnan’s three major sects 172
Headquarters	Wu Mountain, Jiangnan Commandery, Great Qian 204
Founder	Zhou Yang, the first Pavilion Master and a terrestrial Sword Immortal 219 220
Current Leader	Jiang Shengfan, described as Great Qian’s foremost Sword Dao expert 215
Former Leader	Lu Chunyang 225
Occupation/Role	Preserving sword inheritances, training sword cultivators, and suppressing extraterritorial heavenly demons 33 157
Heritage	Five hundred years of swordsmanship inheritance and accumulated resources 33 246
First Appearance	Mentioned in Chapter 33 33

Background / History

The Sword Pavilion traces its founding to Sword Immortal Zhou Yang. After earlier expeditions into the Eastern Profound Wasteland provoked devastating invasions, Zhou Yang led sixth-realm grandmasters in driving back demons and foreign races. They established a buffer zone, built the Border Great Wall, and laid down a sword formation. Zhou Yang subsequently returned to Great Qian and founded the Sword Pavilion 219.

During a great calamity three hundred years before the current admission ceremony, Zhou Yang fought through the demonic forces and broke through to the seventh realm, becoming a terrestrial Sword Immortal. He later fell to an unknown calamity; the circumstances of his death remain unexplained 220 229.

By Li Mu’s era, the Pavilion is described as Jiangnan’s foremost sect. Its strength rests on generations of inheritances, famous masters, superior cultivation methods, and resources recovered from the Return Ruins. Jiang Shengfan’s power allows it to maintain its prestige despite opposition from both the Saber Sect and Awakening Insects Martial Hall 164 172 246.

Purpose and Rules

• Demon suppression: Its most important duty is suppressing extraterritorial heavenly demons. Its mission system includes responding to demon scourges, devilish calamities, and emergencies on the Demon Battlefield 157 243.
• Sword courage: Candidates must be willing to confront demons directly; exceptional technique alone does not satisfy the Pavilion’s expectations 220.
• Talent-first recruitment: Youth and sword talent receive particular weight. The sect prefers leaving places empty to admitting unsuitable candidates; in some years, only a handful remained from more than ten thousand applicants 33.
• Combat-based development: Sect missions deliberately encourage advancement through real combat and dangerous encounters 171.
• Restricted transmission: Jiang Qingxue cannot freely teach Pavilion sword arts to someone who has not joined. Even mastering the Void-Resonance Intent Sword Heart Sutra does not automatically qualify Li Mu for the inner sect 189.
• Worldly intervention: Interference in worldly affairs by Pavilion experts is taboo. Jiang Qingxue requires Li Mu to conceal her promised intervention 147.
• Resource protection: Spirit food cannot be taken outside, distributions require identity tokens, and theft or destruction of spirit fields and spirit pools carries severe penalties 246.
• External unity: Jiang Shengfan orders disciples to set aside personal grudges when confronting the other three great wastelands, including cooperating with Saber Sect cultivators when necessary 261.

Organization and Membership

Disciples and Advancement

Category	Documented privileges or role
Outer disciples	A recognized membership tier with permissions distinct from higher tiers. Ye Ying formerly belonged to the outer sect 42 171 231.
Inner disciples	Receive substantially better treatment than outer disciples. Inner and outer disciples ordinarily have fixed lodgings 183 243.
Core disciples	A separately recognized status within the Pavilion’s permission system 171.
True-inheritance / direct disciples	Receive the finest benefits, individual cultivation caves in Water-Curtain Cave, greater freedom in choosing residences, and access to superior ultimate arts 241 243.

• After reaching the third realm, true-inheritance disciples must begin taking contribution tasks. These range from chores and sect competitions to demon suppression and battlefield assistance 243.
• Reaching the fourth realm allows access to opportunities in the Return Ruins, improving prospects for advancement to the fifth and sixth realms 243.
• The Pavilion maintains Earth Rankings and Heaven Rankings. Shangguan Wuyou states that listed disciples determine seniority by ranking rather than admission order or true-inheritance status alone 243.
• Around one hundred true-inheritance disciples remain in the Pavilion when Li Mu receives his Water-Curtain Cave residence 243.

Leadership and Notable Members

• Zhou Yang — Founder and first Pavilion Master; one of the three historical cultivators to manifest eight scenes at the Great Evolution Sword Stele before Li Mu’s examination 214 219.
• Jiang Shengfan — Current Pavilion Master and Li Mu’s chosen master. His talent produced eight scenes at the stele; even Sword Saint Dugu Qianlou was once his student 214 215 228.
• Lu Chunyang / Old Lü — Former Pavilion Master and Jiang Qingxue’s martial uncle. Travels with a sword case and donkey, assists Li Mu, and kills Zhu Wangyue after the attack on the admission candidates 156 225.
• Jade Void Master, Pure Void Master, Soaring Void, and Mysterious Void Master — Four leading elders, described as the Pavilion’s foremost experts beneath Jiang Shengfan; oversee the admission trials 207.
• Jiang Qingxue — Senior sister whose talent manifested eight stele scenes. Guides Li Mu before admission and repairs much of his damaged divine soul after the Moon-Watching Tower attack 189 214 225.
• Li Mu — Record-breaking admission candidate and top-ranked direct disciple; becomes Jiang Shengfan’s disciple 225 228.
• Feng Qingluo and Zhai Feiguang — Become direct disciples alongside Li Mu 228.
• Dugu Qianlou — Sword Saint from the Pavilion’s lineage and creator of the Grand Void Sword Canon; hunts remnants of Sacred Buddha Temple 156 263.
• Ye Ying — Former outer disciple who returned home after suffering an injury connected to a sword-and-saber competition 231.

Sword Pavilion Opening Ceremony

The Sword Pavilion Opening Ceremony is held once every ten years. The ceremony attended by Li Mu brings together three thousand young sword talents from Great Qian’s thirteen commanderies 42 204.

Jiang Qingxue explains that examination formats vary between ceremonies. The following trials belong to Li Mu’s admission year 189.

Trial	Test	Li Mu’s documented result
1. Qi and Blood Trial	Climb the mountain stairs under sword-formation pressure while facing sword-wielding demon birds 206.	Reaches the summit and receives a perfect score 209.
2. Spirit Soul Trial	Cross the 1,500-step Bridge of Helplessness while enduring malevolent thoughts and demonic souls 212.	Completes all 1,500 steps and earns the maximum 750 points 212.
3. Sword Dao Talent Trial	Produce wondrous scenes through the Great Evolution Sword Stele 214 215.	Opens an unprecedented ninth scene, surpassing the previous eight-scene record 215.
4. Swordsmanship Trial	Fight bronze warriors within a sword formation using sword techniques 216 217.	Chains ninety-eight bronze warriors in one breath, forcing the Pavilion Master to act 217.
5. Demon Battlefield Trial	Travel aboard the Wangshu to the Eastern Profound Wasteland’s border buffer zone and fight demons; the base maximum is 10,000 points, with realm-based bonuses 220.	Receives 10,000 points for his combat achievements, rescues, and survival against the Moon-Watching Tower Master 225.

• Li Mu finishes with 53,250 points, taking first place on the Trial Gold Ranking and breaking the Pavilion’s previous records 225.
• Jiang Shengfan offers to receive him before the remaining examinations, but Li Mu chooses to complete every trial 216.
• 780 new disciples enter the Pavilion after the ceremony. Li Mu, Feng Qingluo, and Zhai Feiguang become direct disciples, while the other top-hundred inner disciples choose their masters 227 228.

Cultivation and Inheritances

Beginningless Sword Intent

• A Pavilion inheritance associated with Zhou Yang’s Creation-grade Sword Intent 229.
• Its four regular levels are River-Crossing, Surging-Current, Raging-Tide, and Wild-Sea, followed by Summit and Creation 229.
• Connected to the Peerless Ten-Thousand-Forged Beginningless Sword Bone, a powerful bone-forging method that even Jiang Shengfan has not fully cultivated 228.
• Li Mu first encounters a yellow talisman page bearing the Pavilion’s name; its connection eventually leads him to Jiang Qingxue and the Beginningless inheritance 49 155 156.

Void-Resonance Intent Sword Heart Sutra

• A rare Pavilion supreme art personally transmitted to Li Mu by Jiang Qingxue 162.
• Its power exceeds Purple Radiance Sword Qi, and Ye Ying cannot access it while outside the Pavilion 162.
• Despite its strength, it is not considered top-tier within the Pavilion and does not independently guarantee inner-sect admission 189.

Other Documented Arts

• Suppress Mountains and Rivers — Ultimate sword art used by Soaring Void to crush the Moon-Watching Tower Master’s demonic manifestation with runic mountain-and-river phantoms 225.
• Sitting-in-Oblivion Heart Scripture and Heavenly Dao Sword Force — Copies supplied to new true-inheritance disciples as examples of the superior arts available to them 243.
• Supreme sword-bone forging — Requires refining sword intent into flesh and transforming the body into a sword 209.

Headquarters and Facilities

Wu Mountain consists of cloud-reaching peaks occupied by Pavilion halls and pavilions. Its mountain grounds are described as lush and verdant 204 227.

Location	Function or distinguishing feature
Sword Stele Valley	Ceremony grounds containing the Great Evolution Sword Stele 215.
Sword-Viewing Peak	Mist-shrouded peak containing Jiang Shengfan’s secluded cultivation chamber 215.
Water-Curtain Cave	Spiritually rich cultivation ground restricted to true-inheritance disciples. Its energy strengthens body and soul, slows aging, and stimulates vitality 241 243.
Treasure Pavilion	Holds sword manuals and other treasures; Elder Xiao directs Li Mu elsewhere for advanced artifact forging 249.
Artifact-Refining Peak	Destination for forging exotic materials together with existing weapons 249.
Heavenly Pillar Peak	Residential peak where Li Mu and Feng Qingluo become neighbors 244.

Resources and Artifacts

Contribution System

• Contribution points, not gold or silver, purchase rare treasures, medicines, supreme arts, and weapons 171.
• Points are earned through sect missions; disciple status determines permissions and access 171.
• Return Ruins resources accumulated over five hundred years support the Pavilion’s spirit fields, spirit pools, and other cultivation provisions 246.
• Communication jade tokens allow fellow disciples to contact one another. Spirit cranes and other sect-raised demon birds serve as mounts 243.

Notable Artifacts

• Great Evolution Sword Stele — Ancient talent-assessment treasure. Before Li Mu, only Zhou Yang, Jiang Shengfan, and the current senior sister had manifested eight scenes; Li Mu produces nine 214 215.
• Immovable Sword King Cauldron — Sect-protecting immortal artifact containing the true intent of overcoming skill through force. Both disciples and high-ranking members study it 209.
• Sword-Chime Talisman — Alerts Jiang Shengfan to an extreme disturbance at the talent stele; it cracks when Li Mu surpasses eight scenes 215.
• Eight hundred bronze warriors — Forged over three years from indestructible divine bronze recovered from the Return Ruins, with puppet spirit-refining techniques. Intended for both admission testing and future inner- and outer-sect sword training 217.
• Wangshu — Flying treasure ship transporting candidates to the final trial’s demon battlefield 220.

Relationships

• Hidden Sword Manor — Connected through former outer disciple Ye Ying. Admission to the Pavilion is the ultimate goal of many Manor disciples, and Li Mu’s success greatly elevates their pride in the Manor 42 231.
• Jiangnan Saber Sect — Centuries-old rival. Their annual Sword-and-Saber Debates permit serious injury but forbid killing; the Pavilion generally wins 161.
• Awakening Insects Martial Hall — Leans toward the Saber Sect through its Shangguan-family connections, leaving the Pavilion effectively opposed by two major sects 172.
• Moon-Watching Tower — Its attack on Li Mu provokes the destruction of its master and a Pavilion-led investigation across all thirteen commanderies 225.
• Sacred Buddha Temple remnants — Targets of Pavilion suppression; Zhu Wangyue is exposed as one of its demonic remnants, while Dugu Qianlou hunts others 225 263.
• Extraterritorial heavenly demons — Principal enemy named in the Pavilion’s central duty 157.

Major Events

Event	Pavilion involvement
Intervention at Hidden Sword Manor	Old Lü comes to find Li Mu at Jiang Qingxue’s request. He later destroys a Flying Yaksha’s altar beneath the Manor, preventing the summoning of a Heavenly Demon King 155 156 157.
Li Mu’s admission	His ninth talent scene brings Jiang Shengfan to the examination grounds. His record-breaking performance culminates in becoming the Pavilion Master’s direct disciple 215 225 228.
Moon-Watching Tower purge	Soaring Void rescues Li Mu; Lu Chunyang kills Zhu Wangyue’s true body. The Pavilion orders a sweeping search for spies and collaborators across Great Qian 225.
Return Ruins cooperation	Pavilion disciples receive explicit orders to put external survival ahead of internal and sword-versus-saber grudges 261.
Meteor Sword Mountain confrontation	A dispute involving Li Mu’s group brings Pavilion and Saber Sect ancestors into conflict. Lu Chunyang strikes Shangguan Chenggan before the Saber Sect withdraws 268.

Notable Quotes

“In any case, the Sword Pavilion’s most important duty is suppressing the extraterritorial heavenly demons.”
— Old Swordsman Lü 157

“A sword cultivator must have sword courage! No matter who the opponent is, they must dare to draw their sword!”
— Soaring Void 220