Room Fire Cult

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Room Fire Cult (室火教)
Affiliation	Star God faith devoted to the Room-Fire Star Demon, also called the Room Fire God 3 10
Occupation/Role	Heretical cult operating across Linjiang's southern outer city through recruitment, human sacrifice, and ritual pill refinement 31 45 48
Status	Active; its Emerald Lake ritual was attacked, but surviving priests escaped during the ensuing battle 49 50
First Appearance	Chapter 3

Background / History

Arrival in Linjiang

According to Liang Ben of the God-Understanding Organization, the cult originally preached in Ling Province. After the Lingnan Xu Family destroyed it there, surviving believers scattered; one group traveled to Linjiang in Southern Province 46.

The cult infiltrated Riverside Martial High School, where students associated with powerful Linjiang clans repeatedly invited He Tang and Pei Qingying to become “sacred maidens” for paid gatherings. The school struggled to discipline them because of those students’ family connections 3.

Boarfire Maiden Abductions

Cult-linked operatives Tang Bi, Feng Li, and a third man attempted to abduct He Tang. Tang Bi identified her as a “Boarfire Maiden”: a woman born in the Year of the Pig with a primarily fire-aspected innate constitution 10.

Tang Bi claimed that the cult needed ninety-nine additional Boarfire Maidens for a larger plan involving its one hundred thousand outer-city believers and the refinement of Barrier-Breaking Pills for Inner Landscape experts 10. Following the deaths of Tang Bi and his companions, the school club remained active and began voting for replacement stewards 37.

Expansion in the Southern Outer City

A Red Forest Gang member stated that the cult operated across more than thirty southern outer-city districts, with over one hundred thousand believers and membership increasing by thousands each day 31.

On Emerald Lake Street, the Red Blood Gang and other local gangs began working with the cult roughly a month earlier. The gangs supplied living and dead people for “drug testing,” receiving twice the payment offered by inner-city pharmaceutical interests 45.

Emerald Lake Factory Ritual

The cult assembled a ritual at an abandoned factory beside Emerald Lake, hanging one hundred freshly killed corpses above a prayer array. Its stated immediate objectives were to summon Shadow Guards and refine twelve superior Feather Ascension Pills 48.

The Jiangnan Myriad-House Office bombarded the factory with Divine-Fire Flying Crows, devastating the site and killing most ritual participants. The cult’s shaman survived the initial strike and ordered the remaining greater and lesser priests to take blood pills and flee 49.

Beliefs & Practices

Worship of the Room Fire God

The cult worships a pig-faced, tusked star demon known as the Room-Fire Star Demon or Room Fire God 10. Its followers invoke the deity through sacrifices, visualization methods, and fire-aspected supernatural power 31 45.

• Cult doctrine promises power in exchange for devotion and sacrifice. 31
• The cult’s ultimate “Hundred-Thousand Grand Sacrifice” allegedly seeks to offer one hundred thousand living people and summon a wisp of a Room Fire Star demon’s divided soul. 46
• Another account describes inner-city factions seeking to use the Room Fire God’s power to refine Barrier-Breaking Pills for Inner Landscape experts. 10 46

Crimson Repentance Coins

Crimson Repentance Coins are reddish-patterned copper coins created through human sacrifice to the Room Fire Cult 31 36.

• A coin can be exchanged through the Room Fire Visualization Method for one hundred wisps of star power resembling True Qi. 31
• Most coins reportedly flow to inner-city nobles, while a smaller portion enters private collections and black markets. 31
• Their value caused gang members to mistake Chen Jue for a cult middleman when he sold similar goods. 31

Demonization and Body Seizure

Cult-associated ritual power can transform people into pig-headed monsters. During one interrogation, a Red Blood Gang martial artist’s body distorted into a pig-headed humanoid after he revealed details of the cult’s ritual 45.

• The transformed host displayed a hostile consciousness and attempted to invade Chen Jue’s dantian through bizarre fire-aspected spiritual energy. 45
• A priest who consumed a Feathering Pill became a pig demon with enhanced physical power, regeneration, and defense. 49 50
• Newly transformed hosts may retain fragmented memories while another consciousness awakens and takes control. 50

Ritual Pills

The cult uses several dangerous medicinal creations to empower followers and advance its rituals.

• Blood pills — Issued by the shaman to wounded priests to support their escape after the factory’s destruction. 49
• Feather Ascension Pills — Twelve superior pills were being refined at Emerald Lake; they are said to help Spirit Seed Realm martial artists break into the Feather Ascension Realm. 48
• Feathering Pills — Can trigger monstrous pig-demon transformations, with severe and potentially fatal consequences for the user. 49 50

Organization and Reach

Position / Group	Known Function
Shaman	Led the Emerald Lake ritual, maintained a flame barrier against bombardment, and commanded the surviving priests to retreat. 49
Greater and lesser priests	Assisted the ritual and fled with blood pills after the factory was attacked. 49
Outer deacon	Coordinated with allied clan representatives at the factory and defended the cult’s cooperation with inner-city powers. 48
Martial artist guards	Guarded the Emerald Lake factory perimeter in flaming-red robes. 48
School club stewards	Managed the cult’s Riverside Martial High School presence; replacements were being selected after prior operatives died. 37

Relationships

• Room-Fire Star Demon / Room Fire God — The cult’s worshipped star demon and source of its sacrificial and fire-aspected power. 10 31
• He Tang — Targeted as a Boarfire Maiden for the cult’s planned sacrifices. 10
• Pei Qingying — Invited alongside He Tang to serve as a sacred maiden at cult gatherings. 3
• Red Blood Gang and Emerald Lake Street gangs — Supplied living and dead people to the cult in exchange for payment. 45
• Inner-city clans — Secretly supported or cooperated with the cult according to Liang Ben and a cult outer deacon; the Tang Clan was directly represented at the Emerald Lake ritual. 46 48
• God-Understanding Organization — Investigates the cult and its attempts to bring about the descent of Star Gods. 45 46
• Jiangnan Myriad-House Office — Attacked the Emerald Lake factory and deployed a Demon-Suppressing Commandant against the cult’s shaman. 48 49

Major Incidents

• Riverside Martial High School infiltration — Cult-linked students recruit girls as sacred maidens while protected by their powerful clan backgrounds. 3
• Attempted abduction of He Tang — Three operatives pursue He Tang because of her Boarfire Maiden constitution; all are killed by Chen Jue. 10
• Crimson Repentance Coin circulation — Human-sacrifice coins spread among inner-city nobles and become a sought-after black-market commodity. 31 36
• Emerald Lake Street trafficking — Local gangs sell human beings to the cult for testing and sacrifice-related operations. 45
• Emerald Lake Factory assault — A one-hundred-corpse ritual is bombarded by Divine-Fire Flying Crows, followed by a battle involving the Myriad-House Office, martial wanderers, and escaping cult priests. 48 49