Mountain Cloud School

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Mountain Cloud School
Alias(es)	Cloud Mountain School; 山云流派
Type	Major martial arts school / regional martial faction
Location	Cloudpool Cliff, west of Peace City, Dongjiang Prefecture 66
Origin	Founded by one surviving faction of the former Mountain Cloud Sect after its split in Central Jade Prefecture 47
Affiliation	Former branch of the Mountain Cloud Sect; associated with forces including Tongda Escort Agency 47 48
Occupation/Role	Trains martial artists, administers sect resources and businesses, suppresses Demon Wraiths, and protects territory around Peace City 66 69 93
Status	Active but severely weakened by internal factionalism, repeated wars, and the foreign-noble siege of Cloudpool Cliff 324 337 340
First Appearance	Chapter 47

Background

The Mountain Cloud School originated from the Mountain Cloud Sect, once one of Central Jade Prefecture’s foremost great sects. A succession dispute shattered the original sect’s mountain gate and caused extensive casualties. One surviving faction relocated to Peace City and became the Mountain Cloud School, while the other established itself in Nanwan Prefecture as the Dou’a Sect. Their shared origin remains the basis of a longstanding enmity. 47

The School established its grounds on Cloudpool Cliff, a perilous mountain containing the sealed remains of the Drought-Bone Glazed Corpse, an ancient Demon Wraith that once devastated over a hundred miles of Dongjiang Prefecture. The School destroyed half of the entity, sealed the remainder in the cliff, and extracts its “mountain blood” to refine special great medicines. 66

At its height, Cloudpool Cliff housed roughly six or seven thousand people. Though diminished from that period, the mountainside still supports residences, shops, servants, apprentices, merchants, and more than two thousand inhabitants. 67

Organization

Dao Lineages

The School is divided into five Dao Lineages, whose leaders and True Disciples compete for influence, resources, and succession.

• Burning Cloud / Blazing Cloud Lineage — Jiang Jingnian’s lineage; later led by him as acting Blazing Cloud Dao Lord. 80 339 340
• Mysterious Mountain / Mystic Mountain Lineage — A rival lineage with a deep feud against the Burning Cloud faction. 50 69
• Phosphorfire Lineage — Associated with Sect Master Xie Wuchen and the School’s strongest combat power. 190 259
• Wooden Abundance Lineage — Represented by Dao Lord Song Susu. 265
• Radiant Wind Lineage — One of the lineages that receives newly promoted Inner Disciples. 73

The five lineages are symbolized by five differently colored peaks within the Mountain Cloud Momentum. 341

Disciple hierarchy

Rank	Access and responsibilities
Outer Disciple	Entry-level sect disciple; may compete in the bimonthly advancement assessment. 68 69
Inner Disciple	Receives greater resources, an exclusive token, merit points, a chosen Great Medicine, and access to superior true arts. 73
Dao-Lineage True Disciple	Elite disciple regarded as a future Dao Lord; fewer than ten existed across all five lineages before Jiang Jingnian became the ninth. 68 190
Dao Lord / Dao Master	Senior lineage authority with influence over techniques, resources, succession, and sect policy. 68 73
Sect Master	Supreme leader of the School; Xie Wuchen held the position during the conflict with the Dou’a Sect. 190 198

The School had only a few hundred Outer Disciples, fewer than one hundred Inner Disciples, and fewer than ten Dao-Lineage True Disciples. 68

Inner Sect assessment

The Inner Sect assessment is held every two months. Outer Disciples who finish in the top three may meet a Dao Master and enter the Inner Sect; the top eight receive medicines and merit points. Matches are conducted through a lottery-based elimination system with limited recovery time, and crippling injuries or death are accepted risks. 69

Resources and facilities

• Merit-point system — Merit points can be exchanged for gold, medicines, cultivation techniques, firearms, secret treasures, Dao weapons, and other listed resources. 69
• Life Bloom Hall — An Inner Disciple resource hall containing hundreds of rare materials and special items; its upper floors are restricted to Dao-Lineage True Disciples. 73
• Magma Medicinal Bath — A limited True Disciple resource made with refined Earthfire Demon Wraith remains and medicinal ingredients. It purifies Martial Momentum and supports fire-aspect cultivation. 194
• Phosphorfire Sea Crag — A unique School resource used for forging, medicine refinement, talisman making, and cultivation; it is a principal ingredient in the magma bath. 223
• Drought-Bone Glazed Corpse Mountain — The sealed Demon Wraith fused with Cloudpool Cliff produces mountain blood for special medicines. 66
• Modern infrastructure — The School installed electrical utilities across the mountain and sends selected Inner Sect elders and disciples abroad for study tours and exchanges with foreign mystical schools. 92
• Regional businesses — The School maintains businesses in seven or eight major cities, including Drunken Wind Tower and a grain shop in Jingu; these properties generate income and collect intelligence. 163

Affiliates and relationships

• Dou’a Sect — Splinter sect and sworn enemy formed from the opposing faction of the old Mountain Cloud Sect. Its attempts to absorb or destroy Mountain Cloud-aligned forces reignited their historical conflict. 47 48
• Tongda Escort Agency — Longtime affiliated force. The Li Family founder was a former Outer Sect elder, and multiple agency leaders studied at the School. Mountain Cloud previously saved Tongda from Nokangda Transport Company, then later compelled the agency into war against the Dou’a Sect. 48 50
• Gale Wind Sect and Iron Palm Gang — Affiliated forces mobilized alongside Tongda Escort Agency during the Dou’a Sect crisis. 49
• Duan Household — Holds an admission quota used to bring Jiang Jingnian into the School. 60 67
• Burning Cloud Martial Hall — A subordinate martial hall targeted by Eastern Wu Kingdom forces as bait to draw Jiang Jingnian into a trap. 311
• Qu Household — Later relocates to Qingtian County and aligns itself with the School under Jiang Jingnian’s leadership. 337 344

Major conflicts and crises

Conflict / event	Mountain Cloud School’s role and outcome
Dou’a Sect expansion into Peace City	The Dou’a Sect used refugee relief as a pretext to gain local support and force a reunification of the divided sect. Mountain Cloud compelled affiliated forces to resist, while its own Mystic Mountain disciples asserted control over Tongda Escort Agency. 47 48 50
Tongda Escort Agency war	Mountain Cloud’s backing made Tongda a target. The conflict caused severe casualties, with roughly thirty percent of Tongda’s people killed before intervention by the Kingdom of Migallon forced both sects to temporarily withdraw. 60
Lotus Intent Sect operations	The School besieged a Lotus Intent Sect branch and investigated demonic infiltration, but internal factions repeatedly weaponized the crisis against one another. 151 197 198
Baobai Mountain and Gou Wu Ruins expeditions	The School deployed elders, protectors, and True Disciples to compete for peerless inheritances and artifacts while facing foreign forces, demonic sects, and internal assassination plots. 226 229 233
Foreign-noble siege of Cloudpool Cliff	The Sterling, Dono, and Viksi Families jointly assaulted the School during the Blood Moon Calamity. The defenders suffered heavy losses despite using terrain and sect momentum. 324 338
Leadership crisis	With Dao Lords injured, missing, or politically divided, Liu Qingzhi nominated Jiang Jingnian as acting Blazing Cloud Dao Lord. Jiang consolidated authority by exposing and executing Wan Song for alleged Lotus Intent Sect collaboration. 338 339
Purge of the Wan Household	Under Jiang’s orders, Hong Yufang destroyed the Wan Household for collusion with Demon Sect forces and used the purge to reassert the School’s authority around Qingtian County. 340

Internal factionalism

The School’s greatest vulnerability is its internal struggle for resources, authority, and succession. The Burning Cloud and Mysterious Mountain Lineages are especially hostile, and their rivalry has repeatedly turned sect affairs into personal vendettas. 50 69 218

This instability has allowed enemies to target individual disciples and affiliated forces. Mysterious Mountain members arranged attempts on Jiang Jingnian’s life, while senior figures used accusations of demonic collaboration to undermine rivals. 151 231

Jiang Jingnian later described the School as divided between lineages that ignored one another’s affairs on the mountain while their followers schemed and fought below it. 218

Jiang Jingnian’s rise

Jiang Jingnian entered through the Duan Household’s quota after reaching Bone Tempering before age twenty, allowing him to bypass the normal Outer Sect route and challenge the Inner Sect assessment directly. 67 68

He became an Inner Disciple after dominating the assessment, then received an audience with the Blazing Cloud Dao Lord and access to the School’s resource system. 71 73

After becoming the ninth Dao-Lineage True Disciple, Jiang’s rapid advancement and public prominence made him both an asset and a political target. He increasingly viewed the School’s resources and protection as an exchange for his service rather than unconditional loyalty. 190 221 260

Following the Blood Moon Calamity and the collapse of the School’s prior leadership, Jiang returned to Cloudpool Cliff, killed Wan Song, and secured recognition as acting Blazing Cloud Dao Lord. His authority remains contested, but he has begun restoring the School’s territorial control through purges, intimidation, and direct retaliation against hostile factions. 339 340 341