Mingzhu City

Biodata

Geography and Layout

Mingzhu City was built where the Changsha River, Salt Mountain Valley, western iron-ore deposits, and northern mountains provide water, salt, metal, and meat resources. 21

Its construction is largely unregulated. Awakened-built structures can defy ordinary architectural principles, while densely packed buildings divide the streets into winding, maze-like roads. 14 31

Mingzhu City is an ancient settlement containing innumerable Dark Rooms, concealed chambers, and ability-created virtual spaces accessible only through special methods. It has drainage channels but no conventional sewer system. 33 34 280

An underground river supplies the city waterworks, which distribute water to households across the city. 66

History

Two centuries earlier, Mingzhu City was known as Zhu City and ruled by the Beast-Taming Zhu Family. Under its rule, the population was enslaved, Awakened were exploited, and people were used as materials for supernatural equipment. 30

The Zhu Family was eventually overthrown, and Zhu City became Mingzhu City. Human sacrifice in artifact creation was subsequently restricted, though descendants and loyalists of the Zhu Family survived in secret. Their supporters concealed heirs, destroyed evidence, and preserved the family’s influence for generations. 30

The city also retains a heroic connection to Zhu Chiyang, an earlier Zhu Family leader who fused with the Sun Godbird during the Great Winter Cold Calamity and spent ten years carrying light and warmth between cities before dying of exhaustion. 41

Heavenly Fox Crisis

The Heavenly Fox Clan infiltrated Mingzhu City by replacing citizens and officials, massacring the Patrol Team, and occupying the City Lord’s Manor. Its presence also weakened the city’s external deterrence, contributing to the Living Corpse siege and subsequent internal unrest. 2 18 19 43

After the Heavenly Fox crisis, Mingzhu City spent two days in chaos before the martial-arts halls helped restore order. Feng Laixian became commander of the rebuilt Patrol Team, while Jin Bo was temporarily appointed city lord. 201

Beast-Taming Zhu Family Occupation and Liberation

The Beast-Taming Zhu Family later launched a full siege of Mingzhu City with its Golden Armor Army. Feng Laixian led the city’s resistance until Zhu Chengmian killed him during the fighting, allowing the Zhu Family to seize the city through massacres and intimidation. 396 400 401

During its occupation, the Zhu Family restored the symbols and practices of its former rule. Residents were forced into mine labor, organizations and Awakened who resisted were slaughtered, and Zhu Chengmian prepared the Ancestor-Report Ritual as both an enthronement ceremony and a mass human sacrifice. 401

The Rescue Team used the ritual to trap the Zhu Family’s gathered members and launch a citywide counterattack. Zhang Ping’s Information Control revived fallen defenders and residents, while the Rescue Team, Patrol Unit, and allied Awakened defeated the Zhu Family’s leaders, killed Prince Yue, and forced the Golden Armor Army to surrender. 401 402

Three years after the Zhu Family’s destruction, the Rescue Team controlled Mingzhu City and had introduced universally cultivable Bioforce Field methods. The city became home to numerous cultivation schools, allowing ordinary residents to develop extraordinary strength rather than remain dependent on innate Awakening. 404

Parallel-World Destruction

In one parallel world where Zhang Ping had not altered events, Mingzhu City was overrun by Zuo Xiangming’s Living Corpses and converted into a fortified corpse stronghold. Its surviving population had either fled, died, or been transformed into living dead. 338 339

That alternate Mingzhu City was ultimately annihilated when Coiling Dragon Venerable fired a red beam that erased its walls, buildings, Living Corpses, and Zuo Xiangming. Zhang Ping later searched the ruins for surviving treasures, including the Sun-Moon World-Illuminating Mirror. 341 352 353

Governance and Defense

Defensive Structure

Illusory Light Curtain

The Cleanup Team deploys the Illusory Light Curtain after Moon King enters false hibernation. The barrier divides Mingzhu City into eight regions, conceals human movements, and feeds false scenes to the Heavenly Foxes. 19

• Manny provides concealment.
• Chen Luowei creates visual illusions.
• Xu Jie supplies energy through Solar Charging and Energy Sharing. 19
• The three operators can sustain the curtain for only about a week before exhaustion becomes life-threatening. 19
• Prince Yue later counters its usefulness by patrolling the city with five eye-covered tails. 34

Later Political Order

Mingzhu City’s institutions traditionally operated through personal connections and strength rather than strict law. The Patrol Team was responsible for internal city affairs, while the Investigation Team handled external matters, though influential captains could blur this division. 210 214

Following the first Heavenly Fox crisis, Jin Bo served as temporary city lord because Situ Shibai distrusted the martial-arts hall leaders and lacked a more reliable candidate. 201

After the Beast-Taming Zhu Family’s final defeat, the Rescue Team became Mingzhu City’s governing force. Its reforms included widespread Bioforce Field cultivation, creating new schools such as the Vitality Path, Steel, Martial Justice, and Heart Refinement. 404

Heavenly Fox Infiltration

Heavenly Foxes infiltrate Mingzhu City by wearing human skin and altering victims’ cognition. Their racial abilities allow atrocities to appear mundane: a fox consuming a human arm may be perceived as an ordinary person eating chicken feet. 2

Their known innate abilities include:

• Cognitive Distortion — Alters the cognition and perception of living creatures. 2
• Conventionality Reversal — Forces observers to overlook acts that violate common sense. 2

The infiltration extends through schools, shops, the Patrol Team, and the City Lord’s Manor. Zhang Ping concludes early that the city has become an undefended hunting ground in which humans are treated as livestock. 2 5

The Moon King’s psychic influence may strengthen nearby Heavenly Foxes’ perception-distorting abilities, allowing even powerful Awakened to be deceived. 13

The Heavenly Foxes slaughtered and replaced the Patrol Team, leaving Mingzhu City dangerously exposed to outside Mutated Beasts. Prince Yue later expanded the nominal Patrol Team with recruited Awakened in order to identify and eliminate prominent human fighters. 19 66

Prince Yue survived the initial Heavenly Fox crisis by hiding in the wilderness in symbiosis with the Flesh Tree. The forced-labor corpses transported to him during the Zhu Family occupation eventually exposed his location, allowing Zhang Ping to kill him during the Rescue Team’s counterattack. 401 402

Living Corpse Siege

After the city’s defenses weaken, Living Corpses converge on Mingzhu City from all directions. The attacking force includes human and animal corpses, with some Awakened corpses still capable of using their former abilities. Their poison can infect victims through scratches. 43

• Initial estimates place the horde at more than 50,000; later scouting raises the estimate to 70,000–80,000. 43
• Decaying corpse crows carrying black mist attack from the east. 43
• Feng Laixian organizes the southern-wall defense, while Ao Donghai takes command of the eastern wall and other martial-arts masters assume responsibility for the remaining walls. 43
• Defenders organize into combat groups with separate healing and logistics personnel. 44
• A giant ape Living Corpse attacks the walls by hurling other corpses; Feng Laixian destroys it using Chaos Breath, melting the ground into lava. 44
• A stone palace dragged by hundreds of powerful Living Corpses later approaches the city, suggesting the siege has a hidden commander. 46
• The siege later becomes intertwined with an internal coup when the western gate is opened to Living Corpses and allied Awakened, while rebels confront Feng Laixian’s defenders at the southern wall. 59
• Zuo Xiangming subsequently gathers another enormous Living Corpse army north of Mingzhu City and orders a frontal assault after the premature exposure of a coordinated invasion plan. 243

Notable Residents and Factions

• Situ Shibai — Cleanup Team captain and one of the few people able to operate the Sun-Moon Pearl. 30
• Liu Sishan — Cleanup Team operative who protects and trains Zhang Ping while investigating the infiltration. 13 20
• Prince Yue — Son of the Moon King and leader of the Heavenly Foxes’ operations outside the City Lord’s Manor; later killed by Zhang Ping. 18 402
• Moon King — King-level leader of the Heavenly Fox Clan whose presence previously deterred other Mutated Beasts from invading. 18 19
• Beast-Taming Zhu Family remnants — Hidden descendants of Zhu City’s former ruling family, suspected of sabotaging the Sun-Moon Pearl and aiding the Heavenly Fox invasion. 30 34
• Feng Laixian — Master of Beast King Fist Hall and commander of the southern-wall defense during the Living Corpse siege; later commander of the rebuilt Patrol Team. 43 44 201
• Jin Bo — Former Cleanup Team combat leader who was temporarily appointed city lord after the Heavenly Fox crisis. 35 201
• Zhang Ping — Infinite-Tier Awakened, captain of the Investigation Team’s Gui Team, and a central figure in the city’s liberation from the Beast-Taming Zhu Family. 201 401 402
• Bai De — Feng Laixian’s deputy, Beast King Fist Hall instructor, and an early member of the rebuilt Patrol Team. 44 201
• Bai Yating — Captain of the Investigation Team’s Zi Team and one of Mingzhu City’s renowned Four Pearls. 147 229
• Chen Weihua — High-Level Awakened with Encyclopedic Memory who later helps organize the Rescue Team’s Merit Point system. 338 387
• Rescue Team — The organization that destroyed the Beast-Taming Zhu Family, liberated Mingzhu City, and later spread Bioforce Field cultivation throughout the population. 401 402 404