Immortal City

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Immortal City (仙城), referring to Windmist Immortal City 1 70
Alias(es)	Windmist Immortal City 1
Type	Cultivation city and regional center for rogue cultivators 1 92
Location	Deep within the Cloudmist Mountains, at the westernmost edge of the Western Wasteland 14 92
Founder	Windmist True Person, a Core Formation rogue cultivator 1
Extent	Spans a hundred li 1
Affiliation	Originally governed by the Azure Dragon Mountain Lineage; a member of the Defender Alliance; later controlled by the Three Sects and subsequently Ji Shuwen 145 180 506
Principal Districts	Azure Dragon Mountain, Inner City, and Outer City 1
Spirit Vein	Third-tier main vein beneath Azure Dragon Mountain, with weaker spiritual energy extending into the surrounding districts 1 34
Status	Remains active and increasingly prosperous under Ji Shuwen’s regional rule; plans for a second immortal city have fallen through 506
First Appearance	Chapter 1 1

Geography and Layout

• Regional position: Several countries and tens of thousands of li separate the city from the Jiang Kingdom. Demon beasts and robber cultivators make the intervening journey dangerous, particularly for lone Qi Refining cultivators 14.
• Physical appearance: A towering walled city enclosed by a hemispherical azure barrier, with gates more than thirty zhang high 48.
• Surrounding settlements: Mortal towns and villages spread outward in concentric rings. Generations of rogue cultivators’ descendants reclaimed the surrounding land, and second-tier or stronger demon beasts had nearly disappeared within a thousand li before the beast tide 70.

District	Spiritual Energy	Principal Uses and Access
Azure Dragon Mountain	Third-tier	Central cultivation grounds of Windmist True Person, the founder’s disciples, and certain founding lineages. Later-joining Foundation Establishment guest elders were not entitled to establish residences here 1 34.
Inner City	Generally second-tier	Contains the Market Ward, offices of cultivation clans, rented cave abodes, Spirit Herb Gardens, and Spirit Beast Gardens 34 273.
Outer City	First-tier	Largest district; includes the neighborhoods where Li Ping lived during his difficult Qi Refining years, including Vermilion Bird Lane 1 273.

Immortal Peach Mountain

• Ownership and grade: A Meng Family property with a second-tier upper-grade spirit vein 34 273.
• Rental requirements: Applicants must possess an approved second-tier or higher craft, with their proficiency verified by the Meng Family 34.
• Artisan community: Its rental policy attracts skilled cultivators whose commissions, services, and professional connections generate income for the family 34.
• Notable residents: Li Ping moves there after qualifying through his talisman-making; Master Hu also resides there as an independent alchemist taking commissions 34.

Defenses and Security

Third-Tier Grand Formation

• Encloses the entire city and bears much of the pressure during the beast tide 1 77.
• Can reportedly contract its defensive perimeter to Azure Dragon Mountain alone. In that configuration, it is said to withstand a siege by several Core Formation cultivators 34.
• Does not eliminate dependence on powerful defenders: the city approaches collapse when Windmist True Person and Little Azure Dragon lose ground in their aerial battle 77.
• Can be bypassed through internal betrayal. The Meng Family enables nine hostile Core Formation cultivators to enter disguised within a wedding procession before attacking the leadership 179.

Entry and Public Order

• Identity tokens: Cultivators must present a city Identity Token at entry. Li Ping’s old token remains usable after nearly seventy years away 273.
• Registration: Bai Mingde registers Bai Lin and obtains an identity token when bringing her to the city 48.
• Demonic cultivation: Yan Hengchuan cannot enter because of his demonic aura 142.
• Territorial disputes: Under Windmist True Person’s rules, cultivation families may compete for territory but may not slaughter surrendered families 147.

Civilian Refuge

• During the level-two beast tide warning, city cultivators evacuate millions of nearby mortals using flying boats and high-capacity Storage Bags. The evacuation takes less than a month, aside from those already killed by beasts 70.
• Qi Refining lineages abandon their ancestral grounds and shelter within the city. Refuge brings protection but also requires obedience to city orders 70.
• Following the founder’s death, the city becomes a comparatively safe refuge from the wider war, but its lack of a stationed Core Formation cultivator leaves it vulnerable to a third-tier beast tide 189.

Government and Institutions

Leadership and Control

Period	Leadership or Controlling Power	Political Position
Founding government	Windmist True Person and the Azure Dragon Mountain Lineage	The founder establishes the city and later shares substantial revenue with neighboring sects to accommodate their interests 1 77.
Early administration	Dai Sangyu	Oversees Azure Dragon Mountain and the city while Windmist True Person is in seclusion 8.
Administrative reshuffle	Meng Qingyi	Becomes acting leader after Ye Chen’s crimes are exposed. Dai Sangyu withdraws into seclusion, while Zhang Tie becomes logistics steward 123.
After the ambush	Meng Qingyi under the Three Sects	Reclaims leadership after Windmist True Person and Dai Sangyu are killed. The Azure Dragon Mountain Lineage retains only 5% of city revenue 180.
Increasing outside oversight	Meng Family government and Three Sects inspectors	Purple Cloud Valley sends an Inspector to audit accounts and pursue more direct control as the city grows wealthier 273.
After Meng Qingyi’s death	Xiong Pohai; Purple Cloud Valley overseers	Xiong becomes a powerless puppet lord. Zhang Tie, Gu Musheng, and founding lineages lose much of their former authority and privileges 290 316.
Ji Shuwen’s accession	Ji Shuwen, supported by Huang Yan and local families	Becomes city lord and recruits Li Ping’s old associates to secure actual control rather than remain a puppet 299 316.
Ji Shuwen’s Core Formation rule	Ji Shuwen	Her breakthrough secures her authority. The Three Sects collect their revenue share but cannot readily restrain her while a hostile sword cultivator threatens them 433.
Later regional consolidation	Ji Shuwen, backed by Li Ping and Chixiaozi	After Xu Guike kills the Three Sects’ other Core Formation cultivators, she rules the Yue, Chi, and Ji kingdoms alongside Windmist Immortal City 506.

Principal Institutions

• Administrative palace: Located halfway up Azure Dragon Mountain; serves as the residence and workplace of the leader handling general affairs 140 432.
• Secret Arts Pavilion: Holds cultivation methods, inheritances, and secret arts. Newly accepted disciple Gu Musheng may select two teachings and establish a cave abode at the mountain’s foot 140.
• Ten Thousand Arts Pavilion: A city-owned commercial institution. Gu Musheng obtains a management position there with Meng Qingyi’s assistance 140 142.
• Logistics administration: Controls the allocation of important supplies. Meng Qingyi previously holds this influential office; Zhang Tie later receives a logistics stewardship 81 123.
• Treasury and prison: The treasury supplies treasures for military deployments, while Ye Chen is imprisoned after being stripped of his posts 123 181.
• Black Market: Handles transactions unsuitable for public trade but is itself controlled by the Azure Dragon Mountain faction 3.

Economy and Cultivation Opportunities

Resource Trade

• Main industry: Hunting demon beasts and collecting resources from the Cloudmist Mountains 160.
• External dependence: The city imports necessities from the Western Wasteland and relies on outside buyers for beast materials and mountain resources 160.
• Markets: Its Inner City hosts shops established by neighboring sects and the offices of local Foundation Establishment clans 273.
• Craft-based housing: Skilled artisans can obtain better accommodation and professional connections through arrangements such as Immortal Peach Mountain’s recruitment policy 34.

Access to Advancement

• Foundation Establishment Pills: Auctions give rogue cultivators an opportunity to acquire pills that other kingdoms closely restrict. This prospect attracts cultivators such as Li Ping and supplies the city with labor and talent 92.
• Obligations: The retainer arrangement considered by Li Ping requires sixty years of service and mandatory assignments. The pill-auction route described later requires successful cultivators to become Windmist True Person’s disciples and serve the city for life 4 92.
• High-tier scarcity: Low-tier resources are relatively abundant, but rare high-tier resources are scarce and controlled by Core Formation authorities 102 118.
• Core Formation competition: Within a given period, the city’s resources can support at most one person’s Core Formation attempt, intensifying rivalry between Dai Sangyu and the Meng Family Ancestor 142.

Military Merit

• During the beast tide, military merit can purchase scarce wartime resources and is more useful than ordinary spirit stones. Li Ping agrees to supply up to fifteen second-tier talismans per month in exchange for it 75.
• Defender Alliance membership permits the city to send eligible Qi Refining cultivators into the Qingyun Secret Realm. Gathered herbs earn military merit worth approximately one-tenth of their value 145.
• For the Yan Kingdom expedition, enlistment rewards are 50 spirit stones for early Qi Refining, 100 for middle Qi Refining, and 200 for late Qi Refining 181.

History

Founding

Windmist True Person establishes the city after entering the Cloudmist Mountains, killing a third-tier demonic wolf, and clearing its pack from a third-tier spirit vein. By the beast tide, the settlement has stood for more than two hundred years 1 70.

Its location makes entry into the mountains much easier, undermining the geographical advantage and income of neighboring sects. The founder’s expansion of human territory, endorsement from Alliance Leader Xiao, revenue-sharing concessions, and third-tier azure python help protect the city from retaliation 77.

Beast Tide

Increasing beast activity culminates in a mass evacuation and siege. Windmist True Person and Little Azure Dragon struggle against two third-tier Blazing Arrow Eagles while the lower-ranked defenders falter below 70 77.

Dai Sangyu secures Elder Huang’s intervention by accepting a future Dao-companion arrangement involving his junior and her rare spirit constitution. His assistance turns the battle: one eagle dies, the other is driven away, and the remaining beasts are cleared from the city 77 78.

Internal Corruption and Administrative Change

Evidence of Master Hu’s collusion with Junior Brother Ye exposes sabotage involving the Wang Family’s cultivation pills. The resulting investigation forces Ye Chen to confess, removes him from office, and brings Meng Qingyi into the acting-leader position 81 123.

The Wang Family is allowed to remain because Wang Li died defending the city, but its members are barred from city offices and ordered to repay swindled rogue cultivators 86 146.

Blockade and Three Sects Takeover

Dai Sangyu’s rejection of Huang Yan triggers pressure from Huang Yunzi. The Three Sects withdraw affiliated merchants, halt supply caravans, and arrest cultivators attempting to enter secretly. Xiao Changkong eventually mediates a settlement in which Meng Qingyi is married to Huang Yan instead 160 161 175.

The Meng Family later assists Purple Cloud Valley, the Sword-Washing Pool, and the Greenwood Sect in a surprise attack. Nine Core Formation cultivators kill Windmist True Person and Dai Sangyu, then fabricate a claim that Dai was a Demonic Path infiltrator 179 180.

Meng Qingyi uses a subsequent military deployment to remove supporters of the late Dai Sangyu, including Lin Yue and Xu Guike. The mission is presented as righteous service, making refusal politically dangerous 180 181.

Recovery and Expansion

Ji Shuwen gradually recovers practical control with support from Zhang Tie, Gu Musheng, and allied families. Her Core Formation breakthrough strengthens that position, although the Three Sects later demand ten years of earnings and threaten another blockade 316 432 433.

After Xu Guike avenges his master and eliminates the Three Sects’ other Core Formation cultivators, regional infighting ends and the city enters rapid development. Cooperation among surrounding powers greatly increases resources obtained from the Cloudmist Mountains 458 506.

The later leadership plans a second immortal city several hundred thousand li deeper into the mountains. That project fails when a successor to Chixiaozi withdraws support and prioritizes the Yun Kingdom’s interests 458 506.

Connection to Li Ping

• Early struggle: Li Ping spends close to twenty years struggling in the city before achieving Foundation Establishment at over forty, awakening his unusual talent afterward 1 273.
• Independent resident: His initial retainer application is rejected over suspicions concerning his Foundation Establishment Pill. He later declines renewed recruitment offers to preserve his freedom 17 187 188.
• Inner City livelihood: Second-tier talisman-making gives him access to Immortal Peach Mountain and a comfortable, respected life 34 273.
• Abandoned ambition: He once plans to take control after Windmist True Person’s death, using Zhang Tie and Gu Musheng’s institutional positions. Dai Sangyu’s Core Formation and the subsequent sect takeover derail that plan 140 141 275.
• Aid to Meng Qingyi: On returning as a Core Formation cultivator, he refuses both direct protection for a breakthrough and the city’s supreme-elder position, but agrees to take Meng Qingyi away 279 280.
• Personal significance: Despite living longer in the Inner City, he feels greater attachment to the Outer City hardships that shaped his early cultivation life 273.