Southern Spirit Sect

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Southern Spirit Sect
Original Name	南灵宗
Type	Cultivation sect 27
Location	Southern Region; occupies an entire mountain range 137 159
Standing	One of the Southern Region’s three top sects, alongside the Scarlet Moon Sect and Jade Light Sect; considered first-rate across the Four Regions Continent 78 143
Legacy	Stretches back ten thousand years 78
Sect Master	Yun Chong 3 195
Specialties	Talisman Arts and Artifact Refining; also renowned for Spirit Sword Peak and the Hidden Sword Pavilion 23
Status	Active; organizing a covert rescue operation into the Demon Realm 275
First Appearance	1

Organization and Members

Leadership

The Third Elder normally handles sect affairs when both the Sect Master and Second Elder are absent. Major decisions, including access to the Spirit-Denuded Island ruins, are debated in meetings of the elders 76 77.

Member / Office	Responsibilities and significance
Yun Chong — Sect Master	Leads the sect, personally trains disciples and visiting North Ridge cultivators, and coordinates preparations to rescue Lan Yue and Yun Xi 115 275.
Grand Elder	Selected Yun Chong as the future Sect Master before his disappearance; later removed a Devil Race demon seed from him. Pursued an Immortal Artifact to strengthen the sect 230 208.
Second Elder	Directs ruin expeditions, manages monitoring screens, negotiates with other sects, and orders investigations into Demon Abyss Rifts 84 85 97.
Third Elder	Acts in place of absent senior leaders and firmly defends the sect’s ownership of the ruins 76 77.
Fifth Elder	Known for strict assessments and disciple selection. Protects Li Bai and the younger disciples, and enforces secrecy around sensitive discoveries 2 40 49 143.
Sixth Elder	Supervises younger disciples, presses for an investigation into Elder Xing, and frequently guards Lan Yue covertly 76 79 139.
Elder Duanmu	Reassigned from the Formation Pavilion to Spirit Moon Peak to train the younger generation; also leads anti-Devil Race investigations 65 135.
Elder Lu / Elder Whitebrow	Elder associated with the Hidden Sword Pavilion; a Nascent Soul cultivator who later escorts Lan Yue’s group on their unauthorized journey 9 115 122.
Spirit Artifact Hall Master	Heads the hall responsible for the sect’s Spirit Artifact production 27 28.

Notable Disciples

• Lan Yue — Master Guangji’s disciple. Her overheard thoughts expose private scandals, hidden ruins, spies, and Devil Race plots; she voluntarily shares her formation inheritance with the sect 23 38 78 111 142.
• Yun Xi — Yun Chong’s daughter and an aspiring alchemist. Shares her ancient alchemy discoveries and wins the opening tournament event 23 111 197.
• Li Bai — Senior brother who guides the newcomers through the sect’s facilities. The Fifth Elder once fought other elders over accepting him 2 23 27.
• Qing Zhu — Senior sister who explains Spirit Artifact Hall recruitment, protects the younger disciples during the Greenstone crisis, and later wins a tournament round 27 143 197.
• Jiang Li — Senior brother documented at peak Golden Core cultivation during the Black Tortoise Stakes event 188.
• Yuan Shuo — Member of Lan Yue’s young companion group; takes third place in the opening tournament event 94 197.
• Wu Tianya and Wu Tianyu — Twins trained alongside the younger group. Their insect-control abilities thwart Hei Ya’s covert attack 65 171.
• Luan Ning — Protects newcomers during the Morning Cultivation Hall attack and helps inspire the disciples’ organized gossip-gathering efforts 18 155.

Territory and Facilities

The sect’s mountain range is covered in clouds and mist, with Spirit Cranes flying among its overlapping peaks. Disciples use cranes to travel between mountains and depart on missions; larger journeys also use enormous Spirit Boats 137.

Location	Function / Features
Spirit Moon Peak	Home and training base for Lan Yue’s group. Later hosts joint inheritance research and a busy market for formation disks and pills 65 148 157.
Morning Cultivation Hall	Initial training facility. Graduates can choose one of the four cultivation arts 27.
Four Arts Hall	Teaches alchemy, formations, talismans, and artifact refining 23.
Spirit Artifact Hall	Produces the sect’s Spirit Artifacts and operates sales branches in other countries 27.
Spirit Sword Peak	Renowned sword-cultivation peak associated with the unique Hidden Sword Pavilion 23.
Hidden Sword Pavilion	Houses spirit-bearing swords and reportedly the sect’s greatest secret. Spiritual power is forbidden inside 9 10.
Formation Pavilion	Elder Duanmu’s post before his reassignment to Spirit Moon Peak 65.
Spirit Beast Peak	Dedicated to raising numerous kinds of spirit beasts 1.
Inner-peak herb gardens	Individually owned medicinal gardens; wild herbs also grow on the outer mountains 159.
Spirit-Denuded Island	Nearby island within the sect’s sphere of influence. Its scarce spiritual energy makes it rarely visited, helping conceal ancient ruins 38 39.

Disciples commonly train at Green Silk Mountain or Cloudmist Mountain, rather than on Spirit-Denuded Island 39.

Cultivation and Training

Four Cultivation Arts

• External reputation: Cultivators from other sects come to study the Southern Spirit Sect’s Talisman Arts and Artifact Refining 23.
• Artifact-refining admission: Spirit Artifact Hall recruits annually. Applicants receive a six-month practice period and must forge a qualifying Spirit Artifact or withdraw 27.
• Assessments: The Fifth Elder is particularly strict about routine examinations and accepting disciples 2.
• Advanced instruction: Faced with a foretold calamity, the elders place Elder Duanmu in charge of training the younger generation 65.
• Practical tempering: Lan Yue’s group repeatedly challenges an Armored Demon Beast at Green Silk Mountain, relying on nearby elders for emergency rescue. Their progress inspires other disciples to try the same training 76.

Hidden Sword Pavilion Rules

• A Spirit Sword must willingly choose its wielder; each disciple may take only one 9.
• Guard-duty applicants must swear a Dao-heart oath 10.
• Accepted guards remain inside for at least three years, with assignments potentially lasting five or ten years without leaving 10.
• The prohibition on spiritual power makes long-term guard duty particularly demanding 10.

Safety Measures

• Teleportation Jade Tokens — Named tokens issued for the ruins expedition. Disciples are instructed to crush them rather than risk their lives; the tokens also transmit images for the elders to monitor 81 85.
• Covert guardianship — Elders shadow Lan Yue even during investigations. After learning she possesses an Immortal Artifact, the sect assigns guards to her even within its own grounds 139 275.
• Limits of protection — Ruin restrictions prevent the elders from intervening directly, while primordial formations can block the monitoring screens 86 93.

Resources and Research

Production and Trade

• Spirit Artifacts and pills are established sect products 27 114.
• Spirit Artifact Hall branches allow disciples to sell their creations in various countries 27.
• Formation disks and medicinal pills made by Lan Yue and Yun Xi attract crowds of buyers to Spirit Moon Peak. The Second Elder explicitly recognizes their right to profit from their own inheritances 157.

Ancient Inheritances

Lan Yue and Yun Xi agree to let the sect copy and study their discoveries from the ruins. The elders undertake restoration of incomplete formations, sparing Lan Yue the full labor and expense of doing it alone 111.

• Joint scholarship: Scarlet Moon, Jade Light, and North Ridge representatives gather at Spirit Moon Peak to study the Central Sacred Land’s legacy 148 153.
• Anti-devil medicine: Yun Xi studies formulas including Demon-Cleansing Pills and Blood Lotus Pills, which remove demonic energy and heal Devil Race injuries respectively 157.
• Artifact countermeasures: The sect gathers Artifact Refining grandmasters to investigate aura-concealing demonic artifacts recovered from the Dust-Forgetting Sect 163.
• Communication tools: Its elders recognize the potential of written messages and group chats through Sound-Transmitting Jade Tokens for teaching, administration, and rapid responses to Demon Abyss Rifts 191.

Enlightenment Tea

• Lan Yue’s Enlightenment Tea contains the Dao resonance of heaven and earth 203.
• After drinking it, Southern Spirit disciples cross the Heart-Questioning Bridge unusually quickly; observers call the tea the sect’s “secret technique” 203.
• Once the elders recognize its apparent value, they hide their untouched cups in Spatial Rings as outsiders begin offering to buy them 203.

History

The Southern Spirit Sect’s legacy extends back ten thousand years. Its feud with the North Ridge Sacred Ground has lasted thousands of years; a rumor claims North Ridge was once a main peak that split away, but the circumstances are unknown. Around a century before the current events, the North Ridge Sacred Son answered a peak master’s insult by cutting off an entire mountaintop 3 46 78.

Yun Chong was chosen as the future Sect Master before disappearing. He went to the Demon Realm, where the Devil Race planted a demon seed in him as part of a scheme to control influential cultivators. The Grand Elder discovered and removed the seed before it took root, though Yun Chong’s memories remained incomplete 230.

Original-Novel Timeline

These outcomes belong to the original story remembered by Lan Yue, not necessarily the altered events:

• Lost ruins: Concealment and collusion with Greenstone delay the sect’s discovery of Spirit-Denuded Island’s ruins by three years. Most valuable herbs and an inheritance are taken before it learns the truth 38.
• Decline after Yun Chong’s death: Yun Chong disappears, returns, and dies of illness a few years later. The sect suffers a lasting setback before the female lead’s group rebuilds its reputation through a later Four-Region Grand Competition 207.

Major Story Events

Spirit-Denuded Island Ruins

• Lan Yue’s thoughts alert the elders to the coming ruins and their concealment in the original timeline. The Fifth Elder orders secrecy and joins senior figures in investigating the site 38 40.
• The sect accepts North Ridge’s proposal to exchange ruin access for Southern Spirit disciples’ access to the Tower of the Abyss 77.
• Elder Xing’s suspicious advocacy for other sects prompts an investigation. His role as an infiltrator is exposed, and he is caught during the sect meeting 79 142.
• Neighboring sects demand admission. The Second Elder rejects their claim that the ruins belong to the whole Southern Region, pointing out that those same sects reserved their own ruins for themselves 84.
• The expedition encounters Nascent Soul demon beasts and primordial formations despite admitting only cultivators below Golden Core. Surviving disciples bring back formations, pill formulas, and Spirit Herbs 80 86 93 111.

Greenstone Sect and Devil Race Infiltration

• Learning that Greenstone concealed a Demon Abyss Rift, the Second Elder dispatches Elder Duanmu and other investigators 97.
• The investigation finds parasitized disciples and seals the rift, but the elders remain concerned that hidden Devil Race members escaped 135.
• Southern Spirit members assist in containing parasites and awakening victims. Lan Yue exposes Ling’er’s helpless persona as part of the infiltration scheme 139 142.
• When thousands of Greenstone disciples become possessed, Southern Spirit elders confront the transformed leaders while senior disciples protect the younger group 143.
• The sect subsequently handles new rifts, investigates concealment artifacts, warns factions across the Four Regions, and manages Greenstone’s aftermath. Devil Race operatives acknowledge that their Southern Spirit spies have been rooted out 163 173.

Northern and Southern Regions Tournament

Event	Documented result
Opening Black Tortoise event	Yun Xi takes first with 539 Identity Tokens; Yuan Shuo takes third with 312 197.
Following round	Qing Zhu takes first; North Ridge’s Baili Xingzhou takes second 197.
Heart-Questioning Bridge	Lan Yue’s group crosses exceptionally quickly; remaining Southern Spirit disciples also outperform the testing elders 203.

The sect’s success fuels accusations of collusion with North Ridge. Its elders later worry that the young disciples’ visibility will attract enemies, particularly the Black Snake and Holy Spirit sect masters 195 222 235.

Grand Elder’s Rescue

Lan Yue’s upgraded system locates the Grand Elder, North Ridge’s Sacred Son, and the Insect Shaman in the Futian Secret Realm. The discovery triggers calls for reinforcements. After returning, the Grand Elder explains that rumors of an Immortal Artifact lured him into an ancient Chain Ambush Formation used by the devils 206 208.

Demon Realm Rescue Preparations

After Lan Yue and Yun Xi disappear from the Tower of the Abyss, Yun Chong takes charge of the response. Believing the girls are in the Demon King’s Hall, he calls for senior cultivators, covert entry into the Demon Realm, and preparations across the Cultivation World for possible war 275.

External Relationships

• North Ridge Sacred Ground — Ancient rival turned research and expedition partner. Cooperation includes the ruins–Tower exchange and shared interest in the Central Sacred Land’s legacy 3 77 114 172.
• Scarlet Moon Sect — Close ally whose Sect Master promises secrecy concerning sensitive disciple information and joins inheritance research 49 148. Her earlier attack on Elder Whitebrow concerns his treatment of her daughter rather than a general sect conflict 18.
• Jade Light Sect — Fellow Southern Region top sect; participates in investigations, joint research, and outwardly friendly tournament cooperation 97 148 183.
• Greenstone Sect — Connected to the ruins-coverup scheme and Elder Xing’s infiltration; later receives Southern Spirit assistance during the parasite crisis 78 139 142.
• Mysterious Leaf Sect — Origin of Xing Hao’s initial espionage assignment before he infiltrates Greenstone and then Southern Spirit 140.
• Dust-Forgetting Sect — Receives assistance against a devil attack, for which Wan Xing thanks the Southern Spirit Sect 149.
• Black Snake Sect and Holy Spirit Sect — Hostile competitors whose leaders resent the sect’s success and Lan Yue’s public revelations 222 235.
• Devil Race — Repeatedly attempts infiltration and control; its operatives blame Southern Spirit intervention for the collapse of major schemes 169 173 230.

Sect Culture

• Protective seniority: Senior disciples and elders rally around endangered juniors, particularly during the Greenstone possession outbreak 143.
• Gossip as intelligence: Disciples organize visits to other sects to collect gossip for Lan Yue after learning that supplied information can earn her points without consuming her mental energy 155.
• Embarrassing disguises: The Fifth Elder’s beard, Sixth Elder’s hair, and Elder Whitebrow’s white eyebrows are artificial. Their exposure repeatedly undermines the elders’ dignified public image 2 18 203.
• Unexpected reputation: At the ruins expedition, Elder Wan is bewildered to hear the younger disciples discussing gossip rather than cultivation 80.