North Ridge Sacred Ground

Biodata

Background / History

The North Ridge Sacred Ground split off from the Central Sacred Land and inherited surviving Sacred Mountains. Despite presenting itself as that ancient power’s heir, it preserved only fragments of its history and lacked its most essential legacy. Its leaders relied on scattered books to reconstruct the past 172 174 175.

A separate rumor claims North Ridge was once a main peak of the Southern Spirit Sect. The origins of their hostility remain unknown, but their feud lasted thousands of years. The Sacred Son reinforced that antagonism by destroying a Southern Spirit Sect mountain after one of its seniors insulted him 3.

The Tower of the Abyss became a foundation of North Ridge’s regional dominance, offering rapid but stable cultivation gains. Access remained tightly controlled, with even ordinary North Ridge disciples required to pass a special selection process 77.

Its later partnership with the Southern Spirit Sect centers on recovering and studying the Central Sacred Land’s legacy. The alliance also becomes a family matter when Yun Xi is identified as the Sacred Son’s missing daughter 172 234 236.

Organization and Leadership

Authority and Bloodline

• Sacred Son’s authority: The Sacred Son is the organization’s true ruler. His prolonged searches for his daughter left the Holy Lord handling much of its administration 153.
• Holy Lord’s position: Despite the title, the Holy Lord functions as a senior steward rather than an independent sovereign. The current holder owes his position to the Sacred Son’s support 173 209.
• Bloodline hierarchy: Status depends heavily on ancestry. Holy Sons are generally chosen from North Ridge’s most important bloodline 173.
• Succession training: Prospective Holy Sons and Holy Maidens undergo fierce competition in a dedicated training program. Only the final winner becomes its leader 81.
• Generational succession: North Ridge is said to have only one Holy Son or Holy Maiden per generation, carrying its special inherited bloodline 77.
• Golden Core trials: Every core disciple who reaches Golden Core must undergo trials in the Tower of the Abyss 241.

Notable Members

Territory and Resources

Holy City and Sacred Mountains

• Holy City: Gateway to the competition venue, with neatly arranged, lavish buildings and a broad road leading into the snowy mountain range 170 172.
• Sacred Mountains: Ancient remnants separated from the Central Sacred Land. The enormous central mountain forms the core and symbol of North Ridge 172 174 178.
• Climate: Snow falls throughout the year, and the region is colder than the Southern Spirit Sect at its coldest. Lan Yue’s suggestion that Yu Xiu’s resentment caused the snow remains speculation 173.
• Holy City Palace: During the post-crisis lockdown, Lan Yue’s map shows captured devils—including two especially powerful ones—inside the palace 178.

Sacred Water

• Location: Held in a clear pool on the central Sacred Mountain 172.
• Known benefits: Used for drinking; described as cleansing impurities and bringing good fortune. It also makes people harder for devils to possess 172 175.
• Military value: North Ridge used it against numerous devils on the Northern Demon Domain battlefield, including Demon Generals 175.
• Rediscovered knowledge: Although the pool is ancient, North Ridge discovered it accidentally and learned its effects only within the preceding century 175.
• True origin: Yu Xiu created Sacred Water to resist the Devil Race. The ancient disaster attributed to him resulted from the devils secretly replacing it 175 176.
• Former sealed occupant: Yu Xiu’s vengeful spirit remained beneath the water until Lan Yue exposed his history and cleared his name 174 176 177.

Tower of the Abyss

• Purpose: A seven-floor ancient trial tower offering cultivation training and rare inheritances. Time flows differently inside it 237 241.
• Classification: Described as an ancient Immortal Artifact in accounts of its reclamation, and later as North Ridge’s Pseudo-Immortal Artifact 240 275.
• Access: Normally restricted by selection; North Ridge also grants entry through negotiated agreements with other sects 77 240.
• Danger: Even Golden Core disciples have entered without returning. Challengers can remain trapped for a century 236 241.
• Puppet Path: The first floor contains agile puppets that adjust their strength to each fighter. Their weak point is the back of the neck, where glowing spirit jade marrow can be removed 241 242.
• Legendary opponents: The final Puppet Path stage reproduces famous North Ridge figures, including their former weapons, strength, and techniques 242.
• Devil Race interference: The devils once stole and partially modified the tower to turn it into a Devil Artifact. A Former Holy Son reclaimed it and removed some of their alterations 240.
• Hidden sabotage: A surviving teleportation array sends Lan Yue into the Demon Realm after she obtains the Central Sacred Land’s Inheritance Mark 246.

Other Assets

Activities

• Wanted lists and bounties: North Ridge records demonic cultivators’ crimes, names, and portraits on the Earth-Rank Wanted List, offering resources to cultivators who eliminate the targets 182.
• Regional competition: Hosts trials involving the Black Tortoise Grand Formation, Heart-Questioning Bridge, and a final battlefield event. The combined competition retains its allotted places in the Four-Region Grand Competition 202 215 222.
• Battle preparation: The Holy Lord deliberately uses a real Demon Domain battlefield for the finals to prepare young cultivators for future conflict 215.
• Formation research: Its stewards show interest in Sound-Transmitting Jade Tokens that might help reconstruct incomplete primordial formations and pill recipes 192.
• Intelligence gathering: Its elders increasingly regard Lan Yue’s overheard thoughts as a possible source of information about Devil Race plans and capabilities 223.

Relationships

• Southern Spirit Sect — Ancient rival turned cooperation partner. North Ridge trades tower access for entry to the Spirit-Denuded Island ruins and later collaborates on the Central Sacred Land’s legacy 3 77 172.
• Lan Yue — An outside disciple whose revelations expose spies, avert the Sacred Mountain’s destruction, and locate missing cultivators. North Ridge’s leaders suspect an extraordinary artifact is responsible for her knowledge 177 178 206.
• Yun Xi — The Sacred Son’s biological daughter and a carrier of the Baili Family’s bloodline. North Ridge’s seniors want her to return to the sacred ground, though she remains with the Southern Spirit Sect 234 236.
• Nangong Family — A powerful family whose direct-line heir, Nangong Ye, is endangered during the infiltration crisis. It mobilizes its ancestor after Lan Yue locates him in the Demon Realm 178 180.
• Devil Race — Principal enemy. Its operations target North Ridge through infiltration, attempted leadership replacement, attacks on Sacred Water, and tower sabotage 173 224 246.
• Black Snake, Holy Spirit, and Grand Cloud sects — Accuse North Ridge of competition favoritism and later demand tower access. The Holy Spirit Sect invokes a century-old agreement 195 240.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Spirit-Denuded Island Expedition

• North Ridge offers Southern Spirit disciples places in the Tower of the Abyss in exchange for access to their newly emerged ruins. The Southern Spirit elders ultimately accept 76 77.
• Elder Wan introduces the delegation with gifts, while Xingzhou’s group later joins Lan Yue’s party for mutual protection inside the dangerous ruins 80 84.
• Xingzhou enters a primordial formation after his companions disappear, despite Elder Wan’s instructions to prioritize the mission 93.
• Some North Ridge disciples are ejected from the Spirit Herb Garden after trying to take its herbs. Those remaining inside are eventually brought out through Lan Yue’s pagoda and Yun Xi’s pill furnace 100 110.
• Lan Yue’s thoughts reveal that the Sacred Son’s missing daughter has returned, prompting North Ridge’s search for her identity 110 234.

Sacred Mountain Infiltration

• Southern and Northern Demon Domain agents infiltrate North Ridge to release the Ten-Thousand-Year Vengeful Spirit and kill the geniuses gathered for the competition 173.
• Lan Yue exposes Yu Xiu’s history and recalls that the Sacred Mountain collapsed during the original novel’s full-scale Devil Race invasion 174 176.
• Acting on her warning, the Holy Lord surrounds the mountain. Yu Xiu’s spirit helps capture the infiltrators, exposes Steward Lin, and dissolves after his resentment fades 177.
• North Ridge enters lockdown, and Nangong Ye remains missing. Lan Yue locates him in Creek Valley in the Demon Realm, enabling the Nangong Family to mobilize 178 180.

Two-Region Competition

• Lan Yue averts a separate threat of Teng Snake flooding the sacred ground before the competition can proceed 184.
• Mass eliminations in the Black Tortoise event lead to accusations of North Ridge cheating. The Heaven and Earth Mirror reveals that Lan Yue, Yun Xi, and Yuan Shuo used snake disguises and fake stakes to steal tokens, clearing North Ridge of responsibility for the scheme 195 196.
• The finals secretly take place on the Southern Region’s battlefield rather than the publicly announced Rakshasa Star Sea. A Devil Race encounter prompts the Holy Lord to suspect another information leak and send reinforcements 215 218.
• The Devil Tide ends unusually quickly. Lan Yue and Yun Xi tie for first place and jointly receive the Nine Heavens Profound Spirit Art 222 236.

Missing Sacred Son and Impostor

• Lan Yue locates the Sacred Son in the Futian Secret Realm, trapped alongside the Southern Spirit Sect’s Grand Elder and Insect Valley’s Insect Shaman. The affected sects organize a joint rescue 201 206 207.
• A supposed returning Sacred Son is exposed as his twin brother, believed dead at birth. The Holy Lord personally subdues him; North Ridge later identifies the incident as a Devil Realm-backed attempt to replace its ruler 209 210 224.
• The genuine Sacred Son returns from the Northern Demon Domain and hesitates to face Yun Xi. Public revelations clarify her parentage and his earlier role in rescuing Devil Race captives alongside Yun Chong 227 230 236.

Tower Trials and Surviving Sabotage

• Lan Yue requests immediate use of the promised tower places. North Ridge supplies escorts, while sects invoking their own agreements are also permitted entry despite warnings of lethal danger 236 240 241.
• North Ridge disciples train alongside the Southern Spirit group, conserve spirit jade marrow, and purchase Spirit-Gathering Formations from Lan Yue to compensate for the thin spiritual energy 242.
• A hidden Devil Race array teleports Lan Yue into the Demon Realm. North Ridge’s cultivators are dismayed that inspections after the tower’s recovery failed to uncover it 246 275.
• Lan Yue’s recollection of the original novel links North Ridge’s survival to the protagonist group: Yun Xi awakens her Heaven-Witch bloodline and halts attacks by multiple Demon Kings at a critical moment 246.