Nine Provinces

Biodata

Power Progression

The milestones below track the Nine Provinces’ collective fighting strength rather than a cultivation realm belonging to the territory itself.

Geography and Notable Locations

Ancient Dangerous Sites

• River of Forgetfulness, Dragon Palace, Land Temple, and Mountain God’s Residence — Ancient locations on the Nine Provinces Continent, each described as comparable to a Restricted Zone 553.
• Peach Garden — A treasure-rich immortal land whose emergence attracts powerful outsiders. It later reappears overseas 681 683 731.
• Qingqiu Ancient Kingdom — A legendary ruin that Jiang Chen turns into a paid attraction while arranging opportunities for the Nine Provinces’ kings 694.

Governance and Society

Principal Institutions

• Netherworld — One of the territory’s two largest supernatural powers. Its Messengers, branch bureaus, and Yama Kings enforce order, combat ghosts, and guard dangerous locations 9 163 400.
• Dao Alliance — The other leading power, working alongside the Netherworld in law enforcement and defense. Its Six Giants participate in major military and leadership gatherings 9 163 409 547.
• Special Handling Bureau — Intervenes alongside Netherworld Messengers to suppress urban ghost outbreaks and reassure civilians during the Death Knell crisis 738.
• Think Tank — Revises military deployments when threats change, including abandoning the Third Ward operation to concentrate forces against the Flood Dragon 442.
• Mountain and River Iron Guards — A new system finalized under Tie Zhu’s administration. Its headquarters later occupies the center of the expanded Underground City 800 833.

Laws and Cultivator Policy

• Mutual-violence prohibition: Publicly known Unusual Persons and Netherworld Messengers are forbidden from attacking one another. Violators of the killing decree are pursued by both leading organizations 163.
• Strength-based support: Experts receive substantial subsidies, with greater demonstrated strength attracting greater institutional attention and assistance 163.
• Established families remain subordinate: Even powerful families rank below the Netherworld and must answer to its enforcement personnel 194.
• Neutral visitors are permitted: The Netherworld does not categorically exclude neutral Unusual Persons, although visiting ancient-sect disciples frequently clash with local law enforcement 674.
• Restrictions on visiting powerhouses: The King of Reincarnation forbids slaughtering or abducting civilians, bloody battles outside the Peach Garden, and harming Netherworld or Dao Alliance personnel 683.
• Evacuation is voluntary: Jiang Chen allows people to leave for Pure Land rather than compel them to remain during the approaching apocalypse 800.

Leadership and Administration

• King of Reincarnation — A leading defender and deterrent whose responsibilities include protecting the nation, establishing rules for foreign experts, and organizing access to cultivation opportunities 556 683 690.
• Jiang Chen / King Chen — Guards the territory while its kings explore Qingqiu. He later remains in charge when the King of Reincarnation does not return after a major battle 694 800.
• Tie Zhu / King Zhu — Volunteers to handle administration under Jiang Chen. His management wins respect, and he develops the Mountain and River Iron Guards system after three days and nights of discussion 800.

History

Ancient Heritage and River Suppression

The Nine Provinces possess a deep cultivation heritage, with reclusive masters scattered throughout the territory. Their descendants can enter urban society without knowing about the Unusual Person World 9.

Its ancient history is also exceptionally dangerous. Some sites are said to have made the land unapproachable even to deities. When ancient sects return, their leaders establish themselves overseas or in small foreign countries rather than within their ancestral homeland, fearing its history of upheaval 553 672.

Before the Netherworld’s rise, the Nine Sects of the Long River protected the river basin through harsh practices and extensive self-sacrifice. During the worst recorded Dredging Sect suppression, more than half the sect sacrificed themselves. The Mount Tai King later purged the river sects 239.

Early Signs of Unrest

Fengdu’s rising yin energy appears more than a year before its expected unrest cycle, accompanied by premature disturbances in other forbidden zones 14.

The situation escalates when a Ghost King and a Dark Alliance king attack the Blood-Red City garrison and draw a dangerous entity out of its Restricted Zone. Three Great Grandmasters die and two Half-Kings suffer grave injuries. The King of Reincarnation promises to honor the dead with king’s blood 257.

Three Days of Unrest

A three-day yin qi eruption ties down nearly all the Nine Provinces’ Kings at the rifts and Restricted Zones. The Dark Alliance exploits this by provoking local disasters rather than launching an unrestricted invasion that would force the Yamas to abandon their posts 400.

The defense centers on four threats:

Although stronger overall, the Nine Provinces cannot secure every position against concentrated enemy forces. The briefing authorizes immediate withdrawal and regrouping, accepting the possible loss of one or two locations to preserve at least two 409.

The Dark Alliance ultimately sends seven Half-Kings, opens the Dragon-Locking Well, and incites the Ghost-Sacrificing Lineage. Meanwhile, Jiang Chen spends the three days clearing cities of ghosts, assisted by local Unusual Persons, Netherworld Messengers, and eventually three Kings 454 462.

The aftermath is regarded as an overwhelming victory. The King of Reincarnation distributes sacrificial offerings to the defenders, and King Chujiang calls for attacks on Dark Alliance branches in retaliation 455 461 462.

Ancient Powerhouses and the Blessed Lands

The return of ancient experts brings both opportunities and conflicts. The King of Reincarnation’s breakthrough initially gives the Nine Provinces an exceptional advantage, but foreign powerhouses grow stronger as new treasure lands appear 547 693 694.

The emergence of the Peach Garden draws intruders toward multiple borders. Zhou Tai defends Northern Ridge, the King of Reincarnation confronts experts at the East Sea, and other defenders hold the remaining approaches. Recognizing that total exclusion is impossible, the Netherworld instead establishes rules for entry 681 683.

Some visitors prove openly predatory. A scarred ancient powerhouse orders Lü Qiu to abduct more than a thousand civilians for a blood path. When this attempt fails, he and Wangqing Daoist capture the Nine Provinces’ kings and other defenders instead 686.

The leadership subsequently adopts a more active pursuit of opportunities. Jiang Chen stays behind to guard the territory while the King of Reincarnation leads the kings into Qingqiu. After a later siege, the Nine Provinces announces sweeping reprisals against participants and their associated networks; the Reincarnators publicly declare their support 690 694 717.

Death Knell and the Great Power Siege

The Death Knell appears to people throughout the Nine Provinces, while photographs show each viewer their own corpse. Panic strengthens ghosts until official forces intervene. A toll kills 1,123 villagers, including Netherworld and Dao Alliance personnel, prompting an investigation into its killing rules 738.

Later, the appearance of three allied Great Powers briefly raises morale. This is followed by an attack involving four False Gods and three veteran Great Powers, directed against Jiang Chen and the Nine Provinces 781 784.

The defenders combine numerous exceptional methods to hold the attackers back. Zhou Tai, Xiaohai, and Tie Zhu help operate a Mountain God Illusion Dream Formation; Jiang Xiao Chen confronts the Holy War Corpse; and Jiang Chen awakens in a True Dragon transformation against Putuo. The effort leaves several defenders exhausted or incapacitated 786 788 789 791.

Later Upheavals

Preparations for the third round of upheaval include distributing treasures, raising selected juniors, and strengthening the leading defenders. During the attack, Zhou Tai rallies the nation’s powerhouses to drive the Blood-Eyed Monarch beyond its borders, while Su Ling leads younger Netherworld members against corrupted people and creatures 804 806.

The crisis draws divided responses from the ancient Fierce Lands: seven manifest to help defend the Nine Provinces, while Yingzhou, Penglai, the Land Temple, and Mount Sumeru Temple arrive with evident killing intent. A supreme Forbidden being later displays the severed heads of Yama King and Zhao Qingyi, devastating the defenders 817 819.

Reconstruction and the New Era

Over the following century, cultivation and technology become integrated. Children begin cultivating as early as three, ordinary people disappear as a distinct non-cultivating population, and new high-rises rise from devastated land. The Nine Provinces stands supreme, while survivors establish other nations 825.

Underground City expands into the world’s largest center for cultivator exchange. Many new-era inhabitants regard the Nine Provinces as cultivation’s orthodox homeland because of its role in bearing the earlier catastrophe 833.

When the Great Tribulation begins, Restricted Zones appear above the territory and release Forbidden beings. The Nine Provinces fights alongside Old Antiques, former Reincarnators, and King You. The defenders gain the advantage before five Weird Ancestors emerge from the Five Restricted Zones 833.

External Relations

• Dark Alliance — A recurring enemy responsible for garrison attacks, interference with seals, and cooperation with local supernatural threats. Its leaders exploit the Nine Provinces’ obligation to guard civilians and Restricted Zones 257 400 433 462.
• Other official organizations — Potential partners against outright destruction, but not reliable protectors against limited damage. Uncle Wei explains that they may welcome a reduction in the Nine Provinces’ strength 400.
• Ancient sects and Old Antiques — Relations range from regulated entry and cooperation to lethal conflict. Some later join the defense against the Great Tribulation 674 717 833.
• Reincarnators — Their settlement initially buffers Divine Spirit Valley’s spreading danger. They later openly support the Nine Provinces and fight beside it during the Great Tribulation 702 717 833.
• Pure Land — Accepts selected people from the Nine Provinces before the apocalypse. A century later, it becomes the largest cultivation nation and approaches the Nine Provinces in strength 800 825.
• Dark Curtain Royal Court — A new-era western state founded by the Netherworld Throne for unaffiliated Unusual Persons and foreign survivors 825.
• Reincarnation Sanctuary — A northern religious nation where humans and neutral Weird Evil beings coexist 825.