Divine Capital

Biodata

Layout and Geography

The Divine Capital’s 108 great wards form a precise, square-grid arrangement, compared at night to a chessboard of lights. The sprawling Imperial City stands to the north outside this ward pattern, distinguished by continuous golden eaves and emerald tiles 441.

• Western half: Administered by Chang'an County 455.
• Eastern half: Administered by Wannian County 455.
• Waterways: West Pool and the transport canal serve the city’s cargo traffic; gardens and markets also contain waters used for fishing 471 756.
• Northern satellite city: Deep Lake City lies more than 400 li away beside Dragon Lake. Built to obstruct a Wilderness People advance toward the capital region, it remained sparsely inhabited and bleak more than twenty years later 562.

Notable Locations

Government and Political Power

Administration and Law Enforcement

Patronage and Factional Conflict

• Powerful backers are crucial to advancement. Sui Zaihua warns Pei Ye that even exceptional cultivators struggle to establish themselves without support in the capital 181.
• Political ties overlap rather than forming simple chains of command. Xu Chuo describes the city’s competing interests as interwoven, acknowledging that even she cannot fully trace them 457.
• The Taiping Transport Gang benefits from elite protection. Its profits secure support from Yu Sicheng and the Phantom Tower, both cultivated by Prince Yan’s side 482.
• Aristocratic and scholar interests compete within the administration. Officials who move against the great-family bloc can attract support from the scholar class 472.
• Jinyang gradually becomes a public political force. Her visit to the Imperial College draws attention from literati circles, while newly risen court figures gather around her 675.

Cultivation Restrictions

Law of Shared Worlds

The Law of Shared Worlds suppresses higher cultivation advantages within the capital, but does not make realm differences irrelevant 471 476.

• An Eighth Growth cultivator is still ordinarily considered unable to contend with a Profound Gate cultivator under its suppression; Yan Feiqing is treated as an exceptional case 476.
• Xu Chuo considers Pei Ye’s Sixth Growth cultivation sufficient for the capital operations she initially assigns him 457.

Palace Restrictions

The palace imposes stricter limits under Qilin’s power 559.

• Pei Ye discovers that his true qi abilities no longer function after entering the Palace City 559.
• Spirit Profound is forbidden within the imperial palace 562.
• Spatial formations such as Close at Hand, Yet Worlds Apart cannot operate there 562.

Academies and Learning

Society and Culture

A City of Arrivals

• People from many lands converge on the capital. Pei Ye encounters visitors wearing styles unfamiliar to him, including clothing plainly outside Great Tang fashions 60 439.
• Scholars seek recognition through submitted writings, poetry gatherings, banquets, and audiences with officials. Qi Zhaohua builds her reputation through these channels after arriving alone 440.
• Newcomers without powerful connections may begin with gang struggles or Merchant Association maneuvering before approaching the great houses’ affairs 522.
• The city’s prosperity coexists with exploitation. Xie Chuantang was sold into the capital and, despite living there for nine years, continues to feel that she does not belong 462.
• Di Jiu argues that concentrated authority can let powerful figures commit crimes with less restraint than elsewhere, giving the capital both an exceptionally civilized and an exceptionally savage face 463.

Swordsmanship and Public Reputation

• Sword gatherings offer rapid recognition. West Pool hosts frequent poetry and martial meetings, where a striking performance can make a swordsman widely known by the following day 465.
• The press shapes reputations. Newspapers and journals compete to publish Cui Zhaoye’s Sword Reviews; her National Gazette column and reviews in Chang'an Sword Affairs help the public judge unfamiliar talents 465 482.
• Public standing is competitive and changeable. During the influx before the Feather-Scale Trial, newly arriving experts push older news into the background—even Pei Ye initially goes unrecognized on returning 695.
• Fans organize around famous swordsmen. Pei Ye’s fan club displays handmade keepsakes and distributes banquet invitations by lot at Leyouyuan 706.
• Sword-related crafts are varied. Li Piaoqing reports that the capital has an exceptional selection of Finger Swords, including unusual materials, designs, and examples tempered by artifact refiners 99.

Major Gatherings

Story Role and Major Arcs

Pei Ye’s Destination and Arrival

Yue Muzhou identifies the Divine Capital as the place Pei Ye truly wants to go: not a secluded sect where he would follow a prescribed path, but a meeting place of competing people and ambitions where he could forge his own future. Pei Ye later states that he intends to grow stronger there and obtain weapons capable of killing his surviving enemies 60 250.

His actual arrival sharply contrasts with that ambition. Escorted by Yan Feiqing, he enters the city chained inside a curtained cage, unable to see its celebrated splendor. Xu Chuo subsequently arranges his release, promises protection, and provides for his recovery and education 432 438.

The Taiping Transport Gang Investigation

Pei Ye, Di Jiu, and their allies investigate the Taiping Transport Gang’s protected criminal network, including the hidden Winter Prison at Taiping Wharf. Di Jiu publicly invites complaints outside Jingzhao Prefecture despite pressure to abandon the case 463 471.

The conflict culminates in public fighting at West Pool, where Pei Ye and Yan Feiqing kill the gang’s Body Recasting grandmaster. The gang’s collapse becomes major capital news and establishes Pei Ye as an emerging Sword Talent 476 482 494 734.

Scholarly Unrest and the Vermilion Bird Sword Wager

The Recommendation Ban Edict draws scholars from distant prefectures and circuits into the capital. Despite intimidation by aristocratic families, those who remain strengthen the city’s growing protest movement 529.

The dispute between One Heaven and Two Heavens places the capital under intense pressure. Pei Ye’s wager against the Fourth Highness becomes a contest discussed across newspapers, taverns, government offices, and noble residences, culminating before Vermilion Bird Gate 541 542 545.

Palace Investigations and Prince Yan’s Arrival

Xu Chuo assigns Pei Ye to investigate the old assassination attempt against Empress Scale-Locking, bringing him into the palace and its unresolved history 559 567.

Prince Yan’s arrival renews the capital’s danger. Li Jian and Yongbei confront one another over Yong Ji, while assassins target Pei Ye’s route back to the Sword Cultivation Academy. Li Youlong’s subsequent wedding procession leaves Chengtian Gate amid cheering crowds, marking an exceptional marriage between a Qilin-Blood Heir and the Northern Frontier’s ruling family 738 739 747.

Feather-Scale Season and Aftermath

As the Feather-Scale Trial approaches, experts from across the realm crowd the city’s gatherings. At the Eastern Palace’s Phantom Tower Banquet, Pei Ye fights twenty-one consecutive bouts against leading Teal List figures, finishing with nineteen wins, one draw, and one loss 695 756 763.

Following later upheavals, Li Xizhou tells Pei Ye that the Divine Capital is secure. By the Guiwei Year, many visiting friends have departed, and the absence of a Feather-Scale Trial leaves the city noticeably quieter 803 804.