Divine Firmament Sword Sect

Biodata

Organization and Membership

Leadership

Recruitment and Advancement

• Spiritual-root testing: Recruits are tested with a stone. Both Ying Huaixu and Ye Ningshuang initially register as having low-grade roots, although Ye Ningshuang’s Dark Mystery Spiritual Root requires natural treasures to awaken 10.
• Outer discipleship: Lü Qingyi accepts both recruits and gives them outer disciple tokens. Their formal registration takes place after arrival at the sect 10 18.
• Personal discipleship: Admission does not guarantee a master. The core members decline to teach Ying Huaixu because of his apparent aptitude, leaving him to prove himself after joining 17.
• Inner discipleship: He Xiuyuan expects promotion after reaching Meridian Opening and is later shown living in the inner sect 36 50.
• Basic provisions: Every new disciple receives the Heavenly Dipper Body Tempering Art and a Storage Bag 20 29.
• Contribution system: Sect work earns contribution points, recorded on disciple tokens. Pill Room cleaning pays ten contribution per day; Ying Huaixu also exchanges items for contribution to obtain a meridian-opening cultivation method 22 49.

Notable Members

• Ying Huaixu — Outer disciple recruited after killing the wanted criminal in Peaceful Town. Lü Qingyi supports him despite his apparently low-grade spiritual root 10 16 17.
• Ye Ningshuang — Prophecy-backed recruit whose development is a major concern for the leadership. The core members insist that Lü Qingyi devote her full attention to teaching her 11 17.
• He Xiuyuan — Son of the Great Sun Holy Lord. After destroying his previous cultivation, he joins as an outer disciple to succeed without his father’s support; he later enters the inner sect 37 50.
• Qiu Shiyi — Peak Spirit Sea Realm cultivator known as the Little Killing God. Commands the large deployment to Falling Radiance City 42 45.
• Huang Tianqi — Pill Room alchemist whose repeated failures contrast with his confidence in his talent. He supplies Ying Huaixu with pill formulas and later watches his successful automated refining 23 49.

Rules and Reputation

The sect combines protection of its own members with uncompromising violence toward perceived evildoers. Xu Yaoyang describes it as openly stating its actions, leaving the world to judge them, and intervening whenever something wreaks havoc. He also warns that retaliation against its disciples could bring destruction upon an offending family 35.

Internally, the sect is presented as comparatively fair: it does not routinely bully weak disciples, and outer disciples are not automatically mocked or scorned by the inner sect 17 50.

• No harassment of fellow disciples: Rules forbid provoking trouble or insulting other disciples out of jealousy or other motives 26.
• Protection of members’ possessions: Lü Qingyi assures Ying Huaixu that possessing valuable treasures will not make him a target within the sect; stealing sect members’ property outside it also carries consequences 16.
• Accepted missions must be carried out: Ye Ningshuang remains obligated to undertake a dangerous mission even after accepting it accidentally 29.
• No littering: Disciples must not litter inside or outside the sect. Corpses are explicitly exempt from cleanup; Lü Qingyi established the rule 43.
• Personal relationships remain personal: Lü Qingyi refuses to separate Ying Huaixu and Ye Ningshuang over concerns about their differing prospects, insisting that any decision belongs to them 11.

Its reputation is strong enough that a bandit doubts He Xiuyuan’s identity precisely because he tries to reason with them: the bandit expects genuine Divine Firmament disciples to kill evildoers without negotiation 28.

Grounds and Resources

Abilities and Military Capabilities

Sword Cultivation

• Disciples travel and fight with flying swords, including coordinated attacks against fleeing enemies 10 45 46.
• Available techniques include Frost Step and Heavenly Frost Sword, while Heavenly Dipper Body Tempering Art is standard training for new disciples 20.
• Qiu Shiyi can turn a single water droplet into citywide rain composed of tiny swords 45.

Lockdown and Judgment Formations

The sect deploys white jade pillars to establish a citywide lockdown incorporating the Questioning Heart Formation and Sin-Severing Formation 43.

• People able to pass the formations may leave; those carrying the qualifying karmic sins are trapped 43.
• He Xiuyuan explains that the formations condemn people who have committed evil for at least three years 45.
• During the Falling Radiance City operation, the sect allows one day for evacuation before killing those who remain 43 45.
• The lockdown seals routes above and below ground, preventing even the concealed city lord from escaping the city 46.

Large-Scale Deployment

• The sect can send warships and a sky-filling force of sword-riding disciples in response to intelligence reports 42.
• Its troops guard city gates and even small gaps while other disciples remain airborne 43.
• Qiu Shiyi supervises the operation while disciples hunt surviving enemies; inner disciples also eliminate opponents too strong for Ye Ningshuang 45 46.
• Powerful concealment remains a limitation: the city lord temporarily evades Qiu Shiyi’s spiritual sense despite being trapped inside the perimeter 46.

Relationships

• Thousand Mechanisms Sect — Blood-feud enemy. Accusations of copying and the White Jade Scholar’s violent retaliation deepen the hostility; the two sects monitor each other’s powerful members 29 30.
• Great Sun Sacred Ground — Connected through He Xiuyuan’s family and former affiliation. Its Holy Son, Xu Yaoyang, offers assistance with the sect’s mission, but He Xiuyuan refuses to rely on his former sacred ground 37.
• Peaceful Town and Qinghe County — Communities within the sect’s territory. The sect dispatches a disciple against the wanted criminal operating there 8.
• Falling Radiance City — Nearby city outside its jurisdiction. Its lord conspires with the Thousand Mechanisms Sect to lure Divine Firmament disciples into a blood-sacrifice plot 41.
• Xu family — Mortal family warned against provoking the sect. Xu Yaoyang arranges compensation and encourages hospitality toward its disciples to build goodwill 34 35.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Peaceful Town Recruitment

The sect’s mission is specifically to recruit Ye Ningshuang, whose significance has been foretold by its ancestor. Lü Qingyi confirms her spiritual root and also admits Ying Huaixu, who has already killed the local wanted criminal 10 11.

Before departure, Lü Qingyi tries unsuccessfully to secure a personal master for Ying Huaixu. The senior members agree to his admission but insist that Ye Ningshuang’s training take priority. Both recruits then travel to the sect and formally register 17 18.

Preparations for Ye Ningshuang’s Future

The leadership believes Ye Ningshuang must reach Meridian Opening within three years and fears failing the Grand Ancestor’s prophecy. Lü Qingyi nevertheless resists interference with her teaching arrangements 19 27.

When Ye Ningshuang accepts a dangerous mission, the sect master objects. Lü Qingyi argues that He Xiuyuan can protect her and states that she will follow personally to protect and assess the recruit. She refuses to guarantee acceptance as her personal disciple unless Ye Ningshuang satisfies her 27.

Falling Radiance City

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect plans to summon the Annihilation Envoy and use Divine Firmament disciples as food. Its scheme assumes the sword sect will send only a limited force to a small mortal city 30 41.

After Ying Huaixu and He Xiuyuan submit an expanded intelligence report, the sect instead sends warships, numerous disciples, and Qiu Shiyi. They seal the city, allow qualifying inhabitants to evacuate, and launch their purge after the deadline 42 43 45.

The city lord reveals his blood-shadow escape technique when attacked, temporarily eluding Qiu Shiyi’s detection. After he is dealt with, Qiu Shiyi publicly awards He Xiuyuan the greatest credit for slaying the fiend, and the sect intends to confront the Thousand Mechanisms Sect directly 46 48.

Trivia

• Players of the Divine Firmament Sword Sect jokingly call themselves members of the Heavenly Court because of its monumental entrance 18.
• Formally registering at the sect completes Ying Huaixu’s mission prologue; merely receiving an outer disciple token does not 12 18.
• During the Falling Radiance City mission, kills made by other sect disciples grant Ying Huaixu experience, revealing that he can benefit from large battles without personally striking every enemy 45.