Seven Mysteries Sect

Biodata

History

Rise and Decline

Founded by High Person Seven Ultimates, who was renowned two hundred years earlier, the sect dominated Jing Province for several decades. Its influence reached neighboring provinces, and its reputation extended throughout Yue State. After its founder died of illness, rival sects combined forces to drive it out of Jing Province City 2.

During its golden age, an unnamed elder secretly lost his ability to cultivate internal True Qi. Concealing his condition, he used his authority to plunder martial arts manuals from obscure sects, then spent decades developing Blinking Swordsmanship. When he emerged, the Seven Mysteries Sect was under siege and near destruction. He killed enough enemy experts to open an escape route, saving the sect shortly before his death 40.

A century before Han Li’s arrival, the sect relocated to Rosy Cloud Mountain. Despite its diminished standing, it retained enough strength to seize more than a dozen nearby settlements and establish itself as a major local power 2.

Conflict with the Wild Wolf Gang

The Wild Wolf Gang coveted the sect’s prosperous towns, which were better managed than its own larger holdings. Repeated clashes prompted the Seven Mysteries Sect to expand recruitment 2.

Over the following years, the two sides fought more than a dozen battles over disputed towns. Although the sect’s disciples generally possessed better martial skills, they suffered against the gang’s reckless, bloodthirsty fighters. Deploying most of the inner disciples improved some battlefield results but caused severe casualties 19.

The leadership subsequently required disciples to gain experience through less important missions before joining the fighting. Casualties fell, and outside experience became a formal prerequisite for receiving an official sect post 19.

Han Li’s Recruitment and the Spy Plot

Han Li entered the sect’s recruitment process at ten, hoping to earn money for his family. After failing to finish the entrance climb in time, he and Zhang Tie were retained as Registered Disciples and selected by Doctor Mo to live in Divine Hand Valley 1 4 5.

Years later, Han Li overheard two Wild Wolf Gang spies discussing a plot involving a list. He recognized one as a steward from the mountain’s main kitchen and decided to pass the matter to Li Feiyu 38 39.

Li Feiyu and more than a dozen disciples captured both spies alive before they could steal the list of disciples leaving the mountain for training. Wang Lu publicly rewarded him with the position of protector, admitting him into the sect’s middle ranks 43.

Organization

Leadership

• Principal sect master: Wang Lu heads the sect 6.
• Deputy sect masters: Three serve beneath the principal sect master; Ma is one of them 5 6.
• Council of Elders: Answers only to the principal sect master and holds standing equal to the deputy sect masters 6.
• Protectors: A middle-ranking position; Li Feiyu receives this appointment for exposing the spies 43.

Halls

Recruitment and Training

Admission

• Inner-disciple benefits: Free martial instruction, food and lodging, and more than one tael of spending money each month, according to Han Li’s Third Uncle 1.
• Foundational education: Recruits study literacy, meridians, acupoints, horse stance, and striking straw dummies 6.
• Standard apprenticeship: After two years in Hundred Tempering Hall, inner disciples usually become apprentices to senior members and learn advanced martial arts 17.
• Exceptional selection: Outstanding entrants can proceed directly to Seven Ultimates Hall and may become a sect master’s personal disciples. Promising trainees can also attract elders, hall masters, or Attendants 17.
• Outside experience: Disciples must complete training and gain experience away from the mountain before receiving official posts 19.
• Individual exceptions: Doctor Mo replaced Han Li and Zhang Tie’s ordinary follow-up examination with a test of their progress in his private mnemonic 7.

Headquarters and Defenses

• Outsiders cannot freely visit the mountain after the sect takes possession of it 3.
• Patrol disciples question unfamiliar faces, including Han Li after his years of seclusion 15.
• Doctor Mo secured elder approval for a granite practice chamber in Divine Hand Valley despite Han Li’s ordinary disciple status 9.

Martial Arts

Righteous Yang Art

• The sect’s basic internal cultivation art, producing a distinct warm current of True Qi 7.
• Young disciples using it can break a bowl-thick sapling with one punch and leap more than a zhang into the air 7.

Blinking Swordsmanship

• An assassination-oriented sword art designed to function without internal True Qi 33 39.
• Requires exceptional senses and forbids refined internal force, which conflicts with its methods of exerting power 39.
• Its creator used it to rescue the besieged sect and instructed that its manual be preserved in Seven Ultimates Hall 40.
• Later generations dismissed its demands as impossible and wrongly believed even its creator had failed to master it. Han Li obtained the neglected manual through Li Feiyu 33 34 39 40.

Other Documented Arts

• Wind and Thunder Saber Technique: An ordinary mid-level sect art with which Li Feiyu distinguished himself in competition and outside operations 18.
• Mad Python Force: A forceful Seven Ultimates Hall secret art taught privately to Han Li by Li Feiyu 33.
• Private instruction: Doctor Mo teaches Han Li the Eternal Spring Art and Zhang Tie the Elephant Armor Technique; neither is presented as the sect’s standard curriculum 6 9 30.

Notable Members

• High Person Seven Ultimates — Founder and ancestor of Wang Lu 2 6.
• Wang Lu — Principal sect master; invited Doctor Mo to join after the physician saved his life 6.
• Vice Sect Leader Ma — Wu Yan’s relative by marriage, whose influence secured Wu Yan’s privileged admission 5.
• Hall Master Yue — Supervises the entrance examination and assigns successful candidates 3 4 5.
• Protector Wang — Escorts prospective recruits from nearby settlements to the mountain 2 3.
• Doctor Mo — Attendant Hall physician respected for saving numerous disciples; master of Han Li and Zhang Tie 5 6.
• Han Li — Recruited through his Third Uncle; trains in Divine Hand Valley and uncovers the spies’ conversation 1 5 38.
• Zhang Tie — Doctor Mo’s disciple; disappears after reaching the third layer of the Elephant Armor Technique, leaving a letter claiming he has gone into the jianghu 15.
• Li Feiyu / Li Hu — Rises from Registered Disciple to celebrated fighter, Seven Ultimates Hall trainee, and protector 18 33 43.
• Wu Yan — Admitted over the normal age limit and placed in Seven Ultimates Hall through family connections 3 5.
• Fatty Han — Han Li’s Third Uncle, an outer disciple working in a sect-owned restaurant 1 2.

Internal Culture and Insignia

• Patronage: Wu Yan’s preferential treatment provokes resentment among ordinary disciples. Criticizing a deputy sect master risks punishment by wall-facing repentance 5.
• Wealth divisions: Affluent disciples mock poorer recruits, and tensions sometimes escalate into group fights 12.
• Responsibility for departures: Zhang Tie’s unexplained departure threatens repercussions for his recommender and relatives until Doctor Mo intervenes 15.
• Clothing and weapons: Many members wear blue satin robes and carry sabers at their hips or swords on their backs 3.
• Flag: A triangular black flag with a red border and the character “Mysteries” embroidered in silver identifies an important sect figure’s carriage 2.