Chen Village

Biodata

Power Progression

Geography and Settlement

• Original site: A secluded valley enclosed by sheer cliffs and jagged rocks. Its natural barriers were reinforced with a roughly one-zhang-high wooden palisade and a massive wooden entrance gate 9.
• Inner ring: The original village, occupied by Chen clanspeople and protected by Chen Mu’s talisman arrays 131.
• Outer ring: Housed the Weng Mountain Tribe and other vassal tribes. Conquered slaves lived near its edge and were excluded from the recorded population, although Chen Hongjie granted them basic human rights 131.
• Later appearance: Rows of tall buildings stood alongside a spirit herb garden, demonic beast pens, and training grounds 156.
• Transport: A village teleportation array connected Chen Mu’s base with outside destinations; a large outer-city array later supported travel through Alkaid City 137 251.

Settlement Growth

History

Origins and Isolation

The Chen ancestors migrated to the Wilderness several thousand years before Chen Mu’s time. Their ancestral cave served as both an early settlement site and a refuge during repeated threats of extermination. Resource shortages and covert pressure from Central Plains forces gradually reduced the clan’s strength; later generations concealed their ancestral achievements to survive 49 573.

Four years before Chen Mu’s return to the village, Tuoba Ziying of the Flame Blessing Tribe captured Chen Haoran and Meng Hui. The threat against anyone helping Chen Village left it diplomatically isolated, even from longstanding acquaintances such as Ironwood Village. Chen Haoran surrendered his treasure and joined the Flame Blessing Tribe in exchange for protection for the villagers 9 47.

Night Raid and Reconstruction

The Black Water and White Rock Tribes attacked together, breached the wooden gates, and inflicted heavy casualties. Chen Mu’s rune gun helped turn the battle, but Chen Shanyu was mortally wounded and passed leadership to Chen Hongjie. Another forty or fifty seriously wounded villagers died afterward because the village lacked sufficient medical resources 15 16 17.

Reconstruction shifted attention toward reliable food production. Chen Hongjie assigned Chen Mu manpower to improve farmland with Five Elements Runes, putting residents unable to hunt to productive work. Improved food supplies and equipment strengthened the village, while Chen Mu later introduced the Five Elements Body Tempering Technique and persuaded the villagers to replace human sacrificial offerings with wild beasts 17 18 24 26.

Wumeng Conflict and Consolidation

E Bei attacked on Wu Tong’s behalf with more than thirty mechanical puppets, later joined by warriors from neighboring tribes. Defensive arrays and ranged weapons frustrated the assault; the battle ended in Chen Village’s victory, with Wu Tong killed and many surviving attackers surrendering 33 34 35.

The later death of Wumeng chief Wu Hongtian in Chen Village made its strength known across the Wuyan Mountain Range. Chen Mu accepted friendship with Taiyan chief Tai Yunfan and agreed not to expand toward Taiyan territory. Rather than immediately pursue higher tribal status, the village leadership chose several years of consolidation 48.

Expansion and Tribal Warfare

During Chen Mu’s absence, Chen Village absorbed vassal tribes and developed a much stronger cultivation base. Chen Zihu proposed using the vulnerable Rock Peace Tribe as a springboard for expansion. The village subsequently declared itself high-tier, with its Spear and Cannon Squads overwhelming neighboring forces 131 132 133 144.

After Chen Mu returned from the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion, he reorganized production and began building the Rune Research Institute. Rapid expansion brought conflict with the Jianglan and Flame Blessing Tribes. New weapons and battlefield experience repeatedly overturned enemy advantages, although shortages of ordinary troops remained a serious limitation 193 194 209 218 235.

Chen Village eventually occupied most of the Jianglan Tribe’s former lands and reached the Flame Blessing Tribe’s border. Chen Mu delayed another offensive so the village could settle its enlarged population 246.

Defiance of the Temple

The Temple demanded that Chen Village surrender A Huo and the Demon-Slaying Sword, accusing them of harming the Wilderness’s ecology. Chen Mu suspected Xing Le’s involvement and ordered heightened readiness. As punishment approached, roughly a third of the assembled vassal chiefs abandoned the village 274 282.

Chen Hongjie evacuated ordinary residents before Xing Le’s beast army arrived. Chen Mu’s Demonic Spiritual Particle Bomb missiles killed approximately 1.13 million beasts in their first round; reported losses later exceeded two million. Xing Le then committed his avian forces, nearly two hundred thousand of which had gathered nearby 284 286 287.

Chen Village survived and received a vast territory in the northwestern Wilderness. Its subsequent campaigns eliminated or absorbed the remaining major opposition: the Flame Blessing Tribe fell, Azure Tiger surrendered, Black Iron was overrun, and Golden Ridge submitted after an internal rebellion 294 298.

Founding of the Chen Kingdom

Chen Hongjie and Chen Mu resisted early calls to declare a kingdom, prioritizing administration and development. Within about two years, every tribe inside their territory supported Chen Village. Over six years, advances in energy, materials, cultivation, genetics, and communications transformed the settlement into a supercity 299.

At the founding ceremony, Chen Hongjie appointed Chen Mu Imperial Preceptor and established the Rune Research Institute as the state religion. Representatives of major powers attended the celebrations 299 300.

Government and Society

Leadership and Administration

• Clan leadership: The chief governed alongside respected elders. Chen Jianfeng later served as grand elder of the council of elders 11 209.
• Chen Mu’s position: Although he rarely handled routine administration, village leaders regarded him as its indispensable central figure; he sat alongside Chen Hongjie at major meetings 133 209.
• Vassal administration: Subordinate tribes received fiefs, official positions, resources, and authority to govern conquered lands, compensating for the Chen Clan’s shortage of administrators 282.
• Concentration of power: Military strength remained with the Chen Clan, especially Chen Mu. Chen Hongjie estimated that even the departure of every vassal tribe would reduce combat strength by no more than twenty percent 282.
• Internal security: Mingye accepted responsibility for the Shadow Guards, intended to address covert threats and maintain stability among subordinate tribes 193.

Customs and Cultivation

• Collective distribution: Early households ate separately, but hunting yields, wild fruit, and daily necessities were distributed collectively 12.
• Childhood duties: Group physical training began at six; children above that age were generally expected to help with farm work 12.
• Former sacrifice: Frail elderly people and children with disabilities were sent to the Heavenly God Cave as divine servants. Chen Mu secured Chen Duo’s return after restoring her eyesight and later ended the offering of servants 1 11 24.
• Ancestor worship: The ancestral hall recorded leaders and villagers who had made notable contributions or died fighting. Chen Village ultimately revered its ancestors above the gods 17 276.
• Cultivation allocation: Access to the Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array’s different floors depended on council assessments of potential, ability, and contributions 38.
• Shared foundation, varied skills: More than ninety-nine percent of villagers practiced the Five Elements Body Tempering Technique, but individuals freely pursued different martial skills 177.
• Membership beyond bloodline: A Huo was accepted as one of the village’s own without adopting the Chen surname 24.

Economy and Research

• Early subsistence: Hunting and gathering supplied most food; agriculture and animal husbandry were initially underdeveloped 1.
• Agricultural reform: Rune-assisted farmland reduced dependence on hunting. Handcarts were introduced to ease the transport of harvested grain 17 18.
• Talisman production: Chen Mu’s original talisman-making room was converted from an abandoned house. Automated rune printers later provided steady funding for development 12 132.
• Resources and trade: Mines, the Wuyan Mountain Range’s natural resources, and control of Wuyan Market eventually outweighed the early talisman-paper business in economic importance 132 165.
• Arms industry: Arms sales produced profits exceeding tenfold, helping finance rapid territorial expansion 196.
• Rune Research Institute: Gathered specialists in artifact refinement, alchemy, formations, plant cultivation, beast taming, Demonic Patterns, and mechanisms. Chen Mu shared his database to support collaborative research 194 283.
• Automated labor: Mining, construction, and combat puppets compensated for manpower shortages. Mechanical construction equipment accelerated excavation, transport, and urban redevelopment 195 297.
• Spirit Network: Connected tribes throughout Chen Village’s territory during the six years preceding the kingdom’s founding 299.

Military and Defenses

Armed Forces

Defensive Systems

• Talisman arrays: Protected the original village and later outer ring; an upgraded Mechanism Fortress and patrolling Rune Puppet No. 1 improved their adaptability 131 137.
• Anti-surveillance formation: Shielded the inner city from the Temple’s Suspended Light Mirror for at least two years 197.
• Concealed fortifications: Ordinary-looking stone-brick walls contained alloy steel, preserving the appearance of a conventional Wilderness settlement 283.
• Integrated weapons: Defensive crossbows became powerful offensive magical treasures when activated; mechanical arms concealed in buildings transformed into gun and cannon barrels 283.
• Heavy artillery: Massive cannons at the Rune Research Institute could devastate everything within a hundred li 283.
• Expert deterrence: A trace of White Turtle’s presence was sufficient to frighten away intruders at the Core Formation Realm or above 283.
• Central management: Chen Mu could access the village’s central management system through his Divine Soul upon approaching its territorial border 275.

External Relations

• Black Water and White Rock Tribes — Early hostile neighbors whose joint night raid caused the village’s first major wartime losses 8 15 17.
• Ironwood Village — A longstanding acquaintance that distanced itself under outside pressure, remained neutral during subsequent crises, and renewed ties through Chen Zihu’s marriage 9 39.
• Rock Peace Tribe — Initially received Chen Village’s annual tribute; later sought to join it as its own position weakened 39 133.
• Taiyan Tribe — Negotiated a peaceful boundary and non-expansion agreement before later appearing among the mid-tier tribes within Chen Village’s enlarged territory 48 144.
• Jianglan Tribe — Major territorial rival whose defeat supplied extensive land, spirit stones, and other resources 218 246.
• Flame Blessing Tribe — Responsible for the capture of Chen Mu’s parents and a persistent military enemy; ultimately destroyed and annexed 9 47 165 294 295.
• Wilderness Divine Temple — Former religious authority turned military opponent under Xing Le. Feng Tianqing later apologized to Chen Mu for the Temple’s attack 274 286 517.