Zichuan City

Biodata

Geography and Jurisdiction

• Surrounding terrain: The wider region contains rivers and plains suitable for population growth and agricultural development. Its outermost reaches include treacherous mountains, rivers, and land unsuitable for farming 13 36.
• Distance from Qiao Town: A few hundred li, with mountains and long roads between the settlements. The Lin Household’s army required at least three days to reach the city 25 26 28.
• Distance from Thousand Rocks City: Two thousand li from the Song Household’s seat 27 28.
• Cultivation environment: No top-grade Spirit Veins exist within several thousand li, and the region does not produce heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Encounters with Spirit Nourishing cultivators are consequently unusual 17.

Territorial Extent

Towns Retained by the Lin Household

History

Zhao Household Rule

The Zhao Household held regional supremacy for hundreds of years. Its position rested on an Organ Refining Realm cultivator, and earlier challengers had been destroyed along with their households. Its expanding influence eventually encroached on the territory around Qiao Town 4 18.

Its control was not absolute. The Bai, Xu, and Zhou Households maintained an alliance backed by three Bone Refining Realm ancestors, cooperating with the Zhao Household while protecting their own fundamental interests. A nearby cultivation market, whose owner was also an Organ Refining cultivator, was another regional counterweight 13 31.

Collapse of Zhao Authority

The Zhao Household’s defeat at Qiao Town cost it nearly twenty thousand armored guards and more than ten cultivators. News of the disaster threw Zichuan City into disorder: residents fled, while opportunists committed arson, killing, and robbery. Surrounding forces blocked the Zhao Household’s escape, hoping to use its destruction as a pledge of loyalty to the rising Lin Household 26.

The remaining Zhao patriarch appealed to the Song Household of Thousand Rocks City. He ordered the city held for five days and mobilized residents of all ages, claiming that the Lin Household would massacre them if it entered. His plan relied on civilian lives delaying the attackers until help arrived—or providing an opportunity for his own escape 27.

Lin Household Conquest

Lin Changge marched on Zichuan City with three thousand armored guards and members of the Lin Household. The attackers employed battering rams, scaling ladders, and catapults against hastily conscripted defenders. Zhao veterans enforced resistance by killing those who tried to retreat 28 30.

Lin Xiye initially remained outside the battle with the Three Talents Formation Flags. Lin Changge insisted that the household fight rather than depend entirely on its ancestor, intending the siege to strengthen its cohesion and younger generation. Within half an hour, the attacking force had lost half its participating clansmen and a third of its armored guards; the gates fell shortly afterward 30 31.

After entering the city, Lin Xiye killed the remaining Zhao cultivators. Lin forces slaughtered Zhao clansmen and targeted their vassals, but prohibited indiscriminate killing and plundering of unrelated residents. This distinction helped the city quickly regain order 31 32.

Rival Claims and the Song Settlement

The Bai, Xu, Zhou, and smaller cultivation households entered the conquered city seeking to preserve their independence through a proposed arrangement to “jointly maintain order.” Lin Xiye rejected shared authority, killed Bai Youfu, and eliminated the three households’ ancestors. Leaders of the smaller powers then submitted 33 34 37.

The Song Household’s Fifth and Seventh Elders subsequently demanded that the Lin Household evacuate Zichuan City. Lin Xiye trapped them in the Three Talents Formation Flags and threatened them with Five Thunder Talismans, forcing negotiations. The Lin Household retained the city and the Zhao treasury but ceded five hundred li of surrounding territory 35 36 37.

Consolidation

Over the following six months, Lin Changge converted the former Zhao estate into the Lin Household’s ancestral grounds, established a Hall of Meritorious Deeds, and developed roads connecting the retained towns. He also assumed responsibility for disputes throughout the city, towns, and villages under Lin control 39.

The discovery of the enormous silver vein near Clear Spring Town created a new threat. Lin Changge feared that Blood Wolf Hall and other powerful interests would seize it. Lin Xiye left Zichuan City to obtain cultivation resources, instructing Changge to delay rival surveying parties or feign surrender until his return 40 41.

Government and Security

Occupation Laws

Lin Changge issued strict rules before the conquest to preserve the population and productive economy rather than leave the household ruling an empty city 25.

• No burning, looting, indiscriminate killing, or disruption of public order 25.
• Violence was to be directed against the Zhao Household and its vassal forces, not unrelated civilians 25.
• Violations were punishable by execution through a thousand cuts, including violations committed by household elders 25.

Military and Infrastructure

Economy and Development

Lin Xiye regarded the surrounding territory—not merely the captured treasury—as the foundation for the Lin Household’s continued rise. His plans included improving food production, transport, storage, and management through knowledge from his previous life. Population growth would also increase the likelihood of children being born with Spirit Roots 13 33.

• Captured wealth: The Zhao treasury contained enough gold and silver to fill several hundred carriages, alongside medicinal herbs and Spirit Stone fragments 32.
• Financial strain: After six months of consolidation and military expansion, the Lin Household had only five thousand taels of silver remaining, while its industries spent more than they earned 39.
• Silver discovery: The vein near Clear Spring Town was ultimately estimated at two hundred billion taels, offering a potential solution to the household’s finances while attracting dangerous competition 39 40.

Notable Locations

• City walls and gates — Fortifications contested during the Lin siege; attackers seized positions on the walls before battering rams broke the gates 30 31.
• Former Zhao Household estate — Captured residence and treasury complex, later rebuilt as the Lin Household’s ancestral grounds 32 39.
• Hall of Meritorious Deeds — Built within the new ancestral grounds to recognize contributions and strengthen household unity 39.
• Lin Xiye’s cultivation courtyard — A quiet courtyard selected for its comparatively abundant Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and protected with a basic illusion formation 37.