Murim’s history is not written in imperial scrolls but in scars across mountains, rivers, and men’s hearts. Every century brings waves of turmoil: sect wars, dynasties rising and falling, and vendettas that ignite into infernos. For every moment of peace, there is an equal storm brewing — for Murim thrives on conflict as much as cultivation.
The empire has always sought to bind Murim beneath its laws, but Murim bends only to its own code. This has sparked repeated conflicts:
The Purge of Tangmen: An emperor once tried to eradicate Tangmen after they assassinated a favored concubine. Imperial armies burned valleys and poisoned rivers, yet Tangmen survived in the shadows, striking back with deadlier poisons. The attempt failed, and the sect’s legend only grew darker.
Shaolin’s Betrayal of a Dynasty: In one era, when a corrupt emperor drowned his people in taxes and war, Shaolin declared the Mandate of Heaven lost. Monks marched with rebels, toppling the dynasty — proof that Murim could shape the fate of nations.
Royal Guards’ Rebellions: Several times, the Guards have grown so powerful they nearly became a sect unto themselves. More than one emperor has had to slaughter his own Guards to reassert control.
These clashes define the empire’s relationship with Murim: cooperation built on mutual suspicion, peace always shadowed by potential war.
Two mountains, two philosophies: Shaolin values discipline and righteousness, Wudang values harmony and flow. Though often allies, their rivalry is eternal. Whenever one gains too much prestige, the other subtly maneuvers to balance it. Legends tell of duels between abbots and Taoist masters that shook mountains without spilling blood — contests of philosophy as much as fist or sword.
The Emei Sect, graceful and serene, despises Tangmen’s poisons and shadows. Tangmen, in turn, mocks Emei as hypocrites who preach compassion while wielding blades. Their feuds are bloody, with poisoned needles clashing against silver swords. Countless valleys bear witness to their vendettas.
The people’s defenders versus the Emperor’s fist. Their conflict is ideological as much as martial: one fights for loyalty and justice, the other for order and control. Beggars stir rebellions when Guards grow too cruel; Guards cut down beggars when they threaten stability. Neither can destroy the other without shattering the empire itself.
The Valley thrives on conflict. Outcasts, heretics, and demonic cultivators gather in its hidden mists. Every sect has fought them, yet none can erase them. Their unpredictability has shaped countless arcs of Murim history — sometimes fighting as mercenaries, sometimes emerging as the shadow behind calamities.
The Bridge of Falling Petals: A Shaolin monk and a Wudang swordsman dueled for three days on a bridge covered in blossoms. Neither won; both retreated, claiming the other righteous. The duel is remembered as proof that Murim can honor rivalry without hatred.
The Poisoned Banquet: An entire Emei delegation fell to Tangmen poison during a peace feast. The sects nearly annihilated each other in the war that followed, until Wudang mediated. To this day, Tangmen disciples are often forbidden entry at Emei celebrations.
The Drunken Saint’s Stand: A single Beggar Sect master, famed for drunken fist, held off one hundred Royal Guards on a city wall. Though he fell, his defiance inspired an uprising that toppled a corrupt governor. His staff is enshrined to this day.
The Immortal Flame Duel: Two Nascent Soul masters fought for control of a sacred flame field. Their battle scorched the land so fiercely it still burns centuries later. Both vanished into the fire — neither victor nor loser, only legend.
Murim remembers its betrayals as much as its victories.
A Wudang elder once sold manuals to the Royal Guards, nearly destroying his sect.
A Shaolin abbot secretly cultivated demonic Qi, his corruption hidden until lightning tribulation exposed him.
Scholar’s Academy masters have been accused of swaying emperors with poems — subtle betrayal in ink rather than steel.
These betrayals fuel paranoia. No sect forgets, and old wounds often reopen in new generations.
Though blood dominates history, there are golden ages where sects unite:
To repel foreign invaders crossing the northern steppes.
To drive back demonic cultivators who threatened all under heaven.
To protect sacred lands when Heaven’s wrath sent spirit beasts raging across valleys.
These moments remind Murim that, beneath rivalry, it is one world — bound by the same customs and oaths.
In the current age, tensions simmer:
The Royal Guards tighten their grip, whispering of sect suppression.
Tangmen expands its influence, supplying poisons to warlords.
Wanderer’s Valley grows restless, their exiles gathering in secret.
Shaolin and Wudang struggle for moral leadership, while Beggar’s Sect gains the people’s love.
Murim stands on a knife’s edge. One duel, one betrayal, one sect’s ambition could ignite the next great war.
Summary:
Murim’s story is a cycle of vendettas, sect wars, and fragile alliances. Every sacred land is watered with blood, every sect rivalry echoes across centuries, and every duel may spark history. Heroes rise, villains fall, but Murim endures — forever caught between balance and chaos, empire and blade, Heaven and earth.