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The Order Overview
The Order is the central power in the story; the whole series tells of The Order in one age of the Wulin.
The Order is The Order — it has no other name. And yet it has become all but the most secret and the most feared body in the Wulin today. No one knows the true identities of its members: once a person enters The Order, their past is wiped away entirely.
The Order’s decision-making body, the Nether Envoys, numbers seven, and every one of them is a secret and unmatched master — yet beside the famous masters of Shaolin and Wudang and the Seven Great Sword Schools, not one of them is known to outsiders. Beyond the seven Nether Envoys, The Order keeps a strict grading of its people, a Snake House that handles research and technology, and the Ghost Envoy Corps that forms its basic fighting strength.
Location
- Headquarters: in a small town at the edge of the Central Forbidden Land, a place called the main compound
- A key branch: the False Western Paradise in Yecheng, where the various secret research establishments are kept
Principles
- On the surface: meet violence with violence, keeping the Wulin in balance by way of assassination
- In fact: Mu Tianmiao, the Nether Lord, has a larger scheme, and The Order’s members are only his pieces
- Manner of work: secret, efficient, cold, and leaving no trace behind
The Nether Lord
The Order’s supreme leader, and the head of its decision-making body, the Nether Envoys.
- Mu Tianmiao: founder of The Order, and its first the Nether Lord
The Nether Envoys (Seven)
The Order’s decision-making body. There are seven of them, and every one is a secret and unmatched master.
| Code name | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Black Wound | Soul | the youngest Nether Envoy, and protagonist of the main series |
| Zi Ming | Zuo Shang | Soul’s closest friend, later his opponent |
| Mu Xiaokui | daughter of Mu Tianmiao | — |
| An Chan | a mysterious Nether Envoy | — |
| Inanis | a mysterious Nether Envoy | — |
| Xiao Si | a mysterious Nether Envoy | — |
| the Seventh Nether Envoy | identity unknown | — |
Living Envoys
The Order’s middle tier of fighting strength, sent out on assassinations of every kind. Soul and Zuo Shang were both Living Envoys before they became Nether Envoys.
Ghost Envoy Corps
The Order’s basic fighting strength: the dead, worked by Ghost Envoy arts, and numberless.
The Snake House
The Order’s research arm, responsible for developing its secret technologies and drugs.
Key Events
- Year 1 of The Order: Mu Tianmiao founds The Order
- Year 30 of The Order: the Battle of Mirage; Soul and Zuo Shang break Mirage
- Year 40 of The Order: The Order’s internal war; Mu Tianmiao is killed and Soul is hunted