Emei Sect

Faction Information

The Emei Sect is one of the Six Great Sects of the Central Plains, and probably the oldest sect in the Jianghu. Its history reaches back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods; it was founded by the White Ape Patriarch, Situ Xuankong.

Emei's Golden Summit is a holy site of Buddhism, and most of the sect's disciples are Buddhists, while the rest follow Daoism. Their martial arts all come from nature, such as the fist, sword, and staff techniques the White Ape Patriarch created by imitating the clever monkeys of the mountains. The fist is Emei's , the sword is the White Ape Sword Technique, and the staff is the Monkey King Staff.

Later generations followed the Patriarch and imitated other creatures too, creating snake-form, crane-form, tiger-form, and many other fist techniques. They stress learning by observation and imitation, taking the form from the intent, which is why it is called Xingyi—the exact opposite of the Tang Clan's philosophy in the Chapter on Forgetting Form.

Though they are neighbors of the Tang Clan, they are not close and have little to do with each other. It is simply that, unlike the Tang Clan's arrogance and unruliness, they are aloof and withdrawn, minding their own business. Sect Leader Xiang Wuyou rarely walks the Jianghu either, and has few deeds to his name. It is instead the Sect Leader's Junior Brother, "Wind God" Xie Wuchen, who has the greater reputation: an outstanding figure among the Jianghu's younger generation, and a sworn rival of Tang Buyi.

Heart Sword

Today everyone in the Emei Sect practices fist and leg techniques, with strong bodies and agile skills. But the Emei Sect of old was a sword sect, and a formidable one at that.

It is said that several hundred years ago, even before the Tang Clan's Patriarch founded his sect, there were no other sects in Shu; the Emei Sect alone dominated, and its Sword Technique was famed throughout the land. The White Ape Sword Technique passed down from the White Ape Patriarch evolved through several dynasties to reach its peak.

Yet extremes always reverse. One day they suddenly felt the chill of being too high up, and so they abandoned the sword, hiding it in their hearts and calling it the "Heart Sword," using it to temper body and mind.

Strange Ape in the Wind

The Emei Sect is very particular about seniority. When disciples take a master, they change their names according to their generation character. For example, Sect Leader Xiang Wuyou and Wind God Xie Wuchen are both of the "Wu" generation. The previous generation of seniors were of the "Cheng" generation, and almost all of them have now retired from the Jianghu, because of one notorious traitor.

The Emei traitor's name is Yuan Chengfeng, known in the Jianghu as "Strange Ape in the Wind." His Monkey King Staff was extraordinarily nimble, and he was a fine hand in the Jianghu of his day. Tang Zhongling once appraised him: "Very hard to fight."

In his early years he was still a hero of the righteous factions who righted wrongs, but when the Old Demon Cult rose, he was eager to make a name for himself and went to challenge the Old Demon Cult, staff in hand. Defeated by the Right Envoy of the Supreme Bliss Cult, he knelt and begged for his life, sought a Corpse Heart Pill and swallowed it, and gladly became a running dog of the Supreme Bliss Cult.

He stole poison from the Tang Clan and came back down the mountain to poison them, meaning to wipe out the Emei Sect in one sweep as a Blood Oath. Because of this, the Emei seniors either died or had their Meridians ruined and their martial arts destroyed. For this merit Yuan Chengfeng was enfeoffed as one of the Seven Immortals of the Supreme Bliss Cult, and ruled as king over Emei, indulging in every excess.

It was not until later that Tang Zhongling cut through his weapon and fingers with the Flying Swallow Meteor Feather and kicked him off Emei's Golden Summit, after which his whereabouts were unknown. The world believed he had fallen to his death and been smashed to pieces, and only at the Fengyu Mountain Wulin Assembly did they learn he had survived.

Manuals

Notes

Almost all the great seniors of the Cheng generation are dead or have had their martial arts destroyed; the few still alive have gone into seclusion to study Buddhism.^[1]

Gallery

PTT C Chat -[Living Hero] Long Xiang and Strange Trivia P4 ↩︎

Emei Sect ​

Heart Sword ​

Strange Ape in the Wind ​

Manuals ​