Quanzhen Sect
A legitimate school of martial arts in the world, one of the six major sects in the Central Plains. After the decline of the Songshan Sect, it quickly rose to prominence. Its followers are spread throughout the Song and Jin dynasties, surpassing Buddhism. Apart from the fact that most of the high monks of Songshan sacrificed themselves in the battle against the Old Demon Sect, it is also because they emphasize the unity of the three religions, breaking down the opposition between sects. Today, both the Great Song and Jin dynasties have numerous Taoist temples, making it the largest sect in the Central Plains.
Strictly speaking, the Quanzhen Sect of Zhongnan Mountain should be called the Quanzhen Longmen Sect. Without drawing symbols or chanting spells, they promote true skills and practices, advocating tranquility and virtue, helping others. Sooner or later, they will achieve transcendence and become immortals.
Because of its combination of Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist ideologies, and the ease of entry into martial arts, compared to the Qingcheng Sect, they appear more approachable. However, relatively speaking, without emphasizing aptitude, it is difficult to produce outstanding talents, and although they have many followers, there are few experts among them.
Quanzhen Swordsmanship
The Quanzhen Swordsmanship, continuously simplified for spreading the teachings, has been widely printed and distributed, claiming to be a simple and easy-to-learn martial arts manual for strengthening the body and promoting health.
As a result, the Quanzhen Swordsmanship has been jokingly referred to as a national health exercise, becoming a laughingstock in the martial arts world, where even the local aunties on the street can perform a few moves with a clothesline pole.
It is said that hidden within the Quanzhen Swordsmanship is a mysterious technique, where seven people can form the Big Dipper Formation, allowing seven aunties with ladles and shovels to defeat martial arts experts.
The Greatest in the World
The founder of the Quanzhen Sect, who was once a scholar in the Jin dynasty, achieving top honors in both civil and military examinations. Later, he entered the Daoist path, changed his name to Wang Zhe, and was known as Zhang Yangzi, hence the title Zhang Yangzi.
Zhang Yangzi is one of the Northern Five Ancestors among the Five Ancestors and Seven True Men, a senior figure in the martial arts world, contemporaneous with Yue Fei. Just as the Great Song had literary leaders and martial champions, he was also a legendary figure in the martial arts world of the Jin dynasty.
Under Zhang Yangzi's guidance, the Seven True Men later became sect masters. Dan Yangzi Ma Yu succeeded as the Head Disciple, but was feared by the Jin emperor, who ordered him to return to his hometown and handed over the affairs of the Guanzhong region to his junior. That junior, known as the Greatest in the World, is the current Head Disciple of the Quanzhen Sect, Zhang Chunzi Qiu Chuji.
During the battle between the Old Demon Sect and the orthodox sects of the Central Plains twenty years ago, Qiu Daochang was under the control of the Jin emperor and was cultivating at the Qixia Taixu Temple. If he had participated in the battle, the outcome of the battle against the Old Demon Sect might have been different.
Today, Qiu Zhenren still serves as the Head Disciple, but often travels outside, appearing and disappearing mysteriously. When he is not at Zhongnan Mountain, the affairs of the sect are managed by his disciple Daochang Yin Zhiping.
Zhang Yang's Adversary
Legend has it that there was a martial arts eccentric known as the Xuanming Patriarch, who called himself the "Adversary of Zhang Yang".
This senior once preached and integrated Daoist and Tenggeri beliefs in the Yinshan area, but was not accepted due to the national situation. He then turned his anger towards the Quanzhen Sect, believing that the Quanzhen Sect was deceiving the people, and sought out Zhang Yangzi in the Central Plains for a martial arts competition and debate, only to be defeated.
To compete with Zhang Yangzi, he secluded himself in the Yinshan Mountains, practicing diligently, cultivating Yin symbols to nourish his innate nature, until all six Yins were complete, and his Yin symbol cultivation was finished, before coming out of seclusion.
The first thing he did upon leaving seclusion was to go to Zhongnan Mountain to challenge Zhang Yangzi, but to his surprise, during his thirty years of seclusion, his old adversary had already ascended to immortality.
After a moment of regret, the Xuanming Patriarch burst into laughter, even considering burning the tomb of the deceased to force Zhang Yangzi to appear. The Seven True Men successively stepped forward to challenge him, and even the Head Disciple Ma Danyang was no match for him.
Fortunately, had deeply inherited Zhang Yangzi's teachings, using the "Haotian Pure Yang Palm" to confront the "Six Yin Breaking Yang Symbol", engaging in a battle of ninety-nine strikes until the Xuanming Patriarch used his ultimate move. After enjoying himself, he left with a smile, averting a major disaster.
The above is a novel story serialized in the Jianghu Express, with some truth and some fiction, known only to Qiu Zhenren.
Manuals
Gallery
Contributors
Mr-Smilin