The highest peaks of the martial world.
About
The Jianghu
Countless martial artists live in the Jianghu.
Some gain a name with a single sword, while others disappear without a name even after a lifetime of training.
Today's master becomes tomorrow's loser, and even names that once shook the world are forgotten by people as time passes.
That was the Jianghu.
However,
Some names are not easily forgotten.
Stories that begin at a drinking table in an inn are passed from person to person.
Who fought whom.
Who defeated the master of which sect.
And where a person to be wary of by name alone has appeared.
Rumors begin to wander the Jianghu like that.
Once news spreads, it does not stay in one place.
Letters cross the roads, and carrier pigeons soar over mountain ranges.
Events that happened hundreds of miles away are talked about in other inns and mountain gates a few days later.
Truth and exaggeration mix, and new stories are added.
But
Not all rumors were groundless.
Sometimes, something more certain than words remains.
A single sword strike splits a cliff, and a single duel leaves traces for decades.
There were those who saw the sight, and those who returned alive to tell of it.
Records accumulated, eyewitness accounts overlapped, and rumors gradually became the weight of a name.
And at some point,
Names that were called with more weight than others began to emerge.
It wasn't decided by anyone.
It wasn't selected by the Murim Alliance, nor recognized by any single faction.
Countless records and eyewitness accounts.
And rumors of the Jianghu repeated dozens, hundreds of times.
After all that accumulated, ten names solidified into a single record.
Blood Demon Tak Ra-hyeon
Heavenly Demon Cheon Hyeon-wol
Firmament Sword Namgung Jin-ak
Resonance Guest Dam Yeo-jin
Thunder Sound Hyeongak
Two-Inch Wei So-yeon
Cold Plum Cheong-hwa
Northern Star Jeong-hyeon
Single Line Dan Hwi-rang
Traceless Im Cheong-ak
The Ten Sovereigns of Jianghu
Rank does not necessarily mean absolute victory or defeat.
It is just that the Jianghu of this era speaks of those ten as the ones at the highest peak.
First Year of Ham-sun, Southern Song · 1265 AD
Now is the era when all ten of them are alive.
Characters
Blood Demon · Tak Ra-hyeon (卓羅玄)
- 65 years old
- 11th Leader of the Blood Cult
- 1st Seat of the Ten Sovereigns
- Life-and-Death Realm
- Relaxed, calm, aloof
Martial Arts
- Heart Law: Blood River Origin Art (血河歸元功)
- Array: Blood Prison Heavenly Net Array (血獄天羅陣)
- Hand Technique: Blood Reversal Pulse-Locking Hand (逆血鎖脈手)
- Ultimate Art: Blood River Reaching Heaven (血河滔天)
Heavenly Demon · Cheon Hyeon-wol (千玄月)
- 45 years old
- 20th Leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult
- 2nd Seat of the Ten Sovereigns
- Profound Realm (Peak)
- Easily bored, relaxed, confident, highly competitive
Martial Arts
- Heart Law: Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功)
- Hand Technique: Great Heavenly Demon Hand (大天魔手)
- Movement: Void Heavenly Step (虛天步)
- Protection: Immortal Demonic Body (不滅魔體)
Firmament Sword · Namgung Jin-ak (南宮鎭岳)
- 65 years old
- Head of the Namgung Clan
- Leader of the Murim Alliance
- 3rd Seat of the Ten Sovereigns
- Profound Realm (Mastered)
- Serious, observant, strict, secretly playful
Martial Arts
- Heart Law: Firmament Great Evolution Divine Art (蒼穹大衍神功)
- Sword Technique: Boundless Firmament Sword Technique (蒼穹無涯劍法)
- Movement: Thousand-Mile Household Step (千里戶庭)
- Protection: Firmament Astral Qi (蒼穹罡氣)
Resonance Guest · Dam Yeo-jin (譚如眞)
- 48 years old
- Outsider
- 4th Seat of the Ten Sovereigns
- Profound Realm (Mastered)
- Gentle, meticulous, humble, occasionally eccentric
Martial Arts
- Heart Law: Resonance True Qi (共鳴眞氣)
- Flute Technique: Twelve Forms of Heavenly Sound (天音十二式)
- Movement: Shaking Shadow Step (震影步)
- Protection: Returning Vibration Art (廻震功)
Thunder Sound · Hyeongak (玄覺)
- 56 years old
- Dharma King of Potala Palace
- 5th Seat of the Ten Sovereigns
- Profound Realm (Mastered)
- Blunt, taciturn, hot-tempered, emphasizes basics and etiquette
Martial Arts
- Heart Law: Golden Wheel Heart Law (金輪心法)
- Staff Technique: Vajra Demon-Subduing Staff (金剛伏魔杖)
- Sound Art: Heavenly Thunder Mantra (天雷眞言)
- Protection: Immovable Vajra Body (不動金剛身)
Two-Inch · Wei So-yeon (魏昭燕)
- 52 years old
- Leader of the Sado Union
- 6th Seat of the Ten Sovereigns
- Profound Realm (Initial)
- Cold, stoic, realistic, lacks emotional expression, decisive
Martial Arts
- Heart Law: Flowing Pulse Heart Law (流脈心法)
- Sword Technique: Yin-Yang Infinite Void (陰陽無間)
- Footwork: Indeterminate Step (無定步)
- Protection: Deflecting Flow Art (偏流功)
Cold Plum · Cheong-hwa (淸華)
- 44 years old
- First-Generation Disciple of Mount Hua Sect
- 7th Seat of the Ten Sovereigns
- Profound Realm (Initial)
- Optimistic, bright, romantic, free-spirited, enjoys the arts
Martial Arts
- Heart Law: Purple Mist Divine Art (紫霞神功)
- Sword Technique: Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique (二十四手梅花劍法)
- Movement: Five Elements Plum Blossom Step (五行매화보)
- Protection: Purple Mist Astral Qi (자하강기)
Northern Star · Jeong-hyeon (正玄)
- 50 years old
- Sect Leader of Jongnam Sect
- 8th Seat of the Ten Sovereigns
- Profound Realm (Initial)
- Conservative, proud, prone to jealousy and competitiveness, suppresses emotions
Martial Arts
- Heart Law: Big Dipper Heart Law (北斗心法)
- Sword Technique: Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River (天河三十六劍)
- Movement: Seven Star Step (七星步)
- Protection: Big Dipper Astral Qi (北斗罡氣)
Single Line · Dan Hwi-rang (段輝狼)
- 53 years old
- Head of the Seoryang Dan Clan
- 9th Seat of the Ten Sovereigns
- Transcendent Realm (Peak)
- Easygoing, cheerful, bold, battle-maniac, no grudges
Martial Arts
- Heart Law: Returning Origin Heart Law (歸元心법)
- Spear Technique: Sun-Piercing Spear (貫日槍)
- Movement: Flying Star Step (飛星步)
- Protection: Flow-Cutting Art (截流功)
Traceless · Im Cheong-ak (林靑岳)
- 62 years old
- Former Sect Leader of Jeomchang Sect
- Last Seat of the Ten Sovereigns
- Transcendent Realm (Peak)
- Magnanimous, relaxed, prefers old ways, picky about basics, indifferent to authority
Martial Arts
- Heart Law: Blue Cloud Heart Law (蒼雲心法)
- Sword Technique: Light-Splitting Sword Technique (分光劍法)
- Movement: Autumn Wind Step (追風步)
- Protection: Returning Flow Art (回流功)
Sourcebook
Intro
咸淳元年
First Year of Ham-sun, Southern Song, 1265 AD
The Jianghu was still turning.
Merchants traveled the roads, and the sound of clinking wine cups never ceased in the inns.
Sects and clans, unorthodox and demonic factions, each maintaining their own domains and order, were living and moving throughout the Jianghu today.
On the surface, it seemed not much had changed from a few years ago.
But the atmosphere within was clearly different.
The confrontation between the Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic factions had grown fiercer than before, and conflicts over spheres of influence and interests were constant throughout the Jianghu.
Small frictions gave birth to retaliation, and retaliation in turn called for even greater bloodshed.
An all-out war had not yet broken out.
However, the Jianghu now was in a state of hair-trigger tension, where even a small spark could spread into a massive blaze.
It was a volatile time.
In such a Jianghu, there were ten names that were mentioned particularly often by people.
Blood Demon
Heavenly Demon
Firmament Sword
Resonance Guest
Thunder Sound
Two-Inch
Cold Plum
Northern Star
Single Line
Traceless
The Ten Sovereigns of Jianghu
It wasn't something decided by the Murim Alliance, nor recognized by any one power.
As the results of countless duels, eyewitness accounts, and rumors passed from mouth to mouth accumulated, it became a naturally solidified unofficial martial ranking.
Rank did not necessarily mean absolute victory or defeat.
Nevertheless, the names of those ten people carried a weight that no one in the Jianghu could easily ignore.
Release Date 2026.10.08 / Last Updated 2026.10.08
