Xuli

**Xuli Kingdom** (须黎, *Xūlí*) is a fallen nation of which Ling Wen and Pei Ming hailed from.

## History

### Civil God Ceremonial Festival

Jing Wen, the number one Civil God at the time, hailed from Xuli and thus had a deep foundation in the nation with presumably the majority of his worshippers located there. The nation once held a ceremonial festival to honor all Civil Gods, which included an anonymous essay contest with the Kingdom of Xuli as the topic. The essays would be hung up in the largest Jing Wen temple and the people would declare a winner.

Ling Wen won the contest, despite Jing Wen himself participating. However, due to her essay "Not Xuli" being a political discourse that criticized the kingdom, she was locked up in prison after officers found out she was the author. It's mentioned that the political situation during this time wasn't good in Xuli, so Ling Wen's essay matched the people's taste.

### Xuli – Yushi War

Before the two nations had a fallout, Xuli and Yushi maintained false peace with forced civility. The Xuli Kingdom would send a few esteemed royals, generals and civil officials to attend Yushi's national banquet and visit the royal cultivation hall in order to keep up the courtesy. During those times, Xuli had already planned to overthrow the nation and soon made up the claim that the king of Yushi was oppressing the people as an excuse to invade.

*"The King of Yushi was negligent and oppressive in his rule, and out of justice, Xuli shall save and rescue the suffering Yushi people."*

With Pei Ming leading the army, Xuli charged all the way to the palace gates. Although Xuli's army was strong enough to easily break into the palace, they decided to use a different tactic. Under the advice of Rong Guang, the deputy general of Pei Ming, they dressed up hundreds of Yushi's felons who were on death row as civilians and threatened to kill them should the king of Yushi not kowtow three times and end his life as atonement. Pei Ming gave them three days and every day a new group would be killed. If three days passed, they would charge into the palace and then kill the rest of the dressed up felons.

Xuli's army and Pei Ming were stunned as Yushi Huang came before the palace gates and slit her own throat. The soldiers couldn't stand to watch it and even tried to save her, but she soon died and ascended. Xuli kept their promise and didn't touch the civilians or royals for the moment, however, it's mentioned that Xuli still overthrew the Yushi Kingdom.

### Xuli Rebellion

Pei Ming became an extremely successful general of the Xuli Kingdom without a single defeat to his name. Not only was he skilled in battle, he was popular among his soldiers and his deputy general Rong Guang, to the point they secretly started to plan a revolt against the king and have Pei Ming take the throne. Claiming the king oppressed the army and that Pei Ming deserved a higher status for all his achievements, they planned a coup d'état and would soon invade the Imperial Palace.

However, Pei Ming had no interest in becoming king as he could enjoy life as he wanted without needing to reign over the kingdom. Xuli's king at the time also didn't do anything wrong, so he saw no point in a rebellion. Despite Pei Ming's disinterest, Rong Guang and the rest still revolted and charged into the palace. On that day, Pei Ming followed them and killed Rong Guang along with his own soldiers, many of which he was also close friends with, in order to protect the king of Xuli.

Despite being defended, the king of Xuli accused Pei Ming of treason after the battle. He was ordered to be killed on the spot, but Pei Ming broke his sword and ascended.

### Fall of the Nation

Ling Wen played a major part in the fall of the Xuli Kingdom, with the motive of having Jing Wen's status and popularity decline severely. She sought out one of the most skilled generals of Xuli, Bai Jing, and killed him to speed up the kingdom's ruin, but it is later revealed that Bai Jing was actually willing to die for her. He became the Brocade Immortal and the ancient kingdom told in the legend behind the brocade was in fact, Xuli.

Bai Jing's death was a huge loss for the nation and thus it ultimately fell at one point.

## Citizens

 Rong Guang | Deputy General
 Bai Jing | General
 Ling Wen | Shoe Seller
 Jing Wen | Unknown

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Novel, Book 3, Chapter 153: Why Not Xu Li; Why Not Jing Wen
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Novel, Book 3, Chapter 149: Panic Left and Right; East or West Undecided
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Novel, Book 3, Chapter 171: The Last Princess; Throat Slit Before Palace Gates
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Novel, Book 3, Chapter 148: Ambivalent Regrets; General Ming Snaps the Hateful Sword III
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Novel, Book 3, Chapter 154: Why Not Xu Li; Why Not Jing Wen II
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Novel, Book 5, Chapter 243: How My Lord Aches for the Flower; How I Ache for My Lord
7. ↑ Novel, Book 3, Chapter 128: Blinded by the Heart; Brocade Immortal Forged by Blood