Heavenly Star Continent

In Heavenly Star Continent, outstanding heroes rise from all directions; this has been the norm for quite a while. In the recent century, only seven heroes existed simultaneously and another eight great families with influence. They are the DongFang, NanGong, XiMen, BeiMing four major families, followed by the Lei, Yang and Ling three minor families. There is also the family in the shadows, with the greatest strength and influence, the Yu Family. All seven families are each attached to an Empire, with only the strongest Yu Family not involving themselves with such political matters. Other than those seven spoken above, there is also influential merchant family, the Xiao Family, with power that does not lose out to any of the Empires or Families.

The Ling and Yang families have not even been around for sixty years yet. Indeed, they are nouveau riche families. However, the agreement of the Outside Heavens as well as Beyond Heavens are only just that much. All those martial families, they are all integrated into the political affairs of every empire currently.

The millennium long agreement has little to do with this. This is because out of the eight great families, taking out the Ling and Yang families, the other five only have a history of a few centuries and cannot be considered as millennium long martial families.

In Heavenly Star Continent, other than the Yu family, the original eight great families were the DongFang, XiMen, NanGong, BeiMing, YuChi, ShangGuan, and Lei. Out of them, the DongFang had the roughest road so far. Rumour says that the first-generation head accidentally chanced upon an exceptional top class martial manual — the ‘World Defying Hidden Dragon Manual’. The martial skills explained inside were simply wondrous and the DongFang were overjoyed. However, after the head passed away, his two sons competed ceaselessly for the very manual, and unknowingly, each ended up with only half of it.

As it so turned out, both sons were people blessed with immense talent. After suffering much injuries in the fight, the family was split into two factions, with the elder brother DongFang AoTian bringing the top part of the World Defying Hidden Dragon Manual as well as those loyal to him to travel the world, coincidentally managing to make a name for himself and establishing the Eastern Zhao Empire. The younger brother, DongFang AoYun, brought his men to the Moon Deity Empire to seek asylum and treated the Eastern Zhao Empire as his mortal enemy. Thus, when the two states warred, it was actually the two factions of the great family that were fighting!

In contrast, the XiMen great family was a relatively peaceful one. This was mainly because of their cultivation manual, the ‘Divine Compassion Formula’, emphasises on having a pure mind and a lack of desires in order to cultivate their mental states. Although their cultivation progress is slower than most people, they were more effective in repairing internal injuries as compared to most internal cultivation skills, and have a strong resistance against poisons or toxins.

As for the NanGong family, they did not have any profound internal cultivation manual. Instead, they took an alternative route, using the external to make up for the internal, and created their ‘Sword God Manual’ which boasts formidable power. If practiced to the penultimate, it can literally induce the state of ‘sword and man as one’. However, from what I’ve heard, the NanGong family’s talents have withered over the past thirty years, no longer having any peerless experts. Thus, the method to cultivate ‘sword and man as one’ stage might have been lost in the sands of time.

As for the BeiMing great family, they specialize in unarmed combat and movement techniques, especially in the area of movement. Their signatures consist of the ‘Pursuing Sun’, ‘Chasing Moon’ and ‘Seeking Stars’, three unique movement techniques. They are considered top notch, even within the eight great families! Furthermore, they possess a high-quality cultivation formula, named the ‘Mysterious Underworld Heart Sutra’, which focuses on the most extremes of ice and coldness as well as the lunar power of heaven and earth. Those who cultivate it successfully can command the six forms of vital energy, reaching a prajna state where you separate yourself from the mortal world. It is a pity that this sutra is highly demanding on the talent of the cultivator, and nobody has been able to cultivate it successfully. If someone were to really succeed in cultivating this sutra, they would definitely enter the list of peerless experts.

Next up is the Lei Family, though they have a long-standing history, even dating back to before the North, South, East and West great families, the long periods of war had resulted in irreparable losses for them. Their prestige might have fallen below the four families I spoke of earlier, but their family heirloom, the ‘Heavenly Penta Lightning Sutra’, is no small fry. The might it produces is immense and it could be said to be the most destructive skill under all of heaven. Sadly, this art is imbalanced, with their defence being negligible!

## History

Fifty years ago, the Heavenly Star Continent was thrown into chaos again and every great family separated from each other, supporting their own empire and fighting for dominance over the continent. Within the war, the Yuchi and ShangGuan families, which actually had some form of inheritance, were obliterated within the chaos! In order to maintain the count of the great families, the Sky Bearing Empire thus promoted the Ling and Yang Families.

## Influences

* The strongest hidden sect
	+ Beyond Heavens
* Seven empires
	+ Sky Bearing Empire
	+ Western Han Empire
	+ Northern Wei Empire
	+ Moon Deity Empire
	+ Eastern Zhao Empire
	+ Wu Empire
	+ Southern Zheng Empire
* Eight great families
	+ DongFang Family
	+ NanGong Family
	+ XiMen Family
	+ BeiMing Family
	+ Lei Family
	+ Yu Family
	+ Ling Family
	+ Yang Family
* Largest financial magnate
	+ Xiao Family

## Trivia

* Both Heavenly Wind and Heavenly Sun are far smaller than Heavenly Star. They are only safe because of the large ocean that separates the continents.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 136
2. ↑ Chapter 138
3. ↑ Chapter 139
4. ↑ Chapter 606