Murim

no magic to speak of other than martial arts with inner qi, and tech from pre gunpowder Asia with Asian metal weapons and bows, the inner qi will work by meditating to increase the amount you have by a factor of years with it also doubling as your lifespan and strength, the only other way to increase inner qi is by finding and consuming rare herbs or medicine pills with some giving more qi than others and being highly sought after and rare

It is set in ancient China and Korea with several factions their is the imperial palace that remains completely neutral with the others with a large army and the kings of all the land so every clan or nation respects him. The next is the 5 great families who are all martial arts clans in a tight alliance the first is the Tang clan who are masters of poison and ambush tactics, the next is the Moyong clan weaker clan with strong elder, next is the Jaegal clan who are masters or traps and tactics while being weak in combat are known for being brilliant, next is the Peng clan who are brutes that prioritize strength and martial arts above all else, and the last of the 5 clans is the Namgung clan who are extremely rich and business oriented. The next group is the 9 great clans who are all martial arts clans in a alliance the first is the Mount Hua sect who live atop a mountain and are extremely powerful martial artists with moves that produce pink plum blossoms when they attack, the next is the Mount Kunlun sect who are strong martial artists, next is the Shaolin monks who are all male monks that serve the word of the god Buddha and while they are powerful they are extremely righteous and put morals above all else, next is the Emei sect who is the same as the Shaolin monks except only female, next is the Wudang sect who are prideful martial artists, next is the Huashan sect who are are assassins yet righteous only attacking evildoers, next is the Diancang sect strong martial artists that only use fists, next is the kongtong sect strong martial artists that use spears as their main weapon, lastly is the Hwang sect who is a secluded sect but will help the others when danger is present. The next sect is the Beggars sect who are neutral and is filled with beggars who are in every city and are strong but collect and sell info to anyone if they have enough money. The 5 Great Families and the 9 Great Clans are in a greater alliance called the Orthodox factions as they all believe in justice however their is a rift between the two as they both compete for control of the faction but will have each others back in war. The next faction is the unorthodox faction who is filled with immoral groups who will commit crimes without a second thought except for murder and is lead by a powerful bandit group called The Green Forest and while they are not at war with the orthodox faction they are not on great terms. The last faction is The demonic cult who is full of the some of the most powerful martial artist and is lead by the Heavenly Demon who is the strongest martial artist in the world and they are all evil that will not hesitate to kill anyone that gets in their way be it man woman or child and they are at the brink of war with the orthodox faction. Then their is the 4 evils who are apart of no faction but feared by all as evil masters of martial arts and all 4 are one of the top 10 masters. Then theirs is several martial masters who don't belong to any sect and roam the Murim some are well know and respected and some are known by none but still powerful

Their are only humans and animals in this world just as earth but their are some great beings such as the phoenix, Qilin, and Nine tail foxes but they are all extremely rare and appear maybe once every 100 years and are all extremely powerful.

The imperial palace states they will remain neutral as long as no one attacks the emperor. The orthodox faction and the demonic cult are on the brink brutal war that can start at the smallest spark with the demonic cult trying to spread their religion and the orthodox faction trying to stop them. The unorthodox faction remains neutral as they only care about gaining profit by crimes. In preparation for the war the demonic cult has put 999 children all at the age of 6 some are orphans that were kidnapped but most are children of the kids of cult members in a cave filled with trails till they are 18 and all the kids are encouraged to kill and fight each other so only the strongest remain each child is given a number for their name with 1 being the most promising and 999 being the weakest from the start the by the end of the test and all 10 trails over 12 years only 100 or so are expected to survive and when a child fails a test or dies they are thrown into a pit in the cave 300 feet deep in pitch black with millions poisonous animals like snakes, spiders, scorpions, and frogs that has no way out

Their is no magic but their is Martial arts which is made more powerful by having inner qi which is also someone's life span the average person will have 70 qi and not be able to use martial arts while martial artists who meditate to gain qi will have between 100 and 200 with elders having 200-300 and sect leaders having 300-400 and the Heavenly demon has 500 inner qi. For religions their is two however neither give any powers it is simply something to believe in most of the world believes in Buddhism but the Demonic cult believes that the Heavenly demon is their god and is above all else.

The 4 evils are all top ten martial masters that are not in a alliance but wont be aggressive to each other and they are hunted by the entire murim world as the kill and do what they please the 1st is the poison evil who is immune to all poison and has posion on par with the tang clan the 2nd is the lust evil who is a woman that drains the lifeforce of men to stay young, the 3rd is the blood evil who just travels around and fights whoever he sees that looks strong, the last is the illusion evil who no one knows what he looks like and he is great at formations and traps