Sect Guide

Emei

“All martial arts under heaven trace back to Emei” — one of the Three Great Orthodox Houses, where hard and soft, Daoist and Buddhist, meet in perfect balance.

RighteousRival: Vajra SectFist / Finger / Sword / Odd Techniques

An old saying puts it plainly: all martial arts under heaven trace their roots back to Emei. As one of the Three Great Orthodox Houses of the martial world, the sect lives up to its poetic name — “Grace Under Heaven.” Its arts fuse hardness with softness, Daoist cultivation with Buddhist insight, stillness of mind paired with clarity of wisdom. Based in the Bashu–Mount Emei region, Emei’s techniques run on the Violet Mist (Zi Xia) elemental attribute. It is a righteous sect that won’t teach anyone whose reputation has fallen too low, and stands in direct rivalry with Vajra Sect.

Sect Philosophy

Emei’s arts span fist, finger, sword, and a dueling-focused Odd Technique style — swift, agile, both yielding and forceful, drawing the best from every school it has ever encountered. It carries itself with the bearing of a truly great house. Emei’s manuals follow strict orthodox teaching: study of orthodox chapters is 50% faster, while reversed (heretical) chapters are 50% slower. Its arts run on Daoism and Buddhism aptitude, and Emei members can be asked to tutor Daoism, Buddhism, and Cooking.

Full Technique Roster

By category × grade (9th grade = entry level, 1st grade = pinnacle)
Type 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st
Internal Power Dantian Opening 12 Emei Pillars Primordial Unity Qi Enlightened Spirit Lotus Grand Mystery Samantabhadra Heart Sutra Sitting-in-Oblivion Method Great Nirvana Technique
Movement Spring-Leg Ground Shrink White Ape Leap Traceless Wandering Jade Maiden’s Lotus Step Star Maiden’s Shuttle Throw Thousand-Pool Moon-Print Step Golden Summit Flying Immortal
Ultimate Emei Tiger Stance Empty Mind Myriad Forms Boneless Technique Serene Unity Four-Image Lotus Array Immortal Yang’s Golden Body Seven-Star Chain Sacred Lamp Enlightenment
Fist 36 Sealing Hands Duck-Form Fist 12-Hand Tangling Silk Fist White Ape Through-Arm Fist Grafting-Branch Hand Heavenly Net Thunder Palm Vajra Samadhi Palm
Finger Emei Eagle Claw Emei Single-Finger Chan Limping 80 Forms Parting Flowers, Brushing Willows Radiant Finger Thousand-Hand Body Method Great Light Mountain Unity Finger Heaven’s Might Acupoint Finger Heaven-One Divine Hand
Sword Flower-Chasing Shadow Sword Ape Lord’s Swordplay White-Brow Swordplay Lotus Wonder Sword Yue Maiden Swordplay Fading Rainbow Style Jade Maiden Divine Sword
Odd (Dueling) Five-Element Thrust Soul-Losing Thrust Beauty’s Thrust Spirit Snake Thrust Shadow-Transforming Thrust Meditation Needle Jade Maiden’s Thrust Golden Summit Immortal Needle

Favor Interaction: Land of Heavenly Abundance

Spend regional favor to exchange for Heart Wood, a crafting resource.

Regional Story: “The Hidden White Ape”

As one of the Three Great Orthodox Houses, Emei is looked to by the people of Bashu as a guiding light — its disciples wander the martial world dispensing justice, earning wide respect and admiration.

Yet recently, disciples of the sect have been turning up dead — killed with techniques unmistakably belonging to Emei itself, each murder more brutal than the last. Despite every effort, the sect has never found the true culprit.

Trigger Emei’s support reaches 50%, then visit the blood-marked tile near Emei’s territory
Reward Demon-Immortal Pearl
Sequel unlock condition Hold Shaolin’s treasure, the Tattered Monk’s Sandals
Sequel reward Immortal Ape’s Jade Tablet, plus access to Emei’s “Xuan”-tier equipment

Signature Mechanic: Original Insight

Completing “The Hidden White Ape” unlocks Emei’s centerpiece feature: with the help of a special character, the White Ape, you can research and unlock Original Insights — extra effects that can be permanently attached to any technique you’ve already learned.

How it works

  • Unlock: Interact with “White Ape,” the special character tied to “The Hidden White Ape.”
  • Research: Gift items to the White Ape to build research progress toward a chosen Insight. Higher-grade gifts add more progress; gifting an item that suits the specific Insight adds significantly more.
  • Apply: Once research hits 100%, you gain 1 charge to apply that Insight’s effect to a technique you’ve learned. Each technique can hold at most 1 Insight (2 after completing the sequel story). Applying an Insight consumes one charge; removing an applied Insight refunds 50% of its research progress.

The Insight pool is large — over 80 distinct effects — so rather than reproduce it as one long list, here’s the full set organized by what they actually do:

Character & Utility

Insight Effect Applies to
Charm +50 Charisma Internal Power / Odd Techniques
Fertility +20 Fertility Internal Power / Odd Techniques
Qi Transformation +10% max internal power ratio Non-Internal/Odd techniques
Adaptability +5% internal/external ratio adjustment range Non-Internal/Odd techniques
Fusion Flow +1% Five Elements transfer efficiency during Zhoutian cycling Non-Hunyuan-element internal arts
Versatility −10% technique execution requirement Any technique

Movement

Insight Effect Trade-off
Unshakeable +15% to Force gained +5% stamina cost
Perceptive +15% to Finesse gained +5% stamina cost
Swift Body +15% to Swiftness gained +5% stamina cost
Heart’s Ear +15% to Insight gained +5% stamina cost
Grounded Calm −15% sustained stamina cost while active
Nimble −15% movement stamina cost while active
Cloud Ascension +20% charge speed (charge-type movement)

Defense (Protective Techniques)

Insight Effect Trade-off
Golden Body +15% to Guard gained +10% Stance/Qi consumption
Qi Wall +15% to Qi-Guard gained
Redirection +15% to Deflection gained
Shapeshift +15% to Counter-Disarm gained
Shadow Step +15% to Evasion gained
Clear Mind +15% to Mind-Guard gained
Intercept +15% counter-attack power
Resonant Shock +15% external-wound recoil power
Backlash +15% internal-wound recoil power
Vigor Aura +0.5 recoil range +10% Stance/Qi consumption
Fortitude +25% technique duration +10% Stance/Qi consumption

Stat Rebalancing (Breakthrough Techniques)

Trades 10% of one combat stat for 10% of another, at the cost of −20% accuracy bonus. Requires the source stat to already make up over 10% of the technique’s total.

Insight Trade Required book
Overwhelming Force Finesse → Force Blade
Valor Swiftness → Force Fist
Reserved Grace Force → Finesse Finger
Thoroughness Swiftness → Finesse Polearm
Cunning Force → Swiftness Sword
Falling Star Finesse → Swiftness Concealed Weapon

Targeting & Range

Insight Effect Trade-off Book
Gale Force +0.5 attack range −20% attack bonus Leg
Heart-Piercer +300% chest/back hit chance −0.5 attack range Fist
Gut-Wrencher +300% waist/abdomen hit chance −0.5 attack range Finger
Executioner’s Edge +3000% head hit chance −0.5 attack range Sword
Hand-Stopper +300% hand hit chance −0.5 attack range Polearm
Leg-Stopper +300% foot hit chance −0.5 attack range Blade

Status & Poison Effects

Insight Effect Trade-off Book
Meridian Severance +1 acupoint-seal tier inflicted +25% cast time Finger
Crushing Blow +1 opening tier created +25% cast time Fist
Fierce Venom +50% Fierce Poison applied −100 Fierce Poison resistance Poison
Melancholic Miasma +50% Gloom Poison applied −100 Gloom Poison resistance Poison
Frost Venom +50% Cold Poison applied −100 Cold Poison resistance Poison
Crimson Burn +50% Scarlet Poison applied −100 Scarlet Poison resistance Poison
Corpse Rot +50% Decay Poison applied −100 Decay Poison resistance Poison
Mind-Bewitching +50% Illusion Poison applied −100 Illusion Poison resistance Poison

Internal Power Slot Expansion

Insight Effect Trade-off
Breakthrough Slot +1 Breakthrough technique slot −25% Stance/Qi recovery
Agility Slot +1 Agility technique slot −25% movement speed & footwork stability
Guard Slot +1 Defense technique slot −25% weapon handling & attack speed
Odd Technique Slot +1 Odd Technique slot −25% cast speed & qi-channeling

Weapon Stance Modifiers

Techniques are built from combat “stances” (throw, shoot, guard, cleave, thrust, sweep, collapse, strike, seize, tangle, chant, trigger, medicate, poison, whip-sweep, and more). Emei offers three parallel modifier families for each stance — pick the flavor that fits your build:

Stance Reduced cost (−1 requirement, 33% lockout risk on cast/interrupt) Empowered (+100 attack, +20% attack bonus, +1 requirement) Precise (+25 accuracy, +20% accuracy bonus, +1 requirement)
Throw / Shoot / Guard All 3 variants available
Cleave / Thrust / Sweep (blade/sword/polearm) All 3 variants available
Collapse / Strike / Seize (fist/finger) All 3 variants available
Chant (odd tech) · Trigger (ranged) · Medicate (medicine) · Poison · Tangle/Sweep (soft weapon) · Play (instrument) All 3 variants available

Required books vary by stance family: Fist/Finger books for Collapse/Strike/Seize; Blade/Sword/Polearm books for Cleave/Thrust/Sweep; Concealed Weapon books for Throw/Shoot/Guard; and the matching specialty book (Instrument, Soft Weapon, Odd Techniques, Medicine, Poison, Ranged) for the rest.

Best for — players who want the widest weapon and range coverage in the game, plus one of the deepest build-crafting systems once Original Insight unlocks. A poor fit for a Demonic Path playthrough, since the study-speed penalty on reversed techniques works against you.