In the Great Wei empire and in the other three neighboring empires, martial artists and Imperial courts have had a mutually beneficial relationship. The Jianghu (world of martial arts) mostly comprises sects and their members. Although these sects stay out of the direct court politics, the Imperial court still provides a lot of benefits to them. Sects are bestowed with land under the kingdom which is generally away from populated areas. They do not have to pay any revenue for occupying the land and can build their sect there. Any disputes in these lands will be settled by the sects themselves without any interference from the government. But the sects will have to provide for themselves.
Against all of these benefits, if any sect is found to be revolting against the Imperial Family, they will be judged in the alliance of sects, made of the Sect Leaders and representatives from the Imperial Court. If guilty, they will be stripped of their status and will be given a criminal status.
There are 3 recognized ranks in the road of martial arts, Master, Great General, and Grandmaster.
To prevent people from wantonly giving themselves titles, the alliance of sect has decided on a set of criteria to bestow titles to talented individuals.
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To be recognized as a Master, you have to be able to take 300 moves from a fellow Master. The sects have to autonomy to bestow this title to their disciples. For nomad martial artists, they can visit a legitimate sect grounds and ask for a challenge to become a recognized master.
The title of Great General and Grandmaster is decided during Sect Alliance's annual meet. A person who wants to be a Great General must be a recognized master and is required to defeat 5 masters in a spar. The spar must be judged by at least 5 Great Generals as they vote and decide on the title.
To become an esteemed Grandmaster, the applicant must be at least a master and is required to spar and hold their own against 3 Great Generals for a time of 2 incense sticks. The spar must be judged by the leaders of the sects and voted upon.
These titles are revered only in Jianghu, to be recognized by the Imperial court, one has to work for the Empire and earn merits under their name as a part of the Government. The Sects in recent years have not just limited their pursuits to martial arts but has expanded their domain to other fields such as medicine, mechanisms, and sometimes scholarly fields. People from the Empire often send their younger generation to learn from these sects but only those who can pass their selection criteria can enter the sects.