What a badass start! This totally reminds me of wuxia stories. Actually, I think this could be considered wuxia, to be honest, while not being exactly so given its origin. That said, while I find the world-building totally great, I find the writing of the characters, especially the mob characters and even the initial villains, rather unimpressive. Not only are they totally incompetent, but they are also quite disappointing given their "importance" in the setting.