Sect宗门
zōngmén
A cultivation school and power bloc in one: master-disciple lineages that control territory, techniques, and resources.
Sects (zongmen, also men or pai) organize almost every cultivation world. A sect holds a mountain or territory rich in qi, guards a library of techniques, and ranks its members from outer disciples through inner disciples to core disciples, elders, and a sect master. Joining one is the standard on-ramp for a protagonist: entrance exams, biased seniors, and resource-allocation politics supply the early arcs of half the genre.
Clan-based settings swap bloodline for lineage but keep the structure. The perpetual cold war between "righteous" sects and "demonic" ones, and the hypocrisy on both sides, is one of the genre's favorite themes, explored with particular bite in Mo Dao Zu Shi.