The majority of Jin Yong's wuxia novels are set against the backdrop of political instability in Chinese history. In most of Jin Yong's novels, China is threatened by or already under hostile foreign domination, and Chinese wulin's collective goal is to resist or repel the foreigners. In DEMIGODS & SEMIDEVILS, the Northern Sung wulin was wary of attacks on Chinese soil by the Khitan Liao Empire, the Tangut Hsi Hsia Kingdom, and perhaps the Kingdom of Tubo (Turfan). The CONDOR HEROES TRILOGY began with the Southern Sung wulin's resistance against the Juchen Jin Empire's control of northern China, and continued through the rise, domination, and fall of the Mongol Empire in China. CRIMSON SABRE covered the fall of the Ming Dynasty, and DUKE OF MT. DEER occurred in the immediate aftermath of the Manchurian invasion of China in the 17th Century...the beginning of the Qing Dynasty and its conflict against the Ming revivalists and resistance fighters of the Heaven and Earth Society. BOOK & SWORD: GRATITUDE & REVENGE and THE FLYING FOX OF SNOWY MOUNTAIN occurred during the reign of Emperor Chien Lung and was characterized by the Red Flower Society's resistance to the Qing government.
STATE OF DIVINITY, set during the mid-Ming Dynasty period, is the only one of Jin Yong's novels without a significant historical/political backdrop. Until the Manchurians became a threat towards the end of the Ming period, the Ming Dynasty was characterized by relative peace within China's borders. The Mongols had been defeated, and the Manchurians had not yet re-emerged as a threat. During this time period, Chinese wulin had no major foreign menace to contend with. Does this account for the absence of a foreign political/military threat in the backdrop of STATE OF DIVINITY, or did such a threat actually exist at the time, but Jin Yong chose to not focus on it in this story?