A sect need not be established, a humble individual can act out in fury with blood splattering five paces. In those days, they were called rangers.
However, since martial artists required elixirs to break through, they were forced to form various guilds, and had to learn to flatter and even rely on the court to become its minions.
Why? Because they needed elixirs.
And refining elixirs is something a lone ranger finds difficult to achieve; the collection of herbs is challenging, a single Breakthrough Pill often requires several main medicines and dozens of auxiliary medicines.
For a lone ranger to gather these herbs is quite difficult, thus they must rely on forces to help collect them.
These herbs have become controlled resources for cultivation.
They turned into resources controlled by the court to govern martial artists, by sects to govern disciples.
