Jie Jia

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Jie Jia (介甲)
Alias(es)	Elder Jie; Old Man Jie; Silver Boots
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Sole Crimson Tower; later affiliated with Zhu Yi Pavilion 17 59
Occupation/Role	Assassin, intelligence broker, merchant, and proprietor of Tianyi Hall
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 17: “Jie Jia”

Background / History

Jie Jia operated Tianyi Hall in Qingshan County’s West Market, initially presenting himself as its fastidious antique-shop owner. In reality, he was one of Sole Crimson Tower’s top assassins, receiving coded contracts by messenger bird and personally accepting a one-hundred-tael commission to kill Chen Mu. The order was cancelled after he located Chen Mu, leaving their first encounter tense but nonviolent. 17

Following the rise in Yin Soul incidents in Qingshan County, Tianyi Hall changed from an antique shop to a business selling evil-warding articles. Jie Jia became Chen Mu’s principal source of intelligence on Yin Souls, cultivation, the Ghost Market, and the wider martial world. 31 36 50

He later escorted Chen Mu and several other paying “relatives” from Qingshan County to Nanyang Prefecture, bundling multiple protection jobs into one caravan journey. After arriving, he affiliated himself with Zhu Yi Pavilion, opened a medicine shop in South Market, and partnered with Chen Mu in selling imitation medicines. 52 59

Appearance

Jie Jia outwardly appears as a meticulously groomed, hunched elderly man whose calm manner contrasts sharply with his work as an assassin. 17

• Snow-white hair and beard, both carefully maintained. 17
• Bright yellow eyes. 57 102
• Walks slowly but steadily despite his bent posture. 17
• Keeps his clothes, shop, and personal surroundings exceptionally clean. 17
• Uses a white handkerchief to avoid directly touching objects he considers unclean. 67
• Often maintains a narrowed-eyed, expressionless look. 31 52

Personality

Jie Jia is calm, observant, and difficult to read. Even while preparing assassinations or facing Yin Soul Monsters, he assesses situations with clinical detachment. His knowledge of poisons, assassination methods, cultivation, and magical artifacts reflects a long and dangerous career. 17 57 88

He is intensely profit-driven. Jie Jia charges for information, transport, protection, identity documents, talismans, medicine, and even food that he did not prepare himself. He is also willing to collect deposits from failed jobs when clients provide inaccurate intelligence. 27 52 114 132 137

Despite his mercenary conduct, he repeatedly aids Chen Mu: warning him about unsafe cultivation methods, providing documents and information, suggesting places to hide, and intervening against a Yin Soul Monster. 57 67 91 102

Abilities & Skills

Assassination

Jie Jia is a top assassin of Sole Crimson Tower and is regarded as dangerous enough that a subordinate fears being killed merely for dirtying his shop counter. 17

• Plans deaths to resemble accidents, disease, venomous insect attacks, or poisoning. 17
• Possesses detailed knowledge of local venomous creatures and poisons. 17
• Can move with enough speed to vanish from sight. 17 53
• Has killed Noble Clan descendants, including opponents protected by incomplete Spiritual Light. 88
• Continues taking commissions even after establishing profitable medicine and talisman businesses. 132

Armor Soul

Jie Jia has personally cultivated an Armor Soul, an achievement he identifies as the answer to Chen Mu’s doubts about whether the realm can be reached. 67

• Understands the stages from Body Refining through Roaming Soul and Armor Soul. 50 61 67
• Warns that Armor Soul must be achieved before age one hundred and cannot be guaranteed merely through long practice. 67
• States that impure shortcut medicines can prevent further advancement toward Open Heavenly Gate. 67
• Claims to possess an Innate Dao Bone, though the claim is made only in conversation with Chen Mu. 170

Secret Arts and Spiritual Light Countermeasures

Jie Jia possesses powerful Secret Arts capable of amplifying Soul Force and resisting or breaking Spiritual Light. 88

• Explains that Secret Arts can temporarily strengthen ordinary Soul Force enough to endure Spiritual Light. 88
• Indicates that sufficiently powerful Secret Arts can directly shatter Spiritual Light and kill the protected target. 88
• Treats incomplete, artifact-supported Spiritual Light as a temporary defense rather than an insurmountable barrier. 88

Yin Soul Suppression

Jie Jia is experienced with Yin Souls and Yin Soul Monsters, and Chen Mu relies on him as a deterrent and source of knowledge during the crises in Qingshan County. 31 36

• Kills the Long-Haired Woman with a pale fluorescent magical artifact. 57
• Recognizes that ordinary people normally die after falling into a Yin Soul Monster’s illusion. 57
• Can identify when Yin Soul activity is abnormal and has encountered similar outbreaks before. 35
• Knows of factions and locations with methods for restraining Yin Souls. 36

Cultivation and Material Knowledge

Jie Jia provides Chen Mu with practical guidance on Body Tempering Techniques, Divine Intent, Soul Force, secret medicines, magical artifacts, and rare materials. 57 67 102 106

• Identifies Ebony Wood as a rare weapon-forging material. 67
• Explains that the Jade-Eyed Golden Ape Divine Intent derives from a simplified Hundred Intents Spiritual Light Incantation. 102
• Warns that Dragon Transformation Pills and similar medicines contaminate essence, energy, and spirit. 67
• Explains the heterodox origin of Zhaodian Red as refined Essence of Three Treasures from living beings. 106
• Knows that Thousand Mechanism Tokens are required to seek the Sensing realm. 136

Equipment / Business Assets

• Tianyi Hall — His Qingshan County storefront; operated at different times as an antique shop, coffin shop, and seller of evil-warding artifacts. 17 27 31
• Coded messenger bird system — Receives assassination contracts through notes concealed in bamboo tubes attached to black birds. 17
• Yin Soul-slaying magical artifact — Produces pale fluorescent light that destroys the Long-Haired Woman. 57
• Ancestral Radiance Talismans — Crafts and sells talismans valued at three thousand five hundred taels each. 132
• Identity documents — Supplies Chen Mu with replacement identities and documentation. 102 137
• Fasting Pills — Has access to genuine Fasting Pills and sells them at extremely high prices. 137 170
• White Jade Spirit Coins — Pays Chen Mu with these overseas-circulating spiritual currencies. 170

Relationships

• Chen Mu — Former assassination target who becomes his client, business partner, travel companion, and cultivation informant. Their relationship is marked by mutual reliance, constant bargaining, and frequent teasing. 17 59 102 130
• Cheng Ming — One of the “relatives” Jie Jia includes in his bundled caravan escort from Qingshan County to Nanyang Prefecture. 52 54
• Sole Crimson Tower — His original assassin organization; he is described as one of its top assassins. 17
• Zhu Yi Pavilion — The organization with which he affiliates after reaching Nanyang Prefecture; it supplies medicines he asks Chen Mu to imitate. 59

Story Role / Major Arcs

Qingshan County

• Receives and begins a contract to assassinate Chen Mu, but the mission is cancelled before he acts. 17
• Becomes Chen Mu’s supplier of intelligence, Ghost Market access, illicit goods, and hired services. 20 23 27
• Profits from Qingshan County’s instability by changing Tianyi Hall’s business to meet demand for coffins and evil-warding artifacts. 27 31
• Advises Chen Mu on Yin Souls and offers paid protection as incidents escalate. 31 36

Journey to Nanyang Prefecture

• Arranges Chen Mu’s escape from Qingshan County, charging four hundred taels and consolidating several other protection clients into the same caravan. 52 57
• Saves Chen Mu from the Long-Haired Woman with a magical artifact, then explains Divine Intent and the danger posed by Yin Soul Monsters. 57

Nanyang Prefecture and Lijiang City

• Affiliates with Zhu Yi Pavilion, opens a medicine shop, and works with Chen Mu to sell imitation medicines. 59
• Provides Chen Mu with cultivation instruction, rare medicines, Ghost Market access, forged identities, talismans, and strategic advice. 61 67 102 130
• Continues to act as an assassin and broker despite earning substantial profits from talismans and medicine. 132
• Helps Chen Mu sell Ancestral Radiance Talismans, producing a net profit of twenty-seven thousand nine hundred taels. 130

Trivia

• Jie Jia’s obsession with cleanliness is severe enough that others avoid touching furniture in Tianyi Hall. 17
• He rolls silver into small beads and stores them somewhere unknown to Chen Mu. 40 132
• He once tried to sell Chen Mu rice balls that had originally come from Chen Mu’s own food. 52
• Chen Mu repeatedly compares Jie Jia to a “residence-protecting stone” because of his ability to deal with Yin Souls. 31