Ji Family

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Ji Family (纪家)
Alias(es)	Ji Clan; Ji Clan Commerce Guild
Affiliation	One of Longcloud County's Five Great Families
Occupation/Role	Merchant family operating fleets, waterway trade, medicine pavilions, and a martial establishment
Status	Active
First Appearance	39

Background / History

The Ji Family has maintained its position in Longcloud County for over a century. Its commerce guild operates waterway trade across Cangzhou, with connections reportedly extending through every prefecture and county; this trade made the family exceptionally wealthy. 39 44

The family maintains merchant fleets that travel between prefectures and uses Cloud Ripple Island, a waterway chokepoint on Cloudwater Lake, to protect its shipping from water bandits. Patrol envoys and guards are permanently stationed there; the island had twenty-five personnel when Shen Xiuhan arrived. 43 58

The death of Ji Guannan, a direct-line prodigy, during a siege by Sunken Sword Dock created a lasting blood feud. The family subsequently recruited stronger patrol envoys for Cloud Ripple Island and offered selected martial artists access to its Library Pavilion as an incentive. 44 58 72

The family protected Shen Xiuhan after he killed Qu Bushi of Sunken Sword Dock, accepted the bandit's head rather than allowing it to go to the county yamen, and arranged for Ji Wen to erase evidence at the killing site. Ji Shuying rewarded Shen with silver and Jadeblood Pills, strengthening his connection to the family. 72 73 74

After the defense of Cloud Ripple Island, the Ji Family continued rewarding Shen Xiuhan with cultivation resources, the Flowing Cloud Sword manual, the treasured sword Cold Vault, and financial support. Its association with Shen later became a source of protection for its businesses in South Township Prefecture. 110 112 118 220

Organization

Leadership and Household

• Ji Shuying — Family Head. She oversees the family's rewards, strategic decisions, martial resources, and business interests. 74 110 220
• Ji Zhong — Steward with unusually high standing and unrestricted access to the family library; father of Ji Ning. 49 58
• Ji Wen — Martial Hall master and later described as the family's second-ranking figure. He secretly protected the Five-Element Qi Refining Pill operation and was later killed while escorting a caravan. 65 231
• Ji Ning — Ji Zhong's son and garrison commander of Cloud Ripple Island. 58
• Ji Xue — Second Miss; studies at Limitless Academy and later manages efforts to preserve the family's prefectural-city businesses. 65 211
• Ji Yao — Third Miss; Ji Xue's younger sister and Ji Wen's niece. 69 231
• Ji Yuande — A collateral relative who served as a patrol envoy before suffering a permanently crippling spinal injury. 92 102 113

Commerce and Defenses

• Ji Clan Commerce Guild — The family's central trading concern, with fleets active throughout Cangzhou. 39 43
• Farfortune Fleet — A Ji Family fleet that offers assistant-steward positions. 43
• Cloud Ripple Island garrison — Patrol envoys and guards assigned to protect the family's commercial water route from Sunken Sword Dock and other threats. 43 58
• Martial Hall — Overseen by Ji Wen; responsible for the family's martial affairs. 65
• Medicine pavilions / Elixir Pavilion — Businesses operating in South Township Prefecture that later became targets of commercial pressure and supply disruptions. 210 211
• Beast garden — Holds Azure Awl Chickens; the family closely guards both the animals and the refinement method for Jadeblood Pills. 74

Resources

Library Pavilion and Scripture Repository

The Ji Family uses access to martial manuals to recruit capable martial artists. A Cloud Ripple Island patrol envoy approved by Ji Zhong may choose one martial skill or stance art from the first floor of the Library Pavilion. 44

The publicly accessible shelves mostly contain basic or flawed techniques that the family has already selected through. Its superior inheritances are held in a separate Scripture Repository. 50 112

Known manuals in the true repository include:

• Flowing Cloud Sword — An introductory chapter of Azure Radiance Manor's supreme sword art. 112
• Jade Maiden Yin Essence Art — Cultivated by Ji Xue and Ji Yao. 94 112
• Jadewater Ice-Condensation Art. 112
• Mountain-Shattering Peak-Breaking Palm. 112
• Vajra Great Adept's Indestructible Buddha Body. 112

Jadeblood Pills

• Refined from second-rank treasure beasts and effective for Bright Force and Dark Force martial artists. 74
• Included in the compensation package for Farfortune Fleet and Cloud Ripple Island positions. 43
• Used as rewards for Shen Xiuhan's service, including six pills after Qu Bushi's death and five after Tu Xiaotian's death. 74 112

Five-Element Qi Refining Pill

The family purchased a Five-Element Qi Refining Pill at great cost, apparently to support a breakthrough into Transforming Force. To conceal its transport, it publicly guarded a caravan while secretly sending the pill with Ji Xue under covert protection. 65

Ji Shuying later gave the pill to Mei Shuangfeng to improve her chance of entering Qi Refining. 123

Relationships

• Mei Shuangfeng — Ji Shuying has known Shen Xiuhan's master for over four years and shares a close relationship with her. 74
• Shen Xiuhan — Retainer, protector, and trusted ally. The family employed him as a Cloud Ripple Island patrol envoy, rewarded his services repeatedly, and later relied on his name to deter threats to its businesses. 43 74 220
• Sunken Sword Dock — Bitter enemy responsible for Ji Guannan's death and repeated attacks on Ji Family personnel, ships, and trade routes. 44 72 231
• Luo Family — Rival Longcloud County great family. Their conflict includes public hostility between their stewards and competition over influence around Cloudwater Lake. 44 119 130
• White Family — Connected to the spy Lu Ya and Sunken Sword Dock; its agents targeted the Ji sisters and sought the family's Five-Element Qi Refining Pill. 73 94
• He Family / He Tunan — Former protectors receiving annual tribute from the Ji Family. After the family cut off this tribute, He Tunan used his influence to pressure its businesses and obstruct its efforts to find new support. 195 211
• Gale Cloud Pavilion — Demanded seventy percent of the family's profits in exchange for intervention during its prefectural-city crisis. 234

Major Arcs

Cloud Ripple Island Conflict

The Ji Family recruited Shen Xiuhan as a patrol envoy despite the danger of the post, offering eight taels of silver monthly, medicinal food, Jadeblood Pills, a covered boat, and library access. 43 44

Sunken Sword Dock's prior killing of Ji Guannan made the island both strategically important and personally significant to the family. Ji Ning commanded the garrison, while Ji Guannan's death remained a central grievance in the conflict. 58 59

Following Qu Bushi's death, the Ji Family honored its promise to protect Shen Xiuhan from retaliation, took possession of the bandit's head, and removed evidence that could identify Shen as the killer. 72 73

Defense of the Ji Sisters and the Five-Element Pill

To protect the Five-Element Qi Refining Pill from interested parties, the family used Ji Xue as a covert courier while presenting a guarded caravan as a decoy. Ji Wen concealed himself nearby to protect the operation. 65

The plan was compromised by hostile forces, and Shen Xiuhan ultimately protected Ji Xue and Ji Yao from the ambush and killed Qu Bushi. 69 72

Ji Yuande's Fall

Ji Yuande, a collateral relative who resented Shen Xiuhan's status, was severely injured by Tu Xiaotian of Sunken Sword Dock. His spine was broken, ending his martial path. 92 102 113

The Ji Family paid for treatment and supplied medicine, but Ji Yuande became increasingly unstable, demanded marriage to Ji Xue and Ji Yao, and insulted Ji Shuying. Ji Shuying expelled him to a country estate after violently subduing him. 112 113

Prefectural-City Business Crisis

After Shen Xiuhan left Longcloud County, the family's businesses in South Township Prefecture faced supply interruptions, blocked waterways, and political isolation. Ji Xue determined that He Tunan's resentment over the family's discontinued annual tribute was behind the pressure. 210 211

Ji Shuying decided to send Shen Xiuhan one hundred taels monthly through the Star-Picking Sect, using his status as a true disciple to shield the family's trade and medicine businesses. 220

Ji Wen's Death and the Recovered Caravan

Bandits seized a Ji Family caravan at Ten-Thousand Grotto Marsh, demanded a ransom, and killed Ji Wen along with the escort team. 231

Shen Xiuhan destroyed the bandits and returned nearly all of the goods to the family's prefectural-city manor. The return of the caravan halted other factions' attempts to exploit the crisis, though Ji Wen's body confirmed the family's loss. 234 235

Trivia

• The Ji Family's wealth was described as being sufficient to “bleed oil.” 39
• Its main Longcloud County residence, Ji Manor, contains deep courtyards and a concealed library filled with rosewood bookshelves, books, and bamboo slips. 49
• The family’s rewards to Shen Xiuhan included Cold Vault, a mid-grade treasured sword forged from Cold Iron Essencegold. 118