Jing Yu

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

• Youthful appearance: Handsome, with an imposing bearing, black hair, and flowing white robes. His cultivated public image suggests wisdom and carefree elegance 238.
• Hands: His fingers are described as beautiful and delicate, moving fluidly over the qin’s strings 68.
• Official appearance: Later adopts facial hair and wrinkles, appearing to be in his forties or fifties rather than retaining a young gentleman’s face 635.
• Chief Minister: Appears as a long-bearded old man in a red python robe. This aged presentation suits his office rather than reflecting a necessary consequence of his cultivation or lifespan 807.

Personality

Jing Yu is an inveterate chatterbox. Shortly after joining Li Ping'an’s southbound party, he exhausts his companions with lengthy speeches; even Old Ox moves away when Jing Yu approaches him. He is also highly competitive, repeatedly seeking contests in music, poetry, and martial skill after Li Ping'an disrupts his qin playing 68 71 72 75.

His vanity often turns serious moments into comedy. He cultivates a cold, formidable image before admirers, then laughs gleefully once out of sight. When Liu Yun remembers meeting him, he convinces himself that she has romantic intentions and blurts out a rejection, earning a beating from the Academy Head 294 297.

Beneath the boasting, he possesses a genuine commitment to justice. His hesitation to confront the Brocade-Clad Guards leaves him ashamed of his fear and conscious of the responsibilities of a Confucian gentleman. Later, he condemns oppressive taxation, undertakes difficult reforms, and becomes an official respected by ordinary people 90 91 222 429 635.

His enthusiasm for pleasure houses repeatedly conflicts with official discipline. Although he announces his intention to abstain, his Abstinence Diary continually resets to its first few days. By retirement, however, he has lost interest in courtesans and prefers familiar streets, tea, performances, and memories of old friends 495 541 816.

Abilities & Skills

Confucian Cultivation

Jing Yu follows Huailu Academy’s Confucian cultivation tradition 120 223.

• Gains power of edification, a force associated with enlightening others and with a scholar’s name 120.
• Benefits unexpectedly when Li Ping'an performs good deeds using his identity 120.
• Recognizes public service and successful reform as opportunities to advance both his reputation and cultivation 429.
• Uses storytelling and publicity to spread accounts of the Three Heroes of the Nine Provinces after the Lüzhou affair 407.

Swordsmanship

Jing Yu combines rapid, direct sword attacks with powerful sword qi 223 294.

• Close combat: Storms a rebel camp, attacks vital points, and cuts down guards and archers in rapid succession 223.
• Crowd fighting: Uses sword wind to block arrows while conserving strength against ordinary opponents and prioritizing Yi Tribe cultivators 224.
• Wind-and-Thunder strikes: Breaks cave restraints and later uses similar sword attacks inside Feilian’s formation 294 548.
• Multiple swords: Summons two swords to circle beside him during the assault on Feilian’s formation 547.
• Unarmed adaptation: After Feilian knocks away his sword, uses his hand as a sword to execute Wind Rolls Up the Clouds and withdraw 549.
• Limits: Can deliver a strike beyond his seventh realm, but Feilian still crushes its sword light and disarms him 549.

National Fortune

As Chief Minister, Jing Yu can draw upon Great Sui’s national Fortune 807.

• Temporarily ascends to the pinnacle of the Nine Realms of Immortals 807.
• When he strikes at Demon-Suppressing Pass, Landscape Talismans linking mountains, rivers, and cave abodes throughout Great Sui seem to come alive 811.

Movement and Restraint

• Water traversal: Crosses a lake with light steps, touching the surface as though walking on level ground 92.
• Ghost restraint: Immobilizes a vengeful female ghost emerging from the well at his Jiangnan house 282.
• Evasion: Survives pursuit by a Sixth-Rank Talisman Master, several Fifth Grade opponents, and numerous other fighters, though he escapes injured 369.

Music

Jing Yu is an accomplished qin player whose music is free-flowing and expressive 68.

• Initially maintains his concentration against Li Ping'an’s contrasting erhu melody 68.
• Eventually becomes anxious and loses control of his performance, snapping a string 68.
• Continues seeking a rematch, including shortly before Li Ping'an leaves for Guangling 72 98.

Governance

• Oversees prefectural civil affairs, administration, taxation, and justice after receiving an unusually senior first appointment 427.
• Handles Yudu City’s entrenched corruption capably enough to receive praise at court 430.
• Observes official hospitality limits when entertaining a returning acquaintance 611.
• Earns a strong reputation among the common people during his later ministerial career 635.

Equipment & Items

• Qin: A rare, superior instrument used in his musical contest with Li Ping'an 68.
• Three-foot longsword: Used during the attack on the rebel camp 223.
• Folding fan: A recurring accessory in his scholar-gentleman presentation 90 173.
• Qi-Replenishing Pill: Taken after killing two peak-seventh-realm Great Demons at Tengchong City 540.
• Merit ledger: Records his battlefield achievements 540.
• Abstinence Diary: A notebook documenting repeated, short-lived attempts to abstain from lust 541.
• Birdcage: Carried on his regular retirement outings to teahouses and performances 816.

History

Academy Years and Li Ping'an

Jing Yu’s interest in Li Ping'an begins with a musical defeat: Li’s erhu unsettles his qin performance until a string breaks. He later joins Li’s southbound party, claiming to be an Academy escort responsible for checking his conduct, though his real motive is to meet the musician who disturbed his composure 68 71.

He travels with the group through the eerie village and desert toward Yumen Pass. His boasting wins little respect from the children, who openly doubt his claim to be an exceptional Academy genius. Although he initially says he will leave at Yumen Pass, he remains beyond the promised point before eventually departing 72 75 79 80.

In the capital, Jing Yu takes Li Ping'an to the Clear Moon Pavilion. A lyric Li writes under Jing Yu’s name becomes famous, exposing Jing Yu’s visit and attracting Master Zhong’s attention. Jing Yu ultimately adds an acknowledgment crediting a friend; his teacher revises it to associate himself with the celebrated work as well 85 87.

Crisis of Resolve

Jing Yu attempts to stop Zhang Gong and the Brocade-Clad Guards from abusing a young girl. Neither his Academy affiliation nor Master Zhong’s name gives him sufficient authority, and he hesitates when drawing his sword would jeopardize his future and possibly his life 90.

After another man acts first, Jing Yu recognizes the fear behind his hesitation and feels that dust has settled on his “sword heart.” He is imprisoned but released within four hours by orders from above. Soon afterward, his composed appearance and effortless crossing of a lake reveal a seriousness absent from his usual behavior 91 92.

Campaigns and Public Reputation

Years later, Jing Yu recruits Li Ping'an to confront marauders and Yi Tribe agents. He storms the enemy camp and draws away its defenders while Li kills Ye Hao and the divine envoy. Their attempt to force a surrender fails, leaving them fighting until dawn. The aftermath produces a payment dispute, eventually settled through Spirit Stones borrowed from Jing Yu’s senior brother Zheng Wudi 222 223 224 225 239 240.

His achievements increasingly support his reputation. At Three-Nothing Peak, he displays Fifth Grade cultivation during the suppression of Evil Cultivators. Later, as Huailu Academy Team A’s captain, he defeats all three opposing contestants without requiring his teammates to enter the arena 294 328.

His first combat assignment after more than a year of tending horses and feeding pigs on campaign is less successful. Sent against the Xieshan Spirit Mine, he is exposed after receiving a false password and barely escapes. While he recovers, Aliya informs him that an unknown attacker has already destroyed the mine; that attacker was Li Ping'an 368 369.

Three Heroes of the Nine Provinces

Jing Yu reunites with Li Ping'an and Changqing during their travels and joins the effort to find Changqing at the prefect’s residence. Following the Lüzhou affair, he pays to publicize their exploits as the Three Heroes of the Nine Provinces, ensuring that his companions share in the fame 400 407.

The trio later intervenes when retainers surround a mother and daughter. Despite Jing Yu and Changqing initially attacking each other in their drunkenness, they overcome the retainers and confront the wealthy gentleman behind them 408.

Official Career

Tengchong City and Demon-Suppressing Pass

During the defense of Tengchong City, Jing Yu holds Anji Gate alongside Zhao Ling'er, Aliya, and other allies. Newly in the Seventh Realm, he kills two peak-seventh-realm Great Demons and participates in the defenders’ council 540 541.

He enters Feilian’s sword formation with Changqing and fights his way to the Demon Saint. Bloodied and nearly exhausted, he delivers a strike beyond his realm, briefly impressing Feilian with the splendor of a Sword Immortal. Feilian disarms him, but Jing Yu escapes the immediate counterattack and is later evacuated with severe injuries 547 548 549 552.

Much later, he arrives at Demon-Suppressing Pass as Great Sui’s Chief Minister, empowered by national Fortune. Between battles, he reunites with Changqing and talks about the freedom he hopes to enjoy after leaving office 807 809 811.

Death Report and Thousand-Year Epilogue

An old letter leads Li Ping'an to realize that he has missed Jing Yu’s funeral feast. However, later chapters depict Jing Yu alive as Chief Minister and subsequently in retirement; the supplied passages provide no explanation for this discrepancy 754 807 816.

A thousand years after the battles at Demon-Suppressing Pass, Jing Yu lives quietly in the capital. Watching a theatrical retelling of the war reminds him of its sacrifices and his scattered companions. He longs to see Li Ping'an again—not to discuss humanity’s future, but to exchange stories of their lives. Little Ox, a girl in red, and the Blue Robes Man then appear and greet him 816.

Relationships

• Li Ping'an — Musical rival turned lifelong friend. Their bond includes drinking, joint battles, debts, affectionate mockery, and repeated impersonations; Jing Yu later welcomes Li into his home with an exuberant embrace 68 225 240 635.
• Master Zhong / Zhong Ziyou — Teacher and disciplinarian. Zhong values his talent but punishes his indiscretions; Jing Yu later secretly consults him for moves during a board game against Li Ping'an 87 326 542 641.
• Monk Changqing — Close friend and fellow Three Hero. They travel and fight together; after Tengchong, Jing Yu initially insists that Changqing receive medical treatment before him 400 407 547 552.
• Liu Yun — Sovereign and patron of his official career. Entrusts him with the Yudu reforms and later visits his household privately 429 641.
• Old Ox — Longtime companion through Li Ping'an. Alternately avoids Jing Yu’s chatter, helps abduct him over unpaid money, and receives an enthusiastic embrace at their reunion 75 239 635.
• Zheng Wudi — Senior brother who finances Jing Yu’s repayment to Li Ping'an after being impressed by Li’s poetry 239 240.
• Aliya — Academy companion and battlefield ally. Teases or comforts him during their early travels and tends him after the failed mine mission 75 369 540.
• Jingyun — His son, ten years old when Li Ping'an returns to the capital. Studies at the Imperial Academy under Master Zhong 635.
• Unnamed wife — Accompanies the household in greeting Liu Yun. An old letter mentions marital trouble over Jing Yu’s wish to take a concubine 641 754.

Notable Quotes

“Where the sea stretches boundless, heaven is its shore; when I climb the highest summit, I am the peak!! What have I, Jing Yu, to fear?” 223

“Hurry and treat my brother first. I can hold on!!” 552

Trivia

• Li Ping'an’s use of Jing Yu’s name becomes a recurring joke: it deters an influential young master, earns Jing Yu credit for a celebrated lyric, and unexpectedly grants him edification power. Jing Yu retaliates by using Li’s name at a pleasure house 78 87 120 173.
• Despite his refined public image, his improvised poem before the Tengchong battle ends with a complaint about the cold and postponing a bowel movement. Master Zhong responds with a kick 542.
• In retirement, he chooses an ordinary teahouse seat rather than a private room because he dislikes having nobody nearby to talk to 816.