Lu Lineage

Biodata

Background / History

Several years before Lu Changsheng joined, a conflict with the Chen Lineage killed or wounded many of the Lu Lineage’s young adults and gravely injured its ancestor. These losses created a gap between generations. The ancestor was already elderly and remained the lineage’s only Foundation Establishment cultivator; its retainers feared that his death would leave them unable to defend Green Bamboo Mountain and their other holdings 2 11.

To replenish its population, the lineage made an exception to its usual bloodline-centered cultivation support and recruited twenty prospective husbands from candidates rejected by the Azure Cloud Sect. Lu Yuanding personally led the recruits toward Green Bamboo Mountain, accompanied by five additional lineage cultivators 1 2.

The party was ambushed by Chen Shuisheng and his forces. Eight recruits died before reinforcements from Green Bamboo Mountain arrived and forced the attackers to retreat. The twelve survivors were settled in Green Bamboo Manor, where Uncle Fu registered them and arranged their marriages 3 4.

Territory and Facilities

• Green Bamboo Valley has no equivalent of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion; residents generally return to Green Bamboo Manor for shopping 19.
• Its denser spiritual energy increased Lu Changsheng’s cultivation speed by thirty percent, though his ability to refine that energy limited the benefit 20.

Organization and Notable Members

Leadership and Administration

Other Notable Members

• Lu Miaoge — Lu Yuanding’s eldest daughter and a talented talisman master. Assesses Lu Changsheng’s craft and participates in the reinforcements that rescue the recruits 3 11 17.
• Lu Miaohuan — Lu Yuanding’s second daughter, with a sixth-grade spiritual root. Proposed as a wife for Lu Changsheng, but the match is declined 44 45 48.
• Lu Miaoyun — Fourth Elder’s granddaughter, with a seventh-grade spiritual root. Marries Lu Changsheng as his principal wife 48 49.
• Lu Miaoyi — Fifth Elder’s granddaughter, with an eighth-grade spiritual root. Offered as a prospective wife during the elders’ discussion of Lu Changsheng 44.
• Lu Changsheng — Recruited live-in son-in-law whose talisman-making talent earns him direct-descendant benefits and eventual entry into the lineage’s inner circle 2 17 49.
• Li Feiyu — Recruited alongside Lu Changsheng. His seventh-grade spiritual root leads the lineage to be relatively lenient about his early childbearing obligations 2 9.
• Xiao Qing — Adopted child raised by the lineage and assigned as Lu Miaoyun’s maid; accompanies her into Lu Changsheng’s household as a dowry maid 50.

Membership and Marriage Policies

Live-In Son-in-Law Recruitment

• Eligibility: The documented recruitment targets unsuccessful Azure Cloud Sect candidates who possess spiritual roots 1 2.
• Support: Recruits receive cultivation manuals, identity plaques, residences, resources, and access to a spirit vein 1 4.
• Marriage partners: Women from the lineage’s mortal branches attend voluntarily, hoping to bear children with spiritual roots and improve their standing. Both the women and recruits choose partners 4.
• Multiple marriages: The arrangement permits more than one wife; Lu Changsheng initially marries Lu Lanshu, Lu Zi’er, and Lu Qing’er 4.
• Completion: Recruits who fulfill their agreement may leave or remain with the lineage 4.

Contract Terms

Lu Changsheng’s revised agreement illustrates how the lineage changes its terms for a valuable specialist 17 18.

Descendants and Adopted Children

• Spiritual-root testing: Children’s roots ordinarily manifest and can be tested at five or six years old 6.
• Children without spiritual roots: Those still showing no root after turning six must move to the mortal world. Extensions may delay departure until their early teens, but permanent residence on Green Bamboo Mountain is not allowed 23.
• Marriage alliances: Many members with limited cultivation prospects receive arranged marriages with neighboring cultivation lineages, maintaining alliances and bringing in fresh blood 45.
• Adopted children: Largely manage spirit fields, spiritual bamboo, spiritual mines, and other labor requiring cultivators. Adult men generally marry mortal lineage women, while women become concubines to lineage young masters 50.
• Branch interests: Individual branches compete to secure valuable specialists through marriage, even while belonging to the same lineage 44.

Cultivation Resources and Businesses

Cultivation and Transport

• Cultivation manuals: Recruits receive the Beginner-grade Returning Origin Technique. The lineage’s core technique is reportedly Advanced grade 4 13.
• Spirit Steeds: Lineage-raised mounts can travel a thousand li per day and carry riders without riding experience 2.
• Flying boat artifact: Owned by the lineage but not used lightly. Lu Yuanding’s eighth-level Qi Refining spiritual power cannot sustain long-distance flight while carrying the recruits 2.
• Travel support: The lineage offers Lu Changsheng an escort and supplies a message talisman when approving his journey to the mortal world 23.

Talisman Production

• Training and assessment: Lu Miaoge evaluates promising talent; the Fourth Elder oversees the lineage’s talismans and offers to teach Lu Changsheng 11 44.
• Supplied materials: Lu Changsheng receives a Golden-Hair Talisman Brush and one hundred sets of materials for an initial monthly assignment of twenty Fire Bullet Talismans 20.
• Increasing demands: Quantity and quality requirements are expected to rise after the training stage 20.
• Retention strategy: Better contracts and marriages to direct-line women are used to secure a talented craftsman’s long-term service 17 44 48.

Other Businesses and Incentives

• Agricultural and mineral resources: Spirit fields, spiritual bamboo, spirit herbs, and spiritual mines support the lineage’s operations 44 50.
• Spirit wine: The Fifth Elder manages production and sells Jade Bamboo Wine alongside other varieties 44 49.
• First-pregnancy reward: Lu Changsheng receives a low-grade flying sword, Green Bamboo Daoist Robe, Yellow Dragon Pills, and one hundred jin of spirit rice, together worth one hundred spirit stones 5.
• Later childbearing rewards: Other recruits subsequently receive smaller rewards of Yellow Dragon Pills and ten jin of spirit rice. Lu Yuanding promises a greater reward for the first child with spiritual roots 5.

Role in Lu Changsheng’s Rise

The lineage initially provides Lu Changsheng with the wives, cultivation grounds, and household support needed to begin his life as a cultivator. His apparent progress in talisman-making then changes his value to the organization: A-Gui and Uncle Fu recommend nurturing him, and Lu Yuanding has Lu Miaoge assess his skills 2 4 11.

After he demonstrates first-tier lower-grade talisman-making, the lineage replaces his recruitment contract with a specialist agreement and moves his household to Green Bamboo Valley. His successful completion of its assignments strengthens its confidence in him 17 18 19 23.

His First-Rank Middle-Grade advancement prompts an elders’ meeting about keeping him permanently. Several branches offer descendants as wives, hoping to attach a potential Second-Rank Talisman Master to their own households. Lu Yuanding proposes Lu Miaohuan, but accepts Lu Changsheng’s refusal rather than forcing an incompatible marriage 44 48.

The subsequent marriage to Lu Miaoyun formally brings Lu Changsheng into the inner circle. Despite this improved standing, he retains the ambition to establish an independent cultivation lineage; he also recognizes that the Lu Lineage has treated him well and offers greater safety than struggling alone 17 46 49.

External Relations

• Chen Lineage — Hostile rival. Its earlier conflict devastated the Lu Lineage’s younger generation and injured its ancestor; Chen Shuisheng later attacks the recruited husbands’ escort 2 3 11.
• Azure Cloud Sect — Its rejected candidates provide the pool for the documented husband recruitment. No formal alliance is established in the supplied account 1 2.
• Neighboring cultivation lineages — Partners in marriage alliances used to sustain development and introduce fresh blood 45.