Jing Jiu

Biodata

Power Progression

Identity

Jing Jiu is Jingyang’s divine soul joined with One Sword for All Things, rather than an ordinary young cultivator or Jingyang’s biological descendant. Shen Green Mountain identifies this union as a Sword Ghost and uses it to explain why Jing Jiu could not produce another Sword Ghost through conventional cultivation 1009.

Green Mountain’s investigation establishes a convincing public biography: a younger son of Chaoge’s Jing Household who left home seeking immortals and was discovered by Master Lü in a mountain village. His unusual knowledge and abilities nevertheless inspire theories that he is Jingyang’s descendant, illegitimate son, or a Buddhist heir traveling through the mortal world 106 515 521.

The supposed innate Formless Sword Body is another mistaken explanation. Jing Jiu knowingly allows it to conceal the Netherworld Immortal Sword and the nature of his body 525.

• The Sword Demon accusation: Opponents claim that the sword killed Jingyang and appropriated his identity. His followers continue to question this account even after leaving Green Mountain with him 569 574.
• Recognition independent of origin: The Divine Emperor’s decree recognizes Jing Jiu himself as Sect Master, regardless of whether others call him Jingyang reincarnated or a transformed sword 570.
• Continuity of self: Jing Jiu rejects both an uncertain reincarnation and another divine-soul transfer; he does not intend to abandon his present existence for a replacement life 1011.

Appearance

• Face: Exceptionally beautiful, attracting attention from villagers, Green Mountain disciples, and the wider cultivation world 6 18 36.
• Ears: Prominent and round, adding a youthful softness to his otherwise perfect features 6.
• Clothing: Characteristically wears white robes. He rejects elaborate ceremonial clothing when restored as Sect Master 36 664.
• Bearing: Usually languid and expressionless, often seen reclining in a bamboo chair 6 577.
• Sword manifestations: During certain movements and battles, sword light appears along his hair, sleeves, and robes 104 613.

Personality

Jing Jiu is famous for laziness: he avoids patrols, rarely appears to cultivate, and sometimes considers sitting up for water an unnecessary effort. This appearance is misleading. Liu S sui learns that he is often awake while seemingly asleep, and Zhao Layue interprets his laziness as an unwillingness to waste time rather than a fondness for idleness 6 11 15 38.

He is taciturn, secretive, and thoroughly confident in his understanding. He frequently expects those closest to him to understand a glance or gesture, though he gradually learns to explain himself more clearly to others. Zhao Layue openly calls him conceited and doubts that he considers anyone qualified to teach him 53 418 471.

His reserve does not mean an absence of affection. He helps fellow disciples despite discouragement, treats Liu S sui’s independence as growth rather than betrayal, and worries that Zhao Layue’s investigations will expose her to dangers he cannot overcome 15 16 59.

Preserving life is central to his choices. He normally avoids the shadow of death and carefully prepares for the mortal dangers he voluntarily faces. Nevertheless, he admits fearing both his own death and the deaths of others, and eventually risks his freedom to protect the mortal world 592 652 715.

He values cultivation over revenge and political calculation, regarding those as ways to solve problems rather than purposes worth living for. His attachment to Green Mountain rests on the people and experiences that shaped him, not an unconditional debt to its founding patriarch 59 1007.

Abilities & Skills

Swordsmanship

Jing Jiu emphasizes speed, strength, and the quality of the sword over elaborate presentation. His apparently crude attacks conceal extraordinarily precise control 41 42.

• Defeats the more highly cultivated Gu Qing by striking the weakest points of his flying sword with the thickest part of his own blade 40 41 42.
• Tracks flying swords with his unaided eyes before entering Wuzhang, displaying perception the elders compare to a Sword Eye 42.
• Uses several Green Mountain traditions, including the Seven Plum Sword Technique and Snow-Flow Sword Art 531 822.
• Distinguishes technical understanding from practical experience: early in the Snowfield expedition, he acknowledges having little experience fighting cultivators or Snow Nation monsters 177.

Netherworld Immortal Sword

Created jointly with the Nether Emperor, this Sword Dao adapts Soul Fire Control to Jing Jiu’s unusual existence. It resolves the cultivation problem caused by his inability to form a conventional Sword Ghost 307 1009.

• Developed through several years of work in the Demon-Suppressing Prison 326 1009.
• Moves across miles almost instantaneously, with an elusive, ghostlike trajectory 326.
• Uses Jing Jiu himself as the sword, combining movement with lethal attacks 513.
• Becomes faster than riding Universe Edge 555.
• Makes conventional sword-cultivation realm divisions inadequate measures of his fighting strength 513.

Sword Body and Sword Control

His body is One Sword for All Things joined with Jingyang’s soul; the “innate Formless Sword Body” explanation is a convenient cover 525 1009.

• Releases sword intent directly from his body 613.
• Can allow others to wield his sword and can use swords belonging to others, an exceptional ability among sword cultivators 506.
• Shares the Unthought Sword with Zhao Layue 506.
• Remains vulnerable to the Heaven-Bearing control mechanism devised by Shen Green Mountain 1010.

Sword Formations

Jing Jiu uses formations for containment, protection, and large-scale combat 415 613 876.

• Heaven-Bearing Sword Formation: Creates a small formation to contain escaping light from the Immortal Register. His low realm and incompatibility with the Heaven-Bearing Sword limit its strength 415.
• Zhuxian Sword Formation: Combines the Unthought Sword, First Child Sword, Universe Edge, and Nondual Sword; he enters as the additional sword needed to complete it 613 614.
• Green Mountain Sword Formation: Brings its power to bear against Immortal Bairen, paying a price severe enough to endanger his life 615.
• Defensive formations: Shields Flower Creek when Xilai’s broadcast exposes the Blazing Sun to attack 876.

One Sword for All Things

Jing Jiu seeks a development beyond the patriarch’s principle that anything can become a sword: all things becoming one sword 733.

• Directs objects, rain, wind, and other elements toward a single unified attack 733.
• Creates an effect Xilai identifies as a sword formation brought together, rather than an individual sword 733.
• Uses mental-world landscapes to counter the founding patriarch’s sword intent 876.

Sword Sense and Spiritual Attacks

• Surveys the surrounding ten li for danger, though his detection is not infallible 177.
• Examines Liu S sui’s meridians and the conflicting true qi within him 472.
• Disperses his Sword Pellet into more than three hundred strands of sword intent to attack an intrusive fragment of divine sense 132.
• Severs vengeful souls and yin spirits with pure sword intent; insubstantial targets are especially susceptible 445.

Great Compassion Hand

A supreme technique associated with Fruitful Accomplishment Temple, whose use contributes to speculation that Jing Jiu is a Buddhist disciple 104 106.

• Catches Guo Nanshan’s flying sword between his palms and prevents its recall 104.
• Bends and breaks it with his hands, although the blade cuts him and draws blood 104.

Calculation, Learning, and Teaching

• Defeats Tong Yan to win the Plum Gathering’s Chess Battle 200.
• Guides Liu S sui’s cultivation and gives Gu Qing the Heaven-Bearing sword manual 11 64 275.
• Teaches Bai Zao the Danzhu Ancient Scripture so she can recover and withstand the Snowfield’s cold 197.
• Masters the academy network’s available physics and mathematics textbooks, then earns perfect scores on seven tests 754.
• Writes Great Dao Toward Heaven and produces designs that Xuan Yu Company seeks to license 754 801.

Impaired-State Metal Manipulation

Even when the Heaven-Bearing Sword reduces his consciousness and Dao Heart to minimal activity, Jing Jiu retains dangerous bodily abilities 940.

• Extends a fingernail into an extremely fine metal thread and weaves an invisible cage around Building 720 940.
• Discovers this ability without understanding its mechanism 940.
• At that time, cannot use either One Sword for All Things or basic Green Mountain Sword Dao 940.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• One Sword for All Things — His physical sword body and the sword through which Green Mountain’s founding patriarch originally comprehended the Sword Dao 568 1009.
• Black Iron Sword / Universe Edge — Inherited from Immortal Master Mo. Jing Jiu initially favors its size because he can sit or lie on it; its brilliant blade is revealed during his battle with Qilin. He later passes it to Gu Qing 189 424 613.
• Unthought Sword — Shared with Zhao Layue; can take the form of a wrist bracelet and returns when Jing Jiu summons his swords 488 506 613.
• First Child Sword — Claimed explicitly as his own and later entrusted to Jing Yao 597 613.
• Nondual Sword — Entrusted to Liu S sui; can become a wrist restraint or bracelet 613 664.
• Heaven-Bearing Sword Scabbard — A sect-master treasure that strongly motivates his acceptance of office. Its control mechanism ultimately becomes a threat to his autonomy 503 527 1010.
• Immortal Register — Obtained during the Dao-Seeking Assembly events and subsequently refined 411 424 435.
• Heart-Clearing Bell — A gift from Se Se, later tied around Liu A’da’s neck 128 364.
• Yin Wood Comb — Used to comb Zhao Layue’s hair 223.
• Bamboo chair — His habitual resting place; he later leaves one with Snow Ji and instinctively misses it when visiting the Jing Household 6 471.

Relationships

• Liu S sui — Former boy servant, longtime follower, and cultivation student. Jing Jiu encourages his independence, helps resolve his conflicting energies, and sends him to One-Thatch Studio because its scholars suit his temperament 16 275 435 478.
• Zhao Layue — Closest companion on Divine End Peak. Their bond includes deep trust, shared travels, and quiet domestic affection, but she does not treat his judgment as infallible and ultimately follows her own Great Dao 59 120 223 577 953.
• Gu Qing — Disciple and trusted manager. Their relationship begins when Jing Jiu defeats him and seriously answers his questions; Jing Jiu later entrusts him with teaching Prince Jing Yao 41 64 303 624.
• Bai Zao — Companion during six years in the Snowfield, with acknowledged feelings for him. Jing Jiu stays partly because she tried to save him and teaches her a healing scripture 197 224 278 366.
• Lian Sanyue / Guo Dong — A centuries-long relationship involving battles, shared exploration of the Great Dao, divergent paths, and a vow not to meet again. Jing Jiu himself finds their relationship difficult to define 358.
• True Person Taiping / Yin San — His senior brother and a central source of conflict over Green Mountain’s future and the fate of the mortal world 481 503 641 715.
• Liu Ci — Repeatedly urges him to become Sect Master and ultimately names him successor. Jing Jiu disagrees with the sacrifices Liu Ci makes 503 521 527.
• The Nether Emperor — Teacher and collaborator in developing the Netherworld Immortal Sword 307 322 1009.
• Snow Ji — Powerful ally who assists against Flower Creek’s computer consciousness and cares for him during his impaired state, including attempting to teach him board games 917 965.
• Zhong Lizi — Helps publish and promote his novel, critiques its writing, and introduces him to academy resources. He later accompanies her toward the Capital Planet 754 801.
• Flower Creek — Traveling companion whose body becomes the vessel of the computer’s consciousness. Jing Jiu and Snow Ji trap that consciousness aboard an isolated warship 837 965.
• Shen Green Mountain — Green Mountain’s founding patriarch and the creator of the mechanism that can control Jing Jiu’s sword body; Jing Jiu rejects his claim to obedience or gratitude 1007 1010.

History / Major Arcs

Mountain Village and Entry into Green Mountain

Jing Jiu spends a year at Liu S sui’s home, where villagers debate whether he is an immortal master or an impoverished nobleman. Both camps agree on his extraordinary laziness. He quietly guides Liu S sui before entering Green Mountain through Master Lü 6 7 11.

At South Pine Pavilion, his beauty and apparent indolence make him famous. After entering the inner sect, he defeats Gu Qing at the Sword Inheritance Assembly despite their cultivation difference and becomes Divine End Peak’s Sword-Inheriting Disciple 18 24 40 42 59.

Sword Trial, Plum Gathering, and the Snowfield

During the Green Mountain Sword Trial, Jing Jiu enters Wuzhang, wounds Gu Han, and breaks Guo Nanshan’s flying sword. The display makes his talent impossible for the sect to conceal 102 104 114.

He wins both the Chess Battle and Dao Battle at the Plum Gathering. The subsequent Snowfield ordeal leaves him and Bai Zao trapped for six years, with the Snow Nation Queen’s attention preventing his departure. After returning, he explains that Bai Zao’s attempt to save him was another reason he stayed 197 200 224 278.

Chaoge and the Demon-Suppressing Prison

Jing Jiu arranges for Gu Qing to teach Prince Jing Yao, giving the prince a Green Mountain identity amid the struggle over the imperial succession 303 349.

Seeking a solution to his stalled cultivation, he enters the Demon-Suppressing Prison and studies with the Nether Emperor. Together they create the Netherworld Immortal Sword, which he uses during his escape 307 326 1009.

Immortal Register and Universe Edge

Grievously injured, Jing Jiu needs an Immortal Register to survive. He enters the Dao-Seeking Assembly on behalf of Water-Moon Convent without renouncing Green Mountain, despite objections from its elders 355 363.

At Fruitful Accomplishment Temple, he survives Qilin’s challenge and reveals Universe Edge beneath the Black Iron Sword’s accumulated grime. After refining the Immortal Register, he awakens and travels to Guo Dong’s quiet room at Water-Moon Convent 424 435.

Sect Master and Expulsion

Liu Ci’s final decree names Jing Jiu as his successor. Jing Jiu defeats Bai Rujing, reveals his Sea-Breaking cultivation, and receives recognition as Green Mountain’s Sect Master 521 524 525.

He restricts Twofold Forgetting Peak’s disciples from leaving the mountains, condemning the practice of secluded elders sending much weaker youngsters into mortal danger. The later dispute over whether he is Jingyang or a Sword Demon culminates in his expulsion; his companions follow him to Jing Garden near Yunji Town 529 569 574 575.

Battle for Chaoge and Return to Green Mountain

Against Immortal Bairen, Jing Jiu recalls four immortal-tier swords, completes the Zhuxian Sword Formation with himself, and brings down the Green Mountain Sword Formation. He destroys Bairen’s descended manifestation but pays a potentially fatal price 613 614 615.

After a prolonged period unconscious, he awakens and confronts Yin San. He later returns to Green Mountain and resumes the role of Sect Master, rejecting its elaborate ceremonial robes in favor of white clothing 630 641 664.

Heavenly Access and Ascension

Jing Jiu risks his position to protect the mortal world and fights White True Person across the sea and the grounds of Fruitful Accomplishment Temple. The aftermath again leaves him unconscious, with Zhao Layue carrying him into the Snowfield 715 717 720.

After awakening, he demonstrates his interpretation of One Sword for All Things against Xilai. Beyond the Chaotian Continent, he begins investigating an unfamiliar technological civilization 730 733 749.

Technological World and the Founding Patriarch

With Zhong Lizi’s help, Jing Jiu publishes his novel and studies science. He later becomes Chief Military Command Advisor and travels aboard the Blazing Sun toward the Jiali Starfield and Dark Matter Sea 754 837.

His conflict with General Li’s soul imprint, Xilai, and the computer consciousness leads to attacks on his mind and control over his body. Snow Ji assists him through his impaired state and helps isolate Flower Creek’s consciousness from the network 876 887 940 965.

During the confrontation near the Ancestral Star, Jing Jiu reveals that he had considered how to kill the founding patriarch even before ascending. He rejects Shen Green Mountain’s demand for gratitude and challenges the legitimacy of the program designed to control him 989 1007 1010.

Notable Quotes

“A sword is the simplest thing to begin with. It isn't anything else. It's just a sword.” 41

“What Daoist cultivators lack least is patience.” 295

“The realm of Sword Dao I seek is not that all things can become swords, but that all things become one sword.” 733

“Founding the Green Mountain Sect was your own affair. You didn't do it for me.” 1007

Trivia

• He dislikes the scent of sunflowers 9.
• He enjoys watching snow and insists on leaving a window open even during snowfall 6 447.
• He rarely eats because he considers eating largely meaningless, but enjoys watching Zhao Layue eat hotpot 447 478.
• Liu S sui taught him how to farm 542.
• Despite defeating Tong Yan at Go, his later impaired self struggles with children’s board games and receives harsh lessons from Snow Ji 200 904 917.