Lu Jin

Biodata

Power Progression

Background and History

Establishing Thunderfire Hall

Lu Jin built Thunderfire Hall through decades of dangerous struggles, securing it as a foundation for the declining Lu Clan by the time he was sixty. The Spirit-Sealing Curse limited his Divine Ability Bone to middle-grade, while repeated life-and-death battles left hidden injuries that damaged his foundation and exhausted his potential 3 41.

An expedition into the Black Rain Zone yielded the mid-grade Foundation Establishment Spirit Object that allowed him to become a Divine Ability Master. His clan’s surviving records also gave him knowledge of its suppressed bloodline, concealed legacy, and dangerous ancestral inheritances, though even he did not know the full extent of its former prosperity 4 11 82.

Investment in Zhang Yue

Seeking a way around the clan’s hereditary curse, Lu Jin devoted substantial resources to Zhang Yue, including resources otherwise intended for his sons. He hoped Zhang Yue would obtain the Great Sage Fire Talisman and help relieve the curse’s suppression. He had intended to recommend Zhang Yue to a higher-ranking hall afterward if Zhang Yue wished to leave 3 6.

Zhang Yue instead departed with outsiders who humiliated Thunderfire Hall. Although Lu Jin had already recognized his scheming nature, he admitted that desperation had made him cling to hope. He stopped Lu Jinglei from seeking revenge because Great Golden Crow Hall’s retaliation could destroy their entire clan 2 3.

Saving Lu Ming’s Divine Ability Bone

Lu Jin conducted Lu Ming’s bone-opening ceremony with a High-Grade Bone-Opening Pill. When the Spirit-Sealing Curse began consuming the newly awakened bone’s power, he invoked the Lu Clan’s final ancestral reserve and severed one of his own fingers to help counter it. The memorial tablets containing that reserve crumbled to powder, but Lu Ming retained a Sub-Heaven-Grade Divine Ability Bone 3 4.

Thereafter, Lu Jin treated Lu Ming as the clan’s last “Divine Ability Child.” He committed Thunderfire Hall’s savings to cultivation pills and declared himself willing to enter the depths of the Black Rain Zone if necessary to secure more resources 6 12.

Hall Gathering and Recovery

During the struggle for the leading hall’s position, Lu Jin refused to yield to Lin Changkong despite the latter’s newly cultivated True Qi. He trapped Lin’s True Qi inside his own arm and threatened to damage it, forcing a draw at the cost of revealing his defensive trump card and badly injuring the arm 40 41 50.

Lu Ming subsequently used the Flame of Life to treat him daily. Within roughly half a month, more than half his hidden injuries had healed and his damaged arm had fully recovered. Continued treatment eliminated his remaining hidden dangers and nourished his aging body, reopening a path to advancement 45 50 83.

Defeat of the Peach Mountain Band

After learning that the Peach Mountain Band intended to attack Thunderfire Hall’s caravan, Lu Jin arranged an escort and secretly followed it. During his battle with Guo Kui, Lu Ming repeatedly removed poison and healed him, defeating the bandit leader’s attempt to win through attrition 64 77.

Lu Jin used the battle to temper his Primordial Qi and refine his first strand of Thunderfire True Qi. He and Lu Ming then pursued the bandits into the Peach Miasma Mountain Range. His return with confirmation of Guo Kui’s death greatly increased Thunderfire Hall’s reputation in Qingyuan Market 79 81 86.

Black Rain Zone Ambush

While guarding a Restriction Flag, Lu Jin and Lu Ming discovered Blood Bone Incense attracting Rain Spawn to their camp. They suspected an enemy plot; Wen Liu was later revealed to have planted the incense to weaken Lu Jin before an ambush on the journey home 113 119.

When Lin Changkong attacked, Lu Jin revealed his True Qi Master cultivation. He ultimately unleashed the Purple Firmament Great Thunder Talisman, destroying half of Lin’s body. Lu Ming smashed Lin’s head, after which Lu Jin verified his death and burned the corpse. Li Yan, who had intercepted Wen Liu, agreed to keep Lu Jin’s Grandmaster Divine Ability secret 122 129 130 131.

On returning to Qingyuan Market, Lu Jin openly displayed his True Qi cultivation while Thunderfire Hall seized Golden Gang Sword Hall’s holdings. His strength discouraged other factions from contesting the takeover 133.

Stronger Allies and Renewed Threats

Lu Jin supported Zhong Ying’s reconciliation with her family despite having been injured during their earlier dispute. Zhong Taiyue later arrived as a Nether Spirit Master, stopped the Five Halls Association from threatening Thunderfire Hall, and compelled its five masters to pay compensation. Lu Jin shared part of the payment with Shi Tong and Shen Tai, who signaled their support 138 174.

Great Golden Crow Hall eventually sent Wu Sun and his companions to avenge Lin Changkong. After Lu Jinglei was gravely injured, Lu Jin acknowledged the lethal nature of the conflict rather than deny responsibility. Wu Sun then declared his intention to destroy Thunderfire Hall and wipe out the Lu Clan 184.

Appearance

Lu Jin initially appears as a gaunt, deeply weathered old man. Healing from the Flame of Life later fills out his body and restores some color to his face 2 44 50.

• Wrinkled face and thin frame: His appearance reflects decades of hardship and accumulated injuries 41 44.
• Scarred arms: Old wounds cover his withered flesh; Lin Changkong’s Sword Qi adds fresh injuries after their first match 45.
• Severed finger: Sacrifices a finger from his left hand during Lu Ming’s bone-opening ceremony 4.
• Thunder-and-fire eyes: His eyes visibly carry thunder and fire when confronting enemies 2 30.
• Combat manifestation: His Thunderfire Feather Robe and rune-covered whip give him the appearance of a divine general 11 30.

Personality

Lu Jin is cautious, resilient, and pragmatic. He accepts humiliation when resistance would endanger the clan, rejects impulsive revenge, and does not blame former hall members for prioritizing their own families. His restraint does not prevent decisive violence when retreat is no longer possible 3 44 122.

His affection for Lu Ming is openly sacrificial: he is willing to spend the clan’s remaining resources and risk his own life to protect his grandson’s future. However, he does not believe protection should mean avoiding hardship, allowing Lu Ming to participate in the dangerous caravan operation so that he can gain experience 12 29 64.

He values caution even after victory. He praises Lu Ming for guarding against a defeated enemy’s last attack, inspects captured treasures before passing them on, and personally confirms Lin Changkong’s death before relaxing 130.

Abilities and Skills

Thunderfire Feather Robe

A robe woven from thunder, fire, and dharma marks, manifested through his Divine Ability Master cultivation 11.

• Provides protection and enables flight 11.
• Draws in and releases Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, strengthening his resonance with the surrounding environment 11 77 78.
• Can be damaged by sufficiently powerful attacks, including Guo Kui’s poisonous Primordial Qi 77.

Thunderfire Whip

Thunderfire Hall’s signature Upper Divine Ability manifests as a nine-section, mace-like iron whip bearing thunderfire runes 11.

• Lu Jin is the hall’s only practitioner documented as having reached Perfection before Lu Ming’s potential use of external enhancement is considered 110.
• Crushes Four-Armed Rain Spawn and channels destructive thunderfire attacks 30.
• Can gather lightning from thunderclouds and fire from magma into itself 78.
• Is not indestructible: Guo Kui’s blood-red slash shatters one manifestation 78.

Thunderfire True Qi

Lu Jin refines his thunderfire power into spiritually responsive True Qi, commonly taking the shape of a hawklike bird 79 122.

• Tears apart and consumes the Primordial Qi within Guo Kui’s scarlet saber attack 79.
• Forms defensive wings capable of blocking Lin Changkong’s Golden Gang True Qi serpent 122.
• Initially has less density and substance than Lin Changkong’s longer-cultivated True Qi 122.

Purple Firmament Great Thunder Talisman

A modified Lu Clan inheritance that retains the rank of a true Grandmaster Divine Ability. It uses Lu bloodline power as a catalyst to inscribe a thunder talisman and gather Purple Firmament Mystic Thunder 130.

• Manifests thunderclouds and a colossal lightning-marked hand 128 129.
• Overwhelms Lin Changkong’s defenses and inflicts catastrophic injuries 129.
• Requires extremely difficult cultivation; decades of study yield only beginner-stage mastery after Lu Jin’s True Qi breakthrough 130.
• Remains concealed to prevent stronger cultivators from coveting the inheritance 130.

True Qi Sealing Method

An unnamed special divine ability allows Lu Jin to contain an opponent’s True Qi within his own flesh 41 44.

• Traps Lin Changkong’s golden sword python inside his left arm and forces a negotiated draw 41.
• Requires him to cut open his arm to return the captured strand 41.
• Causes severe internal damage, and its effectiveness diminishes once the opponent knows the trick 41 50.

Other Thunderfire Techniques

• Flame Blade: Projects a dark-gold blade streak more than a dozen zhang long, capable of bisecting a Four-Armed Rain Spawn 30.
• Palm Thunder: A Middle Divine Ability used to finish Rain Spawn and kill attackers attempting to draw creatures toward his group 30 107.
• Golden Plasma Fire instruction: Melts Lesser Geng Metal Stone with his Primordial Qi and guides its fire Qi through Lu Ming’s body to teach the technique 26.
• Rain Pearl refinement: Uses thunder and fire to refine polluted flesh beads into absorbable pale-blue pearls; he still monitors their potential mental side effects 30.
• Primordial Qi perception: Extends his senses through resonance with Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, though dense Soul-Bewitching Peach Miasma severely limits its reach 81.

Equipment and Items

• Black tobacco pipe — Regularly smokes while thinking, discussing clan affairs, or standing watch 3 19 119.
• Ancestral reserve — Invokes the blood-and-bone legacy stored in the clan’s memorial tablets to save Lu Ming’s awakening; the tablets are consumed 3 4.
• Black ring — Retrieves the clan’s mysterious inheritance from a blood-sealed jade box and passes it to Lu Ming after other family members fail to activate it 4.
• Heaven and Earth Sleeve — Takes the storage treasure recovered from Lin Changkong, checks it for dangers, and later gives it to Lu Ming for his trip to Fengyang Prefecture 130 136.

Relationships

• Lu Ming — Grandson and chosen hope for the Lu Clan’s revival. Lu Jin funds and guides his cultivation; Lu Ming heals his injuries and helps restore his prospects for advancement 3 12 45 83.
• Lu Qingyan — Son. Helps manage Thunderfire Hall and receives instructions to safeguard its interests 3 49.
• Lu Jinglei — Son. Lu Jin frequently restrains his impulsive anger, particularly when retaliation would invite stronger enemies 3.
• Zhong Ying — Daughter-in-law. Lu Jin appreciates her management of the household, feels guilty over the hardship she endured, and encourages reconciliation with her birth family 138.
• Lu Mengmeng — Granddaughter. Takes an interest in her unusual ability to absorb the Primordial Qi in spirit-fish soup 69 138.
• Zhong Taiyue — In-law and later powerful supporter. Their families reconcile, and Zhong Taiyue protects Thunderfire Hall from the Five Halls Association 174.
• Zhang Yue — Former recipient of the clan’s cultivation resources. His betrayal and later schemes leave Lu Jin regretting his original investment 3 6 82.
• Lin Changkong — Rival hall master whose repeated attacks turn their competition into a lethal feud. Lu Jin defeats him with the Purple Firmament Great Thunder Talisman 40 86 129.
• Li Yan — Longstanding acquaintance and ally. Personally intercepts Wen Liu and agrees to conceal Lu Jin’s Grandmaster Divine Ability 8 131.
• Zhou Xuan — Market authority whose support offers protection but also carries risks. Lu Jin cautiously supports Lu Ming’s decision to accept his proposed arrangement 49.
• Shi Tong and Shen Tai — Hall masters who ultimately signal support for Thunderfire Hall. Shi Tong had previously opposed it in the hall competition 38 174.
• Wu Sun — Great Golden Crow Hall’s revenge-seeking True Qi Master, who arrives over Lin Changkong’s death and threatens the entire Lu Clan 184.

Notable Quotes

“Being laughed at is better than having our entire clan wiped out. Impotent rage won't change a thing. Since we don't have enough strength, we can only endure it.” 3

“You're the last hope of our Lu Clan. I can give up anything to guard your path. Including this old life of mine.” 29

“No protection is secure. The only truly secure thing is your own strength.” 49