Jin Yulu — Way of Choices

Jin Yulu is an ancient demi-human general who follows Luoluo to the capital and turns the humble post of Orthodox Academy gatekeeper into a military duty. His stubborn belief that correct responsibilities must be carried out regardless of rank defines his protection of the academy, his defiance of the demi-human court, and his severe command of wartime logistics. (Chapters 69, 91, 96, 945, 1041, and 1137–1155)

Biography

Gatekeeper of the Orthodox Academy

Jin first conceals his legendary identity behind the role of an irritable household officer serving Luoluo. When Xiao Songgong attacks during the Ivy Festival, Jin intervenes because protecting the princess and her teacher matters more than preserving courtly appearances. His arrival stops the elder and exposes him as a veteran of the old human-demi-human war, one senior enough that Xue Xingchuan addresses him with open respect. Rather than return to ceremonial office, Jin follows Luoluo's wishes and becomes the Orthodox Academy's gatekeeper, treating its broken entrance as territory entrusted to him. (Chapters 69–83, 91, and 96)

That self-appointed duty soon brings him against Tianhai Shengxue and Fei Dian. Jin rejects the idea that a humble title weakens his responsibility: as a soldier he defended national borders, and as a gatekeeper he will repel anyone who crosses the academy's threshold. He defeats Fei Dian through superior speed and strength, then refuses political commands by stating that he listens only to his princess. The result gives the academy a deterrent powerful enough to end repeated intrusions, while his approval also reassures Tang Thirty-Six that stubborn conduct can be principled rather than merely bitter. (Chapters 90–102)

Guardian during the Grand Examination

During the Grand Examination and the first opening of the Mausoleum of Books, Jin shifts from direct combat to guardianship. He watches the Orthodox Academy students, controls when Luoluo may leave the Li Palace, and prevents her from rushing into dangers she cannot change. At the same time, he explains the Garden of Zhou and recognizes the youths' unusual cultivation without claiming their achievements as his own. His patience turns the gatehouse into a stable home base: visible, informal, and sufficiently formidable that trouble rarely needs to be met with force. (Chapters 105–122, 188, 200, and 224–242)

The Sealed White Emperor

Years later, Madam Mu's control of White Emperor City places Jin's loyalty to Luoluo in conflict with the court. Though guards and spies surround his estate, he breaks into the palace and urges the princess to flee, objecting that the Heavenly Selection has been arranged to favor an outsider. When Luoluo refuses, Jin escapes and joins Xiaode in investigating the black cliff where the White Emperor has been sealed. They labor for days without rest and remain at the weakening array because freeing the emperor—and proving the conspiracy—matters more than their exhaustion or safety. Chen's arrival gives their effort the sword array capable of opening the seal. (Chapters 920, 945, and 997–1008)

Jin then stands with the gathered demi-human experts against Madam Mu's Angels and is prepared to have Xiaode throw him into the sky with a borrowed axe, despite knowing that the opponents exceed him. After the White Emperor resumes power, Jin alone openly disputes the decision to preserve the demons as a counterweight to humanity. The emperor drives him from the Imperial City to farm, but the punishment confirms that Jin's allegiance is not passive obedience: he serves the demi-human realm by opposing a sovereign when he believes that sovereign's policy violates its interests. (Chapters 1014, 1033, 1039, and 1041)

Quartermaster of the Northern War

The final war returns Jin to the responsibility that made him famous centuries earlier. The Great Zhou emperor and Pope give him authority over rations, weapons, wagons, provincial aid, and noble contributions, with Tang Thirty-Six as his deputy. Jin treats delay as a threat to the entire army and nearly executes Mount Li disciples whose supplies arrive late, refusing pleas for mercy just as he did during the earlier war. The logistics system sustains the advance to Xuelao City, after which the latest account implies that he returns to the agricultural life he repeatedly chose over court reward. (Chapters 1137, 1155, and 1183)

Appearance and personality

Jin Yulu looks like an ordinary middle-aged country landlord rather than a legendary general. He wears glossy silk patterned with copper coins, several gold rings, and an expression that can seem fussy or amused; his slightly curved posture becomes that of a farmer when he walks away from battle. Years of confinement and digging at the black cliff leave the same rich robe covered in dirt and stone, without changing his practical demeanor. (Chapters 69, 91, 426, and 998)

He is blunt, stubborn, humorous, and almost literal about duty. Jin enjoys farming, money, tea, and plain comfort, yet accepts neither reward nor rank as a reason to compromise what he thinks is right. This makes him severe toward military failure and insubordination, but warm toward young people whose resolve he respects. His confidence never erases caution: after surviving centuries of warfare, signs of an easy success make him more suspicious, not less. (Chapters 91–100, 234, 1008, 1041, and 1155)

Abilities and cultivation

Jin is among the oldest and strongest demi-human generals. Like other leading demi-human cultivators of his generation, he learned human cultivation methods before adulthood and later trained in methods suited to demi-human vessels. The corpus does not name his realm or personal method, but repeatedly compares his combat speed with the fastest beings below the Divine Domain and places multiple court experts on his level. (Chapters 72, 320, 400, 896, and 1014)

Extreme movement speed

Jin's signature advantage is acceleration. He crosses dozens of yards through rain in an instant, leaves footmarks on walls, and delivers hundreds of attacks before droplets reach the ground. This speed lets him break Fei Dian's frozen rain defense and is repeatedly treated as exceptional even among upper Star Condensation experts. It is not unlimited: Divine Domain cultivators travel faster over the world, and later comparisons say talents such as Jin can only maintain something near that pace for a period rather than equal it indefinitely. (Chapters 91, 320, 400, 785, and 896)

Strength and claw-like attacks

Jin combines movement with overwhelming physical force. One punch sends mounted soldiers flying and breaks Tianhai Shengxue's iron spear; against Fei Dian, rapid curved flashes resembling beast claws shred a dense defensive curtain before a final fist leaves the veteran bleeding. The text does not identify whether the claw marks arise from a named technique, innate demi-human traits, or shaped true essence, so only their repeated cutting effect is established. His own summary is simpler: strength and speed are the two qualities on which he relies. (Chapter 91)

Military logistics and discipline

Jin has served as a wartime supply officer three times, a post in which missed deliveries can destroy armies regardless of battlefield strength. He tracks every category of materiel and exercises delegated authority down to individual deadlines. His inflexibility once led him to execute delinquent Mount Li personnel and nearly execute Xiao Songgong, relenting only after intervention from both the Mount Li sect master and White Emperor. The same severity recurs in the final campaign. It creates reliable logistics, but also lasting enemies and requires higher authority to check punishment when strict enforcement would fracture an alliance. (Chapters 69, 91, 1137, and 1155)

Relationships

Luoluo: Jin returns from farming after Luoluo's birth and follows her to the capital as protector and household officer. He obeys her instructions even against imperial pressure, guards the academy she values, and later breaks into White Emperor City's palace to offer her escape from Madam Mu's plan. (Chapters 69–102, 224–242, and 920–945)
Chen Changsheng: Jin first knows Chen as Luoluo's teacher and comes to respect the calm youth and his friends. He protects the Orthodox Academy, later trusts Chen's sword array to free the White Emperor, and recognizes that Chen's return to the city is motivated by concern for Luoluo. (Chapters 69–122, 242, 426, and 997–1005)
Xuanyuan Po: Jin observes Xuanyuan Po's cultivation at the academy and rewards the bear tribe after Chen repairs the youth's arm and technique. Years later, Xuanyuan tries to contact him during Madam Mu's confinement, but surveillance prevents them from meeting before Jin independently reaches the palace. (Chapters 91, 113, 501, 920, and 945)
White Emperor: Jin serves the White Emperor's realm but repeatedly refuses to confuse loyalty with agreement. The emperor once helped prevent Xiao Songgong's execution, later must issue a decree to obtain the Mount Li manual from Jin, and finally exiles him to farming after Jin condemns his postwar policy. (Chapters 91, 926, 997–1041)
Xiaode: Jin and Xiaode escape Madam Mu's control, investigate the sealed emperor, and stand together at the black cliff through exhaustion and supernatural threat. Their alliance combines Jin's experience with Xiaode's standing among the younger demi-human experts. (Chapters 997–1008, 1014, and 1033)
Xue Xingchuan: Xue treats Jin as a senior veteran despite his own high rank. Their dispute outside the academy remains respectful because both understand Jin's claim that guarding a gate is a soldier's duty, not a role made trivial by its scale. (Chapter 96)

Items

Mount Li Sword Style manual: Jin receives custody of the sect's complete manual after agreeing to spare Xiao Songgong in the earlier war. He refuses to return it until compelled by imperial decree, then later offers its return as the reward if Mount Li's wartime supply work is completed properly. (Chapters 91, 926, and 1155)
Borrowed massive axe: When Angels appear above White Emperor City, Jin takes the Bear tribe leader's axe and asks Xiaode to throw him into the sky so he can attack. The plan shows his willingness to improvise with another warrior's weapon, but the axe is neither his property nor evidence of a lasting axe specialization. (Chapter 1033)