Jing Hongchen

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Jing Hongchen (镜红尘)
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Illustrious Virtue Hall; Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy; later, the Federation 23 280
Occupation/Role	Hall Master of Illustrious Virtue Hall; dean of Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy; soul engineering researcher; Huo Yuhao’s martial soul cultivation teacher 23 74
Cultivation	Level 98 Super Douluo; possesses Limit Douluo-level combat power through soul tools and Super Battle Armor 213 248
Soul Engineer Rank	Ninth-Level Soul Engineer; counted among the three great Ninth-Level Soul Engineers 34 186
Martial Soul	A metal-oriented toad martial soul, developed around artillery-platform combat 39 51
Family	Grandfather of Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen 49 153
First Appearance	Mentioned as the leader of Yang Chengyu’s faction; subsequently appears overseeing Su Yu’s assessment 23 25

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Ninth-Level Soul Engineer; Level 94 Titled Douluo	34 69 79	Established starting ranks. His combat strength depends heavily on his artillery platforms and high-level soul tools.
Super Douluo	158	His soul power breaks through to the Super Douluo realm.
Advanced Battle Armor in use	159	His armor’s spirituality has been nurtured to a high level; he consults Kong Deming about upgrading it.
Level 97 Super Douluo; Super Battle Armor completed	213	Refining Golden Dragon Sweet Potato fruit supplied by Su Yu further evolves his martial soul. Custom armor, upgraded soul tools, Fusion Soul Tool Technology, and runes bring his combat power to the Limit Douluo level.
Level 98 Super Douluo	248	Reaches an unprecedented soul power rank for a specialist soul engineer in the Sun Moon Empire’s recorded history. With Super Battle Armor, he holds the upper hand against Long Xiaoyao without having become a Limit Douluo himself.

Background / History

Early training and institutional leadership

Jing Hongchen received guidance in soul tool studies from Kong Deming and is considered one of his students. He later leads Illustrious Virtue Hall despite not belonging to the imperial family, while also heading Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy 23 25.

His fourth soul ring came from a five-thousand-year Amethyst Gold Dragon Beast and granted Gold’s Fortress. Although well suited to his artillery-based development, its younger age leaves him needing more preparation time than Xiao Hongchen would require with an equivalent cultivation level and soul engineering skill 51.

Recognition of Su Yu and renewed research

Jing Hongchen recognizes Su Yu’s unusually solid forging and carving foundations during his Second-Level Soul Engineer assessment. He awards Su Yu certification after the boy breaks the empire’s advancement record and expresses hopes that he will eventually become a Ninth-Level Soul Engineer 25.

While refereeing Su Yu’s battle against his grandchildren, Jing Hongchen witnesses core arrays being applied directly to Blue Silver Grass. The demonstration redirects his research toward integrating arrays with martial souls, bodies, and mental power. After six months of intensive work, he preliminarily completes Fusion Soul Tool Technology, using Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen as research assistants while teaching them crafting techniques 30 34 36 37.

Protector and teacher

Jing Hongchen personally escorts Su Yu and Xiao Hongchen on their soul ring hunt, taking time beforehand to restore his condition rather than risk failing as their protector. He later accompanies Meng Hongchen and Su Yu into the Far North 37 49.

After encountering Huo Yuhao there, he assesses the boy’s crafting talent and arranges his enrollment as an Illustrious Virtue Hall disciple. Huo Yuhao initially refuses his apprenticeship offer because he already has Fan Yu as a teacher; Jing Hongchen eventually becomes his teacher specifically in martial soul cultivation 53 55 56 74.

Conflict with the imperial court

Jing Hongchen’s faction operates independently of the imperial succession struggle. As Xu Tianran’s activities intensify, he recruits outstanding academy talents into his own camp, frustrating the Crown Prince 23 25.

His opposition becomes particularly forceful when Xu Tianran sends Holy Spirit Cult members to Xuan Ziwen’s laboratory. He confronts that delegation but permits a subsequent visit when no Evil Soul Masters are present, distinguishing ordinary royal recruitment from the cult’s involvement 80 81.

Xu Tianran later pressures him through Huo Yuhao. Jing Hongchen personally escorts his disciple past palace guards after access is denied, but cannot use Illustrious Virtue Hall’s neutrality to shield Huo Yuhao once the emperor moves to place him in a military legion 158 161.

Later campaigns and the Federation

During the confrontation with the Holy Spirit Cult in the Far North, Jing Hongchen fights Long Xiaoyao while the cult attempts to delay its opponents until the Abyss descends. His Level 98 cultivation and Super Battle Armor allow him to suppress Long Xiaoyao 248.

After continental unification and the end of the Sun Moon imperial bloodline, Jing Hongchen joins Su Yu, Kong Deming, and others in establishing the Federation 280.

Personality

Jing Hongchen prizes practical foundations rather than talent alone. He repeatedly criticizes Xiao Hongchen’s unstable basic skills, yet readily praises Su Yu and Bai Feng when their forging, carving, and array inscription justify it 25 163.

Research can absorb him completely. Su Yu’s innovations rekindle an enthusiasm he has not experienced for years, and he finds half a year of demanding experimental work deeply fulfilling. He is also willing to learn from younger researchers and support developments that overturn established soul engineering practice 36 37 91.

As a protector, he is cautious and calculating. He waits for two ten-thousand-year soul beasts to exhaust each other before attacking, maintains mental detection during dangerous travel, and warns Su Yu against attempting a soul ring beyond his limits 39 41 49.

His generosity toward students coexists with strict control of institutional secrets. He initially favors keeping the Rune Method within a small trusted circle, later treating individual rune structures as personal inheritances that may be exchanged only with appropriate confidentiality 50 75.

Abilities & Skills

Metal-oriented martial soul and soul skills

• Martial Soul Possession — Attaches a massive toad to his body, forming the basis of his armed combat state 39.
• First Soul Skill: Gold’s Control — Used in combination with his other metal-oriented skills to assemble artillery rapidly 39.
• Second Soul Skill: Gold’s Boiling — Part of the same rapid-armament combination 39.
• Fourth Soul Skill: Gold’s Fortress — Supports his transformation into a defensive metal artillery platform; obtained from a five-thousand-year Amethyst Gold Dragon Beast 51.
• Fifth Soul Skill: Gold’s Solidification — A ten-thousand-year skill used when constructing his cannon platform 39.
• Martial Soul Avatar — Used alongside his first seven soul rings when confronting the Titan Snow Demon King, who senses a threat from his armed state 50.

Artillery-platform combat

• During the Sunny River Mountain Range hunt, he erects sixteen cannons across his toad form. Su Yu initially mistakes the entire array for fixed cannons; only four are actually Tier 6 Fixed Soul Guidance Cannons 39.
• Uses cannon fire to seal escape routes rather than relying solely on direct hits, severely injuring the Amethyst Gold Dragon Beast through blast damage 39.
• Against Xuan Zi, mounts five Ninth-Level Soul Guidance Cannons, each capable of delivering a Super Douluo’s full-force strike with sufficient soul power 83.
• Links several Sixth-Level Fixed Soul Guidance Cannons to achieve a Seventh-Level effect 160.
• Requires preparation for his strongest conventional platforms. During the battle with Xuan Zi, two other Ninth-Level Soul Engineers buy him the necessary time 83.
• Before his later upgrades, his personal combat strength without his full soul tool equipment falls below the average for his cultivation rank 102.

Soul tool engineering

• Produces complex armor that lower-ranked engineers cannot readily manufacture; Meng Hongchen’s early Sixth-Level Soul Tool Armor requires his personal craftsmanship 32 180.
• Develops Fusion Soul Tool Technology, using formation arrays to reduce incompatibility between soul tools and soul masters 36 37.
• Supplies compression technology needed for the developing Intermediate Battle Armor system 100.
• Supports Xuan Ziwen’s Intermediate and Advanced Battle Armor research after seeing Su Yu’s practical demonstration 91.

Rune Method

• Learns Su Yu’s initial rune structures and subsequently constructs his own rune system 75.
• Combines runes with Fusion Soul Tool Technology to make his upgraded soul tools more compatible with himself and easier to control 213.
• Recognizes rune structures as potentially valuable personal legacies rather than information their creators must distribute freely 75.

Mental power and detection

• Detects Su Yu’s surviving life signs beneath rubble and chaotic energy after the siblings’ fusion attack 34.
• Maintains mental coverage within one hundred meters during travel in the Far North 49.
• Closely monitors Meng Hongchen’s cultivation for signs of poison eruption while Su Yu assists her breakthrough 47.

Teaching and cultivation support

• Provides medicinal baths, medicinal cuisine, and pills to support Su Yu and Huo Yuhao 44 79 107.
• Explains the cultivation slowdown associated with Ultimate Attributes and later teaches Huo Yuhao the principles and functions of soul cores 44 160.
• Acknowledges the limits of his own guidance for Ultimate Ice and seeks Su Yu’s advice rather than pretending to have a solution 107 108.
• Expands academy instruction in combat techniques and soul tool fighting, including movement techniques combined with thrusters 193.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Super Battle Armor — Custom-made for his martial soul and integrated with his broader soul tool arsenal. It grants him Limit Douluo-level combat power 213.
• Integrated metal arsenal — By the battle with Long Xiaoyao, his fortress incorporates energy constructs and energy blades rather than only cannons. Its output consumes enormous amounts of energy 248.
• Storage Soul Tool — Carries equipment that can be retrieved and fused into his metal barrier during combat 83.
• Flying Soul Tool — A wing-shaped device with three cylindrical exhaust ports on each side, brought out for the soul ring hunting expedition 37.
• Red Dust Shelter — A simplified version of Red Dust Protection supplied for soul ring absorption. Its protection can trigger three times for at most three seconds each, making it only a limited aid against prolonged Soul Shock 39 41.
• Golden Dragon Sweet Potato fruit — Supplied by Su Yu; strengthens his foundation, evolves his martial soul, and contributes to his rise to Level 97 213 234.
• Soul Awakening Pill — A rare Hongchen family medicine he plans to prepare for his grandchildren. It stimulates early opening of the Sea of Consciousness but provides little direct improvement to mental power 50.

Relationships

• Kong Deming — Former instructor in soul tool studies and later technical collaborator. Jing Hongchen consults him about domain technology and Super Battle Armor 25 159.
• Su Yu — Protégé, researcher, and trusted ally rather than his formal disciple. Su Yu inspires major technological advances and supplies Immortal Herbs to him and those closest to him; Jing Hongchen would side with Su Yu over Xu Tianran in a life-and-death conflict 36 159.
• Xiao Hongchen — Grandson and student. Jing Hongchen demands stronger fundamentals, trains him through research work, and personally helps obtain his fifth soul ring 25 37 39.
• Meng Hongchen — Granddaughter and student. He crafts her armor, monitors her poison-related cultivation risks, and supports plans to improve her cultivation with Immortal Herbs 32 47 153.
• Huo Yuhao — Disciple in martial soul cultivation. Jing Hongchen arranges his enrollment, provides resources, seeks solutions to his slow advancement, and defends him against imperial interference 55 74 107 158.
• Xuan Ziwen — Subordinate and fellow recipient of Kong Deming’s instruction. Jing Hongchen backs his armor research and protects his laboratory from Holy Spirit Cult recruitment 80 91.
• Xu Tianran — Political rival. Their conflict centers on talent recruitment, Illustrious Virtue Hall’s independence, Huo Yuhao’s future, and cooperation with the Holy Spirit Cult 25 80 161 206.
• Ji Juechen — Talent admitted to both the academy and Illustrious Virtue Hall through Jing Hongchen’s personal exceptions. He later recognizes Ji Juechen’s suitability for customized Battle Armor 168 169.
• Bai Feng — Su Yu’s disciple. Jing Hongchen assists with enrollment and personally assesses and certifies him as a First-Level Soul Engineer 150 163.
• Old Ma — Trusted administrator who reports internal affairs and suspicious visitors to him 80.
• Long Xiaoyao — Opponent in the Far North campaign; Jing Hongchen gains the upper hand through his customized Super Battle Armor 248.

Institutional Leadership

• Research allocation — Provides resources for Su Yu’s Multi-Rune Combination System project and approves one ton of rare metals for his later engineering work 87 107.
• Research-oriented negotiations — Uses Shrek’s ransom of Qian Duoduo and Fan Yu to obtain soul bones and soul beast information useful to Illustrious Virtue Hall 123.
• Battle Armor promotion — Arranges for the tournament team to use Battle Armor and holds academy challenge matches with rare-metal rewards, publicly demonstrating the technology’s advantages 150 166 169.
• Talent recruitment — Offers Gao Dalou access to improved soul engineering standards while making clear that he must follow the Hall’s rules and surrender crafted products under its resource arrangements 190.
• Postwar planning — Discusses reconstruction with Su Yu and agrees to prepare selected high-level Soul Ancestor students for a restricted pocket dimension, including training in bodily martial skills 236.

Notable Quotes

“They taught you nothing.”
— After examining Huo Yuhao’s previous eight months of soul engineering education 55.

“I have to say, that battle of yours was truly spectacular!”
— To Su Yu after the battle that inspires his Fusion Soul Tool research 34.