Houtu

Biodata

Background and History

Houtu founded Reincarnation and leads a lineage whose inherited witch scripture contains her teachings and points toward the Grand Unity realm. Her Path of Earth Virtue supports and nurtures living beings 10 250.

She maintains Houtu and Nuwa as separate public identities. As Houtu, she leads within the Witch Clan; as Nuwa, she retains standing among the Yao Race. She tells Feng Xi that concealing the connection gives her room to maneuver and can mislead newer Grand Unity opponents 250.

Her early plans center on strengthening Witch Clan influence over the Human Race. She promotes the Yanhuang Alliance, seeks to counter the Yellow Emperor through the Yan Emperor, and assigns Feng Xi work spanning diplomacy, publicity, and later the Feng clan’s leadership 83 85 88 231 232. During the Witch–Yao conflict, she also uses Reincarnation’s appeal to reach the Yao Race’s lower ranks 115 458.

Reincarnation eventually becomes a constraint as well as a source of authority. After Hongjun’s scheme binds her there, he plans to spread the false story that she sacrificed herself to create it. Her allies work to preserve stability while she is trapped 569 592. She later emerges to confront Fuxi during the Human Race’s trial, turning its dispute into a direct battle 795.

Appearance

Houtu is described as sacred, majestic, and flawless when Feng Xi meets her in the Houtu Sacred Hall 80.

• Her sustained gaze makes Feng Xi feel as though it sees through his body 81.
• She can manifest a vast Dharma form whose movement shakes the Mountains and Rivers 583.
• Feng Xi’s miniature tattoo of her appears on his forehead; its bearing seems markedly more imperious than his tattoos of the other Ancestral Witches 68.

Personality

Houtu combines long-term planning with an openly competitive desire for authority. She tells Xuan Ming that problems beyond individual strength can be addressed through alliances and strategy, yet also declares that she must improve her own cultivation 88. She is generous with Feng Xi’s funding and rewards, but expects concrete results in return 171 192.

She can defer an internal confrontation when a larger threat takes priority: despite suspecting Dong Hua’s ambitions, she chooses not to move against him before the war is won 376. Later, Gong Gong’s challenge prompts a noticeably steadier, more dignified manner of leadership 466. After years of compromise, she resolves to fight for herself and tells Fuxi that she intends eventually to leave the ascendant Human Race free of her micromanagement 821 822.

Abilities & Skills

Houtu Great Dao and Earth Virtue

Her Great Dao serves as the governing path when Feng Xi coordinates the Daos of the Twelve Ancestral Witches. The inherited scripture of her lineage carries teachings that point directly to Grand Unity 10 68.

• The Path of Earth Virtue is associated with supporting all things and nurturing spirits 10.
• Feng Xi places his Houtu tattoo above the other eleven Ancestral Witch tattoos to represent her Dao’s governing role in his cultivation 68.

Reincarnation and Creation

Houtu founded Reincarnation and holds its highest authority 250 620 621. As Nuwa, her Way of Creation also contributed to the Heavenly Dao’s automation and mechanization systems 460.

• She plans reforms to Reincarnation’s original system of periodic disasters and cultivation tests 496.
• Her connection to Creation benefits her when the Human Dao and living beings grow stronger 810.

Combat

Houtu’s Dharma form displays the peak achievement of the Tai Yi Dao Realm. Her attacks can affect time and space on a vast scale 583 795.

• She emerges from Reincarnation to strike Fuxi and challenge his intervention in the Human Race’s trial 795.
• Her fist-light later engulfs both Fuxi and Minghe, breaking Fuxi’s guqin music and forcing Minghe to defend himself 821 822.
• She is powerful but not unbeatable: Dihong blocks her attack, and their fight proves difficult for her to win 847.

Strategy and Governance

Houtu works through institutions, appointments, funding, and alternate identities as well as direct force 85 250 312.

• She plans to use the Yellow Emperor to consolidate Human Race power, then have Feng Xi help transfer the resulting authority to her side 232.
• She supports Donghua’s position in return for his subtly introducing human philosophies and laws to the Yao Race 312.
• She proposes an intelligence organization to counter hidden threats 611.

Relationships

• Feng Xi — Her subordinate and confidant; she funds, trains, promotes, and entrusts him with political assignments 85 192 231 249.
• Fuxi — Her elder brother and a rival for authority. She acknowledges his abilities but repeatedly seeks to surpass him, eventually fighting him directly 250 366 795.
• Dijiang — Fellow Ancestral Witch and strategic counterpart; they cooperate while differing over how to handle the Yao Race and the Human Race’s future 31 172 362.
• Xuan Ming — Fellow Ancestral Witch with whom she discusses plans against the Yellow Emperor 86 88.
• Hongjun — Opponent whose interventions obstruct her plans; he later exploits her confinement in Reincarnation to spread a false report of her death 172 569.
• Gong Gong — Fellow Ancestral Witch whose ambitions and challenges create tension within her faction 464 466.
• Dong Hua — A figure she regards as both a possible risk and a valuable partner against the Heavenly Court 376 466 467.

Story Role and Major Arcs

• Yanhuang Alliance — Houtu assigns Feng Xi to promote the alliance and lays out plans to establish Witch authority, support the Yan Emperor against the Yellow Emperor, and strengthen herself 85 88.
• Feng Hou plan — She sends Feng Xi into the Feng clan to seek its leadership and a position near the Yellow Emperor, aiming to gain influence over the Human Race’s consolidated power 231 232.
• Reincarnation crisis — Hongjun spreads the false claim that Houtu died becoming Reincarnation. While she remains constrained there, her allies uphold her authority 569 592.
• Identity exchange — Houtu and Feng Xi arrange to assume each other’s identities for a battlefield deception 613 615. The subsequent Underworld decrees issued by “Houtu”—including appointments of ghost emperors, city gods, and other officials—are carried out by Feng Xi in her identity, not by Houtu herself 618 621 622.
• Return and confrontation — She breaks out of Reincarnation to challenge Fuxi, then later fights Fuxi and Minghe as the struggle over the Human Race intensifies 795 821 822.

Notable Quotes

“Some complex problems can't be solved by strength alone... they require wisdom!” 88

“The times have changed! This is my era!” 865