Hong Tianbao

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Hong Tianbao (洪天宝)
Alias(es)	School Master Hong; Elder Hong; Divine Elephant; Randeng Ancient Buddha, Dingguang Tathagata
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Hong Ji Martial Arts Hall; Spirit Mountain lineage; Other Shore World / revived Spirit Mountain
Occupation/Role	School Master of Hong Ji Martial Arts Hall; martial arts instructor; Zhang Fusheng's master
Status	Alive; elevated to the Randeng Buddha Heavenly Position 312
First Appearance	Chapter 5

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Martial Arts Master	5	Listed as a Martial Arts Master who had surpassed the Twelve Refinements; reportedly served as a special instructor in a military unit. 5
Grandmaster (declining)	85	Though afflicted by the Flesh and Blood Plague and near death, he remained recognized as a Grandmaster. 85 104
Restored Grandmaster	141	Trades away his memories of the Eight Forms of Body and Spirit to have the Flesh and Blood Plague removed; his strength and vitality return. 141
Innate Great Realm	221	Completes the “ultimate leap,” becoming an Innate cultivator unbound by deities. 221
Heavenly Human Limit / Randeng Buddha Heavenly Position	312	Zhang Fusheng enfeoffs him as Randeng Ancient Buddha, Dingguang Tathagata, granting him 360 Cave Heavens and elevating him to the Heavenly Human Limit. 312

Background / History

Hong Tianbao was the School Master of Hong Ji Martial Arts Hall, a prestigious and expensive Jiangzhou martial arts school. Before running the hall, he served as an instructor for military and Investigation Bureau personnel. His former student Liu Zhengbang still recognized him as an “old instructor,” even while treating him as a person of suspicion. 5 34

He was formerly involved with an evil cult and remained tied to the Spirit Mountain lineage after leaving it. Hong openly admitted his past when Zhang Fusheng asked whether he was an evil cultist. His former master is Yuan Feidao, and his senior brothers include Chen Qiusheng and Chen Daoling. 34 72 148

Hong's body was long afflicted by the Flesh and Blood Plague, leaving him mortally ill and severely diminishing his combat power. Even so, he devoted his remaining spiritual accumulation to obtaining a White Bone Lotus Seed that could extend Zhang Fusheng's life by a century. 26 85 104

Appearance

Hong Tianbao is a plump, round elderly man whose genial appearance initially conceals his intimidating strength and ruthlessness. Students compare his kindly, smiling face to Maitreya Buddha. 5

• Short, stout, and notably rotund.
• Usually described as a plump or chubby old man.
• Projects a compassionate, neighborly demeanor.
• Can become stern and imposing when his disciples are threatened. 33

Personality

Hong combines patient instruction with a harsh, pragmatic view of cultivation. He teaches that martial artists must struggle for resources, connections, and position rather than merely train in isolation. His principle of “fight without breaking” emphasizes retaining allies and leaving room for future cooperation, while his alternative solution to problems can be absolute extermination. 22 23

Despite his bloody past, Hong is deeply protective of his disciples. He rushed to Zhang Fusheng after the assassination attempt, pressured officials into destroying evidence, and later attempted to build Zhang's public reputation through an extravagant apprenticeship banquet. 33 134 148

His concern is not limited to Zhang. When Jiangzhou fell, he grieved for his missing disciples and tried to ensure that Zhang's family would receive a death certificate as a memento. 104 112

Abilities & Skills

Martial Arts Mastery

Hong had surpassed the Twelve Refinements by the time Zhang Fusheng joined Hong Ji Martial Arts Hall. He could explain the refinement system in detail, including its theoretical peak of 108,000 jin of strength for a completed Martial Artist. 5 22

• Crossed roughly a kilometer in less than a second while carrying Zhang Fusheng. 33
• Broke the sound barrier with a leap, overturning nearby vehicles with the resulting shockwave. 33
• Tore an Investigation Bureau surveillance van in half with his hands. 33
• Claimed he could shoot down an ultra-low-altitude satellite with an arrow while it remained within his sight. 33

Visualization Cultivation

Hong teaches the Dense White Bone Contemplation, a visualization method that confronts practitioners with terrifying skeletal illusions.

• Can impose a vivid white-bone illusion over an entire class. 5
• Tests students through pressure directed at their spirit, will, and soul. 5
• Recognized Zhang Fusheng's extraordinary spiritual accumulation and confirmed his White Bone Meditation Great Perfection. 21

Eight Forms of Body and Spirit

Before Chapter 141, Hong had mastered all eight forms of the Eight Forms of Body and Spirit. 133

• Known forms include Light Birth, New Death, Giant, Blood Smear, Rotting, Beast Feast, Bone Scatter, and Ancient Tomb. 133
• Bone Scatter allowed him to become intangible enough for rain to pass through his body and to evade detection while moving through Chongyang City. 133
• He surrendered his cultivation memories of the Eight Forms in exchange for the removal of the Flesh and Blood Plague. The techniques themselves remained unavailable to him afterward. 141

Innate and Buddhist Attainments

After achieving the Innate Great Realm, Hong's spiritual cultivation reached the Thousand Year Spirit Refining level within Zhang Fusheng's Spiritual Realm. 220 221

• Achieved Innate cultivation without dependence on a deity. 221
• As Randeng Ancient Buddha, received 360 Cave Heavens and a Bodhi Tree. 312
• Endured the Five Decays of the Heavenly Human Realm upon receiving the Randeng Buddha Heavenly Position. 312

Relationships

• Zhang Fusheng — Final disciple. Hong recognizes Zhang's world-shattering potential, protects him from enemies, sacrifices resources for his future, and later receives a Heavenly Position from him. 21 85 134 312
• Chen Yuque — Disciple and Zhang's senior sister. Hong assigns Zhang to work under her in the martial hall's Lower-Level District business. 23
• Lin Dongxi — Disciple. Hong is devastated when he believes she and his other disciples died in Jiangzhou; she later remains by his side during his decline. 104 112 295
• Niu Dali — Direct disciple. Niu shows concern for Hong's failing health and refuses to act against him without permission. 5 26 65
• Yuan Feidao — Master and Spirit Mountain ancestor. Their relationship is strained by Yuan's ruthless methods, including forcing disciples into deadly gu-style competition. 150 171
• Chen Daoling — Second Senior Brother. Though both were manipulated into slaughtering each other's families by Chen Qiusheng, they later cooperate against him. 85 148
• Chen Qiusheng — Eldest Senior Brother and enemy. Chen holds Hong responsible for the deaths of his wife, daughter, and parents, while Hong considers him responsible for past manipulation and conflict. 148
• Hu Zhongli — Old acquaintance who attends Zhang's apprenticeship banquet and acknowledges Hong as a prodigy who failed to make the final leap in his earlier years. 149

Story Role / Major Arcs

Recruiting Zhang Fusheng

Hong first appears as the instructor of Hong Ji Martial Arts Hall's visualization class. Impressed by Zhang's unprecedented cultivation speed, he accepts him as a disciple and begins teaching him the Great Sun True Scripture, the Twelve Refinements, and his philosophy of conflict. 5 21 22

Chaimen Lesson and Assassination Investigation

Hong uses Zhang's conflict with Zhou Quan and Chaimen as a lesson in how to contend in the cultivation world. After Zhang is targeted by a sniper, Hong personally intervenes, forces the local security apparatus to erase evidence, and investigates Bar No. 19 and Ankang Hospital. 22 26 33 34

Plague, Loss, and Recovery

The Flesh and Blood Plague steadily reduces Hong from a Grandmaster to a weakened state. The fall of Jiangzhou leaves him believing that Zhang and his disciples have died, but he later regains his health by trading away the Eight Forms of Body and Spirit to the mysterious “True Person.” 104 112 141

Apprenticeship Banquet

Hong organizes a large public ceremony to establish Zhang's reputation and discourage attacks by rival branches of their lineage. Despite Chen Qiusheng's attempt to disrupt the event, Hong formally accepts Zhang as his final disciple. 134 148 149

Return to Spirit Mountain

Hong attains the Innate Great Realm and later reunites with Zhang, now revealed as the World-Honored One Tathagata. Zhang heals Hong's fatal injuries, restores his standing in Spirit Mountain, and enfeoffs him as Randeng Ancient Buddha, Dingguang Tathagata. 221 312

Notable Quotes

“The path of cultivation is nothing but struggle. If one only knows how to cultivate but not how to struggle, they won't get far.” 26

“It doesn't matter if you have many enemies, but you must have many friends to go further on the path of cultivation.” 34

“My little disciple possesses truly world-shattering potential.” 85