Hongjun

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Hongjun (鸿钧)
Alias(es)	Dao Ancestor; Sage; Teacher; Dao Master 31 166 435
Species/Race	Earthworm by origin, according to the Fate Demon God 444
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Heavenly Dao; Purple Cloud Palace 134 330
Occupation/Role	Dao Ancestor; preacher and instructor of the Sages; architect of Heavenly Dao schemes 31 166 353
Status	Deceased; slain and erased by Ling Xiao 453
First Appearance	Chapter 7

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Sage	7	Suddenly attained Sainthood, with golden lotuses, merit light, and Dao manifestations appearing across the Primordial Land.
Incomplete merger with the Heavenly Dao	134	Had spent countless years attempting to merge with the Heavenly Dao, but remained one step from the final threshold.
Dao Master / half-step Heavenly Dao realm	435	Appeared with an aura likened to a Chaos Demon God; he declared himself “master of the Dao.”
Devourer of the Heavenly Dao	438	Devoured the Heavenly Dao and restored the Sages’ cultivation, vastly increasing his power.
Half of the Heavenly Dao’s origin	444	After Ling Xiao split him from the Fate Demon God, each retained half of the Heavenly Dao’s origin.
Twelve strands of transcendence power	829	Revealed to possess twelve strands of transcendence power during a later confrontation with Ling Xiao.

Appearance

Hongjun first appears as a white-haired elderly Daoist with an ethereal, unfathomable aura. Though physically present before the assembled mighty figures, he feels as lofty and inaccessible as the Heavenly Dao itself 8.

• White-haired and elderly in appearance 8
• Usually wears Daoist robes and sits upon a Nine-Layer Cloud Bed in Purple Cloud Palace 149 166
• Can appear ancient and weathered with a seemingly kindly smile 268
• After his transformation, resembles a sovereign Chaos Demon God rather than a righteous Daoist 434 435
• His emotions can disturb space, time, yin-yang, and the five elements around Purple Cloud Palace 134

Personality

Hongjun is patient, calculating, and intensely committed to preserving what he considers the Heavenly Dao’s proper grand trend. He regards minor deviations as tolerable but considers the larger course of the world irreversible; Ling Xiao’s repeated disruptions therefore become, in Hongjun’s view, a karmic offense that must be corrected 31 134.

He prefers indirect control through sermons, appointments, disciples, treasures, and long-term arrangements. He attempts to place Di Jun and Tai Yi in charge of the Heavenly Court, appoints Duke of the East as Chief of the Male Immortals, assigns the Western Sages to handle the Witch Clan, and personally arranges the Human Race’s destiny 34 36 193.

Despite his usual composure, Hongjun is highly prideful and repeatedly loses his temper when Ling Xiao exposes his limitations, evades his pursuit, or derides his earthworm origins 219 329. After being separated from the Fate Demon God, he quickly returns to pragmatic calculation and proposes an alliance against Ling Xiao 444.

Abilities & Skills

Dao Preaching

Hongjun’s sermons guide the cultivation of the Primordial Land’s greatest figures.

• His first sermon teaches the Dao of the Quasi-Sage realm over three thousand years 31
• His final sermon expounds the Sage’s Dao and the complete path to Sainthood 56
• He teaches the Way of the Three Corpses as a route to Sagehood 34
• His teachings are difficult enough that most listeners struggle to understand them 56

Heavenly Dao Authority

As a Sage merging with the Heavenly Dao, Hongjun can perceive and influence the Primordial World on a vast scale.

• Reviews past and present events across the Primordial World through his divine perception 134
• Observes distant locations, including the Sun Star, in search of Ling Xiao 219
• Issues world-binding decrees, including the division of heaven between the Demon Race and earth between the Witch Clan 221
• Uses the Heavenly Dao’s power to confront Ling Xiao and suppress destabilizing changes to the grand trend 325 330

Resurrection Through Heavenly Dao Origin

Hongjun can restore fallen Heavenly Dao Sages by consuming strands of Heavenly Dao origin.

• Resurrects Jieyin and Zhun Ti after their deaths at Ling Xiao’s hands 230
• Revives Haotian, Duke of the East, Ancestral Dragon, and Zhun Ti during the war against the Golden Crows 424
• The repeated revivals consume Heavenly Dao origin and contribute to his concern over its depletion 262 353

Formation and Strategic Instruction

Hongjun strengthens his followers with arrangements tailored to the conflict against the Golden Crows.

• Imparts a formation that lets several Heavenly Dao Sages combine their power into a shared domain 424
• Uses disciples and appointed figures as pieces in wider plans rather than intervening personally at every opportunity 193 256
• Waits for seals to weaken before acting, intending to deny the Golden Crows any opportunity to escape 432

Dao Mastery and Heavenly Dao Devouring

Hongjun ultimately pursues power by taking the Heavenly Dao as his source.

• Identifies Dao Mastery as a path involving swallowing the Heavenly Dao, though he calls it forbidden and a dead end 437
• Devours the Heavenly Dao, gaining overwhelming power but becoming vulnerable to the Fate Demon God hidden within it 438 441
• Fails to monopolize the result when Ling Xiao’s Axe of Nature separates him from the Fate Demon God 443 444

Treasures and Bestowals

• Fragment of the Jade Plate of Creation — Used to breach the Chaos Green Lotus’ defenses; Hongjun later offers his fragments to Ling Xiao in exchange for survival 329 453
• Kongtong Seal — The orthodox Human Race treasure, capable of suppressing and controlling Human Race fortune; Hongjun sends it to a young human cultivator 193
• Cosmic Cauldron — One of the treasures left behind after Hongjun’s death 453
• Dragon-Headed Staff — A top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure bestowed upon Duke of the East with the office of Chief of the Male Immortals 36
• Heaven-Overturning Seal — Forged by Hongjun from innate divine gold, bestowed upon Yuanshi, then passed to Guangchengzi 398

History

Hongjun’s attainment of Sainthood shakes the entire Primordial Land and heralds the beginning of the Witch-Demon Catastrophe. He establishes Purple Cloud Palace beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens and calls the world’s mighty figures to hear his preaching 7 8. During the first sermon, he notices that the Sun Star has produced an unexpected third Golden Crow, Ling Xiao, but initially treats this variable as potentially useful to Di Jun and Tai Yi’s destined roles 31.

At later sermons, Hongjun attempts to direct the Primordial World’s political order. He offers Di Jun and Tai Yi the task of founding the Heavenly Court, then appoints Duke of the East Chief of the Male Immortals after stronger candidates refuse the position 34 36. He also selects disciples and teaches the Sage’s Dao, becoming the acknowledged Teacher of the Heaven-ordained Sages 56 166.

While attempting to merge with the Heavenly Dao, Hongjun discovers that Ling Xiao and the Golden Crows have altered the expected balance between the Witch and Demon races. Ling Xiao’s apparent connection to Pangu and ability to disrupt the Heavenly Dao’s grand trend turn him into Hongjun’s foremost concern 134. Hongjun subsequently opposes Ling Xiao through the Sages, the Human Race’s fortune, and direct intervention, but Ling Xiao repeatedly evades or resists him 166 193 230.

Hongjun’s conflict with Ling Xiao escalates into open battle. Ling Xiao wounds him, severs his palm, withstands his Heavenly Dao-backed attacks with the Chaos Green Lotus, and destroys much of the Jade Plate of Creation during their struggle 327 329. Hongjun later devours the Heavenly Dao to become the Dao Master, intending to judge Di Jun, Tai Yi, and their allies as “calamity ash” 435 438.

The ascension is compromised when the Fate Demon God, hidden within the Heavenly Dao, attempts to seize the result of Hongjun’s scheme. Ling Xiao cleaves Hongjun apart with the Axe of Nature, separating Hongjun and the Fate Demon God into two beings holding equal halves of the Heavenly Dao’s origin 441 443 444. Though the two briefly ally against Ling Xiao, Hongjun is eventually decapitated, ground to pieces, and erased by Ling Xiao 445 453.

A later revelation states that Hongjun and Luo Hou were originally one being who severed his immortal and demonic paths into separate selves. Following a timeline reversal, the Primordial World remembers Hongjun’s death at Ling Xiao’s hands 828 830.

Relationships

• Ling Xiao — Primary enemy and the variable Hongjun seeks to eliminate for disrupting the Heavenly Dao’s grand trend; their conflict ends with Ling Xiao killing him 134 453.
• Heavenly Dao — Hongjun seeks to merge with it, later devours it, and ultimately loses half of its origin to the Fate Demon God 134 438 444.
• Fate Demon God — Hidden rival within the Heavenly Dao; briefly allies with Hongjun against Ling Xiao after the two are separated 441 444 445.
• Luo Hou — Later revealed to be the other self produced when the original being severed his immortal and demonic paths 828.
• Di Jun and Tai Yi — Sun Star Gods whom Hongjun considers destined figures; he tries to install them as rulers of the Heavenly Court before turning against the Golden Crows 31 34 273.
• Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhun Ti — His Sage disciples, whom he instructs, reprimands, resurrects, and deploys in his schemes 166 230 424.
• Jieyin and Zhun Ti — Western disciples entrusted with the Witch Clan matter and repeatedly resurrected after defeats 193 230.
• Haotian and Yaochi — His attendants; Hongjun later supports their Heavenly Court with treasures 219 290.
• Duke of the East — Appointed Chief of the Male Immortals and granted the Dragon-Headed Staff 36.

Notable Quotes

“The Great Dao is impartial, and the Heavenly Dao is selfless.” — Hongjun 134

“The years are long. Looking back across eternity, I am the master of the Dao!” — Hongjun 435

“If I wished, the Golden Crows could perish at any moment.” — Hongjun 273

Trivia

• Hongjun’s Purple Cloud Palace lies beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, near the boundary between Chaos and the Primordial World 8.
• Ling Xiao’s repeated “Old Earthworm” insults provoke Hongjun into visible fury 329.
• Hongjun’s effort to devour the Heavenly Dao is described as reaching 99.99% completion before his separation from the Fate Demon God prevents full success 444.