Jing Hongchen

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Jing Hongchen (镜红尘)
Alias(es)	Hall Master; Master of Mingde Hall
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Mingde Hall; Hongchen Family
Occupation/Role	Master of Mingde Hall; Level Nine Soul Engineer 45
First Appearance	Chapter 45 (as a personality model within Huo Yuhao's Hidden Dragon Plan) 45

Background

Jing Hongchen leads Mingde Hall and is regarded as one of its foremost Soul Tool authorities. Huo Yuhao's early personality model characterizes him as extremely arrogant, obsessively devoted to technology, appreciative of exceptional talent, and willing to use any means to achieve his objectives 45.

The Hongchen Family has a concealed connection to forbidden Soul Tool research: intelligence gathered by Huo Yuhao indicates that Jing Hongchen's father performed live soul-beast dissections while researching prohibited Soul Tools 93.

Personality

Jing Hongchen is driven by technological advancement and institutional power. He readily grants resources, authority, and access to projects that promise to strengthen Mingde Hall, even when their origin is unclear or their creators are suspicious 73 90 126.

His respect for talent is inseparable from his need to control it. Huo Yuhao's breakthroughs excite him because they can advance Mingde Hall, but the same incomprehensible ability makes Jing increasingly fearful and obsessive 69 70 72.

As information leaks spread through Mingde Hall, his suspicion escalates into paranoia. He activates extreme surveillance, arrests personnel on weak evidence, conducts reviews of core members, and places the organization under lockdown 86 89.

Abilities & Skills

Level Nine Soul Engineering

Jing Hongchen is a Level Nine Soul Engineer and the custodian of Mingde Hall's highest-level technical projects and secrets 45 101.

• Commands access to Class 9 Soul Tool theory, which he uses to test Huo Yuhao's capabilities 100 101.
• Oversees development of strategic weapons, including the Nine-Level Linked Annihilation Cannon Array 78.
• Understands enough of Soul Tool theory to recognize that Huo Yuhao's proposals represent entirely new systems of thought, even when he cannot control their source 57 65.

Research Administration

Jing Hongchen can reshape Mingde Hall's priorities through his authority as Hall Master.

• Approves high-priority resource allocation for Fan Yu's Soul Power Battery Standardization project 54.
• Promotes Fan Yu's platform project team into the First Technology Development Department, granting S-class clearance and an unlimited budget 73.
• Gives Huo Yuhao access to core research and high-level authority after the Soul Power battery breakthrough 90.
• Funds Huo Yuhao's proposed mass-production project for an anomalous high-performance metal, in exchange for secrecy 126.

Surveillance and Internal Security

Jing Hongchen maintains extensive internal-security assets within Mingde Hall.

• Deploys covert operatives equipped with anti-reconnaissance Soul Tools to investigate Fan Yu's laboratory 65.
• Activates the Abyss Eye, Mingde Hall's highest-level surveillance system, despite its immense energy cost 86.
• Orders continuous, round-the-clock surveillance of Huo Yuhao after repeated background checks fail to explain his abilities 92.
• Conducts secret reviews of every core member and imposes martial law after repeated thefts of core technical data 89.

Equipment and Controlled Projects

• Abyss Eye — Mingde Hall's highest-level surveillance system, used to monitor every corner of the organization 86.
• Nine-Level Linked Annihilation Cannon Array — A strategic Soul Tool array intended to erase an entire city within three volleys; its nine main cannons risk destructive resonance during saturation fire 78.
• Class 9 Soul Tool theory — A top-secret Hongchen/Mingde Hall theoretical system used to test Huo Yuhao; Huo Yuhao identifies three fatal flaws in it 101.
• Godforge/Godforging Plan — A secret Mingde Hall project involving modification of Soul Masters' physiques, soul fusion, and attempts to break Soul Power limits 60 88.

Relationships

• Huo Yuhao — A prodigy Jing Hongchen initially seeks to recruit and control, then repeatedly investigates as he suspects Huo Yuhao is the true source of Fan Yu's breakthroughs and the Ghost Consultant 57 65 92 100. Their power dynamic collapses after Huo Yuhao exposes fatal flaws in the Class 9 Soul Tool theory 101.
• Fan Yu — Mingde Hall researcher whose sudden innovations prompt Jing Hongchen's suspicions. Jing pressures and surveils him while also granting his team exceptional resources and authority 57 65 73.
• Xiao Hongchen — Jing Hongchen's son and Mingde Hall's intended future heir. Jing appoints him captain of the Withering Mountain Range expedition to monitor Huo Yuhao 111.
• Meng Hongchen — Jing Hongchen's child and Xiao Hongchen's sibling; her and Xiao's defeat in the Icefire Purgatory demonstration helps convince Jing of the Ghost Consultant's extraordinary value and danger 72.
• Xuanming — Jing Hongchen's fellow disciple, chief theoretical adviser, and one of the people he trusts most; Xuanming is connected to the Godforging Plan 82.
• Link — A Mingde Hall subordinate caught in Jing Hongchen's internal purge and later subjected to secret review alongside other core personnel 86 89.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Investigation of Tang Yu and Fan Yu's Innovations

Jing Hongchen first becomes alarmed when Fan Yu submits revolutionary proposals on fixed Soul Tool shells and standardized Soul Power batteries. He rejects the idea that Fan Yu conceived them alone and orders an investigation focused on the provisional student Tang Yu, Huo Yuhao's alias 54 57.

He personally tests Tang Yu with problems concerning long-range Soul Power transmission and reverse Soul Power surge. Huo Yuhao's answers—energy relays, signal amplification, phase locking, flood diversion, and tiered guidance—only deepen Jing's belief that the youth is concealing an extraordinary secret 57 65.

The Ghost Consultant's Rise

The Ghost Needle's victory over Xiao and Meng Hongchen's Annihilation Ray Cannon leaves Jing shocked, fearful, and unable to understand the weapon's autonomous targeting capabilities 58. He responds to the Ghost team's growing influence by restricting resources and assigning Fan Yu's group a trivial shell-polishing project 59 61.

After Fan Yu publicly improves Icefire Purgatory with the Asynchronous Bus Controller, Jing abandons simple obstruction. He elevates the team into the First Technology Development Department, supplies it with an unlimited budget, and attempts to harness the Ghost Consultant's output for Mingde Hall 72 73.

Escalating Paranoia

Jing Hongchen's inability to identify the source of Mingde Hall's leaks turns his security campaign inward. He activates the Abyss Eye, arrests personnel such as Link, and treats even minor behavioral irregularities as evidence of betrayal 86.

When core technical data continues disappearing, he orders secret reviews of all core personnel and locks down Mingde Hall, confiscating communication devices and forbidding anyone from leaving 89. Huo Yuhao deliberately exploits this paranoia with planted evidence and counter-surveillance measures 86 89 92.

The Class 9 Theory Test

Convinced that Huo Yuhao may be the Ghost Consultant, Jing uses his family's highest secret—the core theory of a Class 9 Soul Tool—as a final test 100 101.

Huo Yuhao identifies three fatal flaws, reconstructs the theoretical system, and warns that constructing the weapon under its existing principles would destroy Mingde Hall. He further reveals that the Godforging Plan suffers from the same energy-circuit problem 101. The encounter leaves Jing terrified of Huo Yuhao's knowledge and unable to maintain his previous authority over him 101.

Withering Mountain Range Expedition and Later Research

Jing approves an expedition to the Withering Mountain Range after Fan Yu presents the prospect of revolutionary materials, but makes Xiao Hongchen its captain to keep Huo Yuhao under observation 111. After the team returns with a cover story, Jing remains suspicious of Huo Yuhao's apparent spiritual exhaustion but does not press the matter 121.

When Huo Yuhao produces an unprecedented Ice Crystal Soul Power Core and claims he can mass-produce a new material, Jing's greed again outweighs his caution. He agrees to provide personnel, equipment, materials, and absolute secrecy for the project 126 127.

Notable Quotes

“Investigate! Investigate everyone he has come into contact with recently, everything he has been involved in! Especially that registered student named Tang Yu!” 57

“Geniuses don't need to wait their turn.” 90

“This opponent isn't a man. He's a ghost!” 100