Hongjun

Biodata

Power Progression

Background and History

Hongjun seeks out Li Yi, the Heaven-Earth Daoist, after the Three Clans' calamity. He needs a fourth powerful cultivator to help break Luohou's Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation. To secure Li Yi's aid, he gives him the Shanhe Sheji Diagram and swears to let him keep Luohou's treasures, privately expecting him to die in the battle 13 14.

During the Dao-Devil War, Hongjun sends his severed Corpses toward the formation's array eyes while his allies occupy Luohou. His Evil Corpse strikes the fleeing Yin-Yang Daoist and sends him toward Luohou; Yin-Yang dies blaming Hongjun. Li Yi takes three swords and contains Luohou, leaving Hongjun with less than half Li Yi's share of Heavenly Dao Merit 16 18 19 20.

Hongjun then preaches at Purple Cloud Palace to form karmic ties with future Sages and gain Heavenly Dao Authority. His contest with Li Yi intensifies as cultivators favor Li Yi's lectures and Tongtian and Nuwa become Li Yi's disciples. Hongjun teaches the Three Corpses Severing Method and accepts Laozi, Yuanshi, Jieyin, and Zhunti as disciples 27 31 34 35.

After the Heavenly Dao helps him become a Sage, Hongjun challenges Li Yi in the Hundun. Li Yi defeats him with the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation and destroys his Primordial Spirit. Restored and merged with the Heavenly Dao, Hongjun turns to Laozi as a means of gaining influence over the newly created Human Race 76 77 78 79 80.

Contest over Humanity

When Laozi reports that a mysterious cultivator named Huang has already enlightened humanity, Hongjun examines Huang's history. He sees Huang teaching fire-making, farming, animal husbandry, writing, and marriage, but finds no flaw in his spiritual signature that would establish him as Qiankun's incarnation. Hongjun also recognizes that Huang's accomplishments benefit humanity so greatly that appealing to the Great Dao would not secure his punishment, even if his suspected identity proved correct 82.

Hongjun advises Laozi to impart a cultivation path suited to humans, leading Laozi to create and spread the Golden Core Dao. Before Laozi can secure leadership through the Human Sect, Huang establishes the Immortal Human Dynasty, surprising Hongjun and other powerful beings 83.

With openly founding a sect within the dynasty no longer a viable approach, Hongjun turns to Jieyin and Zhunti. He proposes that they draw human cultivators into their Western Teachings, thereby taking a share of Human Dao Authority. He offers to borrow merit from the Heavenly Dao to make them Sages in advance 89.

Jieyin and Zhunti accept and vow to convert thirty percent of humanity within three assemblies. Hongjun facilitates their advancement to Heavenly Dao Merit Saints and warns them to fulfill their binding vows. They subsequently operate under the name Mahayana Teachings 90.

After the Western Teachings acquire twenty percent of Human Dao Fortune, Hongjun believes the plan is succeeding. At Zhunti's request, he grants the converted frontier tribes a tenth of Heavenly Dao Fortune. He notices the seals within them but accepts Zhunti's explanation that they are Buddhist conversion marks, unaware that Li Yi has planted Human Emperor Seals to siphon the fortune 93.

Hongjun later refuses Yuanshi's request to punish Tongtian for establishing the Interception Sect under Human Dao. Claiming that the Heavenly Dao has no interest in teaching authority, he keeps Yuanshi at Purple Cloud Palace to watch Tongtian's attainment of Sagehood. His apparent tolerance precedes his activation of a contingency hidden within the Heavenly Dao Fortune invested in humanity, through which he begins eroding Human Dao and extracting its fortune 97 99.

Battle with the Human Emperor

Hongjun accuses the Human Emperor of joining Jieyin and Zhunti in disrupting Heavenly Dao order and declares that he will execute him in Heaven's name. Although Hongjun originally supplied the disputed fortune himself, he uses the resulting karmic ties as a legal basis for intervention under the Heavenly Dao's rules 102.

His Purple Cloud Divine Thunder fails when the Human Emperor redirects it through spatial formations into the Chaos Gourd. Hongjun then uses the Pangu Banner, but the Human Emperor counters with the Taiji Diagram. Recognizing his former treasure, Hongjun concludes that the Heaven-Earth Daoist took it and later supplied it to the Human Emperor; he has not yet understood that the two are the same person 103 104.

Unable to subdue the Human Emperor, Hongjun retreats to Purple Cloud Palace. The battle damages the Heavenly Dao's standing as cultivators begin considering allegiance to Human Dao, slowing the growth of Heavenly Dao Fortune. Hongjun decides to accelerate the Lich Calamity to replenish his strength through its released energy and fortune. He also plans to take control of the Earthly Dao when Houtu brings it into existence 105.

Lich Calamity and the Earthly Dao

The enormous losses suffered by the Witch and Demon Tribes supply Hongjun with enough fortune and energy to approach late-stage Heavenly Dao level. He offers to spare Li Yi if Houtu establishes the Earthly Dao under Heavenly Dao control. Li Yi rejects this bargain and urges Houtu to proceed independently, with the Ancestor Witches supporting her vow 126.

Hongjun cannot simply prevent the Earthly Dao's revival: Houtu carries Pangu's legacy and has the Great Dao's appointment, while sharing authority with Human Dao or distributing merit to her siblings does not invalidate her position. Instead, he treats Li Yi's intervention as a pretext to attack and unleashes a vast sea of Dutian Divine Thunder 128.

The attack again benefits Li Yi. His Chaos Gourd absorbs the thunder and advances to an upper-grade Chaos Spirit Treasure. The barrage contains over ten thousand bolts, each comparable to an early-stage Heavenly Dao-level full-force strike; Li Yi estimates that producing it consumed roughly a fifth of the energy the Heavenly Dao gained from the calamity 131.

Hongjun continues absorbing the calamity's Tribulation Fortune, angering the surviving Ancestor Witches. Hong Yun's establishment of the Witch Teachings under Human Dao then gives Li Yi a legitimate basis to absorb the Witch Tribe's share of that fortune 133.

To preserve his advantage, Hongjun guides Di Jun—whose heart remains affected by calamity qi—into swearing the Demon Court's submission to the Heavenly Dao. He certifies the vow with Heavenly Dao Merit, making Di Jun a Heavenly Dao Merit Sage and drawing Demon Race Fortune into the Heavenly Dao 134.

Defeat in the Dao Struggle

Tongtian counters by establishing a Human Dao Heavenly Court. Demons abandon Di Jun, and Demon Race Fortune turns toward the new court. With Human Dao now gathering the fortune of humans, witches, and demons, Hongjun fears that losing the struggle will allow Human Dao to erode Heavenly Dao Authority. He sends his Three Corpses to kill Tongtian and deny the new Heavenly Court's legitimacy while his main body continues competing for Tribulation Fortune 135.

Li Yi's Human Emperor manifestation intercepts the Three Corpses. During the battle, Hongjun's Kind Corpse publicly reveals that the Human Emperor is Li Yi's incarnation, exposing the connection to both the Primordial World's powerful beings and Blue Star's viewers 136 138.

Li Yi destroys all three Corpses, whose energy passes into Human Dao. After absorbing the region's Tribulation Fortune and advancing to late-stage Heavenly Dao level, Li Yi catches Hongjun as he attempts to withdraw with the tribulation clouds. Hongjun insists that he can return through the Heavenly Dao and eventually defeat him, but Li Yi declares his intention to oversee the Heavenly Dao without merging with it 139 140.

Facing Li Yi's oath to the Great Dao, Hongjun abandons his threats and begs for mercy. He invokes their shared Demon God origins, offers to subordinate the Heavenly Dao to Human Dao, and even offers to kneel. The Great Dao nevertheless revokes his authority as Heavenly Dao Representative, reducing him to the Sage realm. Li Yi slays him and becomes the Heavenly Dao Overseer 141.

Appearance

Hongjun appears as an elderly Daoist in white when he visits Penglai Island 13.

• A white-robed Kind Corpse identical to him appears during the Dao-Devil War 17.
• His Evil Corpse appears as a black-robed Daoist 18.
• When deployed against Tongtian's Heavenly Court, all three Corpses resemble Hongjun and wear white, black, and gray robes respectively 136.

Personality

Hongjun maintains a composed public manner even when angry or alarmed. He presents his campaign against Luohou as a defense of living beings, yet privately calculates the Merit and authority he stands to gain. He conceals his irritation during Li Yi's bargaining and later disguises the circumstances of his own defeat when speaking to Laozi 14 19 80.

He treats teaching and discipleship as ways to build Karma and Heavenly Dao Authority. His rivalry with Li Yi makes him increasingly resentful as audiences shift to Li Yi's lectures, but he continues to adapt his plans when direct approaches fail 27 31 32 35 54.

His dissemination of the Three Corpses Severing Method also has a restrictive purpose: he expects talented, fortunate cultivators to adopt it and become trapped at Quasi-Saint, reducing the number of beings capable of challenging his future control. He regards superior strength and cultivation realm as more decisive than Li Yi's success as a teacher 35.

Hongjun habitually claims the moral high ground before suppressing an opponent. His accusation that Li Yi lacks legitimate standing as a Chaos Demon God backfires when Li Yi points out that Hongjun himself lacks the recognition that Li Yi has received from the Great Dao 76 77.

His confidence repeatedly rises with new gains in power, leading him to expect decisive victory over Li Yi. When defeat becomes unavoidable, however, he seeks a truce, attempts to escape, and ultimately offers humiliating concessions to preserve himself 78 126 140 141.

Abilities & Skills

Three Corpses Severing

Hongjun derives this cultivation method from the Creation Jade Disc and teaches it as a path to Quasi-Sainthood 18 34.

• His severed Kind, Evil, and Self Corpses can act separately; he uses them to seek the Immortal-Slaying Formation's array eyes 16 17 18.
• Corpses require Innate Spiritual Treasures as vessels. Li Yi reveals that reunification for Sagehood requires the three vessels to share an origin, a flaw Hongjun knows is real 34 45.
• Hongjun himself achieves Three Corpses Unity only after receiving Heavenly Dao power 76.
• Even after their union and his merger with the Heavenly Dao, he can separate the Three Corpses again for battle. This allows him to attack Tongtian while his main body continues absorbing Tribulation Fortune 135.
• The Corpses deployed against the Human Dao Heavenly Court possess Heavenly Dao-level strength. Observing Demon Gods estimate that each has roughly a tenth of Hongjun's main body's combat strength 136.
• Li Yi's Human Emperor incarnation destroys all three, and their released energy is absorbed into Human Dao 139 140.

Divination and Heavenly Dao Authority

• The Creation Jade Disc lets Hongjun deduce Heavenly Secrets, including the opportunity arising from Nuwa's creation of humanity 25 72.
• His deductions do not reliably account for Li Yi's actions: he expects three thousand listeners at Purple Cloud Palace but receives far fewer, and Li Yi takes swords Hongjun had expected to claim 19 27.
• Preaching and guiding prospective Sages strengthen his karmic ties and can increase his Heavenly Dao Authority; support shifts away from him when cultivators favor Li Yi's teaching 31 34 35.
• He can inspect Huang's recorded actions but cannot identify the hidden connection to Li Yi from his spiritual signature. The Human Emperor's identity remains concealed until the later battle with Hongjun's Three Corpses 82 138.
• As Heavenly Dao Representative, he can grant Heavenly Dao Fortune and facilitate merit-based Sagehood, including advance merit tied to binding vows 90 93 134.
• He can place hidden contingencies within Heavenly Dao Fortune to erode another Dao and draw away its fortune 99.
• His representative authority is subordinate to the Great Dao, which can revoke it and strip away the associated Heavenly Dao-level power 141.

Heavenly Dao Manifestation and Restrictions

• After his first death, the Heavenly Dao restores him as Heavenly Dao Hongjun. His aura is more than a hundred times stronger than during his earlier battle in the Hundun, but he loses the freedom to act personally 79 80.
• He circumvents this restriction by invoking threats to Heavenly Dao order and existing karmic ties as grounds for punishment. He uses this reasoning against both the Human Emperor and Li Yi's involvement in establishing the Earthly Dao 102 128.
• His position lets him absorb energy and fortune released by the deaths of cultivators during a calamity, greatly strengthening him after the Witch and Demon Tribes' losses 126.
• He relies on his connection to the Heavenly Dao as a means of returning after destruction, and invokes that prospect when captured by Li Yi 119 140.

Divine Thunder

• Purple Cloud Divine Thunder — each bolt used against the Human Emperor carries the power of a late-stage Heavenly Dao Sage's full-force strike. A thousand bolts together rival Heavenly Dao-level power, but Li Yi redirects them into the Chaos Gourd 103.
• Dutian Divine Thunder — his later barrage contains over ten thousand bolts, each comparable to an early-stage Heavenly Dao-level full-force strike. Rather than killing Li Yi, it supplies the energy for the Chaos Gourd's advancement 128 131.

Spatial Techniques

• Sleeve-enclosed cosmos technique — allows Hongjun to carry away spiritual land during his travels; one such tract forms the small world associated with his Purple Cloud Palace teaching grounds 27.

Equipment and Items

• Creation Jade Disc fragment — used for divination and as the source of his Three Corpses Severing Method 18 25.
• Pangu Banner — his attack-focused supreme treasure; fixes Hundun space and shatters the surrounding void. The Heavenly Dao retrieves it after his defeat. Hongjun later wields it against the Human Emperor, but its confinement and attacks are countered by the Taiji Diagram 77 78 79 104.
• Shanhe Sheji Diagram — a protective and trapping treasure that he gives Li Yi in exchange for help against Luohou 14.
• Taiji Diagram — given to the Yin-Yang Daoist to secure his participation against Luohou; Hongjun cannot trace it after Yin-Yang's death. He later recognizes it in the Human Emperor's possession and concludes that the Heaven-Earth Daoist acquired it 17 20 104.
• Innate Spiritual Treasure gifts — distributes several treasures to reassure his disciples after the controversy over the Three Corpses Severing Method. Laozi and Yuanshi each receive a Supreme-grade Innate Spirit Treasure, though both gifts are among the weakest of that grade and Hongjun resents the expense 48.

Relationships

• Li Yi / Qiankun — recruited ally in the Dao-Devil War and later his principal rival for Dao authority; Li Yi defeats him in the Hundun. Hongjun subsequently opposes Li Yi's Human Emperor incarnation without initially recognizing its identity. Their struggle culminates in the destruction of Hongjun's Three Corpses, the revocation of his representative authority, and his second death at Li Yi's hands 13 31 78 104 138 140 141.
• Luohou — enemy in the Dao-Devil War; defeating him is central to Hongjun's plan to gain Merit 14 19.
• Yin-Yang Daoist — recruited ally whom Hongjun's Evil Corpse betrays to escape Luohou 17 18 19.
• Yang Mei — ally against Luohou whose manner toward Hongjun cools after Yin-Yang's death 13 20.
• Laozi — eldest disciple; Hongjun directs him toward teaching humanity and founding a Human Sect. After Huang's civilizing work obstructs that plan, Hongjun advises Laozi to develop a human cultivation path, leading to the Golden Core Dao 35 72 79 80 83.
• Yuanshi, Jieyin, and Zhunti — disciples taught the Three Corpses method; Hongjun seeks to advance them toward Sagehood and preserve his influence through them. He later refuses Yuanshi's request to punish Tongtian and uses Jieyin and Zhunti's conversion efforts to intervene in Human Dao Fortune 35 46 54 90 93 97.
• Tongtian — prospective Heavenly Dao Sage whom Hongjun initially hopes to bind through his lectures. After Tongtian follows Li Yi and establishes a Human Dao Heavenly Court, Hongjun orders his Three Corpses to kill him 28 31 135.
• Nuwa — another intended source of karmic ties who instead becomes Li Yi's disciple. Hongjun expects the creation of humanity to provide opportunities for Heavenly Dao influence, but Li Yi's intervention disrupts those expectations 28 31 72 74.
• Hong Yun — Li Yi's disciple whose teaching in the West threatens the prospects of Jieyin and Zhunti. His later Witch Teachings give Human Dao a legitimate claim to the Witch Tribe's Tribulation Fortune, undermining Hongjun's recovery plan 54 133.
• Houtu — Earthly Dao sovereign whom Hongjun seeks to bring under Heavenly Dao control. He threatens Li Yi's life to pressure her, but she proceeds with the Earthly Dao independently 105 126 128.
• Di Jun — Demon Emperor whom Hongjun guides into submitting the Demon Court to the Heavenly Dao while still affected by calamity qi. Hongjun rewards the oath with merit-based Sagehood, but Tongtian's rival Heavenly Court draws away the demons and their fortune 134 135.
• Heavenly Dao — source of Hongjun's Sage breakthrough, restoration, and representative authority. His merger grants tremendous power but restricts his freedom; the Great Dao ultimately revokes his representative position 76 79 80 141.