Ch. 381Forging alliances: Hongjun's best strategy
Plot points and events
- Daoist Hongjun has lost another Good Fortune Jade Disc fragment to Lin Tian, including the Great Deduction Technique. This leaves Hongjun unable to use future historical fragments to predict events and weakens his hold over the Heavenly Dao.
- Though his future position as a Heavenly Dao Saint should remain secure, Hongjun fears that further losses could endanger both that destiny and his plan to merge with the Dao.
- Hongjun decides an alliance with Devil Ancestor Luo Hou is now essential. Rather than send Haotian Child, whose disappearance might threaten Hongjun’s future, he sends a younger Divine Sense Clone toward Luo Hou’s territory.
- From Mount Kunlun, Hongjun sees the All-Heaven Divine Peak and Palace on the Southern Continent rapidly restoring themselves. Their revival is linked to the Chaos Demon Gods hearing Lin Tian preach the opening chapter of the Tao Te Ching.
- Hongjun recognizes the scale of Lin Tian’s growing influence and is shaken by it.
Character developments and interactions
- Hongjun shifts from confident control to anxious pragmatism. He accepts an alliance with someone he once despised and takes precautions to protect Haotian and his own future.
- Haotian Child is kept out of the dangerous mission; Hongjun tells him he has other arrangements.
- Lin Tian, though absent from the main action, continues to reshape the world through his power and teachings. His influence reaches the Chaos Demon Gods and even Hongjun’s consciousness.
- Luo Hou is positioned as a necessary but perilous potential ally.
Significant themes
- Power and vulnerability: Even Hongjun’s far-reaching control can be undermined by Lin Tian’s unexpected rise.
- Fate versus uncertainty: Hongjun’s destined future seems fixed, yet his lost ability to foresee events makes that future feel increasingly fragile.
- Alliances born of necessity: Former enemies may become partners when survival demands it.
- The reach of ideas: Lin Tian’s teaching has consequences beyond direct combat, awakening forces and restoring ancient structures.