Ma Hongjun

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Ma Hongjun (马红俊)
Alias(es)	Fatty; “Barnyard chicken” (Bai Chenxiang’s teasing nickname) 99 138
Species/Race	Human; later awakens a trace of phoenix bloodline 81 99
Gender	Male 14
Age	Ten when he obtains his second Soul Ring 20
Origin	Grass Nest Village 14 15
Affiliation	Shrek Academy; Blue Dream Combo with Tang San 21 39 126
Occupation/Role	Battle Soul Master; Tang San’s paid forging assistant; Shrek’s main attacker against Blazing Fire Academy 22 27 124
Martial Soul	Evil Fire Phoenix, initially identified as an incompletely evolved Fire Phoenix 14 22
Primary Weapon	Phoenix Emperor, an enormous axe forged with Tang San 17
Status	Alive; resting after defeating six Blazing Fire Academy competitors in succession 138
First Appearance	Chapter 14 14

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Innate Soul Power: rank six	14	His Martial Soul mutates upon awakening, giving him unusually strong starting Soul Power.
Rank nineteen; first Soul Ring obtained	14	Already possesses a hundred-year first Soul Ring and uses Flame Ray when he first fights Tang San.
Level twenty bottleneck	17	Reaches level twenty during nearly three months of forging and training. Further accumulated growth remains unmanifested until he obtains another Soul Ring.
Second Soul Ring; level twenty-one	20	Absorbs a thousand-year Blazing Feather Sparrow ring, unlocking the two-stage Scarlet Feather Phoenix. His Dharma Sutra-derived cultivation method helps him survive the absorption.
Rank twenty-two; Soul Grandmaster	22	Announces this rank before fighting Xiao Ruoxue at the Soul Fighting Arena.
Level thirty bottleneck	34	Spends a year without adding a third ring, concentrating instead on physical conditioning, mental power, and precise control of his Evil Fire.
Third Soul Ring; rank thirty-five	51 52	Ring absorption releases more than a year’s accumulated cultivation, raising him five ranks. His wings move to his back, he gains flight, and he unlocks Phoenix Radiance Skyward.
Level thirty-six	61	Reaches this level after three months of specialized training. High-intensity exercise keeps his Evil Fire from flaring up.
Trace of phoenix bloodline awakened	73 81	Taking the Evil Fire Nirvana Pill during the Desireless Bird battle awakens a faint phoenix bloodline. Its power subsequently helps repair his damaged body.
Rank thirty-seven	79	Returns from his practical mission with increased Soul Power and a closer relationship with Bai Chenxiang.
Cockscomb phoenix sunflower refinement	92 97 98	The herb burns away impurities, replaces his purple flames with crimson flames, and transforms his physique. The remaining evil trace becomes almost imperceptible.
Further cultivation advancement	99	Advances during the month of training before the Sunset Forest hunt; the exact rank is not stated.
Fourth Soul Ring	99 100	Absorbs the King of Earth’s ring, gaining fiery tail feathers and Phoenix Roaring Sky Strike. His exact post-absorption rank is not stated.

Background / History

Ma Hongjun was born with an abnormally high body temperature. His mother developed a lingering illness after childbirth and died within a few years; his father later died from illness brought on by overwork. His grandfather, Ma Bangde, was the chief of Grass Nest Village and the family’s remaining guardian 14.

After awakening his mutated Martial Soul, Hongjun attended a nearby Soul Master Academy through the village’s work-study quota. His growing sexual urges and misconduct culminated in an incident involving the academy head’s daughter, after which he was ordered to withdraw. Back in the village, he continued pursuing women and abusing his strength, prompting Ma Bangde to seek a chastity lock from Tang San 14.

Grandmaster instead investigated Hongjun’s Martial Soul through a sparring match. He warned that its Evil Fire could eventually overwhelm Hongjun’s body or drive him toward becoming an Evil Soul Master. Tang San offered him a different path: learn to master his desires and flames. Encouraged by Tang San’s sincere recognition of his talent and his grandfather’s insistence, Hongjun left the village to accompany them 14 15 16.

Appearance

• Original build: Chubby-faced, short, and heavyset. Training gradually replaces much of his flab with firm muscle, though he initially remains stocky 14 16 97.
• After herb refinement: Becomes taller, leaner, more powerful-looking, and markedly more handsome, with red hair. His teammates initially joke that the transformed Hongjun must be an impostor 97 98 99.
• Early Martial Soul Possession: Hair rises into a mohawk-like crest; wings appear beneath his arms, and his fingers develop birdlike claws. Dark-purple flames surround him 14.
• Later possession: His wings move to his back after his third ring; his fourth ring adds fire-filled tail feathers. His refined flames are crimson 52 97 100.
• Distinctive clothing: Wears a white tank top printed with “Xiang♡Xiang” during the promotion tournament 138.

Personality

Hongjun initially presents himself as belligerent, vulgar, and dismissive of anyone claiming to cure him. Beneath that attitude, he has been mocked for his weight and looked down on by women; satisfying his Martial Soul-driven urges brings relief more than pleasure. Tang San’s recognition matters because it is the first sincere praise of his talent that he remembers receiving 14 15.

Once he accepts Tang San and Grandmaster, he becomes straightforwardly loyal. He calls Tang San “Third Brother,” promises to protect his soul-bone secret, and reacts angrily when Ning Rongrong insults him. During the Desireless Bird illusion, his refusal to waste his mentors’ efforts helps him resist his urges rather than exploit Bai Chenxiang’s compromised state 16 42 73.

He remains vain, playful, and fond of showing off. His trash talk doubles as a combat tactic, but excitement can make him neglect Soul Power management and the finer applications of his abilities. When he calms down, he demonstrates disciplined control and tactical patience. His stated ambition is to find a wife and enjoy a happy life with his brothers 22 61 127 137 138.

Abilities & Skills

Evil Fire Phoenix

• Flame properties: His original Evil Fire burns at extreme temperatures, clings to targets, and is difficult to extinguish. It strongly counters Tang San’s early Blue Silver Grass 14.
• Drawbacks: Its explosive energy intensifies desire and threatens to outgrow his ability to contain it. Grandmaster identifies purification or mastery of desire as the two possible remedies 15.
• Control: Learns to refine the violent energy into himself rather than venting it through sexual activity. Mental training, exercise, and Tang San’s purifying dewdrops help stabilize it 24 34 61.
• Refinement: The cockscomb phoenix sunflower removes impurities and strengthens the phoenix-like quality of his aura. Later purification leaves his flames stronger and purer but reduces the exceptional endurance supplied by the Evil Fire trait 97 98 137 138.
• Martial Soul suppression: His Fire Phoenix suppresses lower-quality fire Martial Souls, particularly Huo Yun’s Fire Crane 124 138.

Flame Phoenix Astral Energy

• Origin: A cultivation method Hongjun comprehends from the Dharma Sutra under Tang San’s guidance 16 20.
• Effects: Improves his use of Martial Soul power while strengthening both offense and defense; helps him withstand his thousand-year second ring 20.
• Applications: Can circulate its Soul Power to warm himself and nearby people 27.
• Limit: His self-created meditation method chiefly emphasizes powerful offense and does not give him Tang San’s endurance 138.

First Soul Skill: Flame Ray / Phoenix Fire Line

• Initial use: Fires dark-purple flames at Tang San during their first spar; reckless repeated use exhausts his Soul Power 14.
• Later applications: Uses Phoenix Fire Line to attack an airborne opponent and sweeps it into a flaming vortex to widen its range 20 22.

Second Soul Skill: Scarlet Feather Phoenix

Obtained from a thousand-year Blazing Feather Sparrow ring 20.

• Initial stage: Ignites his wings and increases all attributes by 50%; he estimates that he can maintain it for roughly half a day 20.
• Full activation: Increases speed and the aggressiveness of his flames by 70%, but lasts only about ten minutes because of its heavy Soul Power consumption 20.
• Burst offense: Uses the second stage to become a blazing projectile and knock Xiao Ruoxue out of the arena 23.
• Evasion: Full activation lets him escape Huo Wushuang’s pursuing Flame Dragon Missiles 137.

Third Soul Skill: Phoenix Radiance Skyward

• Effects: Increases speed and strengthens his flames, launching him upward with a great mass of fire 52.
• Flight distinction: Flight itself comes from the Martial Soul change accompanying his third ring, rather than being the skill’s sole effect 52.
• Fire manipulation: Draws surrounding flames toward himself, gathers them onto the Phoenix Emperor, and shapes released fire into meteors 99 126.
• Early limitation: Its dramatic, flame-filled takeoff makes a considerable disturbance; further skill development can reduce that spectacle 52.

Fourth Soul Skill: Phoenix Roaring Sky Strike

Obtained after absorbing the King of Earth’s Soul Ring 99 100.

• Activation: Channels energy through his fiery tail feathers into the ground 100 137.
• Attack: Produces an underground eruption of explosive force, magma, and phoenix-shaped flame 137.
• Tactical use: Can prepare the attack while fighting in the air, catching an opponent unaware of the energy beneath their feet 137.
• Power control: Reduces its strength when companions are nearby 100.

Sun-Bathing Flame Garment

A state-type technique developed by combining his second and third Soul Skills 138.

• Benefits: Raises Soul Power recovery speed by 30%, reduces consumption by 20%, and boosts his attributes 138.
• Appearance: Surrounds him with flames resembling a high-collared coat 138.
• Requirements: Needs abundant ambient fire-attribute energy and time to gather it. Creating the necessary concentration costs roughly 30% of his Soul Power 138.
• Limit: Cannot sustain it indefinitely; it fails near the end of his six-opponent tournament run 138.

Complete Realm and Combat Control

• Foundation: Years of suppressing his Evil Fire give him exceptionally refined control; his Complete Realm ranks near the top among the Seven Heavenly Kings 138.
• Attack analysis: Identifies the insufficient dominance in Blazing Fire Academy’s combined Fire Dance Shines on the Sun and exploits it through his sentient fire phoenix 127.
• Efficient fighting: Precisely controls expenditure, anticipates an opponent’s movement, and steadily restricts their available space 138.
• Weakness: Aggression and impulsiveness prevent him from consistently applying the realm to its fullest 137 138.

Phoenix and Axe Techniques

• Forcefully Split Mount Hua: A heavy axe strike that trails flames; later uses a searing blade of force to cut off escape routes 20 137.
• Phoenix Dance Nine Heavens: Releases nine flaming phoenixes that surround and plunge into a target. With the Nirvana Pill’s boost, destroys the Desireless Bird fusion skill 73.
• Fire Phoenix Engulfs the Plains: Forms an enormous explosive fire phoenix capable of consuming an opposing fire attack. Can be delivered through his arm or the Phoenix Emperor 126.
• Phoenix Dance Across the Sky: Uses agile axe movements to seal off an opponent’s positions and drive them from the platform 138.

Forging, Cooking, and Teamwork

• Forging: Supplies Evil Fire, assists with hammering, and performs the Phoenix Emperor’s final quenching. Evil Fire-forged tools have better quality than ordinary-fire equivalents but demand greater technique 16 17.
• Craftwork: Helps Tang San turn depleted ore into ornaments for the Black-Tortoise Scorpions 56.
• Cooking: Works with Oscar to prepare Soul Beast meat and group meals; demonstrates fine fire control by making three fire phoenixes circle cooking skewers 48 92.
• Combination fighting: Adapts to the dense fog produced through Tang San’s Blue Silver Dewdrop combination, allowing him to fight under Tang San’s direction 43.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Phoenix Emperor — An enormous axe forged with Tang San over nearly three months. It has a silver-white body, a purple-and-red blade, and a phoenix-head ornament atop its haft. Heat-resistant materials let it withstand Evil Fire; Grandmaster’s meteoric iron initially suppresses Soul Power circulation, making it both a weapon and a control-training tool 17 22.
  • After the Desireless Bird battle, the blood-stained axe absorbs Hongjun’s uncontrolled Evil Fire and prevents it from consuming him 73.
  • Tang San suggests that repeated Soul Power nurturing and contact with his awakened bloodline may be putting it on the path toward becoming a divine weapon. Once it gains a spirit, Hongjun feels enhancement rather than suppression 81 126.
  • It is not initially a genuine companion weapon. Hongjun conceals its retrieval from a storage bracelet with flames to make it appear to materialize from his Martial Soul 132 133.
• Storage bracelet and pouch — Carries his dewdrop bottles, emergency pill, and later the Phoenix Emperor 23 73 132.
• Blue Silver Dew bottles — Tang San’s portable healing, recovery, and purification supplies. A Healing Red Dew Bottle contains roughly three uses 23.
• Evil Fire Nirvana Pill — Made by Tang San from Jade Phosphorous Scorpion venom and fire- and yang-attributed herbs. Doubles Hongjun’s strength by violently stimulating his Evil Fire, at the cost of meridian damage and a high risk of losing control. Tang San explicitly restricts it to emergencies 73 81.
• Cockscomb phoenix sunflower — Tang San’s gift for refining his Evil Fire and removing impurities 92 97.
• Flowing Cloud Dandelion — A rare medicinal treasure entrusted to him for Bai Chenxiang; explicitly not an immortal treasure 92.

Relationships

• Ma Bangde — Grandfather and village chief. Seeks help for Hongjun’s behavior, then urges him to leave with Tang San and Grandmaster rather than waste his life 14 15.
• Tang San — Fellow disciple, close friend, and brother figure whom he calls “Third Brother.” Provides cultivation guidance, healing, equipment, and medicinal treasures; Hongjun’s loyalty to him helps anchor his self-control 16 20 73 92.
• Yu Xiaogang / Grandmaster — Mentor who diagnoses his incomplete mutation, teaches him to master its drawbacks, and supervises his physical and mental training 14 15 16 61.
• Bai Chenxiang / Yu Feng — Romantic partner. Their bond strengthens during the Pleasure Salvation Society mission; afterward they arrange food-street dates, and Hongjun affectionately calls her “Xiangxiang” 73 79 99.
• Flender — Academy head and mission companion. Helps protect him during the cult operation and defends his disguised weapon before tournament investigators 72 73 133.
• Dai Mubai — Teammate and friendly rival. His Soul Skill development motivates Hongjun to train harder; he also supports the exhausted Hongjun after the Blazing Fire match 52 128.
• Oscar — Teammate and cooking partner. Shares his embarrassing soul incantation to ease Hongjun’s discomfort about revealing his Martial Soul’s defects 48 92.
• Xiao Ruoxue — Arena opponent turned friend. Hongjun defeats her despite their rank gap and later socializes with her and the Black Rose Mercenary Group 22 23 25 27.
• Xiao Wu — Wrongly accuses him of abducting Xiao Ruoxue. Her Charm destabilizes his Evil Fire; the dispute is privately settled through Xie Yue, though resentment remains 27 28.
• Ning Rongrong — Teammate with whom he exchanges insults. Her support is important to his victory over Blazing Fire Academy 42 126 128.
• Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu — Tournament rivals. Huo Wushuang’s renewed challenge draws Hongjun into an overly costly duel; Huo Wu later acknowledges his strength and postpones their rematch until the finals 123 137 138.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Traveling Training and Arena Debut

• Studies the Dharma Sutra, assists Tang San’s smithy, and develops control through Grandmaster’s demanding exercises 16 17.
• Forms a two-person arena team with Tang San. Their intended name, Blue Phoenix, becomes Blue Dream Combo after Hongjun misspeaks during registration 21.
• Wins his first recorded solo match against rank-twenty-eight Xiao Ruoxue by baiting a committed attack and countering with Scarlet Feather Phoenix’s second stage. Grandmaster praises the result but warns against recklessly gambling his life 22 23.
• Spends a year strengthening his foundations at level thirty before traveling to Suotuo City for help obtaining a third ring 34.

Shrek Academy and Soul Ring Hunting

• Joins the group at Shrek, participates in the girls’ fourth admission trial, and trains alongside the expanding team 39 42.
• Insists that his third-ring target provide strong fire attributes, flight, avian characteristics, and phoenix bloodline potential because ring-induced mutations may help correct his Martial Soul 48.
• Gains aerial capability and Phoenix Radiance Skyward, then continues developing his skills after Dai Mubai’s demonstration outshines his own 51 52.
• Enters Grandmaster’s practical-assignment stage after reaching level thirty-six 61.

Pleasure Salvation Society

• Identifies the Pleasure Statue as the cult’s source of influence and draws Duke and Puss away while Yu Feng steals it 72.
• Resists their Song of the Desireless Bird illusion through pain, determination, and loyalty to his mentors. Takes the emergency Nirvana Pill and destroys the fusion skill, but suffers catastrophic meridian injuries 73 81.
• Survives with help from the Phoenix Emperor, Spirit Hall reinforcements, his newly awakened bloodline, and Tang San’s treatment. His outburst also destroys the Soul Tool, costing the group its bounty 73 81.

Herb Refinement and Sunset Forest

• Receives the cockscomb phoenix sunflower, undergoes a dramatic physical and flame transformation, and surprises both his teammates and Bai Chenxiang 92 97 98 99.
• Hunts the King of Earth for his fourth ring, damaging much of the campsite during the fight. The resulting skill supplies his later underground eruption attacks 99 100.

Blazing Fire Academy and the Weapon Investigation

• Replaces Dai Mubai as Shrek’s main attacker against Blazing Fire Academy, using his superior fire quality while Tang San coordinates the team 124 126.
• Overcomes Blazing Fire’s combined finishing attack with the Phoenix Emperor and his sentient fire phoenix. Both sides suffer serious injuries, but Shrek wins; Hongjun then exhausts his recovered Soul Power again to stage a victory display 127 128.
• Faces scrutiny over whether the axe violates tournament rules. Flender claims it is a Martial Soul companion weapon, while Hongjun demonstrates a flame-concealed storage-bracelet trick. Salas and Bai Baoshan recognize the deception but do not expose it, and Salas declares no violation 132 133.
• In the promotion tournament, defeats Huo Wushuang and five more Blazing Fire competitors. After correcting his initial wastefulness, he uses Sun-Bathing Flame Garment and precise control to sustain the run. Exhaustion forces him to hand the final bout against Huo Wu to Tang San 137 138.

Notable Quotes

“I, Ma Hongjun, have plenty of faults, but when it comes to loyalty, I never mess around.” 16

“If I lose control now, won’t all Third Brother’s and Grandmaster’s painstaking efforts have been wasted?” 73

“I, Ma Hongjun, am going to become a phoenix above the nine heavens, the king of all birds! How could I sink so low?” 73