Hongjun

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Hongjun once fought Demon Ancestor Luohu alongside Yang Mei and other allies. Luohu had instigated war among the three races to pursue his own attainment, and their coalition stopped him. Afterward, Hongjun attacked his already grievously wounded companions; some died and others fled. He retained the resulting Heavenly Dao merit for himself, facilitating his rise as Dao Ancestor 171 175 184 187.

He became the first being to merge with the Dao and the teacher of the Six Saints. Before Dao Integration, he was already regarded as the Primordial World’s foremost being; afterward, much of his power and standing depended on his relationship with the Heavenly Dao 191 194.

Hongjun distributed treasures to the sages using the Treasure Distribution Rock. He later proposed the Investiture of the Gods, presenting its stated purpose as balancing the factions and reducing losses during the approaching tribulation 85 180.

Appearance

• Purple robes: His characteristic clothing accompanies both his spiritual-consciousness avatar and later personal appearances 82 131 154.
• Profound aura: His presence appears aligned with heaven and earth; facing him is compared to facing the Heavenly Dao itself 131 191.
• Temporarily missing arm: A demonic-space explosion destroys his avatar’s arm. Demonic energy infects the wound and prevents immediate regeneration, leaving one sleeve empty during his visit to Golden Ao Island 81 82.
• Combat transformations: He manifests golden bodily patterns, purple-scaled arms, and purple armor covered in savage, python-like scales 217 231 263.

Personality

Hongjun initially maintains an even, detached demeanor before his disciples. His deepening fusion with the Heavenly Dao reduces his emotional fluctuations, and he regards personal desires as restraints inappropriate to its representative 42 78.

His apparent impartiality gives way to deliberate favoritism. Although he initially cares more about obtaining a result than which sect bears the calamity, he later arranges to rebuild the Interception Sect behind Tongtian’s back and equips its opponents with a training realm 47 51 92. His betrayal of his former allies likewise demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice others for his own advancement 184 187.

He is cautious toward threats he cannot divine, but intensely sensitive to challenges to his authority. Luohu’s return, the theft from Zixiao Palace, and the Heavenly Dao’s protection of Luohu’s altar provoke conspicuous fury. During the renewed war, he is angered more by having been deceived than by the loss of the Four Saints 171 179 181 194 195.

Hongjun also uses righteous language strategically. He frames the campaign against Luohu as a responsibility to protect the Primordial World, though the narration explicitly notes that these words do not necessarily reflect his actual motives 175.

Abilities & Skills

Heavenly Dao Integration

Hongjun draws power and authority from his integration with the Heavenly Dao 150 194.

• Wields Heavenly Dao principles, described as vastly stronger than ordinary sage Dao principles 150.
• Reaches his full Dao Integration strength within the Heavenly Dao Space 150.
• Requires the Heavenly Dao’s approval to enter that space 150.
• Is initially unable to descend personally to the lower realm and instead investigates through avatars and disciples 77 82 92.
• Cannot freely eliminate a variable protected by the Heavenly Dao or disregard its prohibition on intervening before the Investiture concludes 78 152.
• Cannot damage the Heavenly Dao barrier protecting Luohu’s sacrificial altar, even with the Treasure Distribution Rock 195.

Divination and Perception

Hongjun investigates heavenly secrets and detects traces of unfamiliar power 60 75.

• Recognizes that the Interception Sect has disbanded and identifies Lu Feng as its acting manager 43 60.
• Precisely detects five or six kinds of law power lingering on the Four Saints 75.
• Uses Heavenly Dao energy to investigate Luohu and performs calculations concerning Jiang Ziya’s identity 121 171.
• Cannot divine Lu Feng or the concealed heavenly secrets surrounding the Interception Sect’s disciples 60 75.
• Fails to obtain a clear divination of Luohu’s situation before their renewed confrontation 171.

Spiritual-Consciousness Avatars

Hongjun projects a strand of spiritual consciousness into the lower realm while his true body remains at Zixiao Palace 77 82 84.

• His avatar greatly exceeds those of Taishang Laozi and the other Saints, breaking formations that had defeated their incarnations 82.
• Survives the explosion of a demonic space, although the manifestation loses an arm and suffers demonic corrosion 79 81.
• Devil Dao law subsequently appears on his true body’s arm at Zixiao Palace; he removes it with a wave of his hand 83 84.

Immortal Dao and Law Manipulation

Hongjun turns law power and immortal energy into offensive weapons 82 203.

• Creates a longsword from law power to break Golden Ao Island’s formations by force 82.
• Absorbs the devouring law from a formation and incorporates it into that sword. Lu Feng recognizes this as the ability to turn encountered laws to his own use 82.
• Condenses an Immortal Qi Spear capable of piercing space and releasing millions of streaks of sword light 203.
• Uses a second form of primordial unity to manifest a black hole around his body 204.
• Releases destructive and annihilating energy during his battle with Lu Feng 205.

Physical Combat and Recovery

Hongjun combines powerful physiques with high-speed close combat 203 204 212.

• Reveals both a primordial chaos spirit body and a primordial chaos divine body 212.
• Evades sword attacks at speeds that cause Lu Feng’s strikes to miss 204.
• Shatters Lu Feng’s Black Greatsword with a single punch 209.
• Drinks spirit liquid to restore energy, claiming he can replenish himself so long as he survives 204.
• Remains vulnerable to exhaustion, aura-draining restraints, and repeated physical injury 209 212 258.

Thunder, Defenses, and Restraints

Hongjun employs several specialized techniques against Lu Feng.

• Taiyi Divine Thunder: Presented as his signature ultimate art and claimed to counter Lu Feng’s body-tempering techniques 218.
• Purple lightning: Coils around his arm and covers it in purple scales, accompanied by a sharp, overbearing aura 231.
• Golden runic barriers: Layers of law-powered defenses protect him against an attack from behind 233.
• Purple armor manifestation: Purple light forms heavy armor over his skin, bearing densely packed scales 263.
• Chaos Cage: Traps Lu Feng in a restraint Hongjun claims requires Primordial Unity Realm cultivation to escape; Lu Feng nevertheless breaks it 272.
• Tree manipulation: Mystic hand seals energize thousands of trees, causing gigantic tentacles to attack Lu Feng 274.

Treasure Refining and Formations

Hongjun creates cultivation resources and protective arrangements, although his formation mastery is inferior to Lu Feng’s 92 175.

• Refines a purple-gate treasure containing a Secret Realm enhanced with formations, laws, and Heavenly Dao power 92.
• Places wards around the Jade Disc of Creation that alert him when Lu Feng approaches it 181.
• Refines two unspecified treasures into a concealed Space Ring as a contingency against a potentially fatal attack 239.
• Cannot unravel the formation empowering Duobao or reproduce Golden Ao Island’s formation, whose construction he judges to involve Great Dao-level methods 133 145.

Resurrection and Body Reconstruction

Hongjun helps restore Saints whose primordial spirits remain anchored in the Heavenly Dao 160 168.

• Guides the resurrection of Yuanshi and Zhunti after their deaths; the process carries a considerable cost 168.
• Reconstructs the Four Saints’ bodies after the Demonic Qi World disaster 185 187.
• Cannot reverse a true spirit’s entry into the Investiture of the Gods List once the Heavenly Dao has acknowledged it 152.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Treasure Distribution Rock — Formerly used to distribute treasures to the sages. In battle, Hongjun imbues it with Immortal Dao principles; its clash with Luohu destroys hundreds of thousands of li of void 180. He also uses it against Lu Feng and to seize the Investiture merit 193 202.
• Investiture of the Gods List — One of the two treasures he presents for the calamity. He later offers it as part of the terms for Yuanshi’s release 42 131.
• God-Beating Whip — Presented alongside the List and included in the same proposed settlement 42 131.
• Jade Disc of Creation — A Dao-comprehension treasure kept in a warded side hall of Zixiao Palace; Lu Feng’s approach triggers Hongjun’s alarm 181.
• Purple-gate Secret Realm treasure — Refined for the Three Teachings’ disciples and entrusted to Yuanshi to improve their cultivation 92.
• Protective armor — Described as chaos supreme treasure-grade protection. A later appearance reveals archaic armor engraved with ancient runes and radiating concentrated primordial world power 203 217.
• Purple-gold Greatsword — Used repeatedly against Lu Feng; a clash leaves deep cracks in both it and Lu Feng’s weapon 209.
• Ancient Simple Axe — Used during the duel preceding his deployment of Taiyi Divine Thunder 218.
• Golden treasured sword — Bears engravings of ferocious divine beasts and emits a keen, deadly aura 233.
• Spirit liquid — Consumed to replenish his energy during prolonged combat 204.
• Special Space Ring — Contains two hidden, unspecified treasures prepared as a defensive contingency 239.

Relationships

• Tongtian — Disciple whose sect Hongjun attempts to make bear the tribulation. He secretly plans to block Tongtian’s perception while rebuilding the Interception Sect, later restricts his sword formation, and condemns his contact with Luohu as rebellion 51 154 190.
• Heavenly Venerable Yuanshi — Favored disciple and principal agent against the Interception Sect. Hongjun entrusts him with the training realm, intervenes to secure his release, and later guides his resurrection 92 131 168.
• Taishang Laozi — Disciple assigned to rebuild the Interception Sect with Yuanshi and recruited for the campaign against Luohu 51 160 175.
• Jieyin — Disciple who reports the Golden Ao Island formations and joins Hongjun’s campaigns. Hongjun promises him a share of the Investiture merit alongside the other three allied Saints 75 175 191.
• Zhunti — Disciple whom Hongjun attempts to protect from forced investiture. Hongjun cannot prevent part of his primordial spirit from being seized, but later helps resurrect him 150 152 168.
• Nuwa — One of the Saints who addresses Hongjun as Teacher. She invokes his prohibition on Saint participation to rebuke the opposing Saints, while supporting Tongtian’s side 42 152.
• Lu Feng — Unreadable variable who becomes Hongjun’s direct opponent. His schemes repeatedly exploit Hongjun’s suspicions, and Hongjun calls the power behind the Interception Sect his most troublesome lifelong adversary 60 160 176 201.
• Luohu — Ancient sworn enemy. Their original battle nearly destroyed the Western World; Hongjun’s renewed hostility culminates in open war after Luohu’s survival is confirmed 84 157 179.
• Yang Mei and former allies — Former comrades against Luohu whom Hongjun betrayed afterward to monopolize merit. Hongjun later suspects Yang Mei of backing the Interception Sect 184 187.
• Haotian — Addresses Hongjun as Teacher and receives him with deep reverence at the Investiture ceremony 191.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Assigning the Investiture Calamity

• Hongjun summons the Saints to choose which teaching will bear the calamity and reveals the Investiture of the Gods List and God-Beating Whip. Yuanshi and the Western Saints nominate the Interception Sect 42.
• Its prior disbandment makes it ineligible, leaving the Chan Sect and Western Teachings as candidates 43.
• Hongjun secretly orders Taishang, Yuanshi, Jieyin, and Zhunti to reassemble it while he blocks Tongtian’s perception 51 52.
• He questions Tongtian about the disbandment, learns that Lu Feng managed the sect, and discovers that its heavenly secrets are concealed. He then directs Tongtian toward a Dragon-Han-era Secret Realm 59 60.
• The rebuilding effort does not produce the expected result: Hongjun again announces that the Interception Sect is disbanded, silencing Yuanshi before he can expose the earlier arrangement 86.

Investigating the Interception Sect

• Reports of unfamiliar laws and cultivation-enhancing novels prompt Hongjun to investigate personally through a spiritual-consciousness avatar 75 76 77.
• A book draws him into a demonic space that cuts off his Heavenly Dao connection. Its self-destruction badly damages the manifestation and destroys an arm 78 79 81.
• Despite the injury, he enters Golden Ao Island’s defenses and begins breaking them with a law-forged sword, absorbing their devouring law 82.
• Unable to descend in his true body, he supplies the Three Teachings with a training realm and uses them to probe the Interception Sect 92.
• He later intervenes when Yuanshi is trapped, but Lu Feng turns the release into compensation negotiations. Hongjun’s offer of the List and Whip does not satisfy him 130 131 132.

Luohu’s Return and the Renewed War

• Pure Devil Dao laws lead Hongjun to suspect Luohu’s survival. He continues searching while overseeing the Investiture’s arrangements 121 145.
• He fails to prevent part of Zhunti’s primordial spirit from being taken, then intervenes in the war to forbid Tongtian’s Immortal Slaying Sword Formation 150 152 154.
• The God-Slaying Spear explodes in his hand, killing the remaining Chan Sect disciples except Guangchengzi and Daoist Yu Ding. His vow to kill Luohu announces the Demon Ancestor’s return throughout the Primordial World 157.
• Recognizing the return as a trap he cannot avoid, Hongjun restores Yuanshi and Zhunti and leads the Four Saints against Luohu 160 168 175.
• Lu Feng’s false trails lure him away from the Demonic Qi World while the Four Saints enter it. Its destruction accompanies Luohu’s advancement to Dao Integration and leaves Hongjun facing him without those helpers 176 179.

Zixiao Palace Plunder and the Merit Trap

• While Hongjun fights Luohu, Lu Feng loots Zixiao Palace. The wards around the Jade Disc of Creation alert Hongjun, but Luohu prevents his return 181.
• Lu Feng gives Luohu a reforged palace pillar and publicly claims to have completed a mission for him, causing Hongjun to blame Luohu for the theft 183.
• Hongjun reconstructs the Four Saints and promises to use the delayed Investiture merit to heal their injuries and advance their cultivation 185 187 191.
• At the ceremony, he seizes the merit and attempts to distribute it. Lu Feng’s prepared formation instead transfers it to Luohu, who uses it in an altar connecting to the Heavenly Dao 193 194.
• The Heavenly Dao protects the altar against Hongjun and then permits both Luohu and Lu Feng to enter its space, undermining his expectation of exclusive access 195 196.

Direct Battle with Lu Feng

• Lu Feng’s breakthrough destabilizes Hongjun’s Dao and lowers his cultivation by one tier. Hongjun attacks, initiating their extended confrontation 201 202.
• Lu Feng counters the Treasure Distribution Rock with the Pangu Banner and later borrows Tongtian’s Immortal Slaying Sword. Hongjun answers with immortal-energy weapons, armor, and primordial-unity techniques 203 204.
• Neither achieves a lasting victory. Hongjun reveals chaos physiques and Taiyi Divine Thunder, burns his life force for greater power, and inflicts painful soul-energy attacks 212 218 254.
• Lu Feng prevents his attempted retreat with aura-devouring spirit snakes and repeatedly wounds him 258 259.
• Hongjun’s Chaos Cage is shattered. He continues fighting with tree-based attacks and his Greatsword; no final outcome is supplied 272 273 274 275.

Notable Quotes

“While Tongtian is here in Zixiao Palace, I can block his perception of the Interception Sect.” 51

“He should count as the most troublesome opponent I have encountered in my entire life.” 160

“Once a true spirit enters the Investiture of the Gods List, it is acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao and can never leave again.” 152