Xiao Hongchen

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Xiao Hongchen grew up under the influence of his grandfather, Jing Hongchen, the master of Mingde Hall. His early achievements attracted national attention: the Mingdu Evening News prominently praised him during academy enrollment, and even Holy Spirit Cult leader Zhongli Wu had remarked on his exceptional soul-engineering talent 2 8 18.

Despite already being a Level 3 Soul Engineer, Xiao entered the Sun Moon Imperial Academy’s new Class One alongside students learning basic core arrays. His grandfather restricted independent work to breaks and after-class hours, delaying permission to attempt a grade-skipping examination 9.

Appearance

• Delicate features and a handsome face that attract female spectators during his assessment matches 8 21.
• Pale blue eyes, shared with his younger sister Meng Hongchen 10.
• Golden light surrounds him when he activates his martial soul, accompanied by the phantom of a Three-Legged Golden Toad 28.

Personality

Xiao is outgoing and quick to become familiar with others. Soon after meeting Xu Cheng, he introduces him as his “buddy,” seats him beside himself, and offers to teach him core-array reproduction. Their friendship is marked by roughhousing, teasing, and Xiao’s increasingly exaggerated nicknames for Xu Cheng’s obsessive studying 8 10 18.

He is proud of his talent and enjoys performing for an audience. Before the freshman assessment, he declares that only he and Xu Cheng deserve to be called geniuses; after defeating Huang Hao, he bows smugly to the cheering spectators. Nevertheless, his pride does not prevent him from accepting defeat: after losing to Xu Cheng, he leaves the arena laughing with him, earning Elder Cheng’s praise for having “the heart of a true powerhouse” 20 21 29.

His loyalty is practical as well as emotional. He threatens Wang Shaojie for insulting Xu Cheng, considers asking his grandfather to take Xu Cheng as a disciple, and attempts to bid on a valuable soul bone for his friend. He is also protective of Meng Hongchen, frequently interrupting or scrutinizing her intimate moments with Xu Cheng 16 21 25 49.

Xiao resents the Sun Moon Empire’s historic defeat and Shrek Academy’s role in it. Hearing that history retold prompts him to vow that he will eventually destroy Shrek with Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Cannons 11.

Abilities & Skills

Soul Engineering

Xiao possesses extensive practical experience before entering the academy, handling workshop machinery and core-array work with practiced ease 9.

• Can reproduce a Level 1 core formation in approximately fifteen minutes while already a Level 3 Soul Engineer 10.
• Supplies Xu Cheng with seven or eight basic core formations covering melee and ranged soul tools 13.
• Understands the operating principles and repair difficulty of Meng Hongchen’s Level 7 Adaptive Soul Tool, although he cannot repair it himself at Level 3 15.
• Calculates opponents’ attack timing and distance precisely; his soul-tool control impresses even fourth- and fifth-year students 21.

Metal Control and Gold Condensation

His first and third soul skills work together to construct cannon barrels around prepared metal spheres, allowing him to assemble a firing position during combat 28.

• Controls metal of any kind 28.
• Deploys nearly a hundred cannon barrels, all at least Level 3, during the freshman final 28.
• Adjusts their aim through his metal control and blankets the entire combat platform with fire 28.

Gold Boiling

His second soul skill increases metal activity, temporarily strengthening his control and drawing metallic elements from the surrounding air 28.

• Activates and powers his massed soul tools in combination with his other skills 28.
• Produces reddish-gold points of light that attach to the cannon barrels as their destructive power builds 28.
• Its heightened control is temporary 28.

Rare-Metal Absorption

• Can absorb energy from certain rare metals to aid cultivation 28.
• His position in the Sun Moon Empire and his grandfather’s resources provide particularly favorable conditions for developing this ability 28.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Storage Soul Tool — Holds the metal spheres used to construct his cannon array 28.
• Level 3 Fixed-Installation Soul Guidance Cannon — Used to threaten Wang Shaojie and scatter his followers. Fixed-installation cannons are prohibited in the assessment itself 21 22.
• Level 7 Self-Charging Invincible Shield — A lifesaving gift from Jing Hongchen. Xiao activates it against Xu Cheng’s barrage in the freshman final and recognizes that being forced to use it means he has lost 29.
• Level 8 Soul Tool — Receives an unnamed tool from Jing Hongchen after the semester’s assessment 30.
• Level 3 Identification Card — Grants access to the academy’s higher-level experimental facilities 13.

Relationships

• Xu Cheng — Roommate, close friend, and strongest rival. Xiao initially offers instruction, then watches Xu Cheng surpass him in research and combat. Their friendship survives the freshman final, and Xu Cheng offers to share the technology behind his drone control 8 14 29 48.
• Meng Hongchen — Younger sister. He accepts her interest in Xu Cheng but becomes conspicuously protective when they show physical affection 15 49.
• Jing Hongchen — Grandfather and major source of instruction, resources, and protective equipment. Jing controls his early academy schedule; Xiao later jokes that he can simply wait to inherit Mingde Hall 9 29 48.
• Lin Jiayi — Freshman homeroom teacher and academy director of studies; teaches Class One and oversees its assessment matches 8 20 28.
• Cheng Baiqing — Respected senior Soul Engineer who praises Xiao’s progress and his gracious response to defeat 21 29.
• Wang Shaojie — Antagonistic schoolmate. Xiao orders him away after he insults Xu Cheng and subsequently threatens him with a cannon 20 21.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Academy Enrollment and the Dagger Repair

• Meets Xu Cheng in their dormitory and welcomes him into Class One, offering to teach him basic core-array reproduction 8.
• Is astonished when Xu Cheng completes his first core formation faster than Xiao could, then learns about Xu Cheng’s Blood Eyes martial soul at the shooting range 10.
• Initially conceals the difficulty of Meng Hongchen’s broken dagger as a prank, but becomes concerned when Xu Cheng spends a month trying to repair it 15 18.
• Mistakes the completed repair for abandonment and returns the dagger to Meng. After learning the truth, he tells her that Xu Cheng had already fixed it 18 25.

Freshman Assessment

• Defeats Huang Hao, a top-ten talent in the year, within two moves 21.
• Reaches the championship final against Xu Cheng after seven days of assessment matches 27.
• Opens the final with nearly a hundred cannons, treating Xu Cheng seriously enough to reveal a previously unused trump card 28.
• Is forced to activate his protective shield against Xu Cheng’s drone barrage. He accepts the loss without resentment, and the two leave the stage together 29.

Three-Year Time Skip and Tournament Preparations

• Advances to sixth-year placement alongside Xu Cheng, while most of their former Class One peers remain in third or fourth year 48.
• Loses interest in an academy tournament when Xu Cheng declines to participate, regarding competition without his strongest rival as merely crushing weaker opponents 48.
• Signs up for the later inter-academy tournament assessment alongside Xu Cheng, Meng Hongchen, and Tang Ya 49.

Notable Quotes

“Of all the students I see, only you and I deserve to be called geniuses!” 20

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll learn it and become stronger than you?” 29

Trivia

• Places twenty-seventh in Shi Xing’s boys’ appearance rankings, behind Ji Juechen in first and Xu Cheng in second; he loudly disputes the result 27.
• Calls Xu Cheng the “King of the Grind,” later upgrading the nickname to “Emperor of the Grind” after witnessing his month-long repair project 18.