Hongyu

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Hongyu began practicing martial arts at thirteen, spending one year on Bright Force and five on her sinews and bones. By Li Xian’s arrival at Dragon Spring Martial Arts Hall, she was Zhou Juechen’s only disciple and helped teach the hall’s students 4 11.

Zhou entrusted her with the hall while he attended Sword Saint Guangyuanzi’s gathering at Canglang Mountain. Although Hongyu wished to attend, she stayed behind because her departure would force the hall—which had been operating for only two months—to close temporarily 2 11.

Appearance

• Slender build and straight limbs: Li Xian recognizes these as signs that her force has penetrated her sinews and bones 3.
• Pretty face: Her face reddens when she recalls having wrongly reprimanded Li Xian for aiming beyond his abilities 41.

Personality

Hongyu values disciplined training and a sound physical foundation. She sharply rebukes Li Xian when she believes he is neglecting basic conditioning to pursue higher realms, and later gives Tang Zhou and Qin Wangchuan a similar reprimand for prematurely aspiring to an Impervious Body. Nevertheless, she appreciates talent and revises her judgment when Li Xian demonstrates his ability 3 4 41.

She is protective of the hall and cautious about decisions beyond her authority. She dismisses its disciples before possible retaliation from Prince Yue’s Residence and refuses to appoint Li Xian as an instructor without Zhou Juechen’s approval. Her sternness also has limits: although angry with Xu Yu Niang for endangering her master and Li Xian, she pities the woman’s suffering and respects her wish for dignity in death 4 30 41.

Abilities & Skills

Azure Jade Fist

• Demonstrates and teaches the Azure Jade Fist, the Five Elements Art’s method for tempering sinews and bones 3.
• Explains its role in developing force control and the use of vibrating force to strengthen the body 3.
• Corrects students’ waist-driven power, kicking strength, and footwork 3.

Hidden Force and Vibrating Force

• Can make the sinews and bones throughout her body resonate to release hard force 4.
• Disperses force transmitted into her arm and uses vibrating force to break Li Xian’s grip 4.
• Leaves Li Xian’s palm red; he acknowledges that her eruption of hidden force could have injured his bones had he not loosened his grip 4.
• Despite her conditioning, loses their spar when Li Xian follows his grip with a sword-finger strike that brushes her neck 4.

Instruction and Hall Management

• Teaches twenty to thirty disciples alone while Zhou Juechen is away 4.
• Explains cultivation’s financial, access, and endurance barriers, including the need for medicinal nourishment 2 3.
• Authorizes three daily bowls of Eight-Treasure Soup for Li Xian, along with food and living expenses, while reserving the instructor appointment for her master 4.

Relationships

• Zhou Juechen — Her master. He entrusts her with the hall’s affairs; she worries about his decision to risk his life at the Dragon Gate Convention 2 11 44 48.
• Li Xian — Initially her student in the Azure Jade Fist. After he defeats her in a spar, she supports his training and becomes an increasingly astonished witness to his growth 3 4 11 41.
• Elder Zhou — Li Xian’s scholarly teacher and Zhou Juechen’s third granduncle. Hongyu discusses Li Xian’s talent and political predicament with him 2 10.
• Tang Zhou and Qin Wangchuan — Junior disciples she instructs and disciplines, particularly when they let Li Xian’s achievements inflate their own expectations 3 41.
• Xu Yu Niang — A prisoner Hongyu seizes on Zhou Juechen’s orders. Hongyu later hears her final apology and the location of the Xu Family’s legacy 31 41.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Li Xian’s Early Training

• Recognizes Li Xian as one of Lijiang’s Four Great Talents and brings him to Zhou Juechen 2.
• Warns Zhou that intervening in Li Xian’s marriage predicament could involve a marquis’s household, a commandery prince’s heir, and an Immortal Seedling 2.
• Teaches Li Xian the Azure Jade Fist and urges him to strengthen his body before pursuing Blood Exchange and Marrow Washing. Her criticism prompts him to refocus on his deficient physical foundation 3.
• Loses decisively when he challenges her to a spar, then grants him increased medicinal support. She begins anticipating his emergence as a martial talent comparable to Lijiang’s leading young fighters 4.

Recognition and Political Danger

• Tells Elder Zhou that Li Xian’s talent exceeds the rumors and even surpasses Zhou Juechen’s natural gifts. She also praises his uninterrupted training 10.
• Discusses the households’ refusal to register Li Xian’s marriage, then grows worried when Elder Zhou explains the Dragon Gate Token scheme and its danger to him 10.
• Plans to consult her master before warning Li Xian in detail, but discovers that Li Xian has already completed internal organ refinement and begun blood exchange and marrow washing 11.
• Explains the standing of higher martial ranks and encourages him to attend the Canglang Mountain gathering while she remains at the hall 11.

Retaliation and Xu Yu Niang’s Death

• Dismisses the hall’s disciples to keep them out of possible retaliation after the Canglang Mountain conflict, then accepts Zhou Juechen’s instruction to keep watch 30.
• Seizes Xu Yu Niang when Zhou suspects that she has concealed information about the Thirteen Eagles of Luoyang 31.
• After the Eagles’ defeat, informs Xu Yu Niang that all thirteen are dead. Xu reveals that her family’s remaining legacy lies beneath a locust tree six li outside the north gate 41.
• Realizes Xu has taken poison and ultimately leaves her to preserve her final dignity. After Xu dies, Hongyu informs Zhou Juechen and relays the location of the legacy 41.

Dragon Gate Convention

• Accompanies Zhou Juechen and Li Xian to Asking the Dao Mountain after half a month of travel covering more than two thousand li 44.
• Stays in the courtyard arranged for Li Xian and worries about her master’s chances, noting that thirty-two Impervious Body experts are competing while only three tokens are effectively available 46 48.
• Watches in stunned disbelief when Li Xian challenges Yan Yu on the Five-Element Platform 50.

Notable Quotes

“Without completing external training, how can you strengthen yourself internally? Without strong internal organs, how can you exchange your blood?” 3

“Martial arts let you defy heaven and change your fate, but not everyone has that opportunity. Ordinary people need their entire clan to lift them up.” 3