Xiao Hongchen

Biodata

Power Progression

His seven-ring Soul Saint appearance is simulated, not a cultivation breakthrough. Huo Yuhao creates the additional rings and exaggerated Soul Power fluctuations with Simulation 65 66 98.

Appearance

• Exceptionally handsome, with short white hair and an all-white outfit described as whiter than snow 20.
• Frequently poses with his hands behind his back or his face tilted upward while delivering grand declarations 20 22.
• When using his Martial Soul, his body becomes golden, a third golden leg emerges behind him, and golden protrusions rise along his slightly hunched back 33 76.

Personality

Xiao Hongchen is proud, competitive, and conspicuously theatrical. He speaks of carrying the future of Soul Engineering on his shoulders and treats public battles as opportunities to establish his reputation. His showmanship extends to arranging recordings, managing publicity after a defeat, and asking Huo Yuhao to provide dramatic lighting effects 20 33 40.

His confidence rests on sustained effort as well as talent. He studied Soul Tool knowledge from childhood and spent three years building his reputation as the academy’s foremost genius. Nevertheless, independent theoretical study bores him, and his sensitivity to theory falls below both Meng Hongchen’s and Huo Yuhao’s 20 48.

He is welcoming toward Huo Yuhao and increasingly trusts his judgment, even when he is otherwise arrogant toward others. That trust does not always overcome his desire to perform: frustration with spectators’ mockery leads him to insist on fighting Di’ao Academy despite warnings 20 92 93.

After the tournament, he recognizes that displaying strength beyond his actual cultivation made him a target. His grandfather’s warning against sacrificing future potential also tempers his ambition, while winning the championship reduces his fixation on defeating Shrek Academy 113.

Abilities & Skills

Three-Legged Golden Toad

His Martial Soul grants exceptional affinity for metal, allowing him to shape Soul Tools directly rather than painstakingly carve every component 20.

• Melts and reshapes metal using pale golden Soul Power, forming Core Arrays, Soul Tools, and Milk Bottles 20.
• Specializes in precise metal control and integration, producing complete Soul Tools from pure metal powder 103.
• Can rapidly deploy hundreds of cannon barrels; against Di’ao Academy, he creates more than three hundred, none below Level 3 93.
• His metal affinity does not protect his creations from every countermeasure: Li Jie destroys more than a hundred of his Level 5 Soul Tools from a distance 100.

Soul Skills

• Heart of Gold preparation: Attacks need not strike an enemy. He builds marks by clapping with a fly trapped between his fingers, while Huo Yuhao’s Simulation conceals the activation 40.
• Maximum stacking: Ten marks substantially strengthen the Soul Guidance Ray attacks he uses against Ma Rulong and Tiantong Academy 41 66.

Red Clustered Soul Guidance Ray

Xiao Hongchen concentrates numerous Soul Guidance Rays onto one point, producing a powerful crimson beam 33 41.

• Four-ring performance: With Huo Yuhao’s assistance, his attack breaks two Level 6 Impenetrable Shields and approaches Soul Saint-level output 33 41.
• Five-ring performance: With ten Heart of Gold marks and forty percent of his Soul Power, the beam reaches Soul Saint-level power 41.
• Tournament burst: Against Tiantong Academy, he commits nearly ninety percent of his Soul Power. Huang Jinxu intervenes to protect the opposing captain 66.
• Cost: The Tiantong attack leaves him stumbling and barely able to stand after leaving the arena 66.

Coordination with Huo Yuhao

Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing address the spiritual-control demands of Xiao Hongchen’s fighting style 20 66.

• The detailed shared perception reduces his metal-transformation Soul Power consumption by at least thirty percent during their first test 20.
• Upgraded Spiritual Sharing lets Huo Yuhao directly help converge some of his rays, overcoming Xiao Hongchen’s insufficient spiritual power and increasing the energy he can concentrate into one strike 66.
• Simulation disguises his preparations and makes him appear to possess seven Soul Rings, including two red rings 65 66.
• He remains capable without that support, defeating Star Luo National Academy’s opening Soul King in individual combat 103.

Limitations

• Spiritual control: His spiritual power limits how effectively he can coordinate his large number of weapons without assistance 66.
• Disruption: A spiritual Soul Skill freezes him during Di’ao Academy’s attack, preventing him from speaking or activating his Invincible Shield 93.
• Defensive endurance: At rank 52, his Invincible Shield cannot sustain the combined offensive output of six Soul Kings and one Soul Emperor 93.
• Attribute incompatibility: The Ice Empress judges that attempting to absorb the Snow Woman embryo would kill him because he cannot withstand Ultimate Ice remodeling his body 97.

Equipment

• Storage Ring — Holds metal, metal powder, and other materials used for rapid Soul Tool construction 20 100.
• Metal spheres and powder — Bases for the cannon barrels he creates through his Martial Soul and Soul Skills 33 93.
• Invincible Shield — A defensive safeguard he prepares to activate against dangerous attacks 93 100.
• Red Dust Shield — A protective item from his grandfather that he cites when arguing he can safely enter the Di’ao Academy match 93.

Relationships

• Jing Hongchen — Grandfather and teacher. Supports his development but rebukes his posturing and warns him against using foundation-damaging drugs to reach Soul Saint before the next tournament 20 22 113.
• Meng Hongchen — Sister, born to the same parents. Frequently tells him to behave normally; after gaining Assassin abilities, she defeats him in sparring and leaves him with facial bruises 20 70 71 88.
• Huo Yuhao — Junior disciple, research partner, and crucial combat support. Xiao welcomes him into the academy circle, relies on his targeting assistance, and is protected by him during Di’ao Academy’s ambush 20 33 66 93 121.
• Feng Tingting — Publicist and teammate who develops feelings for him after meeting him through Soul Engineer Genius. Records his battles, limits negative tournament coverage, and defends him when the others tease him 33 45 99 113.
• Ma Rulong — Senior rival and team captain. Xiao repeatedly challenges him and seeks to displace him in the academy rankings; Ma Rulong mocks his publicity tactics but recognizes Huo Yuhao’s contribution to his improved performance 33 113.
• Li Jie — Tournament opponent whose abilities counter his metal Soul Tools. Xiao provokes him into entering the individual competition, then yields the stage to Meng Hongchen 100 103.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Academy Rivalry and Research

Introduced as a fourth-year student and Jing Hongchen’s senior disciple, Xiao Hongchen quickly recognizes the Soul Engineering value of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection. Watching Huo’s examination performance gives him the idea of replacing wasteful barrages with precisely converged fire 20 22 25.

He recruits Huo for a two-on-one challenge against Ma Rulong. Although they lose, they force the captain to use his Invincible Shield. After acquiring his fifth ring, Xiao returns with Meng and Huo for a three-on-three rematch; their coordinated attacks defeat Ma Rulong’s side 26 33 40 42.

Continental Soul Fighting Tournament

Xiao’s overwhelming attack against Tiantong Academy establishes him as one of the tournament’s most conspicuous competitors. His simulated seven-ring cultivation attracts intense scrutiny, prompting Xu Jiawei to order an investigation and other teams to coordinate attempts to probe his abilities 65 66 71 74.

After sitting out several matches on Huo’s advice, he insists on fighting Di’ao Academy. Their opponents concentrate their attacks on him, and Huo shields both of them with Red Dust Protection. A teleporting throwing knife nevertheless wounds Xiao’s buttock, leaving destructive Soul Power near his spinal meridians and temporarily restricting strenuous activity 92 93 94.

He gradually recovers before the semifinals. Against Star Luo National Academy, Li Jie neutralizes much of his artillery, but Xiao later wins his opening individual bout and lures Li Jie onto the stage before withdrawing for Meng Hongchen 99 100 103.

In the final against Shrek Academy, his apparent attack baits Dai Yueheng into wasting an Invincible Shield. The academy ultimately wins the championship—the Sun Moon Empire’s first victory in more than eight hundred tournament appearances 107 113.

Post-Tournament Work

Following the victory, Xiao redirects his competitive ambitions toward the Level 6 Soul Engineer rankings. Huo Yuhao subsequently brings both Hongchen siblings into the Ultra-Low-Loss Soul Power Relay Soul Tool project 113 121.

Notable Quotes

“Had heaven not brought forth me, Xiao Hongchen, the art of Soul Tools would endure an eternal night!” 20

“Among the students still at the academy, there are over a dozen Level 6 Soul Engineers and dozens of Level 5 Soul Engineers. I, Xiao Hongchen, can't fear that many!” 40

“When the weak show too much of their edge, they only make themselves targets.” 113