Hongjun

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Campaign Against Luohu

During the First Dragon-Han Tribulation, Hongjun encountered Mu Chen’s clone beside a cliff. Troubled by the devastation of the Primordial World, he could not see how to overcome Luohu’s cultivation, Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, and Demon Sect armies. Mu Chen suggested uniting Luohu’s victims and overwhelming him with numbers. Hongjun thanked him and bestowed the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Arts 6.

Hongjun subsequently joined the Primordial World’s mighty cultivators against Luohu. When Luohu’s Four Swords of Immortal Slaying gave the demonic side an advantage, Hongjun sought Mu Chen’s counsel again. Mu Chen’s comments about the Heavenly Dao brought him enlightenment and dispelled his anxiety about the approaching decisive battle 8 9.

At Mount Sumeru in the west, Hongjun wielded the Jade Disc of Creation against Luohu. He evaded an attack from the God-Slaying Spear, then cooperated with three other combatants to capture the Four Swords and break their formation. Luohu ultimately died beneath the Jade Disc’s full power, earning Hongjun the Heavenly Dao’s favor 10.

Sagehood and the Dao Lectures

After attaining Sagehood, Hongjun invited those with destined affinity to hear him preach beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens in three thousand years. He publicly offered Mu Chen the foremost seat and personal instruction as repayment for his earlier guidance, but Mu Chen declined 10 11.

Hongjun’s first sermon lasted three thousand years and greatly increased the listeners’ strength. When Kunpeng questioned the empty front seat, Hongjun praised its intended occupant’s comprehension of the Heavenly Dao. He withheld Mu Chen’s identity because of the young cultivator’s cautious nature 11 12.

Before his second lecture, Hongjun personally visited Mu Chen’s sea of clouds. Mu Chen again refused, arguing that another person’s Dao could never truly become one’s own. This gave Hongjun a further insight despite his existing Sagehood. He offered an additional lecture for Mu Chen alone, without success 12.

Hongjun delivered three sermons in total. Afterward, all six of his principal disciples attained Sagehood and governed the Primordial World in his stead 13 15.

Nuwa’s Guidance and the Damaged Heavens

During Hongjun’s visit, Mu Chen casually suggested that Nuwa should go outside and “play with mud.” Hongjun interpreted this as a clue to her opportunity for attaining the Dao and sent her to gather divine soil. She missed his second sermon and spent ten thousand years without understanding the task before seeking Mu Chen’s explanation 12 14.

After Gonggong destroyed Mount Buzhou’s heavenly supports, Hongjun ordered Nuwa to mend the heavens. The soil she had collected supplied the material for her five-colored stones. When she later asked about Mu Chen, Hongjun credited him with helping his own attainment and recommended reciprocating his guidance with a gift 21 22.

Houtu and the Human Race’s Rise

When Houtu established reincarnation and became a Sage of Merit, the other Sages wondered who besides Hongjun could have guided her. Their attention turned toward the mysterious cultivator he had previously praised, but Hongjun offered no explanation 24 25.

Hongjun did not intervene in the final Witch-Demon conflict. Following the catastrophe, two sayings attributed to him circulated before a lengthy seclusion: “The Dao is not imparted to nonhumans” and “The teachings are not imparted to six ears.” Mu Chen interpreted the first as instructions to support humanity’s rise, and the second as a rebuke to Six-Eared Macaque for eavesdropping on Dao instruction 30 31.

Appearance

• Before Sagehood: A white-haired old man in gray robes, initially encountered standing sorrowfully at a cliff’s edge 6.
• While preaching: Wears Daoist robes and sits cross-legged on a raised platform, with a serene expression and a presence blending into heaven and earth 11.
• Later presence: Appears to emit no detectable aura while seated in the void. Even Sage Nuwa senses an immense gulf between their strength 22.

Personality

Hongjun’s initial opposition to Luohu is rooted in concern for suffering beings. He is distressed by the slaughter but willing to acknowledge that he lacks a solution. Although Mu Chen considers alternative, self-serving explanations for his campaign, he believes Hongjun’s stated compassion is genuine 6 9.

Hongjun accepts insight from someone far below his cultivation level and repeatedly seeks to repay that help. His esteem for Mu Chen survives multiple rejected invitations, and he refrains from revealing Mu Chen’s identity to curious listeners. He also takes the unprecedented nickname “Old Jun” with amusement rather than offense 9 11 12.

Abilities & Skills

Heavenly Dao Sagehood

• His attainment produces radiant clouds, shakes the four seas, and causes countless beings to prostrate themselves 10.
• Mu Chen believes that, as a Sage, Hongjun can locate people through divination; Hongjun successfully finds his secluded sea of clouds 12.
• His later presence appears seamlessly integrated with heaven and earth, without a perceptible fluctuation of power 22.

Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Arts

• Bestows the arts directly into Mu Chen’s mind with a touch 6.
• The arts enable transformations into the myriad things of heaven and earth and provide superior cloning techniques to Mu Chen’s earlier ability 8.
• Hongjun can sense clones made using the arts he transmitted, allowing him to find Mu Chen during the war 8.

Dao Instruction

• His sermons manifest five-colored light and substantially improve the gathered cultivators’ strength 11.
• Listeners reach realms including Daluo Golden Immortal and Daluo Mystic Immortal during the period of his lectures 13.
• His six disciples possess Primordial Purple Qi and eventually attain Sagehood 14 15.

Coalition Warfare

• Adopts Mu Chen’s numerical-superiority strategy to unite the Primordial World’s cultivators against Luohu 6 8.
• Coordinates the capture of the Four Swords of Immortal Slaying, breaking Luohu’s decisive formation 10.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Jade Disc of Creation — Hongjun’s principal treasure in the battle at Mount Sumeru; its full power kills Luohu 10.
• Four Swords of Immortal Slaying and Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation — Captured from Luohu during the decisive battle. Hongjun later gives the formation to Tongtian 10 42.
• Treasure-Dividing Rock treasures — Most of its spirit treasures are left to Tongtian, described as Hongjun’s most beloved youngest disciple 42.

Relationships

• Mu Chen — Adviser and highly valued fellow Daoist, not an accepted disciple. His remarks help Hongjun organize resistance and gain enlightenment; Hongjun repeatedly offers instruction in return 6 9 11 12.
• Luohu — Mortal enemy whose slaughter prompts Hongjun’s coalition campaign. Hongjun ultimately kills him at Mount Sumeru 6 10.
• Nuwa — Disciple whom he sends to collect divine soil and later orders to mend the heavens 12 14 21.
• Laozi — One of his six disciples; establishes the Human Sect and becomes a Sage 11 15.
• Yuanshi Tianzun — One of his six disciples; establishes the Chan Sect and becomes a Sage 11 15.
• Tongtian — His favored youngest disciple, founder of the Jie Sect, and recipient of the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation 15 42.
• Zhunti and Jieyin — Two of his six disciples; establish the Western Sect and attain Sagehood 11 15.

Notable Quotes

“I behold all living beings without freedom.” 9

“If you are willing to come, I am willing to give an additional Dao lecture for you alone!” 12

Trivia

• Hongjun’s public crediting of the “Method of Gang Fighting” helps turn Mu Chen’s casual tactical advice into a fashionable expression throughout the Primordial World 11.
• His praise of the unnamed Mu Chen spreads widely enough that Houtu recognizes the mysterious adviser from his use of a weak clone and his familiarity with “Old Jun” 23.