Jing Hongchen

Biodata

Appearance

• A hale and hearty elderly man with an aged face and a beard that visibly trembles when he becomes excited 4 5 6.
• Develops dark circles beneath his eyes while working late into the night on Soul Tool research 16.

Personality

Jing Hongchen is intensely protective of his family, including Bao Liang after taking him into the Hongchen Clan. He spends freely on the children’s food, medicine, equipment, and cultivation, regarding Bao Liang as worth far more than anything money can buy. His indulgence has firm limits where health is concerned: he restricts Meng Hongchen’s experimental training and refuses an early cultivation boost from Bao Liang because their power difference would make it wasteful and potentially burdensome for the child 6 13 21 23.

His patriotism coexists with distrust of imperial interference. He celebrates Bao Liang’s talents as a breakthrough for the Sun Moon Empire, yet conceals their full extent from both Xu Tianran and Kong Deming. When questioned, he adopts a deferential manner while deliberately understating Bao Liang’s abilities 5 6 9 34 35.

He is practical, proud, and willing to reconsider established ideas. His study contains few luxuries, and he embraces forging once its value to Soul Tool development becomes apparent. Although quick to scold Bao Liang’s irreverence, he supports the children’s inventions and takes decisive action against academy staff who have neglected Ji Juechen 5 22 40 43 58.

Background / History

Taking Bao Liang into the Hongchen Clan

Jing first appears when Bao Liang demands an extravagant repayment from Xiao Hongchen for meat buns bought years earlier. Finding his grandson arguing about money outside the family gate, he brings the children inside 4.

After learning that Bao Liang possesses twin Ultimate Martial Souls, Jing accepts responsibility for his living expenses and cultivation. He also confirms that protection has been arranged for Bao Liang’s orphanage and its steamed bun shop. Recognizing the danger of attracting powerful factions, he orders Bao Liang to conceal his Twin Martial Souls and Ultimate attributes 6.

Rather than immediately obtain Bao Liang’s first Soul Ring, Jing organizes a month of physical conditioning using nourishing food, medicines, and Whale Rubber. He then takes him to the Evil Demon Forest and subdues a 2,500-year Evil Eye Tyrant. When Bao Liang gains an External Soul Bone, Jing briefly struggles with greed, suppressing it by reminding himself that the boy is his granddaughter’s future husband 6 9 10 11.

Meng Hongchen’s Cold Poison

Jing monitors the children’s bodies daily and discovers that Bao Liang’s Ultimate Flame is purifying Xiao Hongchen’s Martial Soul and burning away Meng Hongchen’s cold poison. Privately, he tells Bao Liang that Meng might otherwise die before turning twenty-five 16.

His knowledge of a possible cure comes from a Dugu Family descendant he once took in. Through that connection, he learns about the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot. He entrusts Bao Liang with the descendant’s Immortal Herb Catalogue and promises support for his effort to obtain the herbs 16 18.

Wilderness Training and Imperial Scrutiny

Jing takes all three children to the Star Dou Great Forest for Soul Rings and practical combat experience. Before crossing the border, he reports to Wang Yiheng, explaining that a figure of his political importance cannot simply leave the empire with his entire family without notifying the military 25.

During the expedition, he protects the children while allowing them to fight independently. He equips Xiao Hongchen with Red Dust Protection before a risky Soul Beast hunt, defeats the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, and extracts the External Soul Bone that Xiao subsequently receives 25 27 28.

Wang Yiheng’s report exposes Jing’s concealment of Bao Liang to Xu Tianran and Kong Deming. Jing downplays the boy’s talent before the crown prince, but his teacher sees through the explanation. After an emphatic reprimand involving both ears, Jing reveals Bao Liang’s Twin Ultimate Martial Souls, purification talents, and unusual Soul Ring acquisition 33 34 35 36.

Apprenticeships and Soul Tool Development

Jing approves Meng Hongchen’s apprenticeship under his longtime friend Ye Yulin, while Xiao Hongchen becomes Kong Deming’s disciple. Bao Liang formally acknowledges Jing as his own master—after first joking that he should become Jing’s teacher instead 39 40.

The children’s proposals lead Jing and the other senior engineers to reconsider metalworking and Soul Tool design. Jing connects their forging theory to captured Tang Sect hidden weapons and recognizes Hundred Refinement as a way to overcome material-strength limitations. He later leads the conversion of Meng’s full-body Soul Tools into Battle Armor 39 40 43 69.

After learning that Ji Juechen has been denied years of academy resources, Jing investigates, removes negligent staff, restores the missing resources, and recruits Ji to represent Mingde Hall in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament 58.

Bao Liang’s Health Crisis

Following Bao Liang’s dangerous transformation, Jing receives the healers’ warning that the boy’s body is destroying itself faster than it can recover. He breaks down after hearing the prognosis. When Bao Liang subsequently explains that further Soul Rings can extend his lifespan, Jing joins Xiao Hongchen and Ye Yulin in beating him for frightening them with his apparently imminent death 49 50.

Jing also offers to obtain a Soul Tool to conceal Bao Liang’s Divine Trial mark. Together with Ye Yulin, he plans how to explain Bao Liang’s condition to the imperial family without exposing the heart External Soul Bone 51.

Continental Tournament

Jing accompanies the Sun Moon Team to Star Luo City and backs Bao Liang’s attempt to purchase the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo. The winning bid reaches 150 million Gold Soul Coins, drawing on the elders’ savings. Expecting an attempt to seize the purchase, Jing and Ye Yulin prepare to defend the group 68 71 82 87.

When conflict erupts, Jing carries Bao Liang to safety and joins Ye Yulin in fighting Xuan Zi above the clouds. He initially engages at close range, then switches to sustained ranged bombardment to avoid fighting a close-combat Super Douluo on the latter’s terms 91 92.

Later, Jing takes custody of He Caitou and gives him a healing pill. He rejects Xuan Zi’s accusations over the tournament deaths, arguing that the Sun Moon Team acted in self-defense. After the championship, he reports the capture of Xu He, the former crown prince, who is held beneath Mingde Hall 114 116 122.

Bao Liang’s Disappearance and Return

Jing helps restrain Meng Hongchen from searching recklessly when Bao Liang disappears. He, Ye Yulin, and the family search without finding a clue, leaving Mingde Hall under a pall of anxiety 130.

After Bao Liang returns, Jing witnesses the transformed Dragon Fang and Iron Soldier and hears his account of newly evolved Martial Soul talents and altered Divine Trials 133.

Abilities & Skills

Level 9 Soul Engineering

• Core Array design: Diagnoses unstable formation interactions and demonstrates how buffer gaps stabilize energy conversion in Bao Liang and Xiao Hongchen’s magnetic attraction bomb 22.
• Rapid fabrication: Personally produces three full-body training Soul Tools overnight, selecting an alloy containing Scarlet Demon Adamantine to withstand Bao Liang’s strength 13.
• Battle Armor development: Leads improvements to Meng Hongchen’s equipment using Thousand Refined cold jade metal 69.
• Material limitations: Can create high-level weapons, but their final grade remains constrained by available materials; Meng’s ice rapier is limited to Level 8 for this reason 110 112.

Ranged Combat

• Deploys numerous floating Soul Tools as a mobile artillery platform, including Level 9 Decomposition Cannons, Impact Cannons, and Soul Guidance Rays 92.
• Uses precision cannon fire to subdue a selected Soul Beast for Bao Liang’s first Soul Ring 10.
• Adjusts tactics against Xuan Zi by opening the distance rather than continuing an unfavorable close-combat exchange 92.

Soul Power Control and Protection

• Creates a barrier that blocks both sound and sight around his study 5.
• Conceals his presence while supervising the children’s forest training 25 27.
• Sends Soul Power through a Soul Beast’s corpse to locate an External Soul Bone 28.

Cultivation Guidance

• Assesses physical condition with testing Soul Tools and selects suitable Soul Ring ages based on the recipient’s endurance 10 21.
• Organizes medicinal conditioning, Soul Beast reconnaissance, and specialist healing support 9 23.
• Has accumulated medicine-related bodily impurities through cultivation, a problem he recognizes as common among Sun Moon Soul Engineers 5.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

Personal Equipment

• Red Dust Protection — Self-made Level 9 defensive Soul Tool and his most treasured protective item; automatically activates to block a fatal blow. Lent to Xiao Hongchen before a dangerous hunt 27.
• Iron Fist Soul Tools — Close-combat equipment whose punches generate heat capable of melting gold and iron 92.
• Level 9 ranged arsenal — Includes Decomposition Cannons, Impact Cannons, and Soul Guidance Rays 92.
• Storage Soul Tool and Soul Tool knife — Used to carry equipment and extract the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear’s External Soul Bone 27 28.

Notable Creations and Resources

• Full-body training Soul Tools — Custom weighted suits for Bao Liang, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen 13.
• Level 3 trigger-activated Defensive Soul Tools — Placed on the children before their forest combat training 25.
• Meng Hongchen’s ice rapier — A personally made Level 8 melee Soul Tool whose cold can suppress Ma Xiaotao’s Evil Fire to an extent 110 112.
• Immortal Herb Catalogue — A Dugu Family relic he gives Bao Liang to study 16 18.
• Eighteen Black Dragon Forms — Long Xiaoyao’s cultivation manual and insights, passed to Bao Liang 65.

Relationships

• Bao Liang — Ward, disciple, and prospective grandson-in-law. Jing funds his cultivation, guards his secrets, and formally accepts him as a student 6 9 40.
• Meng Hongchen — Granddaughter. Her cold poison drives his search for treatment, daily health checks, and support for Bao Liang’s purification ability 16 23 35.
• Xiao Hongchen — Grandson. Jing supports his ambition to continue his late father’s combat-artillery path and personally safeguards his dangerous Soul Ring hunt 19 27.
• Kong Deming — Revered teacher. Jing deeply respects him but initially conceals Bao Liang’s abilities even from him, earning a severe reprimand 9 35 36.
• Ye Yulin — Longtime friend and trusted ally. Jing approves him as Meng’s master; the two cooperate in research, family protection, and combat 18 39 51 92.
• Xu Tianran — Political patron and crown prince. Jing belongs to his faction but deliberately withholds information to protect Bao Liang from imperial interference 33 34.
• Long Xiaoyao — Respected acquaintance who has supplied methods for countering Evil Soul Masters. Jing supports Bao Liang becoming his disciple despite Long’s Holy Spirit Cult position 37.
• Ji Juechen — Academy student and tournament recruit. Jing restores his withheld resources and removes the staff responsible for neglecting him 58.
• Xuan Zi — Adversary during the tournament. Jing fights him alongside Ye Yulin and refuses his demands for an explanation over Shrek’s losses 91 92 116.

Notable Quotes

“From today onward, you're one of the Hongchen Clan! Food, clothing, daily expenses, cultivation resources—I, Jing Hongchen, will cover it all!” 6

“Rules are rules. Even Grandpa can't be an exception.” 25

“With Grandpa here, the sky won't fall.” 27