Wu Junyi

Wu Junyi, usually addressed as Director Wu, is the National Eastern University's Director of Teaching Affairs and an eighth-rank Adept whose King Kong Baboon transformation makes him one of the institution's strongest defenders. He recognizes the educational value of Lan Jue's etiquette teaching, maneuvers to keep him attached to the university, and supplies the institutional support for the A.R.C. program. His shrewd recruitment and publicity are balanced by genuine responsibility: on Taihua he fights an alien creature, searches for scattered teachers, and evacuates the majority when saving everyone becomes impossible. (Chapters 42–44, 98–100, 131–156, 219–250, 323–348, and 511)

Biography

A skeptical director becomes an advocate

Wu first attends Lan Jue's new etiquette class expecting it to fail. At fifty-five, with a stern reputation and responsibility for teaching affairs, he sees little practical value in an elective that has attracted almost no students. The lecture changes his judgment. Lan Jue connects etiquette with discipline, responsibility, and public service, and Wu begins nodding along before the class ends. He subsequently praises the course, offers Lan Jue a path toward a broader ethics class and full professorship, and schedules more sessions as student demand grows. (Chapters 42–44 and 98)

His support is rarely disinterested. Wu understands that an unusual teacher can strengthen the university's reputation, and he repeatedly arranges circumstances meant to keep Lan Jue engaged, including pairing him with Tan Lingyun or approving people and resources he requests. The maneuvering can be intrusive and comic, but it also gives Lan Jue room to teach without exposing every part of his identity. Wu handles complaints, protects the lecturer from misunderstandings, and treats educational results as more important than the etiquette course's unconventional label. (Chapters 98–100, 132, and 323–348)

Command responsibility on Taihua

Wu leads forty teachers on the Taihua retreat and organizes their transport, supplies, groups, and safety instructions. When alien creatures attack, he immediately shifts from administrator to defender. His King Kong Baboon transformation lets him destroy a mantislike beast that has already killed a teacher, after which he returns to gather survivors rather than pursuing combat for its own sake. (Chapters 131–136)

The retreat forces a harder decision. With most teachers assembled, Lan Jue, Wang Hongyuan, and Tan Lingyun remain outside while another creature approaches. Wu wants to search, but Tan Lingyun runs back first and leaves him responsible for everyone still in the cabin. He orders evacuation because protecting the majority is the only viable choice. The narration explicitly frames that choice as his duty as teaching director, not cowardice; he cares about the missing teachers but cannot abandon dozens of others. Once home, he orders staff to rest and checks on Lan Jue's recovery. (Chapters 136–156)

Building A.R.C. and protecting its students

Wu seizes the opportunity when Lan Jue demonstrates that extreme instruction can develop the university's pilots. He gives the new A.R.C. class logistical backing, arranges West Hill facilities, and accepts Lan Jue's operational control over the program. His eagerness earns him the label of an old fox, but the result is a course with resources, secrecy, and freedom that a visiting instructor could not have created alone. (Chapters 219–250)

After the initial training succeeds, outside military interest threatens to turn the students into assets purchased through the university. Lan Jue warns that accepting payment could bind them to organizations they did not choose. Wu listens, recognizes the possibility of an information leak and external pressure, and agrees to delay commitment while assessments continue. He is commercially and institutionally ambitious, but the warning causes him to preserve the students' options rather than immediately sell the program's success. (Chapters 323–330)

He also uses the program for publicity. After Lan Jue's tournament identity becomes public, the university promotes A.R.C. results, expands facilities, and attracts applicants from far away. Wu even makes a clandestine trip to Lir to seek another competition and calls in media once the story spreads. This opportunism benefits the institution and burdens staff with attention; it remains one of his defining tensions. His latest substantial action is described in Chapter 511, where those publicity efforts and competitive plans continue while the A.R.C. instructors train their students. No later chapter resolves his personal fate. (Chapters 454, 465, and 510–511)

Appearance and personality

Wu is fifty-five at introduction, conservatively dressed, with cold, piercing eyes and a severe expression suited to a disciplinary director. His deep voice can silence a classroom or auditorium immediately. In relaxed moments he smiles, jokes, or quietly enjoys the arguments he has arranged, revealing more warmth and mischief than his public face suggests. (Chapters 42–44, 98–100, 131–132, and 179)

He is stern, pragmatic, shrewd, and intensely invested in his university. He can exploit reputation and engineer social situations, but he also changes his mind when a teacher proves educational value, accepts correction when institutional money threatens student choice, and risks himself for employees on Taihua. His decisions consistently join care with administration: even heroic impulses are constrained by responsibility for the larger group. (Chapters 42–44, 98–156, and 219–348)

Disciplines and abilities

King Kong Baboon transformation

Wu is an eighth-rank Adept whose Discipline transforms him into a six-meter King Kong Baboon covered in dark copper light. The form grants enormous strength, durability, leaping power, and the ability to form and throw concentrated golden energy. On Taihua he breaks an alien's limbs, withstands repeated blade strikes, and destroys it with a ranged projectile. (Chapters 135–136)

The transformation has explicit limits. It cannot fly, and the alien's violet poison gradually numbs Wu despite his ability to resist it for a time. He compensates for flight with decades of experience and a projectile attack, but continued Discipline expenditure would worsen the poisoning. His victory demonstrates mastery and tactical adaptation, not immunity to the environment or unlimited endurance. (Chapter 136)

Institutional command

Wu can impose order through voice, authority, and rapid delegation. He organizes retreats, competitions, faculty responses, security, training facilities, and media strategy. These are administrative abilities rather than a combat Discipline, and their effects depend on cooperation from the dean, faculty, military facilities, and instructors such as Lan Jue, Tan Lingyun, and Wang Hongyuan. (Chapters 98–100, 131–179, 219–250, and 323–511)

Relationships

• Lan Jue: Wu moves from skepticism to active sponsorship after hearing his first lecture. He supplies institutional resources and protects Lan Jue's place at the university, while also manipulating schedules and publicity to keep a uniquely valuable teacher close.
• Tan Lingyun: Wu supervises the forceful mecha instructor, trusts her combat strength, and often tries to moderate her impulsiveness. On Taihua, her decision to search for the missing teachers leaves Wu to evacuate the majority.
• Wang Hongyuan: One of Wu's teachers and hidden combat assets. The university permits Wang to continue teaching under conditions, and Wu later supports the A.R.C. program Wang helps lead.
• National Eastern University: The university is the center of Wu's ambitions and duty. He protects its people, cultivates its reputation, and sometimes risks overcommercializing success in pursuit of institutional advancement.

Items

No separately cataloged notable items are associated with Wu Junyi.