Zhugong

Zhugong is an Earth Virtue cultivator who establishes Grace Covenant Gate after settling near the Purple Smoke Blessed Land. Her protection of the Kong family and alliance with Tinglan draw her into successive disputes across the eastern and northern seas. Her command of the Bestowal of the Crown spell lets her challenge powerful foes, but an impure foundation and a later Veiled Yin wound leave lasting limits on her position. (Chapters 1131–1133, 1192, 1204, 1269, 1337–1338, 1507, 1509–1514)

Biography

Establishing Grace Covenant Gate

Before Zhugong settled near Shiqi, Tinglan described her as a friend who wanted to establish herself there. The Purple Smoke Gate planned to support that move, while Li Ximing weighed the interests of the nearby factions and allowed Tinglan room to arrange it. These early discussions show that Zhugong’s new position depended on a relationship with Tinglan and on careful accommodation with Moongaze. (Chapters 1131–1133)

By Chapter 1192, Zhugong had brought her Eastern Sea followers into the area and was negotiating with Profound Peak Gate. She met Tinglan to discuss Kong Haiying and the Kong family, and proposed marriage ties that included her younger nephew Kong Xiaxiang. Tinglan reminded her that Xuanyi cared for Kong Gumo, and Zhugong hesitated rather than disregard that existing relationship. (Chapter 1192)

By Chapter 1204, reports described Zhugong as having founded Grace Covenant Gate by claiming the Tongxuan Dao lineage and merging with Profound Peak Gate. The new gate promised to aid the weak and unite Tongxuan cultivators; its mountain was renamed Grace Covenant Mountain. Zhugong’s choice to build a regional base through incorporation gave her lineage and subordinates a formal foothold in Jiangnan. (Chapter 1204)

Protecting the Kong family

After Kong Guli died reinforcing the Purple Smoke Gate and most of his descendants were lost, Zhugong went in person to Chunyi Dao Gate to demand justice from Guanghou. She returned by promoting Kong Xiaxiang to a high-ranking Dharma Protector, arranging marriages between surviving Kong members and her own direct line, and personally accepting the youngest surviving Kong youth as a disciple. The honors at Kong Guli’s funeral made her effort to shelter the diminished family visible to the other major houses. (Chapter 1269)

Zhugong’s expertise also became a resource for the Purple Smoke Blessed Land. Tinglan consulted her about Earth Virtue traces around an unusual island and about Kong Haiying’s prolonged seclusion; her advice helped clarify what had happened when Kong Haiying’s supposed later appearances were actually made by Fu En. Her counsel placed her inside the family’s tangled affairs well before she returned to the mainland campaign. (Chapters 1276, 1279)

Fighting at Mount Xiaoshi

Zhugong came from the outer sea, where she had once been labeled a devil cultivator, and she remained wary of the northern Buddhist forces. Even so, she accompanied Kuiqi to find and rescue Tinglan and Ning Wan. When five Merciful Ones surrounded her, she chose to keep fighting rather than abandon the rescue, although she recognized that she could not match their combined strength. (Chapter 1337)

During the battle she used Bestowal of the Crown to shape Majestic Light, feint with a spell, and transform the apparent attack into Heavenly Glow before striking the leading Merciful One with treasure-yellow light and a silver bell. The assault burned out her eyes and a demon-subduing lotus tore open her chest, but her body regenerated the chest wound and she escaped through the great void. The encounter exposed both the force of her technique and the danger of facing several coordinated opponents. (Chapter 1338)

Injury and the Kong family’s next crisis

Zhugong later returned from the outer sea to aid Tinglan at Mount Xiaoshi. After the northern conflict, she withdrew into seclusion while ill; in Chapter 1507, she answered Tinglan from inside her cave, and Tinglan suspected the glimmer of Wei Xuanyin’s dharma artifact had caused a Veiled Yin injury. The wound lingered beneath Zhugong’s skin and threatened to destroy her dharma body. When Li Ximing examined her, he offered to prepare a pill that might help her recover. She was still being treated when last seen. (Chapters 1428, 1507, 1509, 1513–1514)

While recovering, she explained that she had treated the Kong family leniently by pairing its members with the sect’s direct line and sending Kong Guxi to the outer sea for protection. She also understood why Kong Xiaxiang feared the gate’s elders in her absence: without her oversight, they had mistreated him and could use his death to inflame conflict between Purple Mansion cultivators. (Chapters 1509, 1513–1514)

Zhugong then pieced together how Changxi, Sumian, and the Sword Gate had helped Kong Tingyun pursue a breakthrough beneath Xuanmiao Temple. She reasoned that the Wind-Listening White Stone Mountain stabilized the earth veins while Treasure Earth powers concealed Kong Tingyun, leaving her safe from fighting in Jiangbei. Zhugong warned Li Ximing that the breakthrough could shift the political balance and that Wei Xuanyin might shape Kong Tingyun’s view of the conflict; even injured, she remained an important source of strategic judgment. (Chapter 1514)

Appearance and personality

Zhugong is an outer-sea woman whose former boldness and vigor had given way to visible fragility while she recovered from the Veiled Yin injury. She is cautious when faced with unfamiliar enemies, yet she stayed committed to rescuing Tinglan and later showed sharp insight into how the Kong family’s predicament could alter the balance among Daoist lineages. (Chapters 1192, 1337, 1509, 1514)

Abilities and cultivation

Zhugong cultivates Earth Virtue and belongs to the Tongxuan Dao lineage. Her Majestic Earth is impure and carries traces of devil-cultivation methods, while Manifest Earth is harder and more stable. She mixed her cultivation in her early years, changed methods before Foundation Establishment, and retained hidden dangers from that period. (Chapters 1337–1338)

Bestowal of the Crown

Zhugong fortuitously entered the Tongxuan Dao lineage and cultivated Bestowal of the Crown, a pure spell divine ability rather than a technique that reinforces the dharma body. She formed Majestic Light around herself and used spell arts to evade the five Merciful Ones. When they learned how the ability worked, she deliberately shouted as a feint: the apparent Majestic Light turned into Heavenly Glow while her treasure-yellow light and silver bell struck the leader. The ability had won her past contests, but it did not protect her dharma body from blinding attacks or the lotus strike. An opponent who recognized Bestowal of the Crown told the others to stay aloft and avoid touching the ground; doing so eased the pain, and a calm target could avoid severe injury. Coordinated pressure still overwhelmed Zhugong. (Chapter 1338)

Power progression

Relationships

• Li Ximing: Zhugong turns to Ximing for help with her Veiled Yin injury and shares her analysis of the Kong family and the likely political consequences of Kong Tingyun’s breakthrough. Their practical trust gives him access to her strategic knowledge. (Chapters 1509, 1514)
• Tinglan: Zhugong and Tinglan are close friends who coordinated her settlement near Shiqi, negotiated over the Kong family, and later joined in the Mount Xiaoshi crisis. Tinglan also consulted Zhugong about Earth Virtue traces and the Kong family’s past. (Chapters 1131, 1192, 1276, 1279, 1337, 1428, 1509)
• Kong family: After Kong Guli’s death, Zhugong took responsibility for protecting its surviving members, promoted Kong Xiaxiang, and made one of the youngest survivors her disciple. Her later absence left Kong Xiaxiang exposed to pressure within Grace Covenant Gate. (Chapters 1269, 1513–1514)

Items

In the Mount Xiaoshi battle, Zhugong used a small silver bell alongside her Majestic Light and two spirit shields. The bell and shields are not given personal names, and their later custody is not established. (Chapter 1338)