The First Marquis of Daxuan

The Great Celestial Venerable is known to almost everyone in the mortal realm.

The title of the Great Heavenly Venerable was naturally very familiar to the Nine Heavenly Venerables.

Apart from the Heavenly Thief and the Heavenly Congratulations, who already knew about this news, all the other Heavenly Venerables showed expressions of shock.

"Su Mu, are you saying that the Thousand-Faced Buddha is the legendary Great Celestial Venerable? How is that possible?"

Cat Nine couldn't help but say, "Even if the Great Celestial Venerable isn't dead, he should be asleep right now. How could he possibly be the Thousand-Faced Buddha?"

Mao Jiu, along with the Seventy-Two Sages of yesteryear, has been trying to use the Heavenly Mandate Divine Weapon to awaken the Great Heavenly Venerable.

Now Su Mu is telling it that the Great Celestial Venerable doesn't need to be awakened at all, but has always been active in the world. So what was the purpose of all their efforts and sacrifices over the years?
Wouldn't that all turn into a joke?

"No, the Thousand-Faced Buddha is just a Heavenly Fate Realm martial artist, how could he possibly be a Great Heavenly Venerable?"

Lei Tianzun and the others also did not believe in the underground passage.

"You just fought him personally. Are you sure he's just an ordinary Heavenly Fate Realm martial artist?"

Su Mu said calmly.

All the celestial beings fell silent.

The strength displayed by the Thousand-Faced Buddha was indeed beyond that of ordinary Heavenly Fate Realm martial artists, and the Thousand-Faced Buddha seemed to be very familiar with the martial arts practiced by each of them.

If the other party is truly a Great Celestial Venerable, then this matter can be explained.

The Great Celestial Venerable is the founder of martial arts. The martial arts that are prevalent in the world today were basically created by the Great Celestial Venerable.

Although martial arts have evolved over the years, their origins are all the same: the Great Celestial Venerable.

It's quite normal for the Great Celestial Venerable to be familiar with the martial arts practiced by these Celestial Venerables.

but--

The celestial beings still refused to believe it was true.

"Su Mu, why do you say that the Thousand-Faced Buddha is the Great Celestial Venerable? Do you have any evidence?"

The Ancient Celestial Venerable asked in a deep voice.

"Is it important?"

Su Mu shook his head and said, "Whether the Thousand-Faced Buddha is a Great Celestial Venerable or not, it doesn't affect his relationship with us."

Although we do not know his purpose, he killed Zhu Tianzun and may have killed many more people. In any case, we must stop him.

I'm telling you he might be a Great Celestial Venerable just to put you on your guard.

This time, we are facing no ordinary opponent. If we let our guard down even slightly, we risk utter defeat.

All the celestial beings fell silent.

Although Su Mu's words made sense, they still found it hard to accept this reality.

For many martial artists, the Great Celestial Venerable is their idol.

The Great Celestial Venerable single-handedly paved the way for martial arts, and those who come after him will be grateful to this pioneer.

Now they're being told that the Great Celestial Venerable might be a bad person—how can they accept that?

"Okay, let's say the Thousand-Faced Buddha really is the Great Celestial Venerable. He knows everything we know, but we don't necessarily know everything he knows. How are we supposed to fight this battle?"

Lei Tianzun said in a deep voice, "Moreover, we don't know how many people in the Yang Realm will stand on the side of the Great Heavenly Venerable. Without knowing ourselves or our enemy, we have absolutely no chance of winning."

“That’s right. If the Thousand-Faced Buddha is really the Great Celestial Venerable, how do you know if he has secretly cultivated any forces after being active for so many years? The Azure Sky Sect, the Martial Sect, the True Saint Sect, any of these sects could be his people.”

The Ancient Celestial Venerable also spoke up, saying, "If the news of the Great Celestial Venerable's reappearance spreads, the situation you've painstakingly built will likely crumble immediately."

The Great Celestial Venerable has a special status, and he certainly has many supporters in the mortal realm.

Once he reveals his identity and steps forward, Su Mu's prestige as the Lord of Yang will definitely be greatly affected.

Su Mu's gaze swept over Lei Tianzun, Gu Tianzun, and the others.

Although these Celestial Venerables did not say it explicitly, Su Mu could tell that they were afraid.

The mighty Celestial Venerables are now filled with fear; before the battle even begins, they have already lost half the battle.

Su Mu had considered that the Great Celestial Venerable would have a great deterrent effect, but he did not expect that the Great Celestial Venerable's deterrent effect would be this great.

Even Lei Tianzun showed signs of backing down.

Su Mu couldn't help but glance at Dao Tianzun and He Tianzun.

These two had long known that the Thousand-Faced Buddha might be the Great Celestial Venerable. Instead of being afraid, they secretly plotted to seize the transcendence method from the Great Celestial Venerable.

How did these two guys overcome their psychological barriers?
"Lord Thief, you are most familiar with the Thousand-Faced Buddha, so why don't you tell everyone whether we have any chance of winning against him?"

Su Mu spoke slowly.

These nine Celestial Venerables are the most powerful force in Su Mu's hands. If they back down, some of Su Mu's plans will be difficult to continue.

Therefore, he had to remove the obstacles in the minds of Lei Tianzun and the others.

"Have!"

Without hesitation, Thief Celestial said, "Not only do they exist, but they're also quite large!"
Gentlemen, think about it: why doesn't the Thousand-Faced Buddha dare to reveal that he is the Great Celestial Venerable?
Is there something shameful about the identity of the Great Celestial Venerable?

Or is it that he has some unspeakable secret, so he can't let people know that he is the Great Celestial Venerable?

Whatever the specific reason, we can be certain that he did not want people to know that he was the Great Celestial Venerable.

Moreover, based on our experience fighting him, his current strength is not that of the Great Celestial Venerable of yesteryear.

My guess is that he might have some connection to the Great Celestial Venerable, but he is definitely not the Great Celestial Venerable of yesteryear.

"Even if we take a step back and assume that the Thousand-Faced Buddha really was the Great Celestial Venerable of that time, times have changed and martial arts have evolved rapidly over the years. Our strength may not be much worse than his."

"What do we have to be afraid of, everyone?"

He Tianzun also spoke up.

Only then did Lei Tianzun and Gu Tianzun exchange a glance, and a bitter smile appeared on their faces.

"That's right. Since we're already enemies, we shouldn't care who they are or how powerful they are. If they want to fight, then let's fight."

The ancient Celestial Venerable said, "After being Celestial Venerables for so many years, we have actually forgotten the original purpose of cultivating martial arts."

"Don't worry, Su Mu, we won't hold you back."

Lei Tianzun said solemnly, "Regardless of whether the other party is a Great Celestial Venerable or not, we will not allow him to act recklessly in this world!"

"now it's right."

Su Mu smiled slightly and said, "I told you that the Thousand-Faced Buddha might be the Great Celestial Venerable, not to discourage you."

Now that everyone has recovered, it's time for us to go.

"Should we go now? Where to?"

The celestial beings asked the question.

"Let's go and meet this legendary Great Celestial Venerable."

Su Mu smiled faintly, "The Mirror of Reflection should give him a huge surprise."

Before he finished speaking, Su Mu took the lead, soaring into the sky and flying in one direction.

The nine Heavenly Venerables followed suit.

Du Rongcheng hesitated for a moment, but finally gritted his teeth and chased after them from a distance.

He didn't know if Su Mu had forgotten that he was there, but he had heard Su Mu and the others' conversation.

Is the Thousand-Faced Buddha a legendary deity in the Saha world?
This is huge news!

It's unknown whether Su Mu and this Great Celestial Venerable will fight to the death.

Who knows, Du Rongcheng might actually reap the benefits.

Thinking of this, Du Rongcheng disregarded the danger and chased after them from a distance.

…………

A figure descended from the sky and landed heavily on the ground.

He staggered and nearly fell to the ground. Although he managed to steady himself, he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he revealed a ferocious smile.

"Interesting. A mere Heavenly Fate Realm cultivator was actually able to injure me."

He muttered to himself, "I haven't felt this way in so many years. It hurts, but it feels so good."

With a flick of his wrist, an antique mirror appeared in his palm.

"With this mirror that reflects my heart, I can find my scattered soul."

The Thousand-Faced Buddha's eyes shone with an alarming light as he muttered to himself, "Back then, in order to take that final step, my main body went into a deep sleep, while my consciousness split and reincarnated to undergo trials."

Over the years, even I have been unable to find the divine soul that I separated from myself.

Therefore, I must rely on the Mirror of the Mind to awaken my separated souls.

Only when my soul and spirit are united can I be the complete Great Celestial Venerable.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and a smile appeared on his face.

“Those two divine souls had their own consciousness and were unwilling to merge with me again, so I killed them.”

The Thousand-Faced Buddha's gaze fell upon the Heart-Reflecting Mirror, his pupils flashing with a cold light.

His soul has been reincarnating for so many years, who knows what might happen to it.

However, with this mirror that reflects his mind, he was able to retrieve his soul piece by piece.

"I am the main soul. As long as I retrieve all those fragments of the divine soul, I will be the Great Celestial Venerable!"

The power within the Thousand-Faced Buddha surged and entered the Mirror of Reflection.

A faint white light began to emanate from the surface of the mirror.

The white light was very weak at first, but it quickly became stronger.

A few breaths later, the white light had become extremely dazzling.

The Thousand-Faced Buddha was filled with excitement, muttering to himself.

"Come on, come on, let me see where the next 'me' is!"

The thousand-faced deity activates the mirror that reflects the heart.

Just at this time.

Suddenly, a beam of white light shot out from the surface of the Mirror of Reflection.

The white light instantly transformed into an enormous fist, which slammed into the chest of the Thousand-Faced Buddha with a resounding boom.

The Thousand-Faced Buddha was fully focused on activating the Heart-Reflecting Mirror and was completely unprepared for this attack.

With a crack, his ribs broke, and he was sent flying backward, crashing heavily to the ground with a thud.

Even the mirror that reflects one's mind slipped from one's hand and landed in the palm of another's hand.

A dazzling white light slowly coalesced into a human figure.

The figure's face was exactly the same as Su Mu's.

He held the Mirror of Reflection, looking at the thousand-faced deity leaping up with a half-smile.

Almost simultaneously, figures descended from the sky.

Su Mu and the Nine Heavenly Venerables also appeared at this moment, surrounding the Thousand-Faced Buddha in the center.

The Thousand-Faced Buddha spat out a mouthful of blood, and with a series of cracking sounds, the broken bones began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Twice now, Su Mu, you have injured me twice."

The Thousand-Faced Buddha's gaze fell on Su Mu, and he spoke coldly.

"It's a pity I couldn't kill you either time. You are indeed very strong."

Su Mu said calmly, "I just don't know if you can escape from me this third time." "You think you can kill me?"

The Thousand-Faced Buddha said coldly.

"Just us."

Su Mu said slowly, "If you surrender now, we might be able to talk. Otherwise, once we start fighting, swords have no eyes, and I'm afraid you'll die without a burial place."

"You're the first person to dare threaten me to my face."

The Thousand-Faced Buddha chuckled coldly and said, "Su Mu, it seems you don't know who you're facing."

If you knew who I was, you wouldn't dare speak like that.

How do you know I don't know who you are?

Su Mu smiled faintly and said, "You forgot, I personally crafted the Heart-Reflecting Mirror."

Do you think I don't know what its real function is?
"Tell me, am I right, Great Celestial Venerable?"

The Thousand-Faced Buddha's pupils suddenly contracted.

"No, you shouldn't be the Great Celestial Venerable."

Su Mu laughed and continued, "You should just be a wisp of evil thought from the Great Celestial Venerable?"

"presumptuous!"

The Thousand-Faced Buddha roared, "Su Mu, you're courting death!"

"Come and kill me."

Su Mudao.

Before he could finish speaking, he had already struck first.

He held the Heart-Reflecting Mirror upside down, and a beam of white light instantly fell upon the Thousand-Faced Buddha.

In an instant, the light and shadow on the mirror of the Heart-Reflecting Mirror became chaotic, and scene after scene flashed by.

That was the life of the Thousand-Faced Buddha.

The mirror of the heart can reflect a person's inner self and also their past and present lives.

All the imprints in one's soul will be revealed under the mirror of the mind.

The Thousand-Faced Buddha wanted to use the Heart-Revealing Mirror to find the scattered fragments of his divine soul, but unexpectedly, his own life experiences were also directly reflected by Su Mu using the Heart-Revealing Mirror.

It's too late, but it's soon.

With a roar, the Thousand-Faced Buddha lunged at Su Mu.

In an instant, an enormous Dharma image appeared behind him.

Just as the Thousand-Faced Buddha was making his move, the Nine Heavenly Venerables also made their move once again.

Rumble!
A series of forces formed barriers in front of Su Mu, directly blocking the Dharma form of the Thousand-Faced Buddha.

Amidst the deafening roar, the Thousand-Faced Buddha staggered back several steps.

The nine Heavenly Venerables all showed joy on their faces at the same time.

Previously, when they fought against the Thousand-Faced Buddha, even when all nine of them attacked at the same time, the Thousand-Faced Buddha was not at a disadvantage at all, and could even move freely.

This was the first time that the Thousand-Faced Buddha had been defeated in a direct confrontation.

The nine Heavenly Venerables were all experienced in battle, and they realized it in an instant.

The Thousand-Faced Buddha may have used special methods to achieve that level before, but now that he has been injured twice by Su Mu, his strength is no longer comparable to his previous peak.

Take advantage of his illness and kill him.

The nine celestial beings made a sudden and forceful move.

On the other side, Su Mu was not idle either. He flipped the Heart-Reflecting Mirror and continuously projected the inner thoughts of the Thousand-Faced Buddha.

In this way, all of the attacks of the Thousand-Faced Buddha were projected into the air in advance, and the Nine Heavenly Venerables gained the upper hand whether they dodged or launched targeted attacks.

Even the Heavenly Thief and the Heavenly Congratulatory Lord hadn't expected that the Heart-Reflecting Mirror could have such a use.

With the Mirror of the Mind to foresee the Thousand-Faced Buddha's movements, the Nine Heavenly Venerables completely suppressed the Thousand-Faced Buddha in just a few breaths.

The Thousand-Faced Buddha's face showed both surprise and anger, but no matter what he did, the Heart-Reflecting Mirror could reflect his thoughts.

Especially after Su Mu exposed his true identity, his mind was in complete turmoil.

"I will settle this score with you for the humiliation I have suffered today. I will definitely return!"

The Thousand-Faced Buddha roared.

"Everyone, be careful!"

Su Mu shouted.

Before he finished speaking, a huge mushroom cloud appeared in the mirror.

In the blink of an eye, the nine Heavenly Venerables retreated simultaneously.

At that moment, the body of the Thousand-Faced Buddha exploded.

A huge mushroom cloud appeared in the sky, exactly like a reflection in a mirror.

The Thousand-Faced Buddha actually self-destructed.

The towering shockwaves were so intense that even the celestial beings were unable to approach the epicenter of the explosion for a time.

The shockwave lasted for the duration of an incense stick burning.

After the shockwave subsided, the area within a radius of dozens of miles was a scene of devastation.

The Thousand-Faced Buddha has also disappeared.

"he died?"

The Ancient Celestial Venerable looked at the battlefield and said in a deep voice.

"do not know."

Lei Tianzun and the others shook their heads and looked at Su Mu.

On the surface, the Thousand-Faced Buddha does appear to be dead.

But who knows?
They had just seen the identity of the Thousand-Faced Buddha through the Mirror of the Heart.

The Thousand-Faced Buddha was formed from a wisp of evil thought of the Great Celestial Venerable. He reincarnated in the world for many lifetimes until this one, when he awakened some of the Great Celestial Venerable's memories, and thus he stirred up trouble in the dark.

The Celestial Venerables even witnessed the Thousand-Faced Buddha devouring the souls of Zhu Tianzun and Wu Zu.

What they couldn't have imagined was that Zhu Tianzun and Wu Zu were actually reincarnations of fragments of the Great Heavenly Venerable's soul.

In a sense, both Zhu Tianzun and Wu Zu can be considered Great Celestial Venerables!

The Thousand-Faced Buddha was able to possess the power to contend with the Nine Heavenly Venerables precisely because he devoured the souls of Zhu Tianzun and Wu Zu.

Given their circumstances, they found it hard to believe that the other party could die so easily.

"He's not dead."

Su Mu slowly said, "He is a wisp of evil thought of the Great Celestial Venerable. As long as the Great Celestial Venerable does not die, he will not die."

Su Mu's words made all the Celestial Venerables frown.

After all that effort, you still couldn't kill your opponent?

"However, he has been severely weakened this time, and it will take him at least several decades to make a comeback and stir up trouble."

Su Mu said, "What I'm worried about now is that if he finds the other fragments of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul, there's a high chance that an evil and powerful monster will be born."

The celestial beings looked at each other in bewilderment.

What they had just seen in the mirror was still unsettling them.

Who would have thought that the Great Celestial Venerable would actually sever his divine soul into countless fragments and then cast it into the cycle of reincarnation?

These fragments of divine soul completely forgot their identity as the Great Celestial Venerable, transforming into individual people and experiencing their own lives.

This cultivation method was simply unheard of; just seeing it gave one a chilling feeling.

It should be noted that once those fragments of the divine soul become independent individuals, they are very likely unwilling to revert back to the status of a Great Celestial Venerable.

In other words, if things go wrong, the Great Celestial Venerable might never be able to come back to life.

What kind of will led the Great Celestial Venerable to choose this path of cultivation?

Even a Great Celestial Venerable cannot guarantee that no accidents will occur during this cultivation process; it is essentially a high-stakes gamble.

Even the Great Celestial Venerable himself probably didn't expect that a wisp of his evil thought would actually take human form and even try to devour his soul fragments to take his place.

If the Thousand-Faced Buddha succeeds, then the Great Celestial Venerable will completely disappear, and in its place will be a Great Celestial Venerable filled with nothing but evil thoughts.

"Su Mu, can you use this Heart-Reflecting Mirror to find the fragments of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul?"

Lei Tianzun looked at Su Mu and said in a deep voice.

The other celestial beings all avoided eye contact.

They're starting to panic a bit.

Zhu Tianzun and Wu Zu were reincarnations of fragments of the Great Heavenly Venerable's soul. Could there be other beings like them among them?
The thought that they were not themselves, but fragments of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul was hard for the Celestial Venerables to accept.

If the Mirror of the Heart really reveals that they are reincarnations of fragments of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul, what should they do?
Abandoning this life's identity and returning to the status of the Great Celestial Venerable?

No, absolutely not!

If they were to return to being the Great Celestial Venerables, they would no longer be the same people they are now.

Su Mu glanced at everyone, and he naturally knew what they were thinking.

There's no need to even ask; the Celestial Venerables would absolutely not want to be examined by the Mirror of the Heart.

Not to mention them, even Su Mu couldn't accept it.

"Theoretically possible, but practically unlikely."

Su Mu said slowly, "There are billions of living beings in the Yang Realm. Even if I were to exhaust myself, I couldn't do it by using the Heart-Reflecting Mirror to examine each one of them."

Even with the addition of the armillary sphere to amplify the power of the Heart-Reflecting Mirror, this is still impossible.

Not all of the fragments of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul were reincarnated as martial artists; some may also exist as ordinary people.

Therefore, trying to find all the fragments of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul using the Heart-Reflecting Mirror is like finding a needle in a haystack; it's practically impossible.

"I just saw from the heart of the Thousand-Faced Buddha that Zhu Tianzun and Wu Zu were both reincarnations of fragments of the Great Heavenly Venerable's soul. At that time, the Thousand-Faced Buddha should not have had the Heart-Revealing Mirror in his hand, so how did he determine the identities of Zhu Tianzun and Wu Zu?"

Qi Lingyun, with her meticulous mind, pondered and asked.

"We previously suspected that Zhu Tianzun and Wu Zu had discovered something, which is why they were killed. Did they also discover their own identities?"

Theoretically, the fragments of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul may awaken the memories belonging to the Great Celestial Venerable. In all these years, we have never heard of such a thing happening. Now that such a thing has suddenly appeared, is it because something has triggered the awakening of the Great Celestial Venerable and the Martial Ancestor?
Does the fact that we haven't awakened any related memories prove that we actually have no connection with the Great Celestial Venerable?

Qi Lingyun's words made all the Heavenly Venerables' eyes light up, and the mountain weighing on their hearts instantly felt much lighter.

"Makes sense!"

Lei Tianzun said in a deep voice, "We are definitely not related to the Great Heavenly Venerable."

However, I think we need to keep this a secret; otherwise, if the news gets out, it will inevitably cause chaos.

"I agree."

"I agree too."

All the Celestial Venerables spoke up.

"I agree too."

All the Celestial Venerables' gazes fell on Su Mu. Su Mu smiled and slowly said, "None of us will leak the secret, but there is one person who might not."

All eyes turned to Du Rongcheng in the distance. (End of Chapter)