The First Marquis of Daxuan

Su Mu suddenly opened his eyes, and an invisible aura exploded outwards.

In an instant, the mountains collapsed and the earth cracked violently, with fissures appearing on the ground.

Countless Void Beasts were unable to dodge and were swallowed up by the cracks that appeared in the ground.

Everywhere there were screams and howls of agony.

Su Mu's gaze fell on Zhu Tongtian, the ruler of the Void Beasts. He flipped his wrist, and a knife appeared in his hand. He swung the knife and slashed out.

Rumble!
A blade of light, hundreds of feet long, appeared and struck Zhu Tongtian, the ruler of the Void Beasts.

Zhu Tongtian, the ruler of the Void Beasts, let out a muffled groan, his body involuntarily flying backward.

If it were in a different location, Zhu Tongtian, the ruler of the Void Beasts, would have the Wutian Staff and could easily defeat Lei Tianzun.

But ever since Su Mu almost took away the Wutian Staff, Zhu Tongtian, the Lord of the Void Beasts, has had an additional principle: he will never use the Wutian Staff wherever Su Mu is.

Otherwise, it would be a small matter if the Wutian Staff couldn't be used, but if Su Mu actually took it away or damaged it, it would be a loss it couldn't afford.

Without using the Wutian Staff, Zhu Tongtian, the Lord of the Void Beasts, is only comparable to a Celestial Venerable. He might be slightly stronger than an ordinary Celestial Venerable, but he is not much weaker than a top-tier Celestial Venerable like Lei Tianzun.

It was already entangled with Lei Tianzun, so Su Mu's move was almost a sneak attack, and it naturally succeeded in one move.

Zhu Tongtian, the ruler of the Void Beasts, was sent flying hundreds of feet away before he regained his footing and looked ahead with a gloomy expression.

Just as he was about to make another move, Su Mu spoke up.

"Zhu Tongtian, if I were you, the most important thing right now is to save my own life, not to deal with us."

Su Mu calmly said, "If you don't leave now, he's coming."

"Who's coming? Su Mu, whoever comes today, you will die! I, Chenlong Tianzun, have said so!"

Before Zhu Tongtian, the Lord of the Void Beasts, could speak, Chenlong Tianzun roared.

It chased Su Mu for so many days, but not only did it fail to kill Su Mu, it also allowed Su Mu to cause such a commotion right under its nose.

Although it doesn't yet know what impact Su Mu's actions will have on the Void Realm, it is certain that these changes are definitely not a good thing for the Void Realm.

All of this was because it failed to kill Su Mu beforehand.

Chenlong Tianzun now feels ashamed to face the world's beasts.

Only with Su Mu's blood can the shame on its body be washed away.

Before he could finish speaking, Chenlong Tianzun unleashed a powerful dragon tail lash, his enormous tail lashing out at Su Mu and the others.

"boom!"

As Chenlong Tianzun attacked, Su Mu neither dodged nor evaded, nor even made a move to block.

He could only watch helplessly as the tail of the Heavenly Venerable Chenlong fell down on his head.

Lei Tianzun, Qi Lingyun, Mao Jiu, and Ning Hongchen all showed slight changes in their expressions.

They instinctively wanted to defend themselves, but Su Mu stopped them with a look.

Just as the tail of the Heavenly Venerable Chenlong had landed on Su Mu's body, the strong wind even blew Su Mu's hair.

That's when.

Suddenly, a hand appeared out of thin air.

It was the palm of an ordinary human being, but compared to the enormous size of Chenlong Tianzun, that hand was as small as an ant.

But this seemingly tiny hand gently pressed down on the tail of the Heavenly Venerable Chenlong.

The tail of the Heavenly Venerable Chenlong, weighing tens of millions of pounds, actually stopped in mid-air and could no longer fall down even a fraction.

"what!"

Zhu Tongtian, the ruler of the Void Beasts, let out a loud shout, turned around and left, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Chenlong Tianzun looked astonished, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"You're saying he'll die no matter who comes?"

A voice rang in Chenlong Tianzun's ears.

"What if it were me?"

The voice was flat and devoid of any emotion.

Before he could finish speaking, a hand suddenly grabbed the tail of Chenlong Tianzun.

call!
The enormous body of Chenlong Tianzun was flung directly into the air.

Then the owner of the palm soared into the sky.

puff!
The next moment, the owner of the palm burrowed into the abdomen of Chenlong Tianzun and emerged from the top of his head.

A cloud of blood mist exploded, revealing a huge, transparent wound that pierced through Chenlong Tianzun's body, directly destroying his life force.

Until the enormous body of Chenlong Tianzun descended from the sky and crashed heavily to the ground, no one had time to react to what had happened.

Chenlong Tianzun, a top expert whose strength ranks among the top three among the Void Realm Tianzun, is dead?

one move.

He was killed after using only one move?
Even though Chenlong Tianzun and Su Mu fought to a standstill, it is still Chenlong Tianzun.

Who could kill it in one move?

The eyes of everyone present, as well as all the Void Beasts, all fell on the owner of that hand.

A man who looked to be about thirty-four years old stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm and composed, as if killing Chenlong Tianzun was just a trivial matter.

Ning Hongchen's lips trembled twice, and she felt her mouth was dry.

Has what the seventy-two sages couldn't achieve even after devoting their entire lives finally come true today?

Is this person the legendary Great Celestial Venerable?

The Great Celestial Venerable's awakening will lead the Yang Realm to new glory.

This was also the scene that the Seventy-Two Sages wanted to see.

But Ning Hongchen suddenly felt that whether or not there was a Great Celestial Venerable was not important. Su Mu had already led the Yang Realm to a point that they had never dared to imagine before.

The Great Celestial Venerable and Su Mu...

Two tigers cannot share one mountain; when two tigers fight, one will surely be injured.

A thought suddenly popped into Ning Hongchen's mind. He stared blankly at the man standing in mid-air with his hands behind his back, his feelings a mix of emotions.

Just then, the Void Beast Celestial Venerables suddenly let out a terrified scream, then scattered like birds and beasts, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Lei Tianzun, Qi Lingyun, and Mao Jiu were also stunned by the power of that person's attack and for a moment forgot to stop those Void Beast Tianzun.

However, even if they could react in time, they wouldn't stop them.

They couldn't be happier for these Void Beast Celestials to leave.

This is, after all, the depths of the Void Realm. If those Void Beast Celestials don't leave, they will be in danger.

Now that the Void Beast Celestials have scattered, they have finally survived.

"You are the Great Celestial Venerable?"

Lei Tianzun was the boldest and was the first to ask.

The man in the air did not answer Lei Tianzun's question, but instead looked at Su Mu expressionlessly.

"You awakened me, and I saved your life. We're even now."

The man spoke slowly.

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and left without hesitation.

With one step, one is already several miles away; with another step, one's figure disappears into the horizon.

They moved so fast that they didn't even give Su Mu and the others a chance to speak.

What does it mean to be even?

Qi Lingyun frowned slightly and said, "He killed Chenlong Tianzun, and then felt that he owed Su Mu nothing?"
If Su Mu hadn't awakened him with 360 divine weapons of destiny, he wouldn't know when he would have woken up.

"Such a great favor, and he thinks he can just end it like this?"

"if not?"

Cat Nine curled her lips, "Didn't you see? Even Chenlong Tianzun was killed in one move. Do you think you can beat him?"
"Su Mu, I think we might have made the wrong bet. Looking at this guy, he seems completely indifferent; he probably doesn't care about the fate of the Yang Realm at all. Expecting him to help the Yang Realm is probably impossible."

"Judging from his behavior just now, he really wanted to distance himself from Su Mu."

Lei Tianzun said, "Perhaps we really made the wrong bet."

Everyone could see that the worst-case scenario had occurred.

That man, who might be the Great Celestial Venerable, doesn't seem like someone who can fight alongside them.

"Not necessarily."

Su Mu remained calm and said lightly, "At least we have transformed the environment of the Void Realm to be the same as that of the Yang Realm, so this cannot be considered a failure."

What was once a desolate, ink-wash-colored wasteland is now transformed into a landscape of green mountains and clear waters.

If the Yang Realm is able to invade the Ruins Realm in the future, then they will not have to go through the trouble of transforming the environment as before.

Of course, the idea of ​​the Yang Realm invading the Void Realm is currently somewhat unrealistic, and it's hard to say whether that day will ever come.

"Forget it, we've done what we had to do, and we can't control the final outcome anyway."

Qi Lingyun said, "If things can't be done, at least we won't have any regrets."

"What do we do now?"

Lei Tianzun said in a deep voice.

He had barely finished speaking when a gentle breeze suddenly blew by.

The man who had just left suddenly reappeared in front of everyone.

The people present were all among the strongest in the world, but none of them, including Su Mu, could detect how the man appeared.

They didn't even know if the man had heard their previous discussion.

Everyone's expression changed.

Just how strong is this man?
Just as Lei Tianzun and the others were all on high alert, the man's gaze fell on the person with the lowest cultivation level on the field.

"you--"

He looked at Ning Hongchen and slowly began to speak.

Su Mu's expression darkened slightly, and with a swift movement, he stood in front of Ning Hongchen.

"You can't touch him."

Su Mu said in a deep voice.

Ning Hongchen's expression had also frozen.

He was just a minor Heavenly Fate Realm cultivator; under normal circumstances, a great figure like the Great Heavenly Venerable wouldn't even notice him.

Now the other party has actually noticed him.

The only possibility is—

Mao Jiu, Qi Lingyun, and Lei Tianzun all frowned.

They all knew the secrets that the Thousand-Faced Buddha had revealed that day, and with their experience, they naturally immediately thought of a certain possibility.

The three moved to form an encirclement, preparing for battle.

It seems this matter will not end well.

They thought they had awakened an ally, but who would have thought that they would end up awakening an enemy?

Glancing at the corpse of Chenlong Tianzun, the group knew that they might not be a match for this great celestial being.

But even if they were no match for them, they showed no sign of backing down.

Although Ning Hongchen was not a Celestial Venerable, he was still a comrade-in-arms who had fought side by side with them. No matter what, they would not stand by and watch Ning Hongchen die at the hands of the Great Celestial Venerable.

Noticing the reactions of Su Mu and the others, the man frowned slightly.

"You think you can stop me?"

He spoke coldly.

"We don't want to be your enemy, but don't force us."

Su Mu said in a deep voice.

Ning Hongchen looked bitter.

He had imagined countless times what it would be like to awaken the Great Celestial Venerable, but he never expected it to be like this.

He never imagined that he, Ning Hongchen, was actually a reincarnation of a fragment of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul.

The thought that he might just be a fragment of someone's soul filled Ning Hongchen with incredibly complicated feelings.

He was not afraid of death.

Having just fought the Void Beast Celestial Venerable, he was already prepared to die in battle.

Even if he were to die, he would have no regrets.

But now he's somewhat unwilling to accept it.

He was willing to die for the mortal realm, but he didn't want to die as a fragment of someone else's soul. He was Ning Hongchen, not the Great Celestial Venerable.

He was absolutely unwilling to merge with the Great Celestial Venerable, even though the Great Celestial Venerable had once been his object of worship.

"Su Mu."

Ning Hongchen suddenly spoke up.

"How about I handle this?"

he said softly.

The Great Celestial Venerable's strength was too great; even the mighty Chenlong Celestial Venerable was no match for him in a single move.

Ning Hongchen believed that Su Mu and the others would be willing to risk their lives to fight the Great Celestial Venerable in order to protect him.

But Ning Hongchen couldn't be so selfish.

He couldn't drag Su Mu and the others into such a dangerous situation for his own sake.

It's not easy for Su Mu and the others to have persevered this far; they shouldn't die for themselves.

Su Mu turned to look at Ning Hongchen and said slowly, "We are companions, aren't we?"

"Yes!"

Ning Hongchen nodded vigorously and said in a deep voice, "That's precisely why. Trust me, I'll handle this, okay?"

Ning Hongchen's expression was serious, and his tone was firm.

Su Mu looked at him, remaining silent for a long time.

"it is good."

After a long silence, he finally uttered a single word.

"No matter what, remember, you still have us."

Su Mu took a step back and said in a deep voice.

Ning Hongchen smiled nonchalantly, nodded, and then stepped forward, stopping only when he was about ten feet away from the Great Celestial Venerable.

A hint of reluctance flashed across the faces of Mao Jiu, Qi Lingyun, and Lei Tianzun.

"Damn it, how could this happen!"

Mao Jiu gritted his teeth and spoke authentically.

It had known Ning Hongchen for many years. If Ning Hongchen hadn't been so resolute, it wouldn't have given up even if Su Mu had.

"Martial Ancestor, Zhu Tianzun, and now even Ning Hongchen is a fragment of his soul. Just how many more people in the world are left..."

Qi Lingyun whispered, her expression extremely serious.

Ever since the Thousand-Faced Buddha exposed this problem, they have discussed this possibility countless times.

But it was only when they truly faced these issues that they realized just how serious the problem was.

The fragments of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul are not necessarily all from people unrelated to them; they may also be their friends.

They can watch unrelated people become Grand Masters, but they cannot stand by and watch their friends be devoured and merged by Grand Masters.

Everyone knew that although these people were reincarnations of fragments of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul, they were completely different from the Great Celestial Venerable. Once they were devoured and merged by the Great Celestial Venerable, they would completely disappear from the world and cease to exist.

In a sense, this is a more terrifying ending than death.

"Now at least it can be proven that some of us are not."

Lei Tianzun said in a heavy tone.

Actually, before this, his biggest worry was Su Mu.

After all, Su Mu's growth rate was simply too fast, and Su Mu's talent was also too high.

If Su Mu is the reincarnation of a fragment of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul, then the Thunder Celestial Venerable would be no surprise at all.

In terms of talent, perhaps only the legendary Great Celestial Venerable can be compared to Su Mu.

If Su Mu is indeed a fragment of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul, even the Thunder Celestial Venerable is trying to figure out how to prevent Su Mu from being devoured and merged by the Great Celestial Venerable.

Unexpectedly, it wasn't Su Mu, but Ning Hongchen, whom he hadn't paid much attention to, was.

Since the Great Celestial Venerable, who was awakened by Su Mu using the Heavenly Mandate Divine Weapon, could sense his own soul fragments and also discovered Ning Hongchen, this indirectly proves that the other people present were not reincarnations of the Great Celestial Venerable's soul fragments.

This is perhaps the best of a bad situation.

What will Ning Hongchen choose?

Lei Tianzun said in a low voice, "If he chooses to merge with the Great Heavenly Venerable, should we stop him?"

"What makes you think we can stop it?"

Qi Lingyun said with a wry smile, "He doesn't want us to fight the Great Celestial Venerable to the death."

Lei Tianzun fell silent.

Su Mu remained silent, staring intently ahead.

Ning Hongchen stood before the Great Celestial Venerable, a smile suddenly appearing on his face.

"Back then, we seventy-two brothers accidentally obtained the Heavenly Mandate Divine Weapon Manual, and ever since then, we brothers have been trying to awaken you."

Ning Hongchen slowly opened his mouth and said, "For a thousand years, I have been working hard to settle the long-standing grudges of my brothers, and today I have finally achieved it."

Although the result was not quite what I expected, I have at least lived up to my brothers' expectations.

I have a question.

"ask."

The Great Celestial Venerable remained expressionless as he spoke.

"Was it all part of your plan that we were able to discover the Heavenly Weapon Manual back then?"

Ning Hongchen asked.

"I deliberately left the Heavenly Mandate Divine Weapon Chart, but I don't know who will find it, nor can I be sure what the person who finds it will do."

That was your own choice.

The Great Heavenly Venerable Dao.

"understood."

Ning Hongchen nodded and said, "At least my life is no longer under your control."

"Even I cannot see what will happen millions of years from now. What kind of people you will become, what kind of experiences you will have, and what kind of choices you will make are all things I cannot predict."

"Out of concern for unforeseen circumstances, I left behind the Heavenly Weapon Diagram. So one day, someone will awaken my true form."

The Great Celestial Venerable said expressionlessly.

There was no need for him to lie or hide anything.

Now that he has awakened, everything is under control.

"Do you have any more questions?"

The Great Heavenly Venerable Dao.

Will you help the mortal realm?

Ning Hongchen asked.

What is the Yang Realm? What is the Ruins Realm?

The Great Celestial Venerable spoke, his tone completely unwavering.

"Three hundred and sixty divine weapons of destiny are enough to transform yin into yang, so that there will be no more distinction between yin and yang in this world."

There has never been only one world.

He looked at Ning Hongchen as if stating a fact.

"What about the Void Beast?"

Ning Hongchen asked subconsciously.

"Those who obey me prosper, those who oppose me perish."

The Great Celestial Venerable said calmly.

The phrase "follow the crowd and prosper, defy the crowd and perish" sent a chill down Ning Hongchen's spine.

He suddenly realized a problem: they had always wanted to awaken the Great Celestial Venerable to help the Yang Realm resist the invasion of the Void Realm.

But for the Great Celestial Venerable, there is no difference between the Yang Realm and the Ruins Realm.

The position of the Great Celestial Venerable is more than one level higher than theirs.

Whether human or beast, in the eyes of the Great Celestial Venerable, they are all the same—servants!
Ning Hongchen subconsciously glanced back at Su Mu and the others, feeling incredibly bitter.

Wrong, everything is wrong.

The Great Celestial Venerable is the most terrifying being, even more terrifying than the Void Realm and the Void Beasts.

He couldn't help but regret handing over the Heavenly Mandate Divine Weapon Manual to Su Mu back then.

If he hadn't given the Heavenly Mandate Divine Weapon Diagram to Su Mu, Su Mu wouldn't have been able to awaken the Great Celestial Venerable.

He would rather die in the mortal world than live as a tyrant in this world.

"I don't want to die in front of my friends, let's go somewhere else."

Ning Hongchen clenched his fist and said coldly.

The Great Celestial Venerable glanced at Su Mu and the others with his emotionless eyes and nodded slightly.

The next moment, he flicked his sleeve.

An invisible force instantly enveloped Ning Hongchen, and then both he and Ning Hongchen's figures disappeared at the same time.

Before Su Mu and the others could even see what the Great Celestial Venerable did, they tried to stop him, but the Great Celestial Venerable and Ning Hongchen had already disappeared.

"Old Ning!"

Cat Nine shouted.

"Su Mu, you have to think of something quickly! We can't just stand by and watch Lao Ning go to his death!"

Cat Nine grabbed Su Mu's arm and said urgently.

Su Mu pursed his lips, his expression grave.

He slowly raised his hands and formed a hand seal.

hum!
A soft sound.

The beam of light, which had seemingly vanished, reappeared.

However, this time the beam of light was much thinner and dimmer than before.

A glint flashed in Su Mu's eyes, and as his hand seals changed, the pillars of light began to flicker as well.

The brightness of each beam of light changed, as if forming a line.

"Found him!"

Su Mu said in a deep voice.

Just then, a cold snort suddenly rang in everyone's ears.

Immediately afterwards, those beams of light began to shatter rapidly.

pedal!pedal!pedal!
Su Mu staggered back several steps, a trickle of blood slowly sliding down the corner of his mouth.

Cat Nine, Qi Lingyun, and Lei Tianzun's expressions changed. They instinctively rushed to Su Mu's side, looking around warily.

"He didn't come."

Su Mu slowly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said in a deep voice.

"What a great Celestial Venerable! His attack from a distance is already hard for me to bear. If we were to actually fight him, I'm afraid I would be far from being his match."

Su Mudao.

"Old Ning—"

Cat Nine Paths.

"It's his choice."

Su Mu smiled wryly, "I just saw Lao Ning using the Heavenly Mandate Divine Weapon."

He did not merge with the Great Celestial Venerable, but instead chose to end his own life, shattering his own divine soul.

"what?"

Qi Lingyun and Lei Tianzun both exclaimed in surprise.

Mao Jiu looked sorrowful. "That's definitely his personality. Damn it, Lao Ning, Lao Ning, how could you be so stupid!"

"Ning Hongchen did this to prevent the Great Celestial Venerable from achieving perfection."

Su Mu said slowly, "Although I don't know how much this will affect the Great Celestial Venerable, he cannot achieve perfection as long as he is missing even one fragment of his divine soul."

If we really become enemies with the Great Celestial Venerable in the future, this may be our only chance.

This opportunity was given to us by Ning Hongchen with his own life. (End of Chapter)