Chapter 865

Without changing expression, Brother Qian Chen placed upon Asuro the titles of "Slaughterer of Other Princes," "Emperor Ascended," "Conqueror of Yu Jiuyou," "Conqueror of the Ten Thousand Realms," and "Emperor of Heaven."

He piled one hat larger than the next upon Asuro's head.

The real Asuro stood dumbfounded; even as he slaughtered three thousand princes of the Mara clan, his eyes still burned with ambition.

He thought inwardly: "Though this man is not me, he possesses a fraction of my audacity."

But as he heard the later titles—when "Ascended Emperor" was spoken—he remained inwardly panicked, yet still retained a measure of composure.

"I must explain this to Father, but our Mara clan values ambition and audacity above all—Father will surely understand."

Yet when he heard "Conqueror of Yu Jiuyou," "Become Emperor of Heaven"…

Asuro's entire body trembled with terror.

To conquer Yu Jiuyou alone would mean trampling upon the heads of two great masters of the demonic path—Blood Sea and the Yu Jiuyou Demon Ancestor; by demonic convention, such ambition would earn praise from all quarters.

But it would not prevent the Demon Ancestors from crushing such a petty demon who dared challenge their authority.

"Fine audacity!" Little Murong Chui said coldly: "The Moon Demon Ancestor has long coveted my body, yet even after I conquered the Moon Demon Sect of the Mortal Immortal Realm, he could only endure. But you—you actually conspired with the Buddhist sect, laid out this scheme, and sought to seize my Dao Seed!"

"Yet I wish to see what power you possess to dare harbor such a laughable ambition!"

Brother Qian Chen stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the mural where the Blood Sea had drowned all but four Buddhas seated upon lotus thrones.

Beyond the Blood Sea, in boundless darkness, an indescribable demonic shadow slowly turned its face toward him.

Its gaze pierced through the thangka…

As Brother Qian Chen faced Little Murong Chui's spiritual sense clashing upon the thangka, seeking to erode the last four Buddha images.

Brother Qian Chen merely flicked his fingers slightly, his hands still behind his back, and said: "Shangyuan Suixing Xiao Fu Shen Guang!"

The celestial Suixing star suddenly blazed with brilliance; a thread of starlight descended, causing even Little Murong Chui atop the Dragon City's peak to raise his head, staring at the sky, sensing an ominous aura signaling impending disaster.

At that moment, countless Yuan Shen True Immortals across the Mortal Immortal Realm raised their heads to gaze at the night sky.

Even the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, ancient and withered like a decaying corpse, opened his eyes slightly.

A roar like a storm erupted from his throat, sweeping across the entire Eastern Sea.

"The Grand Master of Heaven's Destiny? Last time, he severed a portion of my dragon clan's fate, allowing the True Dragon Dao Fruit to be shattered by the Immortal Death Tree, robbing my clan of nine hundred years of heavenly longevity!"

"Whose hand is this from the Daoist sect? Who are they targeting now?"

The moment Brother Qian Chen's clear cry left his lips,

countless voices—neither male nor female, neither old nor young, cold and emotionless as Heaven's Law—echoed in layers, rising and falling as one, yet each syllable clear and distinct in every ear:

"Zhongyuan Liexiu He Jian Lu Shen Guang!"

"Xiayuan Nanji Zhan Shou Shen Guang!"

Once, in the distant seas, he had casually slain a Hua Shen great cultivator with this technique—the very core great technique of his Tai Shang Dao Zun Dan: Tai Shang San Yuan Si Ming Zhan Dao Shen Guang!

The astonishing great technique known as "Tai Shang Si Ming" had finally been unleashed again.

Upon the seven vertebrae embedded within the skin-suit, already nearly worn away.

A faint thread of starlight suddenly manifested, piercing the darkness, still fixed upon the seven major acupoints: Shanzhong, Wuyi, Shencang, Lingxu, Shenfeng, Tianxi, and Tianchi.

Those seven wedges had been worn down by the Buddha light.

Only now did they reveal themselves—deeply concealed, hidden within the fates of the six demonic heads, mirroring the seven stars of the Northern Dipper: Tian Shu, Tian Xiao Xie Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, and more.

Brother Qian Chen had long used Buddhist methods to seal the golden body's skin-suit.

Thus even Little Murong Chui had been caught off guard—within it lay concealed a great Daoist technique.

Bei Dou Rang Xing Qi Tian Fa!

This technique, once used by Lord Langya Zhuge (Wu Hou) to extend life, and once wielded by the Master Sima clan to sever Brother Qian Chen's fate using the life of an emperor.

Now, for the first time, it revealed its power again in Brother Qian Chen's hands.

It fixed the fate of Little Murong Chui within the Garbha Demon.

Then… the Tai Shang San Yuan Si Ming Zhan Dao Shen Guang descended abruptly.

It slashed between Little Murong Chui and the Garbha Demon avatar—their fates severed instantly!

Little Murong Chui finally changed expression: "What… what technique is this? Bei Dou Rang Xing? No—there is also the power of Suixing, Nan Dou, and the stellar host!"

A sound like tearing silk echoed from the void.

Cao Xiao Xie Xuan stared, eyes wide, at Brother Qian Chen—hands forming sword-finger, feet tracing the Yu Step, aligned with the Northern Dipper, hair disheveled like a Daoist priest performing ritual—then shook his head, dispelling the illusion to reveal the yellow-faced monk in tattered robes.

Brother Qian Chen's strike had severed the fate-link between the avatar and Little Murong Chui; now, even if Little Murong Chui wished to withdraw his primordial demonic thought from the avatar, it was impossible.

The Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper, driven into the Garbha Demon, had fixed its fate.

Thus, this avatar, in terms of fate, had become an entirely new individual relative to Little Murong Chui…

"Is this all you have? To strip away my avatar?" Little Murong Chui finally roared in fury!

Above Wuchuanzhen, clouds churned violently.

As if boundless demonic energy surged toward them!

The Garbha Demon finally merged with the hidden title in the void; beneath the golden body's skin-suit, boundless darkness contracted sharply, and a mighty heavenly demon was born—its skin-suit could no longer contain it.

The Great Nirvana Golden Body swelled like an inflating balloon; Tan Tan Wuchen spat a mouthful of golden blood, realizing his cultivated golden body had been utterly severed from his connection.

"Conquer!"

The demon within pointed a finger—the golden body's skin-suit would descend upon him, becoming a garment.

Brother Qian Chen sat cross-legged behind Tan Tan Wuchen, facing the great heavenly demon born from devouring all defilements and conquering countless demons, his right hand resting on his knee, palm inward, fingers touching the ground.

Behind the golden body, one of the four Buddhas—robed in starlight, a mysterious Buddha—also extended a finger to touch the earth.

The Ghost Mother, formed from the fusion of the nine previously conquered Wujian Tian Ghosts, now clasped her hands together in reverence, bowed deeply, and from her coiffure flowed a river of clear spring water.

In that instant, through the faint connection the Garbha Demon had with the Nine Sons Mother Ghost's true form, the Ghost Mother fused with the golden body's skin-suit, becoming the Garbha Demon's maternal womb.

"All beings of the ten directions, spirits of the three ages, must know—he has become a Buddha!"

The Ghost Mother bowed low, like the earth itself, embracing all.

The Buddha's Earth-Touching Mudra upon the golden skin-suit blazed with radiant light, overpowering the boundless darkness controlled by the Garbha Demon, overpowering the darkness of all evil roots that had gathered into a sea from every heart, overpowering the latent Garbha power hidden within all hearts.

The golden skin-suit sealed everything, floating like an empty, hollow skin, filled with boundless darkness, like a womb, cradling the Garbha Demon.

Unable to escape the skin-suit, the Garbha Demon could never truly emerge.

The Garbha Demon would forever remain the Garbha Demon, never transforming into the Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo!

Earth-Touching Mudra.

Or perhaps the Subduing Demon Mudra—Brother Qian Chen pressed this mudra onto the skin-suit, reinforcing it, forcing the Garbha Demon into its weakest state, as if still within the womb.

The Earth-Touching Mudra invoked the earth's nature of embracing and concealing, transforming into the Ghost Mother; the Ghost Mother bestowed its soul, the skin-suit its body—united, they became the true mother of the Garbha Demon, and this mother bore witness.

Brother Qian Chen had become a Buddha!

Thus the Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo retreated, reverting to the Garbha Demon.

After touching the earth and becoming a Buddha, Brother Qian Chen placed his right hand again upon his knee, palm outward, fingers naturally hanging downward.

Upon the skin-suit, the Amitabha Buddha seated upon the lotus throne in the west, flanked by two bodhisattvas, radiated boundless light behind his head, his right hand making the same gesture, signifying the guiding of boundless beings.

The combined power of the Bodhi Tree and the Twelve-Petaled Golden Lotus enhanced his Mind-Reading ability, probing the minds of all beings across heaven and earth, fulfilling every prayer!

Boundless prayer-power, far greater than the painstakingly gathered prayer-power of Cao Xiao Xie Xuan, flowed from the ten directions, strengthening the skin-suit—boundless prayer-power, boundless karmic force, coalescing into one great vow.

May the world know no suffering…

Enveloping the Garbha Demon completely.

The Vow Mudra!

Brother Qian Chen raised his other hand to his chest, fingers naturally extended, palm outward.

The Fearless Mudra!

The Medicine Buddha of the East, holding a medicine vase in one hand, raised the other in the same gesture, symbolizing the bestowal of fearlessness, sufferinglessness, illnesslessness, and defilementlessness upon all beings!

Boundless great vow: may the world know no calamity, no tribulation, no suffering, no fear; boundless bestowal of fearlessness: saving beings from suffering, rescuing self and others.

The two mudras descended again—the Garbha Demon was as powerless as if held between Brother Qian Chen's fingers.

Cao Xiao Xie Xuan was speechless; just moments ago, as he watched Brother Qian Chen sever the heavenly demon's fate, he had wondered how much Daoist lineage he possessed—when these three consecutive mudras, unquestionably the highest Buddhist techniques, descended!

Who else but a great Buddhist master could wield such power?

If not, would they not have to expel Shakyamuni from the Buddhist lineage?

Tan Tan Wuchen struggled to his feet, staring at the three radiant Buddha images upon his golden skin-suit, tears streaming down his face.

For he suddenly realized that the three hundred and sixty million sentient beings imprisoned within the golden pagoda had been liberated through the Vow Mudra and Fearless Mudra, freed from all suffering.

The nine-tiered Buddhist pagoda blazed with light, its surface encircled by countless sutras.

One by one, the Jiyinajie people appeared within golden bricks, hands clasped, their bodies burning with Nirvana Buddha fire, the entire tower seeming wrapped in golden flame.

A single thread of the Bodhi Fruit's power—symbolizing the Future Buddha's salvation of all beings at the end of time, in the final calamity, opening the Other Shore—was real and true.

It liberated all three hundred and sixty million souls that the Nirvana Master lineage had struggled and failed to convert…

The golden pagoda flowed with the radiance of a Pure Land, and the Great Nirvana Golden Body itself ascended to the Yuan Shen realm, attaining true enlightenment.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Tan Tan Wuchen—it was merely a thangka tattoo upon it, depicting a mandala where a Buddha touched the earth and self-attained enlightenment.

With the Yu Sansheng Ones of the East and the Yu Sansheng Ones of the West liberating all suffering, the skin-suit itself had become a Buddha, attaining true enlightenment.

Not only that—it had merged with the pagoda to become a single magic treasure.

Within it lay a Pure Land, depicting the central Saha World, the mandala thangka of the Future Buddha's enlightenment—a painting of the future!