Thousand Faces

Biodata

Power Progression

History

Academy Infiltration and Exposure

Thousand Faces spent twenty years concealed within White Deer Grotto Academy. He prepared the Qu Family as a smokescreen for his escape and employed a double to divert pursuit. Even Heavenly Sword failed to capture him 13.

After his cover was exposed, he instructed a female disciple to remain in the academy, cultivate Qi Shiyun’s trust, investigate Lianshan Xin, and avoid Heavenly Sword. Necessary contact was to pass through Eastern Grove Temple 17.

He later learned that someone had reported his identity to Nine Heavens headquarters. Since only Blood Guanyin and the Cult Master knew his cover, he blamed Blood Guanyin. Their feud originated in his attempt to kill her during her advancement to the Dharma Form Realm; she subsequently confirmed that exposing him was retaliation 51 77.

Conflict and Bargain with Lianshan Xin

Lianshan Xin’s discovery of Jiang Haoran and other connections to Thousand Faces disrupted his Jiangzhou network. Thousand Faces initially ordered an assassination, then intervened personally after deciding that sending more subordinates would only waste their lives 73 78.

His attempts repeatedly ended in escapes from Heavenly Sword, while Lianshan Xin publicly claimed the victories. Thousand Faces initially dismissed the young man’s “Heavenly Eye” reputation as opportunistic credit-taking, but eventually came to fear his ability to identify him 79 81 82.

The conflict became a secret bargain. Thousand Faces agreed not to harm Lianshan Xin or his companions, promised to perform three tasks, and transmitted the Myriad Forms True Scripture through Empowerment. Lianshan Xin agreed to seek his protection if the Holy Cult fell, while proposing that Thousand Faces become his covert agent within it. Neither side initially trusted the other 85.

Divine Capital and Reversal of Discipleship

Seeking somewhere to recover, Thousand Faces killed Elder Zeng and assumed her identity. He then discovered that she had been Emperor Yongchang’s lover and that Zeng Ningbing was their daughter—complications he had not known when choosing the disguise 85 86.

His subsequent activities threw the Divine Capital into alarm. He impersonated Fang Yanfeng and Xiao He, assisted Lianshan Xin, and twice injured Emperor Yongchang’s “dragon root.” His achievements encouraged increasingly reckless schemes 96 102 106 111.

After being badly injured at Princess Wenxi’s residence, he survived through a false-death technique and Lianshan Xin’s intervention. An Immortal’s curse then worsened his condition, leaving him dependent on protection 111 114 117.

Lianshan Xin offered him an Immortal Art inheritance and a route into Nine Heavens. Thousand Faces accepted him as master despite having previously taught him the Myriad Forms True Scripture. He also identified Lianshan Xin’s supposed gift as Destiny Insight and raised the possibility that he was a Demon Womb or Maitreya Descends 117.

The Princess-Consort Identity

Bone-Scraping Blade, operating as the Prince of Jiujiang, captured Thousand Faces and sought his services for Xia Xunyang. After the princess consort died in Thousand Faces’s bed, the prince forced him to replace her 131 137.

The identity proved entangled in a twenty-year scheme involving Incense Poison and Emperor Yongchang. Thousand Faces nevertheless grew attached to its advantages: access to the emperor, links to Jiang Buping, and influence over Xia Xunyang’s future 137 144.

Jiang Buping, mistaking him for the real consort, encouraged him to cultivate the Mysterious Capital Purple Palace Form-Shifting Scripture and offered his creation notes. Thousand Faces recognized its potential to improve his survival, even though he did not understand the consort’s prior dealings with Jiang Buping 151.

After killing Xia Xunchuan, Thousand Faces discovered the rewards of Dragon Subjugation cultivation. He reconsidered abandoning his Demon Cult title, reasoning that it provided a convenient justification for attacking members of the Imperial Family and shifting blame to the Cult Master 196 197.

Control of the Shen Clan

In the Western Capital, Thousand Faces used the princess-consort identity to navigate the Shen Clan’s plans, Ao Zhao’s advances, and Emperor Yongchang’s interest. He secured cultivation opportunities while positioning himself to benefit from the clan’s downfall 235 237 239 248 249.

After Shen Hegui’s death, Lianshan Xin placed him in charge of the Shen Clan. Thousand Faces retained the consort’s identity because it connected him to Jiang Buping, Emperor Yongchang, and potentially the hidden Di Hong Clan 260.

The Heavenly Queen later sent him back to the Western Capital to manage the clan. There, the Unborn Venerable Mother possessed him and initially mistook him for the genuine princess consort before recognizing his concealment 378.

When the world came to believe that the princess consort was Bone-Scraping Blade, Thousand Faces inherited both the identity’s influence and its unwanted admirers. He declined the opportunity to sever those ties because doing so would also cost him the Shen Clan’s allegiance. Lianshan Xin then tasked him with evaluating visitors seeking Dragon Blood and distinguishing useful allies from enemies 420 421.

Personality

Thousand Faces combines fierce pride with an exceptionally flexible attitude toward survival. He resents being humiliated by Lianshan Xin and treasures his standing as a Great Grandmaster, yet readily bows to him when an Immortal Art offers better prospects. His willingness to accept an outsider as master contrasts with his reluctance to submit to Bone-Scraping Blade, an elder of his own organization 81 85 117 131.

He is a calculating opportunist rather than an unquestioning believer. Although he once cultivated genuinely committed rebels, he later regrets teaching subordinates doctrines he himself doubts. He shifts between Demon Cult and Nine Heavens affiliations according to their usefulness, but restrains his desire to experiment on Xia Xunyang because Lianshan Xin has forbidden it 196 197.

His acting ability extends beyond appearances: he improvises through unfamiliar conversations, exploits others’ assumptions, and convincingly feigns grief for Blood Guanyin despite their mutual hatred. Success can also inflate his confidence enough to make him underestimate the danger of exposure 106 107 151 321.

Abilities & Skills

Myriad Forms True Scripture

His signature cultivation method supports exceptionally convincing transformations. At consummate mastery, briefly brushing past someone is enough for him to reproduce their appearance 86.

• True qi imitation: Myriad Forms True Qi can imitate ninety-eight percent of the world’s true qi 63.
• Martial Intent imitation: After entering the True Intent Realm, the method can imitate ninety-eight percent of Martial Intents 63.
• Cross-gender transformation: He convincingly impersonates women, including during intimate encounters 78 196 239.
• Disguising others: He can alter another person’s appearance with a casual point of his finger 184.
• Object replication: He condenses objects from true qi, but requires a model he has personally seen 111.
• Dragon Blood imitation: Produces a substitute with approximately sixty percent of genuine Dragon Blood’s effect 319.

The scripture does not grant the subject’s memories. Unfamiliar personal history can expose an otherwise flawless impersonation 86 108.

Concealment, Infiltration, and Escape

• Remains hidden within White Deer Grotto Academy for twenty years 13.
• Moves through the Ministry of Justice’s prison unnoticed, bringing a disguised Lianshan Xin with him 103.
• Escapes Heavenly Sword in forms resembling black and white smoke 79 82.
• Uses false death to survive the battle at Princess Wenxi’s residence 111.
• Initially deceives even the Unborn Venerable Mother; she attributes the concealment to the shared origin of the Divine Feet Ability and Destiny Insight 378.

The Imperial Palace remains comparatively difficult to infiltrate, and Lianshan Xin’s Heavenly Eye repeatedly counters his disguises 103.

Intelligence and Undercover Operations

• Maintains deeply rooted Jiangzhou channels and loyal agents, including Lan Xin 196.
• Plants operatives in powerful households without other infiltrators necessarily knowing one another’s identities 73.
• Taught Bone-Scraping Blade disguise and impersonation techniques 131.
• Exploits a borrowed identity’s social position, patrons, and family connections rather than relying on appearance alone 144 260.

Dragon Subjugation Cultivation

• Gains Dragon-Slaying Astral Energy by killing Xia Xunchuan 196.
• Uses his understanding as a former Great Grandmaster to recover quickly once resources become available 197.
• Provides cultivation feedback to Lianshan Xin through their lineage connection 319 420.
• Pursues opportunities involving Imperial and Dragon bloodlines, including Ao Zhao’s healing art 237 260.

All Beings Dharma Form

Thousand Faces condensed the legendary all beings form. He Miaojun considers it well suited to him but judges that he has failed to develop its potential; with sufficient talent, it could have supported advancement to the Celestial Phenomena Realm 356.

Empowerment

• Transfers cultivation and Myriad Forms True Intent to Lianshan Xin 85.
• The process wastes at least half the transferred cultivation and severely depletes the donor; it can cause a realm decline 85.

Known Assumed Identities

Equipment & Items

• Corpse-Dissolving Water — Uses it to destroy Elder Zeng’s remains after killing her 85.
• Heavenly Queen’s Command Token — Given to him by Qi Shiyun before his Dragon Blood distribution operation in Jinzhou 319.
• Imitation Dragon Blood — Produced through the Myriad Forms True Scripture for strengthening allies and coating weapons intended for Divine Dragon Island 319.

Relationships

• Lianshan Xin — Enemy turned covert ally. Thousand Faces first teaches him, then becomes his disciple in exchange for an Immortal Art and protection. Their shared cultivation interests sustain the partnership despite repeated manipulation and reversals 85 117 197.
• Lan Xin — Loyal disciple and intelligence operative. Reports threats to his network, carries assassination instructions, and continues contacting him after his prolonged disappearance 73 196.
• Lin Xiangwen — Disciple whom he orders to dismantle Blood Guanyin’s Jiangzhou connections; later selected to kill Lianshan Xin 51 73.
• Blood Guanyin — Mortal enemy within the Demon Cult. His attempt on her life prompts her to expose his location to Nine Heavens 51 77 102.
• Heavenly Sword / Zhang A-Niu — Persistent pursuer whose superior direct combat strength repeatedly forces him to flee 13 74 79 81.
• Bone-Scraping Blade — Fellow elder and former pupil in disguise techniques; later captures and coerces him while posing as the Prince of Jiujiang 129 131 137.
• Jiang Buping — Connected through the princess-consort identity. Offers him cultivation guidance while mistaking him for the real consort 151.
• Xia Xunyang — The princess consort’s son, whom Thousand Faces protects from Xia Xunchuan. He respects Lianshan Xin’s prohibition against harming him and seeks resources for his cultivation 197 248.
• Emperor Yongchang — Target of his attacks and later an intimate partner while he impersonates the princess consort. Thousand Faces regards access to the emperor as valuable to his cultivation 111 239 260.
• Heavenly Queen — Knows his real name, employs him in covert work, and supports his position within Nine Heavens 313 320 378 421.
• He Miaoyin — Her household provides him shelter while he is injured; he first infiltrates it as Xiao He 102 111 117.

Notable Quotes

“Wonderful! Honored Master, please accept your disciple’s bow.”
— Accepting Lianshan Xin as his master 117.

“I’ve turned into more women in my life than you’ve ever had catfights with.”
— His private reaction to Shen Fanyin’s insinuations 171.

“Honored teacher, I am the Bone-Scraping Blade.”
— Choosing continued influence over severing his troublesome identity ties 421.

Trivia

• His real name is initially so well concealed that even the Demon Cult is said to know only his alias. This obstructs an Immortal’s attempt to curse him by name; the Heavenly Queen later reveals it as Ji Lingfeng 112 320.
• His reputation as the “weakest Great Grandmaster” persists after his recovery and later advancement, causing others to underestimate him 273 420.
• While distributing imitation Dragon Blood in Jinzhou, he runs a promotion offering a Dragon-Slaying Treasure Saber with every chicken order 319.
• Lianshan Xin repeatedly uses public “victories” over him to build the Heavenly Eye reputation, including an openly staged victory after Thousand Faces becomes his disciple 79 81 120.