Chapter 2857 - Digging Up Ancestral Graves
Once, a long time ago, River Empress Peacock saved three Buddhas from the brink of death. It was a life-saving act of benevolence.
The Star Toad had come to her territory as a guest, in part to reunite with Su Yi, and in part to introduce his old friend to Destiny’s Chosen.
This was recognition and appreciation, the bond between old friends.
And it was these karmic threads that had converged in today’s grand battle.
The white-robed monk born of the three Buddhas, River Empress Peacock, Destiny’s Chosen, and the Star Toad...
These disparate karmic threads interwove as if woven together by fate.
Thus, River Empress Peacock’s first action upon stepping onto the battlefield was to ask the white-robed monk if he believed in destiny!
The white-robed monk naturally understood what she was getting at. He understood that this meeting was no mere coincidence, but rather a reflection of the hand of fate.
That was why he said that prior to transcending the Natural Order of Destiny, you had to know and believe in it. That was true even if you refused to resign yourself to it!
That was why he went on to ask Su Yi if he believed in destiny. Su Yi’s answer was that human effort could trump the heavens, and that his destiny was in his own hands.
But refusing to resign himself to destiny didn’t mean he didn’t believe in it. If destiny wasn’t real, how could the River of Destiny have flowed in perpetuity?
All of the karmic threads that had converged in today’s death trap had given Su Yi a firsthand glimpse at the arrangements of destiny.
If not for his initial meeting with the Star Toad, the Star Toad would never have come here today, and River Empress Peacock would never have come to his aid.
If not for his possession of the Book of Destiny, he and the Star Toad would never have met.
And he and the monk were old enemies, while a life debt existed between the monk and River Empress Peacock, who was here on account of the Star Toad.
Karmic threads interwove as the arrangements of destiny unfolded on the battlefield.
The white-robed monk was unwilling to accept it. He wanted to break free of destiny and karma.
But in the end, he failed.
All of this had left a deep impression on River Empress Peacock. She was convinced that destiny had had a hand in all this.
At the same time, she was convinced that even if she hadn’t intervened, the Book of Destiny would have ensured Su Yi’s safety. All he had to do was dive into the River of Destiny!
The Book of Destiny.
It was a simple name, but it was full of profundities upon profundities.
Had destiny itself arranged the outcome of this battle? No, in a sense, it was the book’s doing. If not for the Book of Destiny’s assistance, how could Su Yi possibly have escaped alive?
Thus, whether she liked it or not, River Empress Peacock had to acknowledge that everything that happened today was connected to Su Yi’s Book of Destiny.
This was what it meant to acknowledge destiny.
There was thus no need for the Star Toad to warn or dissuade her. She would never have tried to seize the Book of Destiny.
Destiny was full of endless profundities. A Taboo Treasure connected directly to it wasn’t something she dared to covet.
Who knew what might happen if she tried to claim it?
Better to follow the Star Toad’s example and establish a positive karmic connection with Su Yi. There were only advantages to doing so and no disadvantages.
He’d yet to master the Book of Destiny, yes, but what would happen in the future?
The Star Toad roughly understood what she was getting at. He couldn’t help but sigh in relief. “Ol’ Peacock, you really scared me just now.”
River Empress Peacock gazed calmly at him. “You scared yourself by underestimating my mentality and horizons.”
“It’s true!” The toad laughed. “I have only myself to blame for my shortsightedness. I projected my own mental weakness onto you and made myself frantic in the process.”
“When do you plan to return to your territory?” asked River Empress Peacock.
The Star Toad didn’t even pause to think. “I’ll return once Destiny’s Chosen has left the River of Destiny.”
River Empress Peacock fell briefly silent. “In that case, I’d best warn you. Be careful not to let me implicate you.”
The Star Toad was flabbergasted. “What do you mean? Have you perhaps provoked some sort of disaster?”
She didn’t answer him. All she said was, “You’ll understand later.”
The toad said anxiously, “Will it implicate Destiny’s Chosen, too?”
As calm and aloof as she was, River Empress Peacock was stunned. “Is Su Yi really that important to you?”
The Star Toad laughed. “I believe in destiny, although I’ve never understood it. Since I’ve crossed paths with Destiny’s Chosen, I ought to share in his burdens. Isn’t that only just and proper?”
River Empress Peacock fell briefly silent. “You’re a fool, but I wish you a fool’s luck!”
......
That very day, Su Yi took up residence in the Five-Colored Hidden Realm, seldom leaving his room.
This place was separate from the outside world. No one came to bother him here.
From time to time, the Star Toad came calling, but when he learned that Su Yi was in seclusion, he refrained from interrupting him. Instead, he dragged Cen Xinghe off for a drink and a chat.
Cen Xinghe was open-minded and easygoing. He and the Star Toad got along well, to the point that they lamented not having met earlier.
From time to time, it was Cen Xinghe who went looking for the toad, jug of wine in hand. The two of them drank, laughed, and sang, telling tales of the ancient past with great enthusiasm.
Innocence spent her days sitting on the palace steps and daydreaming, just resting her head in her hands as she watched the swaying bamboo. No one knew what she was thinking.
As for River Empress Peacock? She was every bit as aloof as the Star Toad said, and she disliked socializing. After returning to the Five-Colored Hidden Domain, she went straight back into seclusion.
Days slipped by, as calm as could be.
But Su Yi rather enjoyed the peace and quiet; it was a rare luxury. He had no need to worry about trivial matters or worldly affairs. He could just focus wholeheartedly on the Grand Dao, and he found it deeply satisfying.
He had no intention of leaving any time soon.
......
After the curtain fell on the battle beneath the firmament of the Literati Continent, word spread across the Eternal Heavens Domain, causing an unprecedented upset.
A battle between Sovereigns!
No such battle had taken place in the million years since the Devastation came to a close!
And this wasn’t just a battle between a pair of Heavenly Sovereigns. A whole group was involved!
The battle had an enormous effect on the Literati Continent, creating countless startling, calamitous phenomena.
Rumor had it that the starry skies of the Literati Continent had all but been destroyed, and that stars had fallen like rain!
Heavenly Sovereigns E, Changhen, Yaoguang, and Wen joined forces, and they’d come close to killing the Red-Robed Heavenly Sovereign!
After learning the news, the populace struggled to calm down. Even the factions of the Five Great Continents were shaken.
Word reached even the Four Seas, the Five Celestial Capitals, and the Six Pure Lands.
But there was one person the world’s cultivators enjoyed discussing above all others.
Su Yi!
The sword cultivator who controlled the Epoch Spark and the power of reincarnation had more than just survived the Nine Luminaries Forbidden Zone. He’d even acquired the Nine Luminaries Edict!
And he was backed by the Red-Robed Heavenly Sovereign!
They said that multiple Heavenly Sovereigns had personally joined the battle, all for the sake of defeating Su Yi.
The Red-Robed Heavenly Sovereign had narrowly avoided dying in battle to save him. She, too, got involved because of Su Yi!
Who wouldn’t have been astonished?
This was a sword cultivator rumored to be only in the Unfettered Realm, yet he’d caused such an enormous storm in the Literati Continent. Who could have anticipated this?
But no one knew the final outcome yet, nor did they know where the critically injured Lu Hongpao had wound up.
They certainly had no idea whether or not Su Yi had survived this brush with death.
The Heavenly Sovereigns said nothing even after returning to their sects, but that only made the populace discuss the situation with even greater fervor.
A few particular eager sorts even took to calling it the first Battle of Sovereigns since the start of the New Beginning!
Su Yi had become the most controversial and legendary sword cultivator overnight.
His life and death and Lu Hongpao’s whereabouts had become riddles. Countless rumors and conflicting explanations spread across the world.
...
The Heart-Tempering Sword House.
The youthful-looking Yun Wuxiang sat in a hall, dressed in brocade and holding a jade fan. He was glowering and holding a severed head aloft.
A dog's head, to be precise.
This was Hei Ya, whom Li Sansheng had refined into a dog head with the art of Spirit Transformation.
“That ignoramus Li Sansheng is actually still alive!?” The depths of Yun Wuxiang’s gaze burned with dense murderous intent.
He’d already learned what had happened from Hei Ya. He now knew that Li Sansheng had shown up, destroyed Hei Ya’s body, and saved Lu Hongpao from disaster.
“Master, Li Sansheng is indeed alive, and he carries Snow Cap, one of the swords the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City left behind,” said Hei Ya, his voice seething with hatred. “If not for him, Lu Hongpao would have died by now, and Su Yi could have forgotten about escaping!”
Bang!
Yun Wuxiang tossed Hei Ya’s dog head into the dirt and stomped on it. “Didn’t you say that you were completely confident in your success?”
Hei Ya’s dog head yelped. “Master, you had no idea that Li Sansheng would show up, so how could I possibly have known?”
Yun Wuxiang stomped on his head several times more for good measure. “You useless wretch! It’s no wonder Li Sansheng spared your life. Even alive, you’re good for nothing!”
Hei Ya didn’t dare to argue. He could tell that Yun Wuxiang was really furious.
Finally, when Yun Wuxiang had calmed down somewhat, he said, “Li Sansheng left you alive on purpose. Did he say why?”
“Li Sansheng said that he’d left a seal on my person, and that it contained a message for you from the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City,” said Hei Ya.
Yun Wuxiang’s gaze focused. He picked Hei Ya’s dog head up and examined him briefly. Before long, he’d found a seal, just as Hei Ya said he would.
But when he saw its contents, his expression darkened, turning ashen and unsightly. He was so furious that he barely resisted the urge to shatter Hei Ya’s skull.
The message contained no secrets or mysteries. It was nothing but a bunch of grating insults and mockery.
“Yun Wuxiang, compared to your little martial uncle, Lonely Heights, you sure are a useless waste! Not convinced? Then fucking come on and fight me already!
“Right, when I return to the Far Shore of Destiny, I’ll take another trip to your clan’s ancestral hall. I’ll dig up your ancestors’ graves again and ask them one by one if they regret having created a useless wretch like you.”
Yun Wuxiang could handle all of the insults and mockery up to this point, but the mere mention of dug-up graves pushed him over the edge. His whole body quivered with fury, and he almost flew off the handle.
This was because once, a long, long time ago, the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City set off to kill Yun Wuxiang, going so far as to invade the Yun family’s ancestral hall. He dug up every last one of their graves, all in a bid to find Yun Wuxiang’s hiding place.
The most humiliating part was that Yun Wuxiang really had been hiding in a forbidden zone near one of his ancestors’ graves...
This incident once shook the entire All-Profound Dominion, turning the Yun family into a laughingstock.
Their ancestors’ graves had been dug up! How humiliating was that?
But Yun Wuxiang, who’d hidden in his ancestors’ graves and still failed to escape detection, became the biggest laughingstock of all.
By bringing it up now, the heart devil was reopening old wounds and rubbing salt in them, too. Of course, Yun Wuxiang was furious!
“You’re pushing me too far!” Yun Wuxiang gnashed his teeth and shouted. “Someone make Jiang Wuchen’s heart devil get his ass over here!”
