Chapter 2898 - The Key to Endless Tribulations
“My worthy little brother, I really wouldn’t have guessed you’d acquired a supreme treasure like the Book of Destiny,” River Ancestor Shen Xiao said with a sigh. “You just keep broadening my horizons. It’s truly unbelievable.”
The Book of Destiny!
When they saw the yellowed tome in Su Yi’s hands, River Empress Lu Ping and River Emperor Winged Dragon’s hearts churned.
Su Yi sighed to himself. In the end, I couldn’t avoid revealing my possession of the Book of Destiny.
He’d done this to resolve the crisis at hand, but money stirred the human heart, luring people to acts of greed. Who could guarantee that this wouldn’t cause any problems down the line?
“You might not realize this, but this crisis is far from over,” Su Yi said out of nowhere.
His companions had only just relaxed, but when they heard this, their hearts clenched, and their expressions shifted.
Su Yi then went on to explain. “River Ancestor Lu Shu is trapped in the Book of Destiny, but he isn’t dead, and he still has cards up his sleeve. I control the Book of Destiny, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be able to avoid difficulties.”
River Ancestor Shen Xiao’s expression darkened. “To think I respected Senior Lu Shu so much. I would never have guessed he was that kind of person!”
The others’ hearts sank. It had been nothing but one unexpected disaster after another from the moment they entered the Cave of Obsession. The red-robed man in particular was terrifying beyond comprehension. Who could have imagined that their crisis wasn’t over even now that the red-robed man had been confined?
“Fellow Daoist, is there any way we can just leave?” River Emperor Winged Dragon couldn’t help but ask.
He was obviously much more reserved and polite than before when he faced Su Yi.
Su Yi shook his head, and River Emperor Winged Dragon’s hopes turned to ash.
“What’s there to be afraid of? We’ve yet to find the Key to Endless Tribulations. How could we leave now?” said River Ancestor Shen Xiao. “Besides, we have my worthy younger brother here, and he has the Book of Destiny!”
The corners of Su Yi’s lips twitched. He said directly, “I want to check inside that building.”
An old-fashioned palace reminiscent of a Daoist temple stood atop the ridge. The Harbinger of Tribulations, the former River Ancestor Lu Shu, had been standing atop it.
“Alright, let’s go together!” River Ancestor Shen Xiao straightforwardly agreed. It seemed he’d follow Su Yi, no matter where he went.
He’d obviously made up his mind to stick close to his “worthy little brother.”
Wang Zhiwu inwardly cursed River Ancestor Shen Xiao out for his shamelessness, but out loud, he said, “Count me in!”
River Emperor Winged Dragon and River Empress Lu Ping were extremely opposed to the idea, but they could only steel themselves and agree.
The group promptly set off.
Heart-Devouring Ridge billowed with dense tribulation power, like rising mists.
Now that the Book of Destiny had been exposed, Su Yi felt no need to hide it. He gripped the tome, but there was no need for him to do anything else; the book greedily absorbed all of the fog-like tribulation power. Soon, the entire area had been sucked dry.
The others watched with astonishment and envy.
When they reached the black palace, the group was unwittingly stunned. The gates were open, revealing the scenery inside.
But against their expectations, aside from the altar, there was nothing at all, no furniture or decorations of any kind.
The altar was plain, dull gray, and nine feet tall. A bundle of five-colored light hovered over its surface.
When Su Yi saw it, his heart shook. That was the very same bundle of light that had flown off after River Empress Peacock was “killed!”
“Fellow Daoist Peacock?” River Ancestor Shen Xiao probed. He, too, was stunned.
A soft sigh emanated from the altar. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
The speaker was indeed River Empress Peacock!
“Might you explain what exactly is going on here?” asked Su Yi.
The five-colored light flowed. It was indistinct, but a woman’s face flickered within its divine radiance.
“Fellow Daoist Su, would you believe me if I told you that this tribulation was set into motion the moment you, I, and the monk met on the River of Destiny?” River Empress Peacock said with melancholy.
Su Yi’s gaze focused. He vividly recalled the first question that River Empress Peacock had asked the monk: “Do you believe in destiny?”
It was only later that he learned that she’d saved the Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future back in the Devastation.
Cause and effect were on full display.
But how could all of this be the result of their encounter that day?
Su Yi pondered briefly and vaguely understood. “Are you saying that my connection to you got me swept into this whole mess?”
“No,” said River Empress Peacock. “It’s because of the monk, too.”
Su Yi was instantly stunned. Don’t tell me that the monk arranged all this from behind the scenes?
“It’s a long story.” River Empress Peacock sighed. “The seeds of this karma were planted long, long ago. You just didn’t know it. I told you that I left the Five-Colored Hidden Realm without saying goodbye because I hoped that would prevent you and the Star Toad from getting mixed up in this, but it seems my efforts were futile. Perhaps River Ancestor Lu Shu was right. With my power, I cannot possibly interfere with the predetermined Tribulations of Destiny."
Everyone was bewildered, but they could tell that she’d predicted all of this well in advance, and that she’d tried to stop it.
It was even more obvious that she hadn’t succeeded.
“Unfortunately, it’s too late,” said River Empress Peacock, her voice full of indescribable sorrow and bitterness. “You’re already mixed up in this, pawns on the chessboard of destiny. It will be difficult for you to escape.”
The others’ hearts quivered just hearing this.
River Ancestor Shen Xiao couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t tell me the information about the Key to Endless Tribulations is fake?”
“No, that was no trick. The key really exists,” said River Empress Peacock. Countless strange and mysterious markings suddenly appeared all over the empty palace walls.
The markings were murky and gray, and they emanated a terrifying, taboo, calamitous luster.
As the Dao Markings surged forth, the altar rumbled and boomed, emanating a whirlpool of tribulation light that swiftly enveloped the five-colored radiance.
This sudden development left the others stricken.
Su Yi charged immediately into the palace, holding the Book of Destiny. He wanted to stop whatever was coming.
But he was ultimately one step too late.
The bundle of light the Peacock River Empress was in instantly vanished into the whirlpool.
Only her voice emanated from within, starting and stopping, “I... am the Key... to Endless Tribulations! But whatever you do, don’t—”
Her voice was full of agony and tinged with hysteria, but her voice came to an abrupt halt before she could finish her warning.
There was no longer any sign of the bundle of five-colored light. All that remained was the floating whirlpool of tribulation light.
A five-colored feather floated within it, flickering in and out of view.
The dense, strange markings covering the wall had long since vanished. All was as it had been before.
But Su Yi’s expression shifted erratically. The others couldn’t calm down, either. Everything that had just happened was just too strange and unsettling.
After a while, Wang Zhiwu couldn’t help but blurt, “River Empress Peacock... is the Key to Endless Tribulations?”
His expression was utterly strange. He found this hard to believe.
“That’s most likely the case, yes,” whispered Su Yi.
No one had ever seen the Key to Endless Tribulations before, but now, he sort of understood. The so-called “key” was really just a means of entering the Abyss of Endless Tribulations. It could be an object, but it could also be a person.
There was no doubt about it. River Empress Peacock herself was a means of entering the abyss. In that sense, she really was the “key.”
Su Yi suddenly felt a bit agitated. Is River Empress Peacock dead? What’s really going on here? Why did she say that I was destined to face this tribulation the moment I met her and the white-robed monk? Don’t tell me there’s someone else acting behind the scenes? And why was the Harbinger of Tribulations imprisoned in the book so confident that I wouldn’t be able to hold onto the Book of Destiny? Is there more to this than I realize?
All manner of questions flooded Su Yi’s heart.
Meanwhile, his companions watched the vortex of tribulation light with rapt attention, their gazes shifting. Is that feather floating in the vortex the Key to Endless Tribulations?
River Empress Lu Ping said suddenly, “Winged Dragon, a few days ago, you arranged for someone to ambush River Empress Peacock’s clone. If I recall, you acquired a five-colored feather then, too, right?”
Everyone fixed their gaze on River Emperor Winged Dragon, whose heart clenched. Before anyone could press him, he took out the feather of his own accord. “That’s right. This is it.”
When the others examined it, they were surprised to discover that it was shockingly similar to the feather floating in the vortex—or, in other words, it was shockingly similar to the Key to Endless Tribulations!
“Go ahead and try your luck,” River Ancestor Shen Xiao commanded. “See if you can use it to extract the Key to Endless Tribulations from the vortex of tribulation light.
“Me?” River Emperor Winged Dragon looked stricken.
River Empress Peacock hadn’t finished talking earlier, but it was readily apparent that she was urging them against trying to extract the key from the whirlpool.
“Do you have a problem with that?” River Ancestor Shen Xiao glared coldly at him.
River Emperor Winged Dragon’s heart shook, and his soul practically left his body for sheer panic. He knew that if he refused to obey, River Ancestor Shen Xiao would slaughter him without hesitation! In the end, he nodded with great difficulty, took a deep breath, and headed toward the altar.
The others were instinctively on guard, ready to face danger if need be.
But against all expectations, when River Emperor Winged Dragon reached the altar, he just extended that five-colored feather, and the Key to Endless Tribulations whooshed out of the Vortex of Tribulation Light, blurring into a beam and shooting into the feather.
The group watched in disbelief as an eye-like marking appeared on the feather.
Upon closer inspection, the strange eye was like an unfathomably deep abyss.
From beginning to end, nothing bad happened to River Emperor Winged Dragon!
This wasn’t just unexpected to his companions; even River Emperor Winged Dragon found it hard to believe. His eyes widened. “This...”
The group exchanged glances, but it just didn’t feel real. It was as if they were dreaming.
Suddenly, a burst of hearty laughter resounded from outside the hall.
“There’s nothing to be surprised about! This is destiny!”
