Chapter 3101 - Murderous Intent Stirs Thrice

The River of Destiny flowed without end.

Atop the lotus platform, the Threelives Buddha looked at Su Yi and said, “Fellow Daoist, you’ve always been a man of your word. I find it difficult to believe you’d renege on our agreement this time.”

Hong Ling was even more direct. “Fellow Daoist Su, what exactly are you trying to say? Just be direct about it!”

Su Yi put away his wine, then turned to face the two of them. “As you both know, working with you is like trying to buy a tiger’s pelt off its body. I won’t benefit in any way, and I have to be constantly on guard against your schemes.

“But I’ll have no need to worry about any of that if I work alone. In that case, why should I work with you?”

Hong Ling’s expression darkened. “Going back on your word? How shameless! Is this really the conduct of the reincarnation of the Big Boss of Sword Sovereign City?”

The Threelives Buddha looked at Su Yi, then sighed. “Fellow Daoist, I just about understand what you’re thinking. If you have conditions, please lay them out in the open. If they’re reasonable, I’m sure to agree.”

Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh. “You really do understand me, Threelives Buddha.”

Hong Ling was stunned. What’s that supposed to mean? Su Yi wasn’t really backing out so much as trying to squeeze more benefits out of us?

“It’s not that I understand you so much as that I trust your character,” the Threelives Buddha said solemnly.

Hong Ling wasn’t at all calm. They’re enemies, yet the Threelives Buddha trusts him completely. How trustworthy must his character be?

Su Yi didn’t hesitate. “Very well. Give me the Eternal Throne of Spring and Autumn, and I’ll lead you into the Abyss of Endless Tribulations.”

The Threelives Buddha’s lips twitched. He sighed. “Even if I had the Eternal Throne on me—which I most certainly do not—there’s no way I’d give it to you. Please don’t joke, Fellow Daoist.”

Su Yi glanced at Hong Ling next. “How about you lend me the Mirror of Mysteries, Fellow Daoist?”

Hong Ling was flabbergasted, then furious. “How dare you even ask such a thing? Let me make myself perfectly clear: there’s absolutely no way!”

Su Yi laughed. “I set my terms, but you’ve both refused them. What’s the point of negotiating?”

The Threelives Buddha fell briefly silent, then said, “If you want to talk terms, I’m sure there’s something you want that you think I’ll agree to. In that case, why not stop probing and tell me directly what you’re really after?”

Su Yi inclined his head. “Very well.”

He leaped from the lotus boat, then stood over the River of Destiny and faced the Threelives Buddha. “Come on and spar with me.”

The Threelives Buddha and Hong Ling blinked in surprise.

“Spar?” The Threelives Buddha would never have guessed that Su Yi would request such a thing.

“A clash of the Grand Dao to test your abilities,” said Su Yi. “Once we’ve entered the abyss, we won’t get another opportunity.”

The Threelives Buddha’s eyes flashed. “Shall we match our cultivation bases and compete purely in terms of the Grand Dao?”

Su Yi shook his head. “No, and it isn’t over until I say it is.”

The Threelives Buddha frowned. He was increasingly uncertain of what Su Yi was playing at.

Hong Ling couldn’t help but say, “If he’s asking for a beating, why not give it to him?”

The Threelives Buddha disregarded her, then looked at Su Yi. He was starting to get it. “Fellow Daoist, are you... perhaps on the verge of a breakthrough?”

Su Yi sighed. “I’m afraid not even a worm living in my intestines would understand my innermost thoughts as well as you do.”

He meant every word, too.

The Threelives Buddha sighed, too. “I’ve got to say, this is a real masterstroke on your part. You can use me to temper yourself safely, as I can’t afford to kill you right now. If I do, I’ll never be able to enter the Abyss of Endless Tribulations.

“You, however, can attack freely and take your time to search for an opportunity to break through. Impressive!”

Hong Ling watched their entire exchange. She suddenly felt that she was an idiot compared to Su Yi and the Threelives Buddha. She couldn’t see through either of them, but they could pick up even the subtle hints in each other’s words and actions. In doing so, they could discern their enemy’s true intentions. It was truly terrifying!

“It’s not like you won’t get anything out of it,” said Su Yi. “At the very least, you’ll be able to get a feel for my true strength.”

Su Yi added casually, “Come on, don’t dilly-dally.”

The Threelives Buddha no longer hesitated. He took a step forward, arrived atop the River of Destiny, and stared Su Yi down.

“I’m a Heavenly Sovereign. If I attack, I’ll naturally use my full power,” the Threelives Buddha said calmly.

Su Yi pointed to the River of Destiny beneath him. “I’m Destiny’s Chosen. If we fight atop the River of Destiny, you’d best take care.”

“Impressive! You’ve seized an opportune moment and an advantageous location!” The Threelives Buddha laughed. “Now I understand. You aren’t challenging me to a spar on a whim. You’ve been planning this all along!”

“What’s with all the chatter?” Su Yi laughed, then leaped into battle. His sleeves billowed around him and his sword intent surged. His whole bearing shifted.

The Threelives Buddha stood there with the solemn countenance of a temple statue, hands forming seals. His whole body erupted with endless radiance.

Sanskrit chanting resounded throughout heaven and earth.

The terrifying majesty of a Heavenly Sovereign stunned even Hong Ling.

......

Ten snaps of the fingers later, Su Yi was injured. Thirty snaps of the fingers later, Su Yi entered the River of Destiny, activated Seizing Destiny, and borrowed River Ancestor Ji Dian’s power. This let him fight the Threelives Buddha on equal footing.

Five minutes later, the Threelives Buddha’s unrippling expression finally shifted. His strength rapidly soared. Only then could he suppress Su Yi’s offensive.

Fifteen minutes later, Su Yi stopped the battle of his own accord.

Hong Ling’s beautiful face was utterly solemn. Her eyes were wide with astonishment.

She’d thought poorly of Su Yi’s chances from the start. After all, he was only in the Immeasurable Realm. Even if he was heaven-defying enough to clash with Heavenly Sovereigns, that had to be the extent of it. There was no way he could actually win.

The outcome confirmed her initial assumption. Within ten snaps of the fingers, Su Yi was injured and suppressed. After just thirty snaps of the fingers, his wounds were dire, and his blue robes were stained red.

But against all expectations, when the battle entered the River of Destiny, the tide turned. From that point on, Su Yi had the heaven-defying strength to fight the Threelives Buddha!

With the home-turf advantage, Su Yi put the Threelives Buddha at an increasing disadvantage.

The Threelives Buddha did manage to turn the situation around and suppress Su Yi’s momentum, but Hong Ling nonetheless found the battle unbelievable. It practically overturned her perception of reality, and it came as a massive shock.

How could an Immeasurable Realm cultivator be this unreasonably strong? And how terrifying would he be when he managed to break through?

Hong Ling couldn’t calm down.

At the same time, the Threelives Buddha frowned, his expression shifting and uncertain. He’d fallen uncharacteristically silent.

Su Yi was using him as a whetstone and striving for a breakthrough. He naturally wouldn’t cooperate.

He’d held back at first, passively avoiding Su Yi’s strikes. He had no interest in fighting for real.

But to his surprise, Su Yi kept putting pressure on him. Gradually, he forced him to reveal his true strength, like it or not.

Especially after they’d fought their way into the River of Destiny. There, Su Yi almost managed to suppress him.

The Threelives Buddha naturally realized the implications. Simply put, here on the River of Destiny, Su Yi was capable of fighting Heavenly Sovereigns despite his Immeasurable Realm cultivation base!

If he broke through and entered the Heavenly Fate Realm, Heavenly Sovereigns might not be a match for him anymore!

How could the Threelives Buddha not be startled?

Su Yi wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth, threw back his head, drank with relish, and sighed.

The Threelives Buddha couldn’t help but push. “Our spar is already over. Isn’t it time we kept moving?”

“Wait until my wounds have healed. Then we can go to the Abyss of Endless Tribulations together,” said Su Yi. He’d already boarded the lotus boat, where he sat cross-legged, took out a Heavenly Fate Elixir, and started refining it.

He made no attempt to hide what he was doing, either. The Threelives Buddha frowned, but in the end, he said nothing.

Hong Ling transmitted, “He didn’t seize the opportunity he needed to break through during your match. What are you still worried about, Fellow Daoist?”

The Threelives Buddha said, “Looks can be deceiving. Only he knows for sure whether or not he managed to seize the opportunity he needed.”

Hong Ling’s gaze focused. What does he mean by that? Does Threelives suspect that Su Yi managed to seize an opportunity after all?

“I won’t lie to you. I was struck by the urge to kill three times over the course of our spar. Each time, my murderous intent was stronger than before,” transmitted the Threelives Buddha. “But in the end, I held back, not because I was afraid, but because I was worried that giving in would only play right into Su Yi’s hands.”

“What? What do you mean?” Hong Ling was completely befuddled.

“Had I struck to kill, I could have forced him into a corner, a situation where his life hung by a thread,” said the Threelives Buddha. “But such life-and-death peril can excavate and unleash someone’s latent potential. Had he broken his bottleneck in the face of danger, he’d have broken through with ease.

“Moreover, even if I had struck to kill, there’s no way I could have succeeded. Even if I could’ve, I can’t afford to. We still need him to guide us into the Abyss of Endless Tribulations.”

The Threelives Buddha sighed. “He factored all of that into his schemes. He prepared for every possible eventuality, so despite my murderous intent rising on three occasions, I had no choice but to endure in the end.”

“Isn’t that still a good outcome?” said Hong Ling.

The Threelives Buddha shook his head. “My murderous intent stirred. Even though I suppressed it, I’m sure he sensed it, and his instincts responded to that looming lethal threat.

“I suspect that my murderous intent invisibly did him a big favor.”

Hong Ling pondered briefly, then understood. Su Yi was using the Threelives Buddha as a whetstone, but no matter how fierce their spar was, it would do Su Yi little good.

But the Threelives Buddha’s murderous intent was different. It made for the perfect whetstone!

“Ultimately, it’s hard to say whether he seized the opportunity he needed or not,” said the Threelives Buddha. “No matter what, we’d best be on guard.”

Hong Ling could tell the Threelives Buddha took his old foe as seriously as he could.

Enough time to burn a stick of incense later, Su Yi rose from his meditation. His wounds had healed, but his cultivation hadn’t increased.

When Hong Ling saw this, she relaxed considerably.

“Let’s go,” said Su Yi. This time, he wasted no breath on idle chatter, instead leading the group along the river.

The Threelives Buddha and Hong Ling exchanged glances, then followed him.

After enough time to burn a stick of incense, the entrance to the Abyss of Endless Tribulations came into view.

The turbid waters of destiny churned past it. Countless dark currents flowed beneath the surface.

The entrance was like a giant black hole floating amidst the current, as mysterious as could be.