Chapter 3117 - The True Ruler

The Threelives Buddha stood beneath the dome of heaven, his white monk’s robes covered in blood. His face was deathly pale, and his body was in tatters.

But as his voice rang out, his body surged with ethereal, dreamlike golden Buddhist light, like a lotus in bloom.

His wounds silently knit back together. Even his disrupted qi circulation recovered and resumed flowing smoothly.

The Lotus Heart Nine Revolutions Technique!

The Buddha of Non-Existence recognized it at a glance. This was a supreme divine ability of the Spirit Mountain Buddhist Court.

His brow furrowed. This ability was taboo, as it sacrificed the user’s vital source energy for an instant recovery. No matter how dire their wounds were, they could recover instantly.

And it could be used nine times in succession!

However, the disadvantage was enormous, too. This technique dealt permanent, irreparable damage to the user’s vital source energy. In some cases, it left them so depleted that they died shortly after.

The Buddha of Non-Existence transmitted everything he knew about the Lotus Heart Nine Revolutions Technique to Su Yi and warned him to be careful.

Su Yi just nodded and approached the Threelives Buddha.

“There’s no way to declare a victor until we’ve fought to the death,” said Su Yi. “Come on and show me what you’re made of, Threelives Buddha!”

His presence was withdrawn and utterly unassuming, with no force or momentum to speak of.

But no one dared to underestimate him. It was to the point that even now, no one else present knew just how strong he was after his breakthrough.

When the Threelives Buddha saw Su Yi approach, his gaze remained calm, with no sign of joy or sorrow. He just drew his hand through the air.

The black alms bowl flew through the air.

Practically simultaneously, Su Yi took out the Book of Destiny and suppressed the alms bowl’s power.

The Threelives Buddha seemed to have anticipated this. He took a step forward, and three thousand lotuses bloomed around him.

Each represented its own world, each in turn home to a supreme Buddha, each of whom chanted sacred truths.

Heaven and earth shook, reflecting unbelievable and strange phenomena. Flowers fell like rain, and golden lotuses surged from the ground, like a vision of paradise.

“The Great Sutra of Deliverance...” The Buddha of Non-Existence’s gaze was a bit conflicted. That was one of the supreme legacies of Spirit Mountain Buddhist Court.

The Threelives Buddha had casually manifested three thousand Buddhist worlds and ten thousand paradises. He’d obviously practiced these techniques to the pinnacle of mastery!

The thought made the Buddha of Non-Existence’s heart ache. He was overcome with sorrow. When a monk goes down the wrong path, how is he any different from a demon?

These are supreme legacies, but they’re in the hands of that unfilial disciple. What is this, if not a disaster for the entire Spirit Mountain Buddhist Court?

As the Buddha of Non-Existence’s thoughts raced, Su Yi attacked. He waved his sleeve and swung his sword.

Boom!

It was as if a windstorm were sweeping through heaven and earth. The three thousand lotuses withered as if ripped up by the roots, and the three thousand worlds within them dimmed and dissipated.

The windstorm was so overwhelmingly powerful that it ripped through the air. Everything collapsed into destruction.

Even the grand visions reflected throughout heaven and earth collapsed and split like light and shadow, then faded away, leaving no trace behind.

The sword force sent the Threelives Buddha flying first. Before he managed to steady himself, endless Laws of Calamity came crashing down from on high, dealing massive damage.

At a critical juncture, a snow-white prayer bead appeared, covered in a mysterious, flowing rain of light, just in time to block the terrifying Laws of Calamity. It narrowly saved the Threelives Buddha from disaster.

The Buddha of Non-Existence said with astonishment, “Impressive. Heaven and earth are lending you their aid!”

Hong Ling’s hair stood on end. She was visibly overcome with horror. In just one strike, he severely damaged the Threelives Buddha! Before, who’d have dared believe such a thing?

How terrifying was that slash to have cleaved through the Threelives Buddha’s three thousand worlds?

“And here I thought we’d determine a victor in our clash of the Grand Dao first, then decide life and death. I would never have thought... it would be like this.” The Threelives Buddha sighed in apparent disappointment.

As his voice rang out, Buddhist light flowed over him, and his wounds instantly vanished. Even his cultivation base returned to peak condition.

There was no doubt about it. He’d used the Lotus Heart Nine Revolutions Technique yet again.

“You aren’t worthy of that,” Su Yi said directly. He took a step toward the Threelives Buddha. “I know you still have plenty of cards up your sleeve. Go ahead and use them. I’ll be sure to accompany you to the bitter end.”

The Threelives Buddha clasped his palms together and said calmly, “Very well!”

Boom!

The prayer bead floating over his head spun, then shot into the firmament, manifesting the cross-legged figure of a young, elegant Buddha.

As soon as the Buddha appeared, he lit up with endless radiance. Intense, terrifying divine majesty swept outward.

The Buddha of Non-Existence frowned. The Fearless Buddha’s Visage of the Vajra Bodhisattva!

Spirit Mountain Buddhist Court was home to three Buddhas. The Buddha of Non-Existence was one of the three.

So was the Fearless Buddha.

Unlike the Buddha of Non-Existence, the Fearless Buddha broke the shackles of destiny long ago. He left to continue his cultivation on the Far Shore during the Primordial Era.

Apparently, he was now a shocking expert of the Buddhist pure land of the Far Shore.

The Threelives Buddha was now manifesting his image, but this was obviously just an imprint the Fearless Buddha had left behind. It wasn’t even a true avatar.

Even so, its presence was terrifying. It was far beyond any ordinary Heavenly Sovereign.

“Just as I thought. You really were hiding power from the Far Shore of Destiny,” said Su Yi, a hint of mockery in his expression.

Boom!

The Fearless Buddha’s imprint attacked, his hands forming seals as he directed twin blazing celestial rivers of Buddhist flame at Su Yi.

Su Yi raised his hand, and the Realm-Demarcating Ruler appeared.

When he tapped the air, a hidden realm appeared out of nowhere, completely enveloping the Fearless Buddha’s imprint.

The twin rivers were just ten feet from Su Yi when that hidden realm suddenly enveloped them, blocking their advance. They were mere feet from Su Yi, but it was as if they were in an entirely different world. No matter how the blazing rivers assailed the boundary, they couldn’t shake it!

On the contrary, when Su Yi swung the Realm-Demarcating Ruler, the Laws of Calamity throughout the firmament fused into that hidden realm, thoroughly ensnaring the Fearless Buddha’s imprint.

The Threelives Buddha’s gaze focused. The appearance of this hidden realm had severed his connection to the Fearless Buddha’s imprint, a fact he found hard to believe.

This was a power from the Far Shore, the imprint of an expert far beyond a Heavenly Sovereign. He might have been “just” an imprint, but he still wasn’t so easily trapped.

Before he could wrap his head around it, Su Yi attacked.

Clang!

The wooden sword, Nine in Third, appeared out of nowhere. This was the sword Xiao Jian had once gone into battle with, and it had been imbued with Xiao Jian’s Dao throughout the course of his life.

In the past, Su Yi couldn’t even come close to unleashing its full power, but things were different now. When he gripped the sword, all he had to do was swing it, and...

Boom!

The distant Threelives Buddha was badly injured. His body split open with a spurt of blood, and the slash continued right through him, leaving a seemingly bottomless chasm on the ground.

It wasn’t that the Threelives Buddha didn’t try to defend himself, but that his defenses were completely ineffectual.

For a moment, Hong Ling thought he’d been killed. A thrill of terror coursed through her heart.

Su Yi’s strength was just too terrifying. He was overwhelming the Threelives Buddha with ease.

Even after the Threelives Buddha unleashed his killer weapon, Su Yi neutralized it with ease.

The Threelives Buddha sighed deeply. “Indeed. When the trend is not in his favor, even a hero is helpless.”

Off in the distance, the Threelives Buddha silently recovered, seemingly unkillable. Even his injuries had vanished without a trace.

He scanned the area, then frowned. “The Monarch of Endless Tribulations could, at most, direct the Laws of Calamity in this place, but it seems like you’re different. It’s as if you’ve become the true ruler of this place. Is that... perhaps connected to the Book of Destiny?"

He wasn’t stupid. He’d been badly injured three times in a row, and he’d long since realized something. Su Yi’s every movement, and even his aura of the Grand Dao, had fused with the Realm of Endless Tribulations!

He hadn’t simply assumed control over the Laws of Calamity overhead. He’d even grasped some of this place’s other mysterious, unknown powers. Opposing him wasn’t at all like fighting a single individual; it felt like fighting the entire Realm of Endless Tribulations!

In other words, Su Yi’s breakthrough had perhaps increased his strength to incomparably terrifying heights, but that was just a portion of his power. The true source of his strength was that he was now the true ruler of the Realm of Endless Tribulations!

Earlier, the Threelives Buddha had lamented that even heaven and earth seemed to be helping Su Yi. That was why he said, “When the trend is not in his favor, even a hero is helpless.”

Boom!

Within the hidden realm manifested by the Realm-Demarcating Ruler, the Fearless Buddha’s imprint dissipated and vanished.

This development further proved that not even the powers of the Far Shore were enough to stop Su Yi, the new ruler of this place!

“Ready to admit defeat yet?” asked Su Yi.

The Threelives Buddha shook his head and whispered, “There are no absolutes in this world. I’d like to see if I can create a path to life.”

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, he attacked once more.

A moment later, he held out his hands, then shouted in a voice that boomed like spring thunder, unleashing a forbidden technique and vanishing into thin air.

A moment later, his black alms bowl rumbled and boomed, breaking free of the Book of Destiny’s restrictions.

Su Yi laughed derisively. The bald donkey makes it sound good, but he’s really just trying to escape.

He waved his sleeve through the air, and tribulation light churned beneath the dome of heaven. Laws of Calamity interwove, relentlessly assailing the black alms bowl.

Against Su Yi’s expectations, the black alms bowl was extraordinarily durable. No matter how he struck it, he couldn’t shake it. On the contrary, it bore through the churning calamitous power and hurtled into the sky.

There was no denying it; the Threelives Buddha was keen-eyed and shrewd. The path out of the Abyss of Endless Tribulations really was hidden deep in the firmament.

But he still didn’t understand the implications of Su Yi successfully breaking through in the Daoless Domain.

When Su Yi exerted his will, the Realm-Demarcating Ruler transformed into the Sword of Proximity.

Clang!

A heaven-shaking impact rang out. The black alms bowl shook violently, then came crashing down from the sky.

Before it hit the ground, the Threelives Buddha shot out of the black alms bowl, staggering on his feet. His whole face was covered in blood, and he looked utterly wretched.

“Fellow Daoist Hong Ling, how long are you planning to just sit there and watch?” shouted the Threelives Buddha. His wounds knit back together yet again, but his face was increasingly pallid.

Hong Ling reacted as if awakening from a dream, but she made no attempt to attack. She just shook her head and said bitterly, “I’m... I’m no match for him. I’ve decided... to admit defeat...”

The Threelives Buddha’s brow furrowed, his expression darkening. “You’re too useless to help, but more than capable of getting in the way! You’ve brought shame upon both your founder and Chu Shanke!”

Hong Ling pursed her lips. She was an onlooker, and she’d long since realized that Su Yi wasn’t giving his battle with the Threelives Buddha his all. He was like a cat toying with a mouse. No matter what the Threelives Buddha did, Su Yi was happy to let him try it, then crush him time and time again.

How could Hong Ling fail to realize that even if she went all out, there was no turning this around?