Chapter 3118 - Both the Man and His Treasures, Destroyed

Su Yi was surprised that Hong Ling had admitted defeat, but not particularly moved. After all, there’d never been any deep grudge between them.

But Hong Ling’s surrender had obviously dealt a heavy blow to the Threelives Buddha. He hadn’t anticipated that she’d given in without first fighting or struggling!

His brow furrowed. Does she think Su Yi will spare her just because she admitted defeat? How naive!

But then, Su Yi said suddenly, “If you admit defeat too, I can spare your life.”

The Threelives Buddha was stunned.

Hong Ling couldn’t help but urge him to consider it. “Fellow Daoist, admit defeat. There’s no way you can win, so why resist?”

This time, both Su Yi and the Buddha of Non-Existence were stunned. Hong Ling hadn’t just admitted defeat; she was now urging the Threelives Buddha to surrender, too!

The Threelives Buddha glowered, then spoke slowly and emphatically. “Hong Ling, even if you must betray me, why betray me so thoroughly?”

But Hong Ling lost her temper. “Earlier, you yourself said that Su Yi is a man of his word. You’re his enemy, but you don’t question his promises. If he says he’ll exempt you from death, he will. What is that, if not an opportunity to survive this?”

She paused, then said, “I’m warning you out of the goodness of my heart. Even if you don’t appreciate it, there’s no need to turn around and rebuke me!”

The Threelives Buddha wasn’t sure what to say. Is she really stupid, or has she always been this naive?

When he thought back to her performance thus far, he felt as if he vaguely understood. She might have been a Heavenly Sovereign, but her thinking and personality were too simple.

Put kindly, she was pure, straightforward, and direct. Put bluntly, she was short-sighted and foolish!

The Threelives Buddha paid Hong Ling no further heed. Instead, he looked at Su Yi. “You want to capture me alive, then use this body to find and defeat my remaining two, right?”

Su Yi didn’t deny it. “Yes.”

The Threelives Buddha laughed. “Su Yi, did you really think I’d agree to that after all these years of fighting?”

“I just thought I’d ask,” said Su Yi. “You’re welcome to refuse.”

After a moment’s silence, the Threelives Buddha said, “I can admit defeat, and I can show you my sincerity, but I cannot submit!”

He was trying to negotiate, but Su Yi wouldn’t have it. “Submit, or die!”

The Threelives Buddha said calmly, “Don’t you want to hear about my ‘sincerity’ first? If you miss out, I can say with certainty that you’ll regret it!”

He spoke with incontrovertible conviction. It was to the point that Hong Ling couldn’t help but suspect he had some hidden card capable of forcing Su Yi to make an exchange.

The Buddha of Non-Existence frowned.

Bang!

A streak of sword qi exploded into being. The Threelives Buddha's body split, splattering the air with blood.

“Did your humiliation turn into anger? Or did you realize that I have leverage and lose your temper?” asked the Threelives Buddha as his body reformed.

But his face was increasingly pallid.

It was indeed just as the Buddha of Non-Existence said. The Lotus Heart Nine Revolutions Technique was incomparably taboo, but it came at a great cost. Using it severely depleted one’s vital source energy. Every time someone used it, they suffered a backlash and irreparable damage.

It was obvious that the Threelives Buddha was going all out, and he wasn’t concerned with any of that. On the contrary, he smiled almost provocatively, looked at Su Yi, and waited.

But Su Yi remained calm. “Are you talking about River Ancestor Lu Shu?”

The Threelives Buddha’s smile vanished. He sighed deeply. “Sometimes, I can’t help but suspect that you’re really a worm living in my guts.”

Su Yi’s gaze was full of mockery. “When a goose passes overhead, it leaves behind its call. Whatever you do, you’ll inevitably leave behind traces. Moreover, I already know that you used River Ancestor Lu Shu to contact the Monarch of Endless Tribulations. How could I fail to realize that you’d plotted against Lu Shu, too?”

The Threelives Buddha frowned. “So you’re saying that you already guessed that something had happened to River Ancestor Shen Xiao, Star Toad, River Empress Peacock, and the others?”

Su Yi nodded. “That’s right.”

River Ancestor Lu Shu was with Star Toad and the others. If something had happened to him, there was no way the others were unharmed, either.

Su Yi understood the Threelives Buddha well enough to know that he wouldn’t pass up any available opportunity to target him!

The Threelives Buddha asked, “Then are you willing to make an exchange?”

Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh. “In the past, I might have agreed, but going forward? There’s no way!”

He spoke with incontrovertible force.

The Buddha of Non-Existence vaguely understood. He nodded ruefully.

The Threelives Buddha’s eyelids twitched. He looked at Su Yi, then back at his “resurrected” master, then suddenly realized something. His expression darkened.

“Is it because of the Book of Destiny?” the Threelives Buddha said gravely.

Su Yi didn’t answer. All he said was, “You have just three choices left. Submit, kill yourself, or die by my hand. Take your pick.”

He then took out a jug of wine, sloshed what little wine remained in it, and said, “You have until I’ve finished this jug. If you haven’t given me an answer by then, I’ll help you decide.”

The Threelives Buddha fell silent. He’d prepared numerous cards for this expedition, and he’d plotted every detail meticulously. He’d even prepared for the worst-case scenario.

He just hadn’t anticipated that all his plans would fall apart like this, much less that Su Yi would come prepared with countermeasures for everything!

The real turning point was his master’s resurrection.

He dared say with certainty that the Buddha of Non-Existence had told Su Yi that his disciple was coming to the Realm of Endless Tribulations, not to save him, but to pilfer his Dao Heart and foundations in the Grand Dao.

Thus, Su Yi and the Buddha of Non-Existence had joined forces to set a trap for him.

When he traced the problem back to its source, the Threelives Buddha realized that he hadn’t lost to Su Yi today, but rather to the Book of Destiny!

The taboo treasure born of the Abyss of Endless Tribulations was full of far too many secrets he had no way of grasping. It was to the point that he hadn’t even considered that his master might well come back to life.

Nor had he considered that the Book of Destiny would enable Su Yi to become the true ruler of the Abyss of Endless Tribulations!

Su Yi drank, in no rush to attack.

Hong Ling just stood there, a complicated look on her face. She’d taken to thinking of the Threelives Buddha as a masterful plotter with nigh-divine powers of prediction. He seemed all but omnipotent.

Even the mighty Monarch of Endless Tribulations had died by his hand.

The Threelives Buddha then went on to claim and fuse his master’s Dao Heart and foundations in the Grand Dao.

All of this combined had filled her heart with dread.

But when she looked at the down-on-his-luck Threelives Buddha now, Hong Ling realized what it meant for “heaven and earth to desert you.”

So what if he’d meticulously planned his every move? At the end of the day, in the face of true strength, all of his scheming was as futile as trying to scoop water with a basket!

It was no wonder her master so often said that strength was everything in the pursuit of the Grand Dao!

After a while, just as Su Yi was about to finish his last sip of wine, the Threelives Buddha spoke. “Su Yi, dare you compete with me in a clash of the Grand Dao?”

Su Yi blinked, then laughed. “Unwilling to accept it, huh?”

The Threelives Buddha said calmly, “All I want to know is, dare you fight me or not?”

Su Yi threw back his head, drained the jug, and said, “I told you, didn’t I? You aren’t cooperating, so why should I give you what you want?”

He approached the Threelives Buddha. “Since you didn’t choose, I’ll choose for you!”

The Threelives Buddha burst into laughter. “You’re afraid. You’re afraid that I saw through the limits of your strength. That’s why you’re too scared to fight me! After all, even if this body of mine dies, my other two will sense it, and that won’t go well for you!”

He spoke with the utmost gratification. “You really are afraid of me!”

Su Yi waved his sleeve through the air, and a wooden sword appeared.

The Threelives Buddha stretched out his hand and tapped. A black alms bowl appeared, glowing with intense radiance. Searing Buddhist flames flowed over its surface, blocking Su Yi’s strike.

He then clasped his palms together and said, “I acknowledge this defeat, but I’ll be sure to settle the score with you later!”

His voice had only just finished ringing through the air when he caught ablaze, unleashing an indescribable wave of destruction.

Then, he leaped into his black alms bowl.

Boom!

The black alms bowl rumbled and boomed, like a surging furnace. Its power spread far and wide, shaking the entire Realm of Endless Tribulations.

The Threelives Buddha had resorted to sacrificing one of his bodies, fusing it into his alms bowl in a bid for mutual destruction.

The look on Hong Ling’s beautiful face shifted, and she immediately tried to flee, as she’d realized that the alms bowl wasn’t headed for Su Yi.

Instead, it was aimed at her!

This is bad! Hong Ling panicked. This attack was far too terrifying, and it had caught her off guard. There was no dodging it, either. Even though she was a Heavenly Sovereign, she could practically smell her own impending death.

Clang!!

The Mirror of Mysteries flew from her grip, but just as the alms bowl was about to kill her, a yellowed tome appeared out of nowhere and flipped to the first page. A rain of inscrutable, mysterious light of the Grand Dao surged forth, forming a barrier in front of her, stopping the alms bowl.

This was the attack the Threelives Buddha had sacrificed one of his bodies for. He’d even exhausted the source energies of the black alms bowl, a taboo treasure, all in a bid to kill Hong Ling in a single strike. Such an attack was in no way ordinary.

Within moments, the Book of Destiny was sent flying.

Hong Ling’s beautiful face paled, and her eyes went blank. Unlike the Threelives Buddha, this was her one and only true body. If she died, she would never come back!

Even now, she couldn’t understand. The Threelives Buddha sacrificed himself to unleash that attack. Why direct it at me?

Bewilderment was written all over her face.

Boom!

The black alms bowl descended upon Hong Ling.

Just as she thought she was really doomed this time, a little boat appeared out of nowhere and covered her completely.

Then, it vanished, taking her with it.

The black alms bowl’s attack missed, slamming into the ground. It created a seemingly bottomless crater on impact, stirring up a cloud of dust.

As heaven and earth shook, the black bowl hovered in midair, but all of its power had been lost. It swayed, its luster dimming, as if it might fall at any moment.

“It’s a pity...” The Threelives Buddha’s wistful sigh emanated from within the bowl. His voice was far softer and weaker than before.

Su Yi appeared out of nowhere, then reached for the bowl, but his hands closed on nothing but air.

The moment his fingers reached for it, the alms bowl burnt up like paper, its last remnants scattering to the wind.

The treasure was gone, taking the Threelives Buddha’s body with it.