Chapter 1839 - When the Dragon Flies

Whoosh!

The Book of Karma erupted with dense chaos energy. Its pages flipped open and surged with countless strange and inscrutable talisman markings as it tried to divine whether or not a thread of karma connected Su Yi and Xi Ning.

However, out of caution, it dared not attempt to make any divinations regarding Su Yi for fear of a backlash, so it focused its divinations on Xi Ning instead.

Even so, mere moments later...

Boom!

A massive impact rang out, as if the Book of Karma had been struck by lightning, and its pages caught on fire.

“Fuck! A taboo! An unparalleled, enormous taboo!”

The book shook and flailed in unbearable agony, jumping about like a fish tossed onto the shore.

Su Yi and Xi Ning were flabbergasted.

What’s going on? The Book of Karma actually suffered a backlash! And it’s obviously paying a painful price! Don’t tell me there really is an unknown thread of karma connecting us? And that it’s so incomparably taboo that even the Book of Karma suffered a backlash?

Both were bewildered.

Some time passed before the Book of Karma calmed down and lay there listlessly. Even its pages looked burnt, and from time to time, it twitched...

Su Yi couldn’t help but say, “You...”

But before he could finish his question, a line of text jumped onto the book’s pages. “Don’t talk! I don’t want to say even another word to an anomaly like you! I’ve crashed into far, far too many unanticipated taboos since I met you. If you keep talking, you’ll get me killed, dammit! Waaah!”

“???” Su Yi didn’t quite know what to make of that.

It’s my fault?

Xi Ning could sense the Book of Karma’s resentment, and a strange look appeared in her starry eyes. “No matter what, I still have to thank you for what you did earlier.”

“If you really want to thank me, get away from me!” said the Book of Karma. “I don’t want to see either of you walking disasters ever again!”

As it spoke, it closed, blurred into a streak of blood-red light, and tried to leave.

Bang!

The six-inch sword coffin descended, slamming the Book of Karma to the ground.

It was instantly frantic. The impact left it sprawled open on the ground, and a line of text appeared on a blank page. “Third Brother Sword!! Why are you helping an outsider bully me? Can’t you see that my origin power has been damaged? Dammit! I’m not skilled at battle, but how can you people... bully a book like this!? You’re taking this too far!”

It cursed without a filter, but it still lay there on the ground, too scared to move.

Or perhaps it had simply been pummeled to immobility.

When Su Yi saw this, he tried to encourage it, but no matter what he said, the Book of Karma just lay there, seemingly resigned to its fate.

They said a dead pig had no fear of boiling water, and indeed, that seemed to be the case.

Su Yi rubbed his forehead, but he could only let it go.

“Actually, the backlash the book suffered proves some things.” Xi Ning turned to look at Su Yi, a hint of a strange light in her starry eyes. “Don’t you think?”

Su Yi sighed. “That’s indeed the case, but I’m curious. Why would a taboo karmic thread exist between us? Aren’t you curious too?”

Xi Ning batted her eyes, her gaze hard to read. “Perhaps this is what they call fate, but it seems to me that whatever karma exists between us is positive.”

Su Yi felt a bit strange. Her phrasing left ample room for thought.

He laughed. “Call it positive karma if you like, or a karmic tie. Either way, I have a certain premonition that once you’ve grasped the mysteries of your birth, all will become clear.”

“I’m looking forward to that day,” said Xi Ning. She gestured to the Book of Karma. “What do you plan to do with it?”

The sprawled-out Book of Karma was instantly frantic. “The hell do you mean, ‘Do with it?’ Who is he to decide my fate? Forgive my rudeness, but even if Third Brother Sword kills me, I refuse to accept anyone as my master!”

“Are you sure?” asked Su Yi.

“.....”

A little while later, a line of text appeared on the book’s pages. “I might control the power of karma, but I cannot forcibly interfere with cause and effect, and I’m useless in battle. Even if you suppress me, what good will it do you?”

“It’ll be fun,” said Su Yi.

“....” A long time passed before the book responded. “You’re an anomaly not subject to karmic fetters. Under your control, I won’t be of any use at all, as your presence will become an unpredictable variable to anyone and everything connected to you.

“If other people’s karma is like an intricate net woven of silk threads, then yours is like a bundle of fire. The moment you get involved in something, all those silk nets will catch ablaze. Your mere presence affects others’ karma, too.”

“In other words, you and I are not connected by fate, and you can’t force things, so....”

Before the Book of Karma could go on, Su Yi said, “I don’t plan to make you

do

anything. I just don’t want anyone else to get their hands on you.”

“....” The Book of Karma fell silent.

“Also, I want to try collecting all nine of the Mysteries of Chaos,” said Su Yi. “Don’t you think that sounds interesting?”

“...”

The Book of Karma really had nothing left to say. The six-inch sword coffin was eyeing it hungrily. Nothing it said could change its fate.

Su Yi didn’t waste any more time on talk, either. He just leaned over and picked the book off the ground.

Kcch!

Threads of the bright red power of karma surged forth, wrapping around Su Yi’s hands, only for the Dao of Profound Ruin to suppress them. They couldn’t invade Su Yi’s body in the slightest.

Soon, the threads of karmic power had disappeared completely.

In the end, the Book of Karma shrank until it was only the size of a palm. The book was only about a single finger-width thick, and its black surface was completely covered in naturally formed markings of the Dao of Karma.

“No matter how useless you might be, comprehending your power of karma is enough to let someone become a god,” said Su Yi. “Besides, even a god as powerful as the Dipankara Buddha sees you as a precious Epoch Treasure. I could even just sell you off; I’m sure you’d fetch a good price.”

“Fuck you—!” the book started to write. But before it could launch into a series of expletives, Su Yi slipped it into his sleeve.

Then, he looked at Xi Ning. “Only I can safely take this treasure away.”

Xi Ning smiled faintly. “Others cannot suppress the power of karma. You’re the one best suited to control this treasure, Fellow Daoist.”

Su Yi smiled back.

It certainly seemed that way. Had the Book of Karma fallen into anyone else’s hands, its karma would have contaminated them, and they likely would have met with catastrophe, just as Ao Chiting had. But it was different for Su Yi. He in no way needed to worry about any of that.

Whoosh!

Su Yi beckoned, and the six-inch sword coffin landed in his palm.

He calmed his heart and sensed the coffin. He was trying to connect with the Sword of Proximity sealed inside it.

Alas, it didn’t stir in the slightest. The coffin seemed to block all attempts to sense the Sword of Proximity.

Su Yi couldn’t help but find this an awful pity, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t learned anything. At the very least, he knew that the Sword of Proximity, the one the Book of Karma called “Third Brother Sword,” really was sealed inside the coffin!

It had been his fifth incarnation, Li Fuyou, who’d acquired the sword, but it recognized him, too. Otherwise, it would never have thrown itself into his arms alongside the Combat Soul Puppet, Lei Ze.

Earlier, the Sword of Proximity chased and pummeled the Book of Karma, presumably because it had sensed its aura. In the process, it had awakened some of its own awareness!

Seems that I’ll just have to wait until I’ve fused with Li Fuyou’s Dao Imprint. Perhaps then I can open the sword coffin,

thought Su Yi.

Xi Ning walked over to the side of the hall and quietly tended to her wounds.

Su Yi, meanwhile, turned and approached the Nine Dragons Cauldron, or as Ao Chiting had called it, the “Dragon Progenitor’s Cauldron.” This was a supreme ancestral Great Profound Treasure of the dragons!

Su Yi leaped and landed at the mouth of the cauldron, then peered into it. There, he saw a dragon coiled at the base. It was made entirely out of blood!

It had horns like a deer, a bovine face, and long, swaying draconic whiskers. It was massive, like a mountain range in miniature, and covered entirely in crimson scales.

Blood qi billowed out of the cauldron, and draconic roaring rumbled and boomed like thunder. Indescribable draconic majesty spread out.

Su Yi could tell at a glance that this wasn’t actually a dragon. Rather, it was condensed out of the purest, most primordial power of the dragons’ bloodline!

This was the blood of the Dragon Progenitor, the dragons’ most precious treasure!

Something occurred to Su Yi, and the Divine Replenishment Furnace appeared out of nowhere.

The petite Red Dragon Dao Monarch emerged from the furnace and immediately saw the dragon condensed out of ancestral blood. Despite herself, she was stunned, and irrepressible astonishment appeared on her little face.

Su Yi concisely explained the situation, then said, “If you’re willing to pass on the legacy of the dragon race, you can inherit all of their treasures, and going forward, you’ll be the master of the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea.”

The Red Dragon Dao Monarch’s golden eyes widened, and her mind went blank. She would never, ever,

ever

have guessed that such good fortune would come for her out of nowhere, and for a moment, she almost suspected that she was dreaming.

A little while passed before she came back to her senses, lowered her head, and said, “As you say, Your Excellency.”

He couldn’t help but laugh.

But then, he thought about it and said, “I hope that you can take over and rule the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea. That would both fulfill my promise to Ao Chiting and give you the perfect opportunity to break into the Great Realm and advance further in your pursuit of the Grand Dao.”

The Dragon Progenitor’s Cauldron was one of the best treasures of the dragon race, and the blood of the Dragon Progenitor was the greatest good fortune they had to offer.

The cauldron’s interior was even carved with their supreme legacy, the Draconic Origin Sutra, and the Dragon Progenitor’s natal bone!

This was a unique stroke of good fortune. Despite all the time between now and the Primeval Era, no one had managed to acquire it.

Yet now, it was right in front of the Red Dragon Dao Monarch, hers for the taking so long as she willed it!

The Red Dragon Dao Monarch’s pale golden eyes shone with determination, and she said solemnly, “Your Excellency, this junior won’t let you down!”

Su Yi patted the young woman on the shoulder and said gently, “Go on.”

The Red Dragon Dao Monarch hesitated no further. She leaped directly into the Dragon Progenitor’s Cauldron.

Boom!

The cauldron rumbled, and dense blood qi churned.

The dragon manifested of the Dragon Progenitor’s blood surged straight into the Red Dragon Dao Monarch’s body. She instantly transformed into a red dragon, threw back her head, and roared. Dazzlingly bright Dao Light erupted around her.

Within the cauldron, strange and mysterious golden Dao Markings arose, circling around the Red Dragon Dao Monarch.

This was the power of the Draconic Origin Sutra!

Su Yi stood at the mouth of the cauldron, hands behind his back, watching intently.

A little while later, he raised his jug, threw back his head, and drank, then sensed that a new line of text had appeared in the Book of Karma.

“When the dragon flies, the time is right to meet with a great man.”