Chapter 2338 - The Heart Is Like a Battlefield

Even after hearing that, the Butcher remained unmoved. He said flatly, “Nothing in this world is pre-ordianed.”

Su Yi agreed. “It’s true. There are no absolutes, but everyone makes mistakes. Even people like you mess up sometimes.”

“And what mistake did I make, exactly?” The Butcher furrowed his brow.

Su Yi pointed at the Butcher’s chest. “You ought to ask your heart devil that, not me.”

With that, he beckoned Wan Zitian over. “Come on, let’s go have a drink.”

Wan Zitian was stunned. “But what about him...?”

“This strike intended to sever his heart devil cannot cut me,” Su Yi said casually. He’d already lain back down on deck, utterly relaxed.

Wan Zitian turned to gaze at the distant Butcher, only to discover that although he looked outwardly calm, there was an undisguisable hint of astonishment on his brow.

He’d likely never anticipated that Su Yi would be so fearless, much less that he’d just turn around and leave!

Wan Zitina pondered briefly, then steered the treasure ship away. He planned to go around the Butcher, but then, Su Yi’s voice rang out once more. “Just go right past him. No need to take a detour. Let’s see if he can cut me.”

Wan Zitian rubbed his forehead, at a loss for words. He couldn’t even imagine where Su Yi got the confidence to say something like that. It seemed... simply insane!

But in the end, Wan Zitian didn’t say anything. Su Yi wasn’t afraid, so why should he be afraid?

Whoosh!

The treasure ship parted the wind and clouds as it forged straight ahead. It wasn’t all that fast, but it wasn’t slow, either.

Furthermore, it was just a few thousand feet away from the Butcher. It would reach him in the blink of an eye.

However, to Wan Zitian, that “blink of an eye” seemed endlessly long.

He readied his power and prepared to attack with all his might. The moment the Butcher showed any sign that he was about to strike, Wan Zitian would attack without hesitation.

But against Wan Zitian’s expectations, the Butcher just stood there in silence, his cold, stern face as unmoving as a river long encased in ice.

No one could tell what he was thinking, or why he made no attempt to intercept them.

It was only when the treasure ship passed by the Butcher’s shoulder that Wan Zitian keenly detected a fluctuation in the Butcher’s knifelike gaze.

It was a subtle change, but it was enough that Wan Zitian barely resisted the urge to strike!

But then, Su Yi called out, “Hold back. He won’t dare try anything.”

He spoke with a hint of exasperation; it seemed he thought Wan Zitian overly nervous.

Wan Zitian laughed bitterly.

Brother Fuyou, oh, Brother Fuyou. I’m just worried for you, aren’t I?

The Butcher suddenly spoke up. “You’ve changed, Li Fuyou.”

It was unclear whether this was an insult or a compliment, as his voice didn’t carry even the barest hint of emotion.

“Everyone changes, but my heart that pursues the Dao remains the same. Isn’t that true for you, too?” Su Yi sprawled out languidly, eyes narrowed in contentment.

As they conversed, the ship passed the Butcher’s mountainous figure and continued into the distance, entirely unharmed.

Still, Wan Zitian didn’t dare to get complacent. If someone like the Butcher tried to stab them from behind, it would unquestionably be even more dangerous!

Fortunately, even as the ship gradually faded into the distance, the Butcher didn’t attack. He just watched them leave in silence.

The Butcher’s voice emanated from afar. “The human heart is like a battlefield, its silence broken by a sudden thunderclap. Li Fuyou, This time, I’ve repaid you for your benevolence in defeating me back then. Next time we meet, I’ll show you whether or not my saber is capable of severing the demons of the heart!”

But this time, Wan Zitian could hear a hint of frustration in his voice. He felt a bit confused.

‘The human heart is like a battlefield?’ Don’t tell me that Brother Fuyou could sense the Butcher’s reservations, and that he knew he wouldn’t attack?

Eventually, long after they’d left, Wan Zitian could no longer hold back questions.

Su Yi just laughed and shook his head in response. “I defeated him back then, practically reducing him to a cripple, but... he

is

still alive, isn’t he?”

Wan Zitian couldn’t help but exclaim, “Did you deliberately leave him a chance at life?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” said Su Yi. “I just thought it’d be a pity to finish him off completely, as that would mean one less person capable of fighting me in this world.”

Wan Zitian had a complicated look on his face. “Does that mean you already anticipated that after his defeat, the Butcher would turn disaster into good fortune and rise to even greater heights?”

Su Yi didn’t deny it. “The Butcher had three complete souls and a unique physique, but his heart was pulled in different directions. That inevitably influenced his path.

“I destroyed two of his three souls, but their power fused into his remaining soul. Assuming his Dao Heart didn’t crumble and that he didn’t let his saber gall gather dust, he was sure to overcome this setback and realize a new breakthrough.”

Although Wan Zitian understood what Su Yi was saying, he couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “I truly don’t get it. You knew all that, so why spare his life? Was it really just because killing him seemed like a pity?”

Su Yi thought back to his past lives, then whispered, “Back then, I’d been invincible for too long. I wanted to see how much stronger the Butcher could become after rising above his defeat. I really didn’t think that hard about the rest.”

Wan Zitian sighed. “Only you could have the breadth of spirit to say something like that, or to do something so unexpected.”

“Fortunately, while the Butcher’s changed a bit since I last saw him, his Dao Heart remains, and his saber gall hasn’t collected dust.” Su Yi stretched. “Otherwise, I’d be deeply disappointed.”

He knew that the Butcher’s defeat had resulted in his heart devil, leaving the Butcher desperate to defeat him.

But he also knew that if he didn’t attack the Butcher of his own accord, there was no way the Butcher would attack him.

Because the one who’d left him with a heart devil was Li Fuyou at the peak of his strength, not the Fortune Realm Su Yi.

Ultimately, he still couldn’t compete with Li Fuyou as he’d been at his peak.

That meant that killing him wouldn’t help the Butcher eradicate his heart devil. On the contrary, it would ensure that his heart devil lingered to plague him for the rest of his life!

What he really ought to do was wait. He had to wait until Su Yi was as strong as Li Fuyou. Only then did he have hope of freeing himself of his heart devil.

Besides, an expert of the Butcher’s level was naturally well aware that he’d survived, not because Li Fuyou wasn’t strong enough, and not because he’d been lucky, but because Li Fuyou had refrained from finishing him off.

It was this very chance at life that had given him the chance to rise from the ashes and grow stronger. Thus, Su Yi had been certain that the Butcher wouldn’t attack him!

Of course, all of that was on the precondition that the Butcher’s Dao Heart and saber gall remained strong.

But then, had problems arisen with his Dao Heart or saber gall, he would never have become the man he was today.

That was why Su Yi just left without fighting.

This was also why the Butcher had lamented, “The human heart is like a battlefield, its silence broken by a sudden thunderclap.”

He knew that Su Yi saw right through his line of thought, but there was nothing he could do about it. That was why he’d told Su Yi that he’d repaid him for the “benevolence of defeating him.”

“I just wonder what kind of favor the Butcher owes the Dipankara Buddha. He’s obviously dead set on acquiring the Blade of Heaven’s Loathing, yet he never tried to seize it from Mo Ye,” pondered Wan Zitian.

“No meal is harder to digest than a favor,” said Su Yi. “The Butcher has managed to hold onto his Dao Heart despite owing the Dipankara Buddha a debt. That’s already quite rare and impressive.”

He paused, then urged Wan Zitian on. “Come on. Let’s drink! Heaven and earth might be grand, but wine is far grander!”

Wan Zitian laughed and agreed.

......

The Butcher stood there in silence for a long time. He couldn’t help but sigh.

Li Fuyou might have reincarnated to cultivate anew, but he’s just as proud as he was back then.

Not bad!

The Butcher slipped a talisman from his sleeves and used his divine sense to write, “I lost, and I couldn’t hold Su Yi back. You and I no longer owe each other anything.”

Crunch!

The secret talisman shattered, then blurred into a beam of light and vanished.

Then, the Butcher turned to leave.

......

The Western Paradise Spirit Mountains.

When the Dipankara Buddha saw the Butcher’s message, he sighed as if it were an awful pity.

Favors alone aren't enough to fetter a good saber.

......

The Ruins of Supreme Emergence vanished from the world, but everyone in the God Domain was talking about what had happened inside.

The way Su Yi established himself atop Sky Blue Divine Mountain, standing above all other challengers in history with results too great for the Divine Dao Fortune Stele to measure.

Naturally, this Grand Dao Divine Ability of the Dao of the Sword was nowhere to be found on the Divine Ability Rankings.

Still, everyone knew that this Grand Dao Divine Ability had broken all prior records, far surpassing the abilities officially in the rankings.

But what confused the masses was that after the Ruins of Supreme Emergence vanished, Su Yi seemed to evaporate into thin air. There’d been no word of him since.

A month passed, then two, then three. Soon, half a year had passed, and there was still no word of Su Yi. It seemed he’d completely gone into hiding.

Eventually, discussions of Su Yi died down, too. After all, no matter how dazzling someone was, when they vanished for six months, they’d fade from the public eye.

The God Domain was incomparably vast. Every day, there was suffering and joy of all kinds, as well as countless partings and reunions.

Every so often, something big would happen and shake the entire God Domain.

Where had Su Yi gone? No one knew, but who but Su Yi’s friends and enemies really cared?

In truth, even those friends who really cared what had happened to Su Yi had no idea where he’d gone.

Even Qi Wei had no idea. Not long after the Ruins of Supreme Emergence vanished, she received a secret message from Su Yi. All it said was, “Unless it’s life or death, don’t ask where I went.”

Time slipped by. Seasons passed. Soon, Su Yi had vanished from the world for a full year.

...

A stretch of remote, barren, mountain wilderness in the Spirit Firmament Divine Continent.

Goosefeather-like flurries danced through the air, covering the mountains in a cloak of snow. Cold winds whooshed past, cold and piercing as knives.

A run-down Daoist temple stood halfway up the mountain. The walls were battered and covered in webs of cracks. The window lattice and the doors were in complete disrepair.

When the winds carried the snow into the temple, the remnants of the doors and windows clattered. It seemed they might fall off the hinges at a moment’s notice.

Yet now, a campfire blazed at the center of the temple.

Someone was roasting meat over the fire, and warming wine beside it.

A figure was sprawled out comfortably near the fire, dozing in a wicker chair.