Chapter 2424 - An Unexpected Development!

Su Yi was currently badly injured. His blue robes were stained with blood.

Demon Emperor Lie Yun had suppressed him to the point that he could barely fight back. He was in dire peril, and it was obvious to anyone that he’d struggle to protect himself, let alone save the hostages.

Demon Emperor Lie Yun burst into laughter, smug delight all over his face. This wasn’t arrogance; he was deliberately trying to provoke Su Yi.

His attacks were still terrifyingly fierce. He wasn’t giving Su Yi any chance to catch his breath.

Off in the distance, the Outsider Celestial Demon army clamored for the flesh and souls of the remaining prisoners. They were like a pack of wolves eyeing the most fatty and tender of sheep. All of them wanted to take a bite out of them.

Over in Dao-Seeking City, Luo Yao and the others’ expressions were ashen. They were visibly enraged, and there was no hiding their worry.

Heaven and earth were in chaos.

Although no one could see it, Su Yi’s face no longer so much as rippled with emotion. His bloodlust had faded, and the fire burning in the depths of his gaze had died down, replaced with heart-palpitating dark light.

He’d anticipated that this bet would be incomparably perilous, and that there was more to it than met the eye. He, too, had prepared for the worst.

When he watched his enemies kill Tie Zhanglin and devour his flesh and soul, he did indeed feel heart-rending agony and fury.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

But... that didn’t mean he was just going to watch his enemies continue.

Was he at the end of his rope? Had he been forced into a corner?

No! He hadn’t gone all out earlier simply because he didn’t want anything to happen to his captive brothers-in-arms.

He’d agreed to this challenge to save as many of them as he could, but when he saw his enemies start slaughtering them, Su Yi realized that there was no room left to maneuver. He had to harden his heart and make a decision.

He had never feared threats. This was one of his guiding principles!

When Chi Nie’s cold, cruel voice echoed through the air once more, Su Yi took action.

The Epoch Spark within his body silently floated above his head, scattering a rain of chaos light and billowing inscrutable luster.

Demon Emperor Lie Yun’s pupils constricted.

That’s... the Epoch Spark!?

Before he could give the matter any further thought, he attacked without hesitation, trying to seize it, or else destroy it.

Who cared if it was the Epoch Spark? He’d destroy it first, then ask questions!

Meanwhile, Su Yi took out the Sword of Proximity.

Admittedly, Demon Emperor Chi Nie hadn’t gotten involved in the duels, and he technically wasn’t breaking the rules of their bet.

Still, he’d started slaughtering the hostages! Su Yi would have had to be really stupid to just blindly follow the rules now.

Clang!

The Sword of Proximity let out a clear hum, then erupted with far-reaching sword intent. The inscrutable, mysterious power of the Sword of the Nine Hells surged within it.

It was just one slash, but it blocked Demon Emperor Lie Yun’s offensive!

Demon Emperor Lie Yun was startled. Then, he roared in fury and attacked without hesitation, swinging his white bone spear and attacking with all his might!

He was the key to suppressing Su Yi. He absolutely couldn’t tolerate any possibility of Su Yi turning this around.

Boom!

The battle raged with greater intensity.

Meanwhile, the man in blood-red robes, the one who’d killed Tie Zhanglin, attacked once more.

He arrived before another suspended captive, and a hammer appeared in his grip. He was going to use it to smash the captive’s body and soul in a single blow.

Then, he’d divvy them up to feed the other Outsider Celestial Demons, just as he had before.

“Die!” The man in blood-red robes raised his massive hammer.

But just as he was about to kill the hostage, he stiffened. The sense of a pending lethal threat rose within his heart.

He instinctively looked up. He wasn’t sure when, but a swath of strange, dark red clouds had gathered beneath the dome of heaven. They’d only just revealed themselves, but it was enough to make the man’s expression shift dramatically.

The Tribulation of the Five Witherings!!

Practically simultaneously, Luo Yao, everyone in Dao-Seeking City, Chi Nie, and the other Outsider Celestial Demons, all noticed the clouds, too. All of them were stricken.

Who among them could possibly have been ignorant of the Tribulation of the Five Witherings’ terrifyingness?

Over the past eight years, it had swept across the Boundless Battlefield. Wherever it passed, heaven and earth collapsed, and all of creation was destroyed.

Anyone it touched, no matter their cultivation, would be destroyed on contact with it, their Dao severed and their soul scattered!

No exceptions!

“How is this possible?”

“Dammit! What’s that tribulation doing here at a time like this?”

“This is bad! What do we do now?”

Startled cries full of panic and unease boomed throughout the area.

The army of hundreds of thousands Outsider Celestial Demons panicked, their hair standing on end and their hearts quivering.

It was only because Demon Emperor Chi Nie had yet to give orders that they hadn’t yet fled in panic!

“You did this——!!” Demon Emperor Lie Yun roared in fury, instantly connecting the Epoch Spark and the appearance of the Tribulation of the Five Witherings.

His expression was terrifying, and he was beside himself with fury.

The situation had reached a critical juncture. The outcome of their attempts to create a crack in Su Yi’s Dao Heart would soon become clear.

Yet now, the Tribulation of the Five Witherings had appeared!

This cataclysm had swept through the starry void beyond the Boundless Battlefield, destroying the home of the Outsider Celestial Demons and leaving them no choice but to flee to the Boundless Battlefield for safety.

But over the past eight years, the tribulation had periodically swept through various parts of the Boundless Battlefield, killing countless Outsider Celestial Demons.

How could Demon Emperor Lie Yun possibly be ignorant of how dangerous this tribulation was?

What do we do? If we don’t leave immediately, none of us will escape alive when the tribulation erupts! But if we do leave now, our operation targeting Su Yi will end in abject failure!

Demon Emperor Lie Yun was so angry that he almost popped a blood vessel trying to hold it in.

He could neither advance nor retreat!

Meanwhile, over on the walls of Dao-Seeking City, Luo Yao and the others’ hearts quivered with fright.

The appearance of the Tribulation of the Five Witherings meant the entire area would soon be eradicated. The Outsider Celestial Demons wouldn’t be the only ones to die; they’d be doomed, too.

Kaboom!

Dark red clouds floated beneath the dome of heaven, and a heart-palpitating, calamitous area swept out like a windstorm.

“Run! Hurry up and run——!”

The Outsider Celestial Demon army was the first to descend into chaos. Some of the soldiers couldn’t bear the dread and turned to flee, heedless of the consequences. The army’s ranks fell apart, and many of the soldiers scampered off in panic, as disorderly as headless flies.

Some of them looked frantically at Demon Emperor Chi Nie. Whether they fought or fled was naturally up to him.

In truth, Demon Emperor Chi Nie was completely stunned, too. He’d anticipated that Su Yi would have numerous cards up his sleeves, and that that would lead to unexpected developments.

He just hadn’t anticipated an unexpected development so enormous and so terrifying. This was the Tribulation of the Five Witherings!

How could he possibly figure out the most rational next steps at a time like this?

“Hurry, attack together and kill Su Yi! He summoned the Tribulation of the Five Witherings. Kill him, and the threat will vanish!” roared Demon Emperor Lie Yun.

Demon Emperor Chi Nie’s eyelids twitched, and his face went ashen as he bellowed, “You are not to attack unless I give the orders!”

Before they began the duels, he swore a Heart Demon Secret Vow. If any of the other Outsider Celestial Heart Demons intervened, he would suffer a lethal backlash.

Given the circumstances, how could he possibly let the others get involved?

And it was for that very reason that he felt as if his lungs were about to burst from anger.

This whole setup should have been under his control, but Su Yi’s three conditions had resulted in heavy casualties in the demons’ ranks.

The eight Demon Emperors who’d perished fighting him shouldn’t have had to die.

Their original plan was for Demon Emperor Lie Yun to be the first to fight. He’d have defeated Su Yi in the first battle.

Similarly, the Heart Demon Secret Vow should have been no problem, but now, it presented an enormous threat to Demon Emperor Chi Nie.

Thus, despite knowing full well that killing Su Yi now would resolve the imminent crisis, he nonetheless decided against getting involved.

If he did, he was sure to perish!

How could Demon Emperor Chi Nie

not

have been enraged? How could he

not

have felt frustrated?

“Hurry——!” Demon Emperor Lie Yun roared, his eyes bloodshot. “Delay any longer, and all of us are finished!”

He was fighting with his life on the line, doing his utmost to suppress Su Yi, but he’d need time to defeat him.

In the meantime, the demon army was in chaos. Countless soldiers had either perished or fled.

Even the Demon Emperors’ hearts quivered with fright. They were as frantic as ants on a hot lid.

Beneath the dome of heaven, the clouds manifested of the Tribulation of the Five Witherings grew denser and denser. Based on the Outsider Celestial Demons’ understanding of the tribulation, it wouldn’t be long before it erupted and completely eradicated the entire area!

If they didn’t run now, they’d be buried with it!

“What do I do?” Demon Emperor Chi Nie was at a complete loss. This seemed like an unsolvable problem.

But it was then that a dried-up well suddenly appeared beneath the dome of heaven. The well looked dusty and perfectly ordinary. An inscrutable aura of chaos billowed into the air.

Its arrival hadn’t drawn much attention, but when Su Yi noticed it, his heart sank.

The Well of Turbulent Daos!

In the God Domain, two places were considered forbidden to the Grand Dao. One lay beyond the clouds of the nine heavens, the other beneath the nine abysses!

“Beyond the clouds of the nine heavens” referred to the far reaches of the firmament, beyond the nine-layered curtain of heaven.

That was a place no one in the God Domain could touch, as it forbade all Grand Daos.

In ancient times, a dried-up well had once appeared there!

The well was incomparably strange. Whenever it appeared in the God Domain, unforeseeable disaster was sure to follow.

This kind of disaster was known as a Dao-Severing Cataclysm, and they specifically targeted those who’d stepped into the Divine Dao.

Anyone who saw the ancient well, no matter who they were and no matter their cultivation base, had to face the Dao-Severing Cataclysm. If they were lucky, they’d merely lose their cultivation bases. If they weren’t, it would destroy their souls!

Most terrifying of all, the well was an omen of disaster. Whenever it appeared, the God Domain was in for turmoil, cataclysms, and upheaval!

Not long after Su Yi first arrived in the God Domain, he heard that the Well of Turbulent Daos had returned to the God Domain, and not far from Spring and Autumn City at that!

However, it had been dormant ever since, and there’d been no further news of it.

Who could have imagined that this taboo and mysterious dried-up well would appear in the Boundless Battlefield?

Much less that it would appear just as the Tribulation of the Five Witherings was about to erupt?

Su Yi’s instincts told him that this unexpected development was no mere coincidence. Rather, this was likely one of his enemies’ killer weapons.

In other words, the Well of Turbulent Daos was targeting him!