Chapter 2449 - A Secret Observer

A pitiful worm?

The Dipankara Buddha wasn’t the least bit upset by Di E’s insults. He just sighed, “The past is as fleeting as smoke, and the wind and rain have worn down all past glories. Falling from the River of Destiny was indeed the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. However...”

He smiled. “Su Yi did me an enormous favor this time. He’s helped rid me of the agony of my karmic fetters.”

This light, airy declaration made Di E’s expression shift. He naturally understood the implications. “No wonder you felt the need to hide your attempts to lure Su Yi to the Boundless Battlefield from me.”

It all made sense now. Di E wanted to keep the Dipankara Buddha’s negative karma trapped. That would force the Dipankara to meekly and obediently beg for help.

But the old-timer had obviously found another way out. He was using Su Yi’s power to resolve his greatest latent threat!

“In this world, only Su Yi, the master of reincarnation, can break the binds of Karmic Tribulations,” said the Dipankara Buddha. “And I’m sure you’re aware, someone wracked with a Karmic Tribulation cannot resolve it on their own. My only other option was to borrow Su Yi’s hands.”

Di E snorted coldly. “You got what you wanted, so why come here?”

“I’d like to ask you to help me welcome someone back,” said the Dipankara Buddha.

“Who?”

“The Buddha of the Future.”

Di E’s pupils constricted. “He’s... in the Boundless Battlefield, too?”

The Dipankara Buddha nodded. “The power of the Well of Turbulent Daos can traverse the spacetime barrier around the Boundless Battlefield to get in, but returning isn’t so easy.”

Di E stared at him for a while before saying, “And why should I help you?”

“I can give you the Well of Turbulent Daos,” said the Dipankara Buddha.

“That isn’t enough,” Di E said expressionlessly.

The Dipankara Buddha frowned, but in the end, he just sighed. “Very well. Help me, and I’ll owe you a favor.”

Di E’s eyes flashed. A while passed before he said, “Aside from a favor, I need you to help me take Su Yi down. Agree, and I’ll lend you a hand. Refuse, and we can go our separate ways, once and for all!”

The Dipankara Buddha fell silent.

Di E said nothing. He just stood there with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.

After a while, the Dipankara Buddha said softly, “Very well.”

Di E took a deep, hard look at him, then said, “Then listen carefully. I’m not the only one who knows your origins. The old-timers behind me know them too. Your Karmic Tribulation might no longer be holding you back, but don’t forget that you’ve yet to return to the Path of Eternity!”

The implied threat was readily apparent.

The Dipankara Buddha said calmly, “Monks do not speak falsehoods. Those who understand me know that I keep my promises.”

Di E smiled. “Good. Now, I’ll have you welcome the Buddha of the Future back!”

Suddenly, something occurred to him. “Your arrangements combined with the strength of the Buddha of the Future, weren’t enough to defeat Su Yi?”

The Dipankara Buddha’s eyelids twitched. He inclined his head.

Di E mulled that over. “So, you managed to break your karmic fetters, but you still lost to Su Yi.”

The Dipankara Buddha didn’t deny it.

“In that case, Su Yi is sure to return from the Boundless Battlefield sooner or later,” said Di E. “In that case, why not stay here and wait for Su Yi to throw himself into our net after welcoming the Buddha of the Future back?”

The Dipankara Buddha gazed intently at him. “If that’s what you want, I’m naturally not opposed.”

Di E didn’t even miss a beat. “It’s settled, then!”

......

Time slipped by. Soon, half a month had passed.

The Boundless Battlefield.

Wind and sand swept through the air. Heaven and earth were overcast.

Su Yi sat cross-legged in meditation while Wen Qingfeng and the others conversed amongst themselves.

“That demon scum is getting harder and harder to find. If things go on like this, who knows how long it’ll take to rip them up by the roots?”

Over the past half year, they’d accompanied Su Yi in battle, traversing the Boundless Battlefield and fighting over a thousand battles big and small. They’d killed almost thirty thousand enemies.

That might have seemed like a shocking achievement, but they’d only killed twenty or so Demon Emperors.

By now, the remaining Outsider Celestial Demons had hidden themselves deeply, and they were difficult to discover. It really was little different than finishing needles out of the ocean.

“No matter how hard it is, we have to find them all!” someone said solemnly. “Half a year, that’s all. We’ve got time!”

“That’s right. Even if we have to dig the whole place up and scour everything in it, we have to kill every last one of those demons!”

Everyone was talking at once.

The past half year had been the most joyful in recent memory. Wherever they went, their enemies fled at the sight of them.

It wasn’t even remotely similar to their suffering in Dao-Seeking City.

Boom!

Suddenly, a heaven-shaking impact rang out.

Everyone looked over at where Su Yi was seated in meditation. Sword intent shot out of his seated figure, and Dao LIght rose, giving rise to endless wondrous phenomena.

His majesty alone was enough to make the entire stretch of heaven and earth

“Brother Fuyou’s cultivation has advanced again!” someone sighed.

Over the past half year, they’d fought and killed all over the place, growing stronger and gathering resources through battle. By now, they’d accumulated an enormous number of trophies.

And Su Yi had repeatedly tempered himself in battle. His strength had soared.

By now, in a clash of true strength, even peak Nine-Tribulation Master Gods like them could no longer suppress Su Yi. The best they could hope for was a draw!

This was naturally astonishing. After all, they knew that it had been less than a year since Su Yi had entered the Undying Realm. He was still essentially a One-Tribulation Master God, but his heaven-defying strength was far beyond that level!

“Let’s go, everyone.” Su Yi rose and beckoned to his companions.

All of them set aside their scattered thoughts, and their journey resumed.

Time slipped by, and soon, another six months had passed.

On that day, a shocking battle raged beneath the dome of heaven, Su Yi against a ruler among ancient variant beasts.

The beast in question looked like a massive elephant. It was pitch black and mountainously tall.

They called it the Ink Jade Dragon Elephant, and it had seemingly limitless strength. It was comparable to a supreme Nine-Tribulation Master God.

The battle had been underway for about ten minutes, and Su Yi was already covered in wounds.

The Ink jade Dragon Elephant was covered in criss-crossing gashes, too. Blood gushed like a waterfall.

In the end, Su Yi poured his all into his attacks and cleaved the ancient variant beast in two.

Kaboom!

The Ink Jade Dragon Elephant’s corpse fell to the ground, like a mountain split in two. Both halves of its body slammed to the ground.

Wen Qingfeng and the others had been watching from afar. Without exception, they exhaled, their hearts churning with emotion.

Had any one of them fought the Jade Ink Dragon Elephant alone, they wouldn’t necessarily have fared in better. On the contrary, they’d likely have needed to rely on their killer weapons and hidden cards.

But Su Yi had done no such thing. He’d fought purely on his strength, and although he suffered grievous injuries, he succeeded in slaying his opponent!

Su Yi, however, wasn’t at all moved by this accomplishment. As soon as the battle ended, he sat down, crossed his legs, and started tending to his wounds.

A year had passed since he’d defeated the Buddha of the Future. During this year of constant fighting, his cultivation had soared to the peak of the No Laws, No Heavens Realm!

It was indeed just as his first incarnation’s heart devil had said. His Undying Realm cultivation base was unique, unprecedented, and irreplicable. He didn’t have to face Dao-Refining Tribulations as others did.

“How far do you think Brother Fuyou is from his past self?” someone said softly.

The question instantly drew the others’ interest, and they started animatedly discussing the subject.

In the end, they reached a unanimous conclusion. There was still a gap between Su Yi and Li Fuyou, but it wasn’t big!

Back then, Li Fuyou had suppressed everyone of the same level. Even outnumbered, he had the advantage. He was incomparably terrifying.

By comparison, Su Yi was indeed strong enough to threaten the lives of Nine-Tribulation Master Gods, but he didn’t have the absolute advantage against them even when outnumbered.

But everyone knew that this was an unfair comparison. After all, it had been less than a year since Su Yi had broken into the Undying Realm. The gap between his cultivation and Li Fuyou’s peak Nine-Tribulation cultivation was absolutely enormous.

“I have a strong premonition that Brother Fuyou will soon surpass his past lives! His combat strength will be terrifying enough to suppress all gods and Buddhas. It’ll be greater than anyone else before him!” Wen Qingfeng said with a sigh.

The others agreed completely.

They were only just conversing when a streak of blood red appeared in the distance, and a calamitous aura swept outward.

The Tribulation of the Five Witherings!

But Wen Qingfeng and the others remained perfectly calm. It was as if it weren’t even there.

Because they had Su Yi with them!

In the past, they’d have fled at the first sight of it.

“Strange. Over the past six months, the Tribulation of the Five Witherings has been appearing more and more often,” someone said with a frown.

“By now, many parts of the Boundless Battlefield have been destroyed. If things go on like this, every living creature here will perish within just a few years,” said someone else.

“Doesn’t that mean that even if we don’t go out of our way to hunt them down, the Tribulation of the Five Witherings will wipe out the rest of the Outsider Celestial Demons hiding here before too long?” someone whispered.

They were still mid-conversation when Su Yi rose and said, “Let’s go.”

A year ago, he’d drawn on the Epoch Spark numerous times in order to defeat his powerful enemies. In doing so, he severely depleted its source energies.

It was only just starting to recover. Thus, unless it was absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t use the Epoch Spark to contend with the Tribulation of the Five Witherings any further.

The group set off, hoping to leave before the tribulation befell them, when Su Yi suddenly sensed something. He suddenly whipped his head up and gazed deep into the blood-red clouds.

“What is it, Brother Fuyou?” Wen Qingfeng couldn’t help but ask.

“Do any of you sense something not quite right?” asked Su Yi.

The group exchanged glances. Everyone shook their heads.

Given their cultivation bases, their intuitions and divine senses were as keen as could be. Were anything strange afoot, they’d have sensed it immediately.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“Over the past half year, every time the Tribulation of the Five Witherings appeared, I’ve felt as if someone were watching me in secret,” said Su Yi.

Everyone was stunned and bewildered.

He feels like he’s being watched... but only when the Tribulation of the Five Witherings appears? That’s just too unsettling!

Does that mean that there’s a hidden mastermind behind the Tribulation of the Five Witherings?

“But it’s entirely possible that I’m overthinking things, or that the Tribulation of the Five Witherings is undergoing some sort of unknown transformation.

“Come on, let’s get out of here first.”

With that, he led the group away.

Kaboom!

The Tribulation of the Five Witherings descended behind them, plunging the entire area into destruction and chaos.

Meanwhile, deep within the blood-red tribulation clouds, an indistinct shadow floated into view.