Chapter 2450 - The Origins of the Tribulation of the Five Witherings

Just three days later, Su Yi and company encountered the Tribulation of the Five Witherings once more.

“Strange. The tribulation is showing up more and more frequently,” someone said with a frown.

The others were bewildered, too. The Boundless Battlefield was incomparably enormous. Under ordinary circumstances, it was hard to run into the tribulation more than once in a short time.

But now, the Tribulation of the Five Witherings was appearing more and more often. This was rather out of the ordinary.

“Nine years ago, when the tribulation broke out, it destroyed the Boundless Barrier and destroyed the Outsider Celestial Demons’ home amidst the stars. That forced them into the Boundless Battlefield,” said Su Yi. “Now, the tribulation is raging throughout the Boundless Battlefield, and it’s only increasing in intensity over time. Have you considered why it arose in the first place, and why it keeps sweeping the Boundless Battlefield?”

Everyone was stunned.

It wasn’t that they’d never considered the question before, but that no one had ever reached any definite answers.

This was for one simple reason: the Tribulation of the Five Witherings was born of the power of the natural order. Who could possibly figure out why it had appeared?

Someone couldn't help but ask, “Brother Fuyou, don’t tell me you suspect there's something suspicious about the tribulation’s arrival?”

“That seems entirely possible to me,” Su Yi said casually. “Throughout the ages, no such tribulation has ever appeared, yet it started showing up immediately after Di E sealed the entrance to the Boundless Battlefield, causing massive changes. That’s naturally out of the ordinary.”

Everyone was stunned as a thought rose unbidden to their minds.

Don’t tell me there’s more to the Tribulation of the Five Witherings’ arrival than meets the eye?

“Let’s go,” said Su Yi without any further comments on the subject. He planned to leave.

But just as he was about to head out, he once more got the sensation that someone was watching him from the shadows. It was subtle, and almost indetectible, and it vanished almost instantly, but Su Yi nonetheless furrowed his brow.

He stopped in place and said, “All of you, move further away to prevent the Tribulation of the Five Witherings from targeting you.”

With that, he shot toward the blood-red tribulation clouds of the Tribulation of the Five Witherings.

Wen Qingfeng and the others were stunned.

What is Brother Fuyou trying to do?

Kaboom!

Before they could give the matter any further thought, the Tribulation of the Five Witherings reacted as if provoked. It instantly erupted.

Wen Qingfeng moved away as fast as they could, fleeing to a safe distance.

When they next gazed into the dome of heaven, they saw a waterfall of blood-red tribulation light pouring into Su Yi.

Su Yi controlled the Epoch Spark, creating a curtain of chaos firelight to stave off the tribulation’s power as he shot deeper and deeper into the clouds.

Ten thousand feet.

Thirty thousand feet.

Eighty thousand feet.

...As Su Yi pushed further and further into the clouds, the tribulation’s attacks grew more and more fearsome. The curtain manifested by the Epoch Spark shook as if unable to hold out much longer.

Su Yi disregarded this. He was determined to keep pushing ahead.

When Wen Qingfeng and the others saw this, their hearts tensed. They couldn’t help but sweat on Su Yi’s behalf.

This was just too bold!

He was flying into the heart of a tribulation that could destroy Nine-Tribulation Master Gods with ease!

Who could have imagined that Su Yi would attempt such a thing?

Kaboom!

Blood-red tribulation light swept outward with increased intensity.

But although Su Yi had yet to reach the very heart of the blood-red clouds, it was then that he saw a miraculous sight.

Deep within the clouds, there was a strange space. It seemed to traverse endless time and space.

And a blood-red gourd hovered within it!

The gourd was about a foot tall, and it scattered dazzlingly bright, blood-red tribulation light. It looked like pouring blood, except that it was on fire.

As it rumbled, boomed, and revolved, the power of the Tribulation of the Five Witherings surged forth, transforming into dense tribulation clouds. The clouds then shot out of that strange space and appeared beneath the firmament.

For all Su Yi’s breadth of experience, even he was unwittingly stunned, and even he found this hard to believe.

He didn’t even need to think to know that the blood-red gourd was the source of the Tribulation of the Five Witherings. In other words, it was the source of the cataclysm that had ransacked the Boundless Battlefield for the past nine years!

Who wouldn’t have been astonished?

All manner of questions flooded Su Yi’s mind. Just what kind of treasure was it, and why did it appear in the Boundless Battlefield? What was its purpose? And who was controlling it?

It was then that Su Yi finally dared to say with certainty that his instincts hadn’t been mistaken. Someone—or rather, something—really was watching him from the shadows. It had been the gourd all along!

Boom!

Tribulation clouds surged, and the blood-red gourd hovering that strange space erupted with imposing power, as if sensing Su Yi’s gaze.

A streak of stingingly intense light shot out of the gourd, transforming into a blood-red spear. It shot out of that strange space, appeared beneath the dome of heaven, then swung at Su Yi.

Bang!

The power of the Epoch Spark suffered a massive impact and cracked in numerous places.

Su Yi was sent flying backward, and he almost fell out of the sky.

Wen Qingfeng and the others’ expressions shifted.

Fortunately, Su Yi steadied himself in time, poured his strength into the Epoch Spark, and blocked the blood-red spear.

He grunted coldly, then charged at it, sword swinging.

Kaboom!

The blood-red gourd spun in midair, continuously erupting with tribulation light. The light condensed into incomparably sharp spears that repeatedly assailed Su Yi in a bid to strike him dead.

But it was to no avail.

Su Yi used his Dao of the Sword, imbuing it with the power of the Epoch Spark to wage a fierce battle with the blood-red gourd. He blocked all of its attacks, one after another.

Moreover, he was drawing closer and closer to it!

From a distance, it seemed that Su Yi was waged in combat with the Tribulation of the Five Witherings. It was an incomparably astonishing sight.

Within that strange space, the blood-red gourd seemed frantic. Its surface erupted with strange, mystical black markings, and black tribulation light gathered at its mouth!

Su Yi’s pupils constricted. He felt a powerful sense of impending crisis, but before he could react——

Boom!!

Black tribulation light whooshed out of the gourd, completely disregarding time and space. It appeared directly above Su Yi’s head, then descended furiously.

It was just a wisp of light, but it was more than twice as terrifying as the power he’d faced thus far!

A hole tore open in the Epoch Spark’s power. Black tribulation light flooded in through the opening, shooting toward Su Yi’s head!

At a moment of crisis, a Dao Sword rose from his forehead.

The Sword of the Nine Hells!

In the face of the descending black tribulation light, the Sword of the Nine Hells didn’t so much as budge. Nonetheless, the black tribulation light exploded and dissipated, inch by inch.

Su Yi narrowed his eyes and inwardly sighed in relief.

For a moment there, things had been far too dangerous. Not even he had anticipated that the black tribulation light would be so terrifying. It had actually managed to pierce the Epoch Spark’s power!

Fortunately, the Sword of the Nine Hells blocked it just in time!

He thought back to the time that the Well of Turbulent Daos had injured Li Fuyou. It was the Sword of the Nine Hells that had appeared at a critical juncture to save him.

Su Yi was simply following Li Fuyou’s lead.

And indeed, the reality of the situation proved that neither the Well of Turbulent Daos, nor the blood-red gourd hovering in that strange space, could shake the Sword of the Nine Hells!

Hm?

Su Yi suddenly sensed that the Tribulation of the Five Witherings’ power was rapidly receding.

“Want to flee?” He laughed coldly, then swung his sword and gave chase, shooting deeper and deeper into the clouds.

The Sword of the Nine Hells emanated mysterious, inscrutable sword force, and the Epoch Spark emanated resplendent chaos flames.

The power of the Tribulation of the Five Witherings could no longer hold Su Yi back, and he charged deeper into the blood-red clouds with ease.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

It was then that Su Yi saw a large hand appear out of nowhere in that strange space. It grabbed the gourd, then pulled back as if to take it and leave.

Practically simultaneously, Su Yi poured the full extent of his cultivation base into the Sword of the Nine Hells and cleaved at that strange space.

Boom!!

The Sword of the Nine Hells rumbled and boomed. Indescribably terrifying, unparalleled sword force swept outward, cleaving open a massive hole in the dome of heaven.

In just one slash, he’d crushed endless time and space, cleaving into that strange space. The strange space crumbled and split. Light fell like rain, and sword qi ran rampant, throwing time and space into disarray.

When the strange space collapsed, the blood-red hand and blood-red gourd vanished with it, and the blood-red tribulation clouds gathered beneath the dome of heaven dispersed.

Only a massive rift in the sky remained, like a vast chasm extending far into the firmament. From a distance, it really seemed as if Su Yi had opened a chasm in the sky. It was a shocking sight!

There really was someone controlling that gourd from behind the scenes! It’s just a pity... that I couldn’t stop them from leaving.

Su Yi stood in midair, his brow furrowed.

The most likely culprit rose unbidden to the forefront of his mind: Di E!

The Tribulation of the Five Witherings originated from the blood-red gourd. Even if it didn’t belong to Di E, it was undoubtedly somehow connected to him!

Otherwise, there was no explaining how the Tribulation of the Five Witherings had arisen only after Di E sealed the entrance to the Boundless Battlefield.

Su Yi's brow furrowed.

Does that mean that every time I invited the Tribulation of the Five Witherings, the owner of that gourd saw it?

But Su Yi quickly shook his head and rejected the idea.

If the gourd’s owner could use the Tribulation of the Five Witherings to see everything that had happened beneath it, they’d have attacked Su Yi a long time ago!

Su Yi had invited the Tribulation of the Five Witherings in both Dao-Seeking City and the Thousand Deaths Mountains. Had the owner of the gourd seen all that, how could they possibly have passed up on a chance to destroy Su Yi?

Perhaps they can’t see what goes on in the Boundless Battlefield, but I’m sure they’re behind the way the tribulation ransacked the place!

He mulled it over carefully.

The blood-red gourd is quite similar to the Well of Turbulent Daos. It too was born of the natural order of the epochs, and it too can erupt with calamitous power.

They’re also similar in that the Epoch Spark can counter them both, and neither can shake the Sword of the Nine Hells!

If the Buddha of the Future can control the Well of Turbulent Daos, I’m sure it’s entirely possible for someone to control the blood-red gourd!

“Brother Fuyou, is everything alright?” Wen Qingfeng and the others rushed over and looked at Su Yi in concern.

Su Yi nodded, then casually recounted everything that had just happened.

After hearing the full story, every last one of his friends gasped.

The terrifying Tribulation of the Five Witherings actually originated from a treasure!? And one connected to Di E at that?

This revelation was far too unnerving!

If Di E was capable of controlling the Tribulation of the Five Witherings, why would he unleash it in the Boundless Battlefield?

Was it just to deal with them?

Not necessarily!