Chapter 2634 - Ripples Reach the River of Destiny

A massive crowd stood before the Borderless Mountains, a sea of people.

Wang Zhiwu, the owner of the Book of Legends, stood among them. His sharp gaze was completely focused on the distant Su Yi.

Throughout heaven and earth, there was no one else like him.

The Master of Legends, an expert of the River of Destiny, fell uncharacteristically silent as waves of emotion coursed through his heart.

The battle was over. From the perspective of the denizens of the God Domain, Su Yi had already rewritten history and changed the fate of its trillions of inhabitants.

But Wang Zhiwu knew that the ripples of this battle would reach the River of Destiny, too!

......

The River of Destiny, atop a divine mountain shrouded in purple qi.

Thirty or so terrifying figures joined forces to activate a treasure, a glittering, resplendent bronze mirror. It was only about the size of a palm, and it wasn’t at all eye-catching.

But its origins were extraordinary. They called it the Mirror of Two Worlds!

This was a supreme Eternal treasure even by the standards of the River of Destiny. It could sever time, space, and the barrier between worlds. Its mysteries were without end.

Earlier, Dao Venerate Lu Shi, Yu Chiyang, and the others had used this treasure to sever the connection between the God Domain and the River of Destiny. Their goal was simply to prevent Su Yi from sensing the aura of Destiny and breaking through mid-battle.

They’d succeeded, too. Su Yi didn’t break through, but...

They’d still lost!

When the heart devil in the rusted sheath attacked, he suppressed everyone else present, restricting all of the Eternals present. Some had shrieked and coughed up blood, while others fell to the ground, battle injured.

Everything was thrown into chaos.

After that, they lost control of the Mirror of Two Worlds. It buzzed, then landed in Dao Venerate Lu Shi’s hand.

He’d destroyed his own clone, so he’d suffered the lightest backlash, but he still hadn’t gotten off easily. His face was as white as paper.

“We lost...” He clutched the mirror, then fell silent. Indescribable bitterness coursed through his heart.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

“Lu Shi! You said you were completely confident in our victory, so why did we lose?” Yu Chiyang asked in a rage.

Lu Shi scanned the area and saw that each of the other Eternals looked more unsightly than the one before. There was no sign of their earlier calm composure.

Yu Chiyang in particular had an ashen look on his face, and his eyes practically spat fire.

Lu Shi understood why he was so angry. The rusted sword sheath hadn’t just destroyed Yu Chiyang’s clone; it had hurt his true body, too.

When Eternals were injured, especially when the wounds were severe, they could forget about recovering quickly. Everyone on the River of Destiny knew that.

There was no doubt about it. Yu Chiyang found this price hard to accept.

He’d fought a mere Undying Realm Master God, but he hadn’t just lost. His clone had been destroyed, and even his true body was badly injured.

It was unquestionably far too humiliating.

Lu Shi couldn’t be bothered to explain himself. “It wasn’t just you. Old Daoist Crow, Cang Lingzi, Dao Lord Jin Hua... all of them were hurt, too.”

He then gestured to himself. “And I was forced to destroy my own clone. Why point the finger at me?”

Yu Chiyang roared, “Cut the crap! You planned the battle in the Borderless Mountains. Now that we’ve lost, you must take responsibility! Or else, the Court of the Southern Heavens won’t let this go!”

Lu Shi frowned. He hadn’t anticipated that Yu Chiyang would vent his fury on him like this.

“We might have lost this battle, but Su Yi won’t be able to jump around much longer,” said Lu Shi, suppressing his fury. He said calmly, “The Battle for Order will begin within half a year. When the time comes, the God Domain’s chaos source will run dry. We’ll naturally have an opportunity to descend into the God Domain in the flesh. Do you really think... that that rusted sword sheath will be able to help Su Yi then?”

The crowd’s expressions shifted erratically. Had they been there in the flesh, they’d have had nothing to fear from the sheath!

But this answer obviously didn’t satisfy Yu Chiyang. He pointed at Lu Shi and said icily, “The Battle for Order is in the future. I need an explanation now!”

He was utterly domineering, and the atmosphere was instantly oppressive.

Everyone knew that Yu Chiyang was confident in his backing, as the Court of the Southern Heavens stood behind him. And the Court of the Southern Heavens was founded by one of the Nine Heavenly Sovereigns, Heavenly Sovereign Changhen!

Heavenly Sovereign-level factions were like rulers!

Lu Shi’s eyes flashed with cold light. He said nothing. All he did was pull a blue talisman out of his sleeves and say, “If you recognize this, you’ll understand that even if I killed you here and now, the Court of the Southern Heavens wouldn’t pursue the matter!"

What is that?

Most of the onlookers were completely befuddled. Even some of the experienced old-timers didn’t recognize it.

But when Yu Chiyang saw it, his whole body stiffened, and his expression shifted dramatically.

The Three Purities Talisman! That’s the token of that mysterious and supreme Daoist orthodoxy!

Holding their talisman is like possessing their true teachings!

Rumor had it that even visiting Heavenly Sovereigns had to treat this mysterious orthodoxy with the utmost respect.

Yu Chiyang knew of the Three Purities Talisman because once, a long time ago, as an elder of his sect, he’d been fortunate enough to accompany their founder, Heavenly Sovereign Changhen, on a visit to that mysterious faction!

Yu Chiyang vividly recalled that even someone as terrifying as their founder toned down his sharpness and behaved with the utmost politeness.

That was the only time Yu Chiyang ever saw him act like that! The sight had astonished him deeply. He remembered it vividly even now.

He would never have guessed that someone like Lu Shi would have that mysterious sect’s token!

In the end, Yu Chiyang said nothing. He just turned and led his followers away.

Lu Shi’s companions were flabbergasted, but then, they seemed to understand.

Whatever that talisman is, it seems to have suppressed Yu Chiyang’s bluster!

He no longer dared to demand an explanation, so he just slinked off!

The way the crowd looked at Lu Shi shifted.

One of them said tentatively, “Daoist Brother Lu, might I ask where that talisman came from, and why it was enough to scare off Yu Chiyang of the Court of the Southern Heavens?”

Lu Shi put it away and said calmly, “All I can tell you is that it’s the token of a mysterious orthodoxy. I can’t tell you anything else.”

The others’ hearts shook, and their imaginations ran wild.

Just what kind of mysterious orthodoxy could scare away the elder of a Heavenly Sovereign-level orthodoxy?

Lu Shi didn’t explain, but he was inwardly rueful.

The orthodoxy in question was Three Purities Temple, the progenitors of the Daoist school of thought.

Their lower court was located on the River of Destiny. It was just a lower court, but not even Heavenly Sovereigns dared to provoke it!

I wonder what the others would think if I shared these secrets?

Lu Shi shook his head. He’d never liked showing off.

In his heart, Three Purities Temple was sacred and transcendent. It was his life’s greatest ambition to “board their ship” and reach the Far Shore of Destiny!

The Battle for Order will begin in just half a year. I wonder if the experts of Three Purities Temple’s Lower Court will participate when the time comes...

Lu Shi pondered.

No one knew it, but the Mirror of Two Worlds had been given to him by an expert of the lower court, Qing Shi.

And Qing Shi could sit with Heavenly Sovereigns as an equal!

......

Xiao Jian and my first incarnation’s heart devil are actually still alive!

The Malevolent Sword venerate sat cross-legged atop a mountain swathed in a churning sea of clouds. From here, he could see the coursing River of Destiny in the distance.

His clone hadn’t been destroyed during the battle in the Borderless Mountains, so he hadn’t suffered a backlash.

However, the arrival of Xiao Jian and the existence of their first incarnation’s heart devil left him unable to calm down.

One is my past life, the other, my reincarnation. Add Su Yi to the mix, and... Hah! This really is getting more and more interesting.

The depths of the Malevolent Sword Venerate’s gaze burned like fire.

Whoosh!

An immortal sparrow flew in and landed, carrying a message in its beak.

The immortal sparrow prostrated itself on the ground and said, “Master, I have a message from Heavenly Sovereign Wen.”

The Malevolent Sword Venerate accepted the message and read it. He couldn’t help but frown.

Word of the battle in the Borderless Mountains had already reached Heavenly Sovereign Wen.

The message was intended to inquire about the rusted sword sheath’s origins, as well as the identity of the mysterious figure inside it.

The Malevolent Sword Venerate pondered briefly before responding in a single sentence.

All he said was, “I don’t know.”

Whoosh!

The immortal sparrow picked the message up and shot off.

Meanwhile, the Malevolent Sword Venerate sat there and thought to himself,

This is a conflict between me and my other lives, past and present. It has nothing to do with you!

......

Similar scenes played out with Cang Lingzi, Old Daoist Crow, Dao Lord Jin, and the others.

Several of the Heavenly Sovereign-level orthodoxies of the River of Destiny were now investigating the rusted sheath.

To them, the battle at the Borderless Mountains wasn’t worth paying attention to, but the rusted sheath and the mysterious expert inside it had drawn their attention.

Unfortunately, in the end, none of them found any answers.

...

On an island in a churning sea of lava, Li Sansheng was crouched outside his home, watching the ants, just like always.

He was clearly enjoying himself, too.

“Husband, do you recognize this sheath?” Li Sansheng’s wife appeared and passed him the painting. It depicted a sword sheath flecked with rust.

Li Sansheng glanced at it, then shook his head. “I don’t.”

His wife was instantly disappointed. She murmured, “How could a rusted sheath like that have created ripples on the River of Destiny? My grandfather even broke precedent and contacted me just to ask about it.”

“Wait, what?” Li Sansheng exclaimed. “Tell me more. How did this sheath create ripples on the River of Destiny?”

His wife rolled her eyes. “You don’t recognize it, so what does it have to do with you?”

She turned and walked off. Normally, Li Sansheng would have taken the opportunity to admire her curves as she walked into their room.

But this time, he did no such thing. Instead, he gazed down at the painting of the rusted sheath, gently tapping it with his fingertip.

The depths of his gaze shone with reminiscence, and he sank into silence.

A long time passed before he slowly put the scroll painting away. “I’ll wait a while longer. There’s no rush. When Boss needs me, I’m sure he’ll contact me, just like he did when the Lower Court of Three Purities Temple offended him!”