Chapter 2665 - Nothing Special

After Di E and the Dipankara Buddha took a stand, several old-timers from the River of Destiny glowered.

The path to the peak was a prime opportunity to kill Su Yi. Many of them had long since decided to strike Su Yi down on their way to the summit.

Who could have imagined that several people would forbid them to do so in rapid succession?

Many of those present didn’t recognize Xiao Jian. As an unfamiliar face, his proclamation might have been displeasing, but no one cared very much.

As for the Dipankara Buddha, those few who knew the inside story were well aware that the old monk’s identity wasn’t as simple as it appeared. He had deep connections to the Spirit Mountain Buddhist Court.

When he took a stand, they had no choice but to take it seriously.

But Di E’s stance was the most displeasing, even infuriating. What right did someone who’d proven his Dao in the God Domain have to make such a proclamation?

He overestimated himself!

“Lu Shi, since when did your dogs dare to bite without permission?” A yellow-haired, purple-robed man said coldly.

He spoke to Lu Shi, not Di E himself. Worse, he called Di E a dog!

Many of the onlookers chuckled. They knew that Di E was a member of Lu Shi’s camp, only that, and nothing more.

Lu Shi’s eyelids twitched, but just as he was about to say something, Di E suddenly pressed down.

Bang!!

The yellow-haired man was forced to his knees with such force that it left his head and all four limbs embedded in the earth. Throughout his body, countless bones snapped, and his skin tore, leaving him covered in blood.

Silence descended over the area. Everyone was startled.

The yellow-haired man in purple robes was a true Unfettered Realm Eternal. His true body was a Denglong, and he’d proven his Dao through the power of his flesh. He was far from ordinary.

He was from the Court of the Southern Heavens, a Heavenly Sovereign-level orthodoxy, just like Yu Chiyang.

Yet now, he’d been forced to his knees in a single gesture, head and limbs touching forced into the ground, badly injured. It was humiliating to the extreme!

The way the crowd looked at Di E instantly shifted.

Only Su Yi understood. The will of a Heavenly Sovereign had long since possessed Di E.

Yet now, someone dared call the Heavenly Sovereign a dog to his face. They were... really far too brazen!

“Bark like a dog, and I’ll spare your life,” Di E said calmly.

“Don’t you think you’re being far too impudent?” Yu Chiyang said gravely.

“Impudent?” Di E glanced at him. No one saw him move, but the suppressed yellow-haired man’s body exploded, his soul scattered and dispersed.

All that remained of him was a bundle of resplendent, colorful light brimming with an indescribably dense Eternal aura.

Di E stretched out his hands and grabbed, and the bundle fell into his palm. Then, he devoured it in a single bite, as casually as if he were eating a piece of fruit.

The sight left many of the onlookers’ scalps numb with fright. Their expressions shifted.

Some of the old-timers of the River of Destiny couldn’t help but frown, their expressions grim.

This was the first Unfettered Realm Eternal killed since they’d entered Red Pine Mountain!

Most terrifying of all, even his Eternal Source was devoured. Who wouldn’t have been startled after seeing that?

The Dipankara Buddha’s eyebrows rose, and a strange light lit up in the depths of his gaze. It seemed he’d realized something.

Lu Shi’s expression was dark, but he said nothing.

Wang Zhiwu’s expression shifted erratically. Outside Red Pine Mountain, Su Yi transmitted a warning, informing him that Di E had been possessed by a Heavenly SOvereign.

At the time, Wang Zhiwu proclaimed that he’d pummel Di E every time he saw him.

But now, after witnessing Di E’s tyrannical ferocity, Wang Zhiwu’s hair stood on end. He gasped, his thoughts racing as he tried to guess just which Heavenly Sovereign was.

Isn’t he a bit too brutal?

“Would you call that impudent?” Di E said slowly.

Yu Chiyang glared at him, expression ashen. He didn’t say a word.

He could tell that Di E wasn’t the least bit afraid of the Court of the Southern Heavens!

“Does anyone else think this lofty one’s words carry insufficient weight? If so, why not step forth here and now?” Di E scanned the crowd.

No one responded. There were over a hundred people here, all with extraordinary backgrounds and powerful divine abilities, yet now, all of them were silent.

The atmosphere was stifled and oppressive.

“This lofty one knows that not all of you are convinced. You’re staying quiet simply because you fear a falling out at this juncture will cause unwanted delays,” Di E said calmly. “Then let’s settle things on the Five Elements Altar.”

He paused, then repeated, “But if any of you dare attack Su Yi on our way to the summit, I’ll kill you!”

With that, he put his hands behind his back and said no more.

His sheer domineeringness made Su Yi frown. This was merely a wisp of a Heavenly Sovereign’s awareness. No matter how strong he was, here on Red Pine Mountain, he couldn’t possibly display strength beyond the bounds of the Unfettered Realm.

Yet he could suppress and kill an Unfettered Realm Dao Lord with a flip of his palm. That was terrifying.

If Di E is this strong, what of the Dipankara Buddha?

Su Yi glanced at the Dipankara Buddha, who just stood there, still as a statue.

Also, all of these old-timers were bold enough to come here to participate in the Battle of the Order. I suspect there’s no small number of ruthless characters among them,

thought Su Yi.

Never mind the rest. The way Su Yi saw it, Xiao Jian couldn’t possibly be any weaker than Di E!

And the Malevolent Sword Venerate had yet to reveal himself.

Just as he was pondering, a strange energy fluctuation emanated from Five Elements Peak, and a path formed, leading up to the peak.

The path was shrouded in mist and permeated with chaos energy. It surged with all manner of mysterious Laws of the Grand Dao.

The path to the summit had appeared!

All eyes instantly looked over.

“You can begin your ascent. Once everyone has reached the Five Elements Altar—or failed to—we can begin the Battle for Order!” said the yellow finch. Then, it beat its wings and soared to the peak, arriving in a flash.

“You go first, Su Yi,” Xiao Jian said with a smile, as if issuing a decree. He wanted Su Yi to be the first to climb, and he wouldn’t give anyone else the opportunity.

“Very well.” Di E glanced at Xiao Jian, then returned his attention to Su Yi. “If you please!”

“Fellow Daoist, please go first,” said the Dipankara Buddha with the solemn countenance of a statue.

When the others planning to begin the climb early saw this, they paused.

“They aren’t doing this for your benefit. They just want to kill you on the Five Elements Altar, just like I do,” said Huang Yanleng. It was unclear whether this was a warning or just an attempt to take Su Yi down a peg.

“Fellow Daoist Su, no matter what the others think, I’d like to offer you a warning,” said Lu Shi, his expression utterly solemn. “When we reach the summit, this won’t end until one of us is dead. There’ll be no way out.”

Su Yi scanned the crowd, looking at everyone present one by one. In the end, he didn’t say a word. He just started climbing.

No one stood in his way.

Before long, he vanished into the chaos mist of ten thousand Daos.

“When an Undying Realm cultivator steps onto that path, they’ll face the pressure of ten thousand Daos. They have practically no hope of reaching the summit, but Su Yi... is obviously different from the rest,” someone sighed.

Long ago, a grand battle broke out on the Five Elements Altar atop Red Pie Mountain.

Five Elements Battles had been fought throughout the ages, but none of the participants had ever been Master Gods.

The reason was simple. The power on the path to the summit was enough to overwhelm any Master God around.

In stark contrast, although Su Yi had yet to prove his Dao and achieve Eternity, he climbed the path to the summit with ease, as if he were walking on level ground. This was naturally extraordinary.

“How could you judge Jiang Wuchen’s reincarnation, the master of reincarnation, by his cultivation base?” someone said softly.

As the crowd conversed, Xiao Jian, Di E, and the Dipankara Buddha set off, following shortly after Su Yi.

When they saw this, everyone gave up any lingering hope of targeting Su Yi en route to the summit.

If they wanted to kill Su Yi now, they’d have to get through Xiao Jian, Di E, and the Dipankara Buddha first!

Before long, the others began their climb. Everyone was shooting toward the summit.

Kaboom!

The chaos power of ten thousand Daos swept forth, like floodwaters bursting through a dam, assailing the climbers with every step they took.

Su Yi was like a boat travelling upstream, but he didn’t look at all wretched. On the contrary, he climbed at a steady pace, as if riding over the waves on strong winds. Nothing could shake him.

Xiao Jian looked on admiringly. Not even he knew just how strong Su Yi had become, but this proved that Su Yi’s strength and foundations were far beyond a False Eternal’s. It wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to call him the strongest Undying expert in history, the only one of his kind.

But it was hard to say whether that would be enough to let him fight an Unfettered Realm Eternal or not.

“Are you perhaps from the River of Epoch’s Path of the Ancient Gods?” someone suddenly asked.

Xiao Jian looked over and saw Di E looking at him from not far away.

“That’s right,” said Xiao Jian. “Is there a problem with that?”

“No,” said Di E. “I just wanted to tell you that if you try to help Su Yi during the Battle for Order, you’ll die.”

Xiao Jian was briefly stunned. Then, he laughed. “Others might not realize just who they’re dealing with, but you can’t fool me. You’d best pray that we don’t run into each other during the Battle for Order. If you do, you’ll die an unsightly death.”

Di E laughed. “Does that mean you’re dead set on helping Su Yi?”

“No.” Xiao Jian smiled faintly. “He and I will determine which of us lives and which of us dies. That said, if you want to die too, I wouldn’t mind helping you out. Got it?”

Di E looked past him, to where Su Yi led the pack. “On the way to Red Pine Mountain, the Malevolent Sword Venerate said that he wanted to kill both you and Su Yi. He said that you were a special existence, and he specifically warned me to be careful.”

He fixed his gaze on Xiao Jian once more. “But looking at you now, it seems you’re nothing special.”

“Nothing special, huh?” Xiao Jian said calmly. “Should the opportunity arise, I”ll carve those words on your tombstone.”

He paused, then added, “Of course, when I do a good deed, I always see it through to the very end. If I’m going to carve you a tombstone, I’ll naturally have to ensure that your true body is buried there, too. If you’re afraid of the cold, I’ll even pile on extra dirt for you.”

Di E just said “oh” and paid Xiao Jian no further heed.

The Dipankara Buddha was mid-climb too, and he heard every word, but his expression remained tranquil, and he didn’t say a word.

The youthful gray-robed monk accompanying him didn’t say anything either.

As time passed, the group climbed without any violence breaking out. It seemed everyone had their reasons to abstain.

Enough time to burn a stick of incense later, the peak came into view.

They could dimly discern the outline of an altar through the five-colored auspicious clouds.

Dense chains formed of chaos power interwove over the platform.

The yellow finch was perched there already, waiting quietly for the participants to arrive.