Chapter 2884: A True Vision of the Primordial Era |
River Empress Lu Ping was about to reach her limit. At first, she’d looked down on Lu Shi for running out of steam so quickly, but after trying the Writing Brush of Genesis for herself, she realized that this was really difficult!
Lu Shi watched coldly from the sidelines throughout this process.
River Ancestor Shen Xiao frowned. At this rate, even if they take turns, it’ll be at least a week before they can restore all of the Dao Markings.
“Let me try.” River Empress Peacock stepped forth and offered to take over, but within just about ten minutes, she too ran out of energy and had to take a step back.
River Ancestor Shen Xiao obviously still didn’t believe it was really that exhausting, so he actually stepped forward to test it for himself. He started to feel the difficulty after restoring just a single Dao Marking, and he decisively gave up, not because he was exhausted, but because he needed to stay in peak condition if he was to oversee the situation. He couldn’t afford to waste his heart and soul power on this.
“Now do you understand how difficult it will be to decipher the stele?” asked Lu Shi, a hint of mockery in his tone.
“Did I ask for your input?” River Ancestor Shen Xiao whipped him again without the slightest politeness. Lu Shi staggered back and almost fell. The gash on his arm was so deep that his bones were visible through the gore.
Wang Zhiwu burst into sputtering laughter. “I didn’t realize you had such a masochistic streak, Lu Shi.”
Lu Shi’s expression darkened, but he didn’t say anything.
Wang Zhiwu’s smile froze in place. Fuck! The old bastard is causing trouble on purpose!
“Let me try,” said Su Yi.
Lu Shi seemed to realize something. He shouted, “Stop! Anyone else is fine. Anyone but you!”
“Why?” asked Su Yi.
Lu Shi hesitated. His instincts were screaming at him that if the brush landed in Su Yi’s hands, he’d most likely never get it back. But he knew that he couldn’t say that out loud, as no one else here would believe him.
“Tell me, why shouldn’t he try?” River Ancestor Shen Xiao said with a decidedly unfriendly glare.
Lu Shi sighed. “It’s nothing. My imagination got the best of me.”
Crack!
River Ancestor Shen Xiao whipped him again, this time striking his face. His cheekbone almost cracked on impact.
Lu Shi was instantly frantic. He roared, “Again?! Why?”
River Ancestor Shen Xiao said calmly, “Because you’re the one giving me crap. Who else would I hit?”
Lu Shi didn’t know what to say to that. His face was ashen with anger, and his chest heaved. It would have been obvious to anyone that he was on the verge of losing control. But in the end, he held back.
Wang Zhiwu didn’t hesitate to kick him while he was down. “Coward!”
River Ancestor Shen Xiao frowned. He wasn’t whipping Lu Shi for the fun of it; rather, he was probing his limits. He wanted to see how much Lu Shi would tolerate. Of course, if Lu Shi really threw all caution to the wind, River Ancestor Shen Xiao would slaughter him without mercy!
Alas, Lu Shi endured. This actually put River Ancestor Shen Xiao more on guard. He suspected that Lu Shi was being so tolerant now because he was planning something. Moreover, in River Ancestor Shen Xiao’s eyes, River Emperor Winged Dragon and Lu Shi were the least necessary people here.
None of the others would object if he killed them. On the contrary, they’d likely be delighted to see it happen. And killing them would resolve two latent threats.
As for Wang Zhiwu and River Empress Lu Ping? He wouldn’t touch them lightly because they were Su Yi’s allies, and River Empress Peacock was determined to help Su Yi. Touching Wang Zhiwu or Lu Ping would cause a chain reaction and risk ruining his plans.
Su Yi arrived before the stone stele and examined its worn-out surface. It bore the vestiges of countless years, and many of its markings had been ground away completely.
Su Yi gripped the Writing Brush of Genesis. He could clearly sense the strange power fluctuations emanating from the first of the Nine Mysteries of Chaos. They seemed jubilant, as if the brush were celebrating.
Su Yi had no trouble understanding why.
Back in the God Domain, he and Lu Shi bet their respective Mysteries of Chaos. Afterward, Su Yi sent the River Lord to retrieve the Nine Mysteries of Chaos that Su Yi had lent to his friends and disciples.
Now, Su Yi had the Blade of Divine Loathing, the Book of Karma, the Sky-Covering Boat, the Realm-Demarcating Ruler, the Sword of Proximity, the Umbrella of Tribulations, the Sky Stealing Hook, and the Yin-Yang Diagram on his person, eight of the Nine Mysteries of Chaos.
The Writing Brush of Genesis was another Mystery of Chaos. It naturally sensed the others.
Back in the God Domain, Lu Shi said that the Nine Mysteries of Chaos hid an enormous secret—and the Writing Brush of Genesis was the key to unlocking it, as it required assembling all nine of the Mysteries of Chaos.
Now, looking at the brush he held in his hand, Su Yi had to forcefully suppress the impulse to claim it for himself.
He took a moment to get his thoughts in order, then touched its tip to the stele’s surface. A strange sensation instantly arose in his heart, and a vision unfolded before him. It was a scene from the Primordial Era. A terrifying River Ancestor sat in meditation in the River of Destiny, unmoving, no matter how fierce the current. The scene was indistinct, save for the avatar of his true body. It was a horse-like creature with a white head, tiger stripes, and a red tail.
The avatar was incomparably enormous, like a natural barrier across the river. It shone with intense radiance, manifesting the endless mysteries of the Grand Dao.
This was Lu Shu! An unparalleled existence of the Primordial Era and a legendary expert of the River of Destiny.
Su Yi’s heart shook. Why am I seeing him now?
But before he could react, the scene shifted. A massive abyss appeared, like a black hole. The abyss was in motion, and wherever it passed, it stirred up endless calamitous power, devouring an immeasurable quantity of water.
The River of Destiny had numerous whirlpools, but this was undoubtedly the biggest and most mysterious of them all. As well as the most terrifying!
“The Abyss of Endless Tribulations!” River Ancestor Lu Shu suddenly opened his eyes and took out a bundle of layers of bloody cloth.
The cloth was covered in dense, mysterious Dao Markings, like wriggling worms. They were much like the true names Su Yi had seen thus far.
The stone stele was similarly carved with seemingly naturally formed, strange Dao Markings.
But the cloth’s markings were even more numerous. It was almost like a page of scripture.
As River Ancestor Lu Shu peeled open the layers, he revealed the object inside.
It was a stone stele the size of a fist, no different from a Daoist seal. It was pitch black, and chaos energy flowed over its surface.
Its name rose inexplicably to the forefront of Su Yi’s consciousness—the Great Ceremonial Destiny Stele!
Boom!
River Ancestor Lu Shu suddenly rose, holding the stele aloft and charging into the distant Abyss of Endless Tribulations.
Here, the scene shook violently, then shattered.
Su Yi’s heart shook, and he inwardly sighed in relief.
The scene he’d just witnessed was obviously one of the Writing Brush of Genesis’s wondrous applications. It was a true vision of River Ancestor Lu Shu’s past.
It showed the Abyss of Endless Tribulations, the Great Ceremonial Destiny Stele, as well as River Ancestor Lu Shu’s true body!
When he next looked at the battered stele before him, a strange emotion rose in his heart.
If all was as he expected, it was none other than the Great Ceremonial Destiny Stele, the object sealed in layers of cloth.
River Ancestor Lu Shu had once carried it with him as he charged into the Abyss of Endless Tribulations.
But why did River Ancestor Lu Shu die here, and how did the Great Ceremonial Destiny Stele lose its power and spirituality? What exactly did River Ancestor Lu Shu experience in the Abyss of Endless Tribulations?
Su Yi had no way of finding out, so he cast aside his scattered thoughts and got to work.
A wondrous, ethereal rain of light erupted from the sharp tip of the brush, then spread over the stele’s surface.
Wherever there were markings, bundles of light bloomed like flowers, spreading as far as could be, glowing as if trying to outshine each other’s radiance.
This unbelievable scene drew the attention of everyone present. Uproar ensued.
“This…”
“That guy’s heart is seriously so terrifyingly strong? Did he really just restore all of the markings at once?”
“No, it’s not that his heart is so strong, but that the Writing Brush of Genesis is displaying previously hidden, unbelievable ability in his hands!”
The sound of discussion arose on all sides. The way they looked at Su Yi shifted.
Even River Ancestor Shen Xiao had to expend an enormous amount of heart and soul power to restore even a single Dao Marking, but when Su Yi tried, flowers bloomed at the tip of his brush, covering the stele. It was like a miracle!
What’s going on? Don’t tell me the brush has accepted him as its master? Lu Shi was furious, his face ashen.
He’d tried to refine the Writing Brush of Genesis countless times over the years, all in the hope of convincing it to accept him as its master.
But all of his attempts had ended in failure.
As flowers bloomed at the tip of a brush, the thousands of lights restored thousands of worn-out Dao Markings. They appeared on the stele’s surface, one after another.
But before the crowd could get a good look at them, Su Yi put the brush away. Both the flowers and the markings faded and withered.
Several of the others were furious. River Emperor Winged Dragon went so far as to shout, “Su Yi, what are you playing at? Are you trying to monopolize those secrets?”
River Emperor Hong Ye glowered, his eyes blazing with murderous intent. “You really are dishonest!”
It was obvious to all of them that Su Yi had done this on purpose.
River Ancestor Shen Xiao had an unsightly look on his face, too. Earlier, he, too, had been caught off guard, as the markings had vanished in an instant. He only remembered a few hundred.
Su Yi turned, faced the others, and sighed. “I’m sorry. I exhausted too much heart power, and I couldn’t sustain that kind of expenditure. Did any of you commit those markings to memory?”
When they saw that he was still putting on the act, River Emperor Winged Dragon, Hong Ye, and Lu Shi were so angry that their noses practically went crooked.
Wang Zhiwu, River Empress Peacock, and River Empress Lu Ping looked at Su Yi strangely, barely suppressing the urge to laugh.
River Ancestor Shen Xiao said coldly, “Young man, I urge you not to try anything clever. Do you really think mastering the stele’s secrets means you can do whatever you want?”
Dense murderous intent instantly locked onto Su Yi.