Mahayana 128
BGM: [MV]Vernal Days Dreamed by the Stars - Mika Kobayashi
===
Chapter 128: The Book of Destiny, The Path of Samsara
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
Part 1
They collided in an instant. Lin Xiao was clearly being suppressed, yet the poison hidden within his fan forced the Old Demon King to remain cautious, turning the clash into a deadly, tense stalemate.
“I don’t need saving by the likes of you. I don’t need to owe you anything!” Su Miaoqing shouted sharply, then turned into a streak of light and flew towards a distant heavenly stairway.
“Did you hear that, lad? She doesn’t appreciate your help!” Old Demon King sneered. With a surge of strength, he forced Lin Xiao back and flew straight after Su Miaoqing.
Lin Xiao pursued closely behind, but the gap in cultivation meant he could not catch up for the moment. He could only watch helplessly as Old Demon King drew closer to Su Miaoqing.
Xiao Yifeng felt his heart clench with anxiety for her and shouted angrily, “Old Demon King, if you dare lay a finger on my junior sister, I will grind your bones to dust!”
“Hahahaha! I won’t just touch her. I’ll do it right in front of you. When she’s beneath me later, begging and crying, I hope you’ll scream along to cheer me on!” Old Demon King laughed wickedly.
“Up there, you filthy old freak. Touch my woman and I’ll end you!” the strange man bellowed, sounding even more anxious than Xiao Yifeng himself.
“Shut it. If you dare speak disrespectfully of my junior sister again, I’ll add that to the debt of my immortal sword and burn your soul a hundred times over,” Xiao Yifeng snapped, veins bulging.
Yet both of them were imprisoned within the heavenly stairways, utterly powerless. Xiao Yifeng could only cling to hope that the Coiling Dragon Jade Pendant would finish Old Demon King.
Just as Old Demon King was about to seize Su Miaoqing, his fingers a breath away from her, a streak of crimson light tore through the air and slammed into his hand.
His hand dissolved on the spot. Old Demon King let out a piercing scream as he was hurled backwards, flames devouring his severed arm and crawling hungrily across his body.
He could only use his hook to sever his own arm, barely avoiding being burned into charcoal.
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone, because the beam of light had not come from anyone present, but from within the palace itself. It had flown out from the gate of one of the heavenly stairways that no one had yet passed through.
At this moment, one of Old Demon King’s arms had completely vanished, the same fate as Liu Yue’s. He stared at Su Miaoqing in shock and uncertainty.
That crimson light shot out from between the palace doors, enveloped Su Miaoqing, and drew her towards that particular heavenly stairway.
“Why? Why does this happen? We all have Samsara Stone Tablets. Why is she the only one protected by the Immortal Palace?” Old Demon King shouted, his composure completely shattered.
What kind of joke was this supposed to be? He had fought through the Immortal Palace with his life on the line, yet Su Miaoqing was simply pulled in by the palace itself. If it was going to favour her so blatantly, what was the point of struggling at all?
The crimson light ignored his anger entirely, guiding Su Miaoqing onto the heavenly stairway. The stone tablet she carried suddenly burst into light, a beam shooting skywards and lighting the stairway.
Unlike the others, Su Miaoqing did not remain standing there in a daze once the stairway was lit. The red light immediately carried her towards the inner hall, and she vanished into the palace in the blink of an eye.
Xiao Yifeng was left completely dumbfounded by the turn of events. Like everyone else, a single thought echoed in his mind. What kind of nonsense was this? Was she just waved straight through?
The scene before them was utterly absurd. They had fought tooth and nail, while Su Miaoqing had simply been escorted straight into the Immortal Palace.
The Old Demon King felt his worldview crack. Grinding his teeth, he spun around, eager to pour all that boiling rage onto Lin Xiao. Only to find empty air behind him.
Lin Xiao had vanished the moment Su Miaoqing’s safety was assured, streaking away towards one of the remaining Heavenly Stairways without hesitation.
Now he stood there, robes fluttering faintly, a folding fan snapping open with effortless flair. He even raised it in a polite little wave towards Old Demon King before stepping onto the stairway.
That Heavenly Stairway erupted in a dazzling beam of light. By this point, seven out of the ten stairways had been activated.
The Old Demon King knew that there was no one else left in the Immortal Palace. Moreover, Mo Shuiyao, who had paid no attention to the others, had already reached the seventh stone step. The figure that looked like an evil ghost was standing upon the third Heavenly Stairway.
Xiao Yifeng no longer hesitated; he flew toward one of the remaining three Heavenly Stairways and landed upon it.
The stairway lit up, and from the stone beneath him, a rock shot into the air, marked with the three characters: “Gate of the Dead.”
Xiao Yifeng immediately understood. The first to awaken at Gate of the Dead wasn’t Mo Shuiyao. It was that old schemer, Old Demon King.
He quietly pocketed the Ghost Gate Pass stone, leaving the others untouched.
Xiao Yifeng guessed one stone was enough to secure his safety. The rest? Irrelevant. Wang Laoxie wanted others to clear the path for him.
Suddenly, a voice echoed from the Heavenly Stairway: "Ten Halls of Yama, all ten halls open. The path of Samsara shall begin. Enter the Gate of Reincarnation and you may obtain the Book of Destiny."
Then it added, almost teasingly: "Two paths remain unlit. Shall they be abandoned?"
Shock rippled through the group. Once all ten Heavenly Stairways were lit, the legendary path of Samsara would awaken—and the Book of Destiny would appear.
But there were only eight of them. Eight tablets. One Heavenly Gate still stubbornly dark. And the missing stone? Completely unknown.
At that moment, the tablets in everyone’s possession were: Gate of the Dead (Old Demon King) Road to the Yellow Spring (Liu Yue) Other Shore Flower Sea (Luo Yun) Wangchuan River (Xiao Yifeng) The Naihe Brigde (Su Miaoqing) Yellow Springs Crossing (Mo Shuiyao) Wraithwood Village (Lin Xiao) Golden Rooster Ridge, Wraithwood Village, Fengdu City (Strange Man)
Two stone tablets were still unaccounted for. Could their chance truly slip through their fingers?
“Damn it! So all ten Heavenly Stairways had to be lit to summon the Gate of Samsara… but why has it taken more than two hundred years for someone to even mention this?” the Strange Man muttered.
“Can’t we turn back and find that tablet?” asked the Old Demon King, his heart burning with desire at the thought of the legendary Book of Destiny so close.
“You can’t turn back on Yellow Springs Road! Had I been able to, would I still be trapped here?” the Strange Man replied, his expression complex.
It was then that everyone realised: the entire Samsara Immortal Palace was effectively part of Road to the Yellow Springs. Once you crossed the Flower Sea, there was no returning. There was simply no way to go back and retrieve the missing tablet.
As they journeyed forward, none of them had considered turning back, and so they never realised that returning was impossible.
Even if they had noticed the unusual nature of this tablet along the way, they would likely have missed the other tablets in the process.
“The next fifty years, I shall bring the tablet back here!” the Old Demon King declared.
“Each time the Samsara Immortal Palace opens, these tablets return to their original positions. There’s no way to take them away!” the Strange Man sneered.
Mo Shuiyao was also awakened by this revelation. A few of them sighed in regret, lamenting that they had missed such a colossal opportunity. Two tablets were still unaccounted for, and their locations remained unknown.
Xiao Yifeng, like the others, had never imagined that the legendary Book of Destiny would only appear in this manner. He, however, understood better than anyone else why the Samsara Immortal Palace had issued a warning this time.
Because now, all ten Samsara Stone Tablets were gathered here!