Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 336: Fate at Play

Wukong was slightly surprised—Anuo and Kasyapa had also reached the Hunyuan realm.
The qilin stood amidst the fierce winds, its robes unmoved and hair untouched; a circle of about ten feet around it seemed to become an empty space. The Vajra Indestructible Buddha had a grave expression. He hung his prayer beads around his neck, formed a mystical hand seal with both hands, and shouted, “Duo!”
Buddhist hand seals are supreme techniques, containing special wishes and conditions, possessing immeasurable magical powers. Few can create their own hand seals on their own; most require guidance from others to avoid falling into ignorance through misguided practice.
The Vajra Indestructible Buddha could form the Vajra Indestructible Seal purely through his own enlightenment, with no external help at all. It is said that he spent years in a secluded cave studying the Diamond Sutra, sitting motionless. No one knows exactly how many years it was, but when he finally understood the sutra and emerged, imprints appeared on the walls and traces remained on the stones.
This hand seal was derived from the Diamond Sutra. It is said to possess the power of the sutra itself, meaning that all the teachings within it can be understood through this seal. Even more strangely, each time it was formed, it was different—due to the endless profundities of the sutra, the seal seemed to change as well.
The Vajra Indestructible Buddha twisted his fingers to form the seal and sent it toward the qilin. Wherever the seal passed, the fierce winds receded and rolled back. The qilin punched through the air, firing a purple flame column to confront the seal.
The seal was nearly transparent and formless. In terms of power, the qilin’s attack seemed superior. But when the seal collided with the flame column, the earth-shattering power Wukong had expected did not appear—there was not even a sound.
Upon closer inspection, the seal passed through the flame column like a phantom, unimpeded. The qilin was slightly surprised. In an instant, the seal appeared before it, and the qilin hastily threw a punch to meet it. But the seal vanished like a shadow, disappearing inside the qilin’s body!
The qilin was first shocked, then its face showed pain. It lowered its arms, closed its eyes as if in meditation, and murmured words. Wukong exclaimed, “What is this thing?” The Roc cursed, “Damn it, how should I know? Lord Qilin, you can’t lose!”
The purple flame column shot like a spear straight at the Vajra Indestructible Buddha. The Buddha kept his eyes wide open but ignored the flame column, allowing it to strike his body.
At the moment of impact, golden light burst from the Buddha’s entire body, turning him into a figure covered in gold. The Roc said, “How dare he resist head-on?” Wukong also thought the Vajra Indestructible Buddha was being overly bold—how could he not dodge a single punch from the qilin?

How could the Indestructible Buddha not know of the Qilin’s prowess? Yet his hand seals held their own mystique. He devoted most of his energy to controlling those seals, aiming to achieve victory with a single strike, risking mutual destruction rather than engaging in a prolonged battle.

The Flame Pillar struck the Indestructible Buddha’s chest, blazing like fireworks. It flowed like molten rock, pouring down upon the Buddha’s golden body. Da Peng exclaimed, “It’s bad! He really managed to block it!” Wukong said, “He’s also injured.”

After the Flame Pillar vanished, an extremely tiny crack appeared on the Buddha’s chest, from which a golden liquid slowly flowed out. Da Peng laughed, “Buddha’s blood isn’t always red—this monster’s blood is golden!”

Having blocked the Flame Pillar, the Indestructible Buddha vanished into the air in a flash. Yet a giant palm descended from above the Qilin. The Buddha roared, “The Enlightenment Palm!”

The name “Enlightenment Palm” reflected its purpose of bestowing enlightenment. Though slow, the palm’s speed was still formidable. For some reason, the Qilin remained motionless with closed eyes. Even from afar, Wukong could sense the immense power of the palm. It was easy to imagine the pressure the Qilin must be under under its shadow.

When the palm was still three feet above the Qilin’s head, its eyes opened, clear and filled with rage. The Indestructible Buddha’s palm covered an area of hundreds of feet—there was no way for the Qilin to dodge it; the only option was to fall downward. But that wasn’t the Qilin’s style.

The Qilin arched its body slightly and suddenly shot upward to meet the palm head-on. Wukong and Da Peng exchanged a glance and Wukong said, “My guy’s gone mad!” Da Peng was stunned.

A muffled groan came from above, and the giant palm vanished, leaving only streams of golden blood falling from the sky. Wukong couldn’t see exactly how the Indestructible Buddha had been injured.

When the Qilin settled back down, Wukong noticed a new horn on its head, covered in golden liquid. If he was right, the Qilin’s horn must have pierced a hole in the Buddha’s palm. Da Peng laughed, “My guy is really sneaky.”

Though the Qilin had injured the Indestructible Buddha, it too had taken a hit. It rubbed its head, exhaled angrily, and flames burst from its nostrils. It couldn’t remember how many years it had been since it faced such a tough opponent.

Even more astonishing was the Indestructible Buddha. His “Indestructible Seal” and “Enlightenment Palm” were complementary killing techniques. The power of the seals stemmed from the unity of mental energy and physical force.

The qilin spat out a column of flame, merely channeling the “force” within the hand seal. Meanwhile, the Buddha’s thoughts took advantage of the qilin’s distraction and entered its body unimpeded. The power of the thoughts from the Diamond Sutra was immense—its mind instantly became chaotic. At that moment, the Immortal Buddha of Indestructibility struck with his “Divine Palm.” If this palm had hit the qilin directly, this ancient divine beast might have converted to Buddhism.

With both “force” and “thoughts” in that hand seal, the qilin was caught off guard, but it quickly used its mystical powers to dispel the thoughts from the Diamond Sutra. In truth, the qilin had already regained its clarity. Knowing the Immortal Buddha of Indestructibility would surely have a countermove, it pretended to remain confused, luring him into attacking. In this exchange, the Immortal Buddha suffered injuries to his chest and palms—clearly, the qilin had the upper hand.

Realizing the Immortal Buddha of Indestructibility was right above it, the qilin leaped up to pursue him, vanishing into the air. Wukong and the roc hurried after it, but the strong winds above grew increasingly fierce. After chasing for a while, the two could only sigh in frustration. They had no idea where the qilin had gone, and climbing higher was beyond their strength.

Wukong was deeply frustrated. The Battle of Qi Tian Ling was underway, yet his abilities were of little use. Though he was a Hunyuan Golden Immortal, he didn’t know how far he still was from becoming a supreme being. Just then, Laozi’s voice rang in his ears: “Wukong, I have a fortune in store for you.”

Wukong was stunned, then overjoyed. If Laozi mentioned a fortune, it surely wasn’t ordinary. But he couldn’t leave right away, so he called the roc over, gave him some final instructions, and then used his teleportation skills to head toward the Pure Land Palace. Halfway there, suddenly everything went dark, and before he knew it, he was inside Laozi’s gourd.

Wukong snapped, “Even the Three Pure Ones resort to tricks to deceive people!”

Laozi laughed heartily and said, “You monkey, I’ve even risked my reputation for you—how dare you blame me!”

Wukong asked, “What did you say, Laozi?”

Laozi took out a jade box from his bosom. Before even opening it, Wukong smelled the fragrance inside and immediately knew what was in it.

※　※　※

The roc bid farewell to Wukong and returned to Qi Tian Ling. The people in the Western Heaven didn’t know where he had gone; only the Guest-Greeting Buddha remained tied to the ground. Feng Tong saw the roc and asked, “Could Senior Qilin have won?”

The roc replied, “Of course he can!”

Feng Tong asked, “Where has Zhuanxu gone?”

The roc said, “I don’t know either. He asked me to convey a very important message to you.”

Feng Tong said, “Come inside the cave and tell me.”

The two entered the cave. The roc said, “Wukong told you to find Liu Er and deliver a message to him. Who is Liu Er? How come I don’t recognize him?”

Tongfeng said, “Sooner or later you’ll realize it—we’re all brothers. What did Wukong ask me to tell Liu Er?”
Dapeng called Tongfeng over and whispered something. Tongfeng replied, “I have a formation in my cave—why be so cautious?”
Dapeng laughed heartily and said, “Only in this way can I show that I’m reliable in handling things.”
Tongfeng pondered Wukong’s words and thought, “Even Wukong knows how to borrow strength from others.”
As they were talking, suddenly there was a commotion outside, followed by loud cheers. They hurriedly went outside to see the Qilin leading the Vajra Indestructible Buddha slowly descending from the sky. The Buddha’s robes were in disarray; he had his eyes closed and head bowed, while the Qilin looked triumphant, with a radiant face, shouting, “What a thrill!”
Dapeng exclaimed happily, “So fast!”
The Qilin said, “That old monk is formidable. I had no choice but to use my true strength.”
Tongfeng offered a few words of congratulations and then asked the Qilin, “Elder, what do you plan to do to him?”
The Vajra Indestructible Buddha said calmly, “I always keep my word. But since I was defeated by someone, I’ll obey their decision. No one else should interfere.”
The Qilin snapped, “Shut up!”
He stretched out his finger and tapped the Buddha several times, saying, “You’re too powerful. If I don’t seal your powers, you might run away.”
The Vajra Indestructible Buddha replied, “I won’t leave.”
The Qilin pointed to his cave and said, “Go wait there first. I need to think about how to deal with you.”
The Buddha said nothing and quietly walked toward the cave.
Tongfeng asked, “Elder Qilin, could there be something suspicious about this? The stakes for the Vajra Indestructible Buddha are really high—he’s risking himself. If he loses, he’ll be at the Qilin’s mercy. Isn’t such a skilled fighter significant for the Western Heaven?”
The Qilin laughed and said, “Since he dared to defeat him, there must be a way to deal with him. But I think this monk is quite capable. Let’s keep him here for now.”
Dapeng said, “With two outsiders in Qitianling, we need to be more careful in our actions from now on.”
The Qilin picked up the Guest-Greeting Buddha and said, “These two are both from the Buddhist sect, but their techniques are quite different.”
Tongfeng asked, “How different?”
The Qilin shook his head and said, “It’s hard to say. The Vajra Indestructible Buddha’s skills are very solid. As for this other Buddha… he seems pretty good too, but he’s weak and awkward.”
Dapeng said, “Elder, next time, don’t bet me in. It keeps me on edge.”
The Qilin glared and asked, “Don’t you trust me?”
Dapeng apologized with a smile, “How could I? Just bet the old ox. He always says the Elder is invincible, so he clearly trusts the Elder more.”
The Qilin laughed and said, “Good!”