Volume 4: The Revelation Unveiled Chapter 419: The Revelation Completed

Jumang was shocked. He quickly understood what was happening. Fortunately, he was highly skilled in wielding the forces of the five elements. In an instant, the energies of earth and wood filled the furnace again, while Zhurong desperately poured in the power of fire.
Water and fire cannot coexist, but few realize that earth is the most inclusive element of all. It is within earth that the five elements can exist, and only there can water and fire coexist. This is why earth must serve as the foundation for crafting the Heavenly Secret Staff.
Indeed, as the forces of the five elements entered the furnace, the red fire enveloped the black water. Amidst the earthy-yellow aura, the black water began to bubble, quickly turning into vapor that surrounded the Heavenly Secret Staff.
Dayu exclaimed, “The Blood of Creation!”
Wukong raised his middle finger toward the sky, but feeling it was inappropriate, he switched to his index finger and shot a blood arrow into the furnace. Upon encountering the forces of the five elements, the blood arrow acted like boiling water falling on snow or a hot knife cutting through butter—it passed through the forces of the five elements and vanished instantly upon hitting the Heavenly Secret Staff.
Dayu shouted again, “It’s not enough!”
Wukong was puzzled. How much was enough? He didn’t know. Fearing any mistakes in the crafting process, he ignored propriety and stretched out all ten fingers, firing ten blood arrows at once, like a blood rain, all of which landed on the Heavenly Secret Staff.
The staff absorbed almost all of this blood rain before stopping. The remaining drops fell into the Xirang Furnace, where they were completely absorbed.
Houtu thought to herself in delight, “As expected, nothing is beyond its capacity. Dayu is truly fortunate— the Xirang Furnace can even absorb the Blood of Creation. This is indeed a stroke of fate.”
Seeing that enough Blood of Creation was now available, Dayu said, “Zhurong, Jumang, withdraw your powers!”
They withdrew their magical energies. Zhurong, the God of Fire, continued to maintain the high temperature inside the furnace. Dayu then ordered, “Rushou, infuse the power of metal.”
Rushou, eager to proceed, filled the furnace with white-golden light, which seeped into the Heavenly Secret Staff bit by bit. This process was lengthy. Although the staff was already made of metallic essence, this essence was naturally inferior to the pure power of metal. This infiltration was actually a step to transform the metallic essence.
Everyone sat waiting as Rushou cast his spell. Only Wu Zhiqi was confused—should the power of water be withdrawn or left as it was? Dayu appeared slightly uneasy, and everyone grew anxious, unsure of what was happening.
After a long while, the power of metal stopped seeping in. The Heavenly Secret Staff was now covered in black vapor, with no visible changes in its appearance.
Dayu said, “Zhurong, Rushou, withdraw your powers. Wu Zhiqi, unleash extreme cold water!”
The red fire and white-golden energy were instantly removed. Wu Zhiqi used his water control skills, causing the vapor to freeze instantly. A layer of black ice covered the Heavenly Secret Staff, shining brightly.

Another loud explosion occurred. Without Wu Zhiqi’s continuous input of water, even the ice layer might have shaken off. In just a moment, the temperature inside the furnace dropped sharply, and wisps of white vapor began to emerge from its mouth.

Dayu carefully controlled the furnace temperature. Without his orders, Wu Zhiqi could only exert all his strength. Until a thick layer of frost covered both the inside and outside of the Xirang Furnace, Dayu saw that the Tianji Stick was cold on both sides and declared, “Stop!”

Wu Zhiqi felt greatly relieved. Turning water into ice was extremely draining of energy. He had not stopped at all throughout, and being the weakest in cultivation, he had merely relied on sheer perseverance. After ceasing his efforts, he collapsed and sat down on the ground.

Wukong, unable to check on the progress of the Tianji Stick, hurriedly helped Wu Zhiqi up. Wu Zhiqi asked, “It’s fine. What about that stick?”

Dayu shut down the Xirang Furnace and said to Wukong, “Come and take a look.”

Wukong reached into the furnace and pulled out the Tianji Stick, feeling its bone-chilling cold. He used his divine powers to protect himself so he could endure it.

Holding the Tianji Stick in his hand, he felt an unobstructed connection of mind—this was naturally the effect of the Blood of Creation. Wukong gave a sharp command, “Grow!” Immediately, the stick grew several times larger, with the frost falling off to reveal its true form.

The stick was exactly as described in the “Instrument Canon.” At first glance, there seemed to be no changes.

Dayu said, “This shock was no small matter.”

Wukong asked, “Why?”

Dayu replied, “The method you used to refine it almost caused me trouble. ‘Water as the final element, supplemented by the Blood of Creation and the essence of metal.’ Water as the final element? That phrase should have been placed last.”

It turned out that Dayu had assumed following the sequence of “earth as the foundation, wood as the guide, fire as the medium, water as the final element, supplemented by the Blood of Creation” would be correct. But if the furnace temperature was lowered first, the Tianji Stick would change from liquid to solid, making it impossible for the Blood of Creation to blend in. So he adapted on the spot, changing the order first to blend in the Blood of Creation and then adding the essence of metal, thus giving the Tianji Stick all five elements.

In fact, Dayu had been worrying needlessly. No matter what method was used to refine the Tianji Stick, as long as the essences of the five elements were added, it didn’t matter whether they were added first or last.

Wukong said, “This method was also taught to me by the Buddha of Light. I naturally followed it strictly. I never thought there could be a mistake.” He weighed the Tianji Stick in his hand and added, “But this stick is a bit heavier than before. The flow of the powers of the five elements within it is much stronger than before.”

Houtu frowned and said, “We’ve spent so much time refining it—is this all the change?”

Wukong nodded and said, “For now, this is all I can discern. Since the Heaven’s Secret Staff dares to bear the name ‘Heaven’s Secret,’ it surely can’t be that simple. We’ll uncover more details over time.” Hearing this, the others felt somewhat disappointed. Wukong added, “Thank you all for your efforts today. The Heaven’s Secret Staff isn’t unfinished—it’s just that its secrets are hard to fathom. Why be disheartened?” As he had a close relationship with them, he didn’t need to use any formal words. Dayu said, “Wukong is right. In fact, today marks a great achievement. There’s no need to be discouraged. Since the Heaven’s Secret Staff has been forged, we no longer need to expend Ksitigarbha’s powers.” Wukong then called out, “Ksitigarbha, thank you.” Ksitigarbha naturally heard every word clearly and was just waiting for Wukong’s words. As the magical realm dissipated, everyone rushed out of the underground and landed on the peak. The Phoenix and the Qilin were chatting on the peak when they saw them emerge after just a few days. The Qilin was surprised and asked, “Is it done?” Wukong nodded and said, “Yes. Thank you, uncle and the guardians.” The Qilin waved his hand and said, “I thought Buddha would come to cause trouble again, but it was done so quickly.” Wukong replied, “It was thanks to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva using the magical realm to protect us that it was possible so swiftly.” As they spoke, Ksitigarbha emerged from the underground, sitting majestically on the back of Diting, his kind eyes fixed on the Phoenix. The Phoenix showed no fear and met his gaze. The others didn’t understand Ksitigarbha’s intentions and simply watched. After a long while, Ksitigarbha finally spoke, “Why does Buddha keep sending people to their deaths?” The Phoenix retorted, “What have you noticed?” Ksitigarbha asked, “Where have all those corpses gone?” The Qilin was puzzled and said, “I didn’t pay much attention. I guess they were taken away.” Ksitigarbha said, “Buddha commands all the Buddhas beneath him, yet they fear death not at all. There must be something strange about this.” Wukong glanced around and saw many Buddha figures in yellow scattered across the peak. He asked, “Are these… sent by the Buddha of the Lamp to help us?” The Qilin replied, “Exactly.” Wukong thought for a moment and said, “I need to visit Mount Ling.” With that, he landed in front of one of the Buddha figures in yellow, whispered a few words. The Buddha figure nodded repeatedly, then chanted a Buddhist mantra. All the Buddha figures in yellow on the peak stood up together and flew westward with Wukong. Ksitigarbha watched Wukong’s retreating figure, then turned to the Phoenix, as if speaking to himself, “Who decides the secrets of heaven?” The Phoenix replied, “If Buddha isn’t restrained, who can know the secrets of heaven?” Ksitigarbha then said to the Phoenix, “How about coming with me to the Jade Pure Palace?” The Qilin, not understanding the subtle exchange between the two, asked Ksitigarbha, “If there’s something to discuss, just say it here.”

Ksitigarbha shook his head and said, “It’s hard to discern the good from the evil in the Phoenix. It’s not appropriate here.” If it were the Three Pure Ones or the Mystic Maiden, even if they suspected the Phoenix, they would need to assess the situation carefully and wait for it to reveal flaws before exposing it. But Ksitigarbha was the most straightforward person in the world. He was skilled at judging good and evil, and he didn’t even need to see if there were any spells on the Phoenix—he could see through it at a glance. Now that the Heavenly Fate Staff had just been created, Wukong was likely the one most under Buddha’s watchful eye. If the Phoenix had malicious intentions, having it around would always be a threat. How could Ksitigarbha just sit idly by? So he got straight to the point and spoke openly.

When he said it wasn’t a big deal, everyone was shocked. Qilin raised his eyebrows first and said, “How can that be? The Phoenix just killed at least three Holy Buddhas—how can it be hard to tell good from evil?”

Dayu kept giving him eye signals from the side, but Qilin ignored them and continued speaking. Ksitigarbha gave Qilin a calm glance and said, “You don’t understand.”

Qilin leaped up angrily and said, “You do!”

Ksitigarbha remained expressionless, ignoring Qilin’s anger, and said, “I do.”

Qilin didn’t know what to say for a moment. After circling around a few times, he shouted, “I’ll beat you up to see if you still understand!”

Diting stepped forward quietly, stood in front of Qilin, and shook his head, signaling that fighting was not allowed. But as soon as Diting appeared, he happened to offend Qilin’s taboo. After all, Qilin was the leader of all beasts, and every beast in the world feared him—except for Diting, who was unique. He belonged to the lineage of creation and would only obey Ksitigarbha’s words, not anyone else’s.

Qilin immediately reverted to his original form and roared, “How dare you stop me?”

At that, Dayu and Hou Tu rushed forward to stop them and mediate. Then they heard the Phoenix say, “Stop arguing. I’ll go myself.” Qilin was stunned. He knew well the Phoenix’s temperament—it had never suffered any grievances before. Yet here, in front of Ksitigarbha, it unreasonably stepped back.

The Phoenix said, “Good and evil are self-evident. Why should I fear them?”

Qilin said, “So self-evident, huh? Ksitigarbha, let’s make a deal: the Phoenix will go with you, but you must not harm him.”

Ksitigarbha said, “I never harm others.”

Seeing Ksitigarbha’s indifferent attitude, Qilin laughed in anger and said, “Playing tricks—quite amusing.”

Hou Tu couldn’t help but say, “Qilin, I know Ksitigarbha’s character well. You can rest assured.”

Qilin didn’t reply. He glared at Diting and then returned to his cave.

Ksitigarbha took the Phoenix and left Qitianling, heading straight for the Jade Pure Palace. The two of them, along with Diting, entered the palace. The Three Pure Ones and the Mystic Maiden were stunned—how had Ksitigarbha brought the Phoenix here?

Ksitigarbha said, “Based on my judgment of creation, it’s hard to discern the Phoenix’s good or evil. This is an extraordinary time—what should we do?”

Since Ksitigarbha was so straightforward, Yuanshi had no choice but to continue with this act. He then asked the Phoenix, “What’s the matter with the formation inside your body?”