Volume 4: The Revelation Revealed – Chapter 437: The Birth of Heaven

What? The Buddha’s Divine Palm? Wukong was utterly astonished. What kind of palm technique was this? How could Xuan Nu be so terrified? As his thoughts wandered, he felt an overwhelming force coming from behind him. Xuan Nu spat out a mouthful of dark red blood, struggling to shield Wukong in front of her. Without hesitation, they continued eastward.

Dayu and the others, thousands of miles away, were also affected by the force of the palm strike and were forced to retreat far away. Wukong, having broken free from Xuan Nu’s grasp, cried out, “The Three Pure Ones!”

Xuan Nu’s face turned pale. “With their current levels of cultivation, they might not survive. But escaping will likely be difficult.” Wukong shouted, “No!”

Looking ahead, he saw many Buddhas trapped within the Yuan Shi Formation—all listless, their clothes stained with blood. Some with lower cultivation levels lay on the ground, unconscious. It seemed the power of this palm strike was too great, leaving no distinction between friend and foe. Ni Li stood at a distance, not daring to intervene. Since the Great Sun Buddha had already taken action, interfering would be a grave disrespect.

Wukong turned back and saw that the vast Black Rope Hell had been reduced to dust, except for the Creation Pool, which remained intact, its waters undisturbed as before. The Three Pure Ones had fallen into this pool, lying face up, their fates unknown.

After delivering that devastating strike, the white jade palm became translucent, as if about to vanish into thin air. Wukong exclaimed, “Look!” Xuan Nu turned around, made an immediate decision, and flew toward the Three Pure Ones.

The white jade palm drew a arc in the air, blocking Xuan Nu’s path. Its fingers snapped like plucked strings, targeting her vital points. Though the palm moved at an astonishing speed, Xuan Nu couldn’t dodge it. Five blood holes appeared on her body, and blood gushed out.

Wukong suppressed his urge to help her and twisted his body, flying toward the Three Pure Ones. The white jade palm struck first, reaching out to grab him. A strong sense of crisis overwhelmed Wukong—he felt he could never escape its grasp. In desperation, he used another technique, “Reversing Heaven and Earth,” tracing a line across his back.

His vision went dark. This move nearly broke his ribs. Fortunately, the Supreme Yuan Shi had given him theChaos Yellow Flag earlier; otherwise, he might have perished there.

Wukong barely avoided the grab. A surprised “Huh?” came from the heavens, echoing throughout the Buddhist hell. This “Reversing Heaven and Earth” technique had saved Wukong twice. Each time he used one of the thirty-six transformations, he thought of Ran Deng, and his heart ached once again.

He leaped into the Pool of Creation and rescued the Three Pure Ones one by one. The white jade hand pursued relentlessly, but Xuan Nu used her long sleeves to entangle it. Xuan Nu could see that with each supernatural move the hand made, it became more transparent—initially like white porcelain, but now resembling colored glass. Surely once it became completely transparent, it would vanish.

The white jade hand snipped at Xuan Nu’s sleeves with two fingers. Seeing that Wukong had already taken the Three Pure Ones in his arms, the hand vented all its anger on Xuan Nu, launching another barrage of attacks. Xuan Nu retreated while blocking, sustaining more wounds. After rescuing the Three Pure Ones, Wukong felt much more confident. Seeing that Xuan Nu could barely hold her own, he raised the Rod of Heavenly Secrets and swung it at the white jade hand.

Xuan Nu cried out, “Don’t!” But it was too late. As the rod struck, the white jade hand unfolded and seized it instantly. Wukong was horrified—the Rod of Heavenly Secrets must not fall into enemy hands.

The hand possessed immense strength. With a shake, Wukong’s arms trembled violently, nearly causing him to let go. Fortunately, the rod contained the Blood of Creation, which was connected to his will. But with the rod in its grasp, the white jade hand flew upward, seemingly intent on taking Wukong with it.

Xuan Nu wrapped her sleeve around Wukong’s ankle and pulled hard as they descended. At the same time, Dayu and the others arrived. Jumang shook the Tree of Immortality from afar, wrapping it around Wukong, while Ksitigarbha and Dityan swung their Staves of Good and Evil downward at the white jade hand. Dayu and the others rushed forward, either grabbing Wukong or wrapping their magical artifacts around the Rod of Heavenly Secrets, all falling together.

Hou Tu employed her ultimate earth magic. In this critical moment, without distinguishing friend from foe, everyone dragged the white jade hand downward together.

Since the appearance of this white jade hand, the Bodhisattva of Plowing the Mud seemed to have lost his soul. Only when he saw the group at Qitian Ridge gaining the upper hand did he regain his senses. He swayed and chased after them.

Hou Tu’s earth magic was extremely powerful. Now, with dozens of people fighting against the white jade hand, most understood the importance of the Rod of Heavenly Secrets. Ignoring where they would land, they fell like meteors.

In a moment, a “thud” was heard as everyone plunged into the water. Strangely, there was only the sound of entering water, but no sensation of actually entering it. It felt as though they had passed through a very narrow passage. Moments later, these dozens of people were spat out like by a giant mouth, falling into icy water.

Wukong sensed the situation with his mind and immediately realized they were safe. He sighed inwardly, “Master, you’ve saved me once again.”

It turned out they were in the River of Mother and Child. In ancient times, Ran Deng was in charge of the four Buddhist hells and created this river east of the Land of Women, with entrances and exits to the Buddhist hells within it.

Back then, when the Tathagata left Mount Ling with the Stupa Tower, Ran Deng knew that the Mother and Child River was connected to the Buddhist Hell, so he understood that the Tathagata would surely rebuild the Buddhist kingdom in the vicinity of the river. His entrance was set up very secretly; it was unclear whether the Tathagata had discovered it or not, or if he had simply not taken it seriously. By chance, today, the group happened to touch the trap with the Heavenly Secret Staff and thus escaped from the Buddhist Hell.

As soon as they stepped into the waters of the Mother and Child River, those white jade palms vanished in an instant, leaving no trace at all.

When they emerged from the water, Wukong took a quick look. There had been over sixty people when they entered the Buddhist Hell, and now only about forty remained, most of whom had been killed by Bodhisattva Ni Li. Fortunately, the weakest among them in Qi Tian Ling—Dapeng, the Bull Demon King, and Jiu Ling Yuan Sheng—had not been given much attention due to their low cultivation levels, so their fur remained intact.

To Wukong’s surprise, Ksitigarbha also came out. He remembered that Ksitigarbha wasn’t holding the Heavenly Secret Staff but instead using his Staff of Good and Evil to strike at the white jade palms. What was going on?

It seemed Ksitigarbha knew what Wukong wanted to ask. He raised his left hand and showed a green vine in it—it was the Immortal Tree of Ju Mang, though it was unclear when he had captured it.

Xuan Nu had never suffered such severe injuries even since birth. Thinking of Ran Deng’s death and the unknown fate of the Three Pure Ones, her expression turned grim. “Let’s return to Qi Tian Ling first!” she said.

The group returned to Qi Tian Ling in silence, in a very depressed mood.

When the Qilin arrived at his cave, he was extremely frustrated. He kicked a large rock away and shouted, “Damn it! Just one hand and already so powerful!”

Wukong first inspected the area around Qi Tian Ling and found that the Five Divine Apes were all concentrating on their cultivation. There was nothing unusual, so he felt relieved.

Among the group, only the Three Pure Ones and Xuan Nu were seriously injured; the rest were unharmed. They found a quiet cave, and Xuan Nu said, “Let’s take those three good-for-nothing out and take a look.”

Wukong reached into his bosom and placed the Three Pure Ones on the ground. Their cultivation methods were interconnected, and after being struck by that palm, they all looked extremely similar—their faces were like gold paper, with only exhalation and no inhalation.

Xuan Nu shook her head and said, “It’s much worse than I thought. It will take at least several hundred years for them to recover.” Hearing that the Three Pure Ones were unharmed, Wukong felt greatly relieved.

Xuan Nu took the red gourd from Laojun’s arms, opened its lid, and flew inside in a flash. Wukong was stunned—this was Laojun’s magical artifact, yet Xuan Nu used it just as easily as her own.

She returned in an instant, holding five golden pills that glowed with golden light—three larger and two smaller. She handed one small pill to Wukong and took one herself. The two used them together to heal their injuries.

Wukong was not seriously injured—the power of the Yellow Flag was truly extraordinary. His dantian had been struck by the tip of the White Jade Palm, causing intense pain, but it was not life-threatening. After taking this golden pill and circulating his energy several times, Wukong checked his dantian and found that the Hunyuan Dao Fruit and the black and white leaves had returned to normal, confirming that he was safe now.

At this moment, Xuan Nu had also finished healing; her wounds were gradually closing. The Golden Pill of Laojun was unmatched in the world, and with Xuan Nu’s cultivation ranking second only to Buddha, her physical injuries were no problem at all.

Seeing Xuan Nu put three slightly larger golden pills into the mouths of the Three Pure Ones one by one and use her energy to heal them, Wukong, unable to help much, said, “My master’s subordinate, the Venerable Arhat, still needs to be comforted. I’ll be back soon.”

Xuan Nu nodded, and Wukong left the cave to find the others.

Dayu and Hou Tu naturally continued to take care of Zhu Rong and Hou Yi, while the rest went their separate ways to heal. The group led by Ran Deng suffered heavy losses today—over a dozen Venerable Arhats in yellow robes were killed.

With Ran Deng absent, these people were led by Venerable Bai Xiong. When Wukong arrived before them, he saw that although everyone looked sad, they still possessed an indescribable fighting spirit. Just as he was about to speak, a auspicious cloud drifted in from the west, carrying a figure—it was Venerable Maitreya.

Seeing Maitreya, Wukong felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. When Maitreya landed, Wukong stepped forward to greet him and was about to inform him of Ran Deng’s death. But Maitreya waved his hand and said with a smile, “Wukong, there’s no need to say more. I already know.”

“Ah!” Wukong exclaimed. “Could it be that my master had this in mind before leaving?”

Maitreya shook his head, his expression unusually serious, and recited a passage from a scripture: “When Ran Deng was born, it was like the sun setting. Mountains and hills piled up, and shadows shifted eastward—there’s no way they can go west. The same is true for the karmic fruits of all beings. When one darkness fades, another arises—just as a lamp is lit and darkness disappears, or when the lamp goes out and darkness appears.”

Wukong listened carefully. Did “the lamp going out and darkness appearing” imply that the Way was fading while evil was growing?

Maitreya added, “The ancient Buddhas once said that birth itself is unattainable; wherever there is birth, there must be destruction. Only by not being born can one avoid destruction.”

Wukong had a vague understanding but also remained confused. If one must not be born to avoid destruction, then isn’t everything in chaos the source of all phenomena?

Maitreya continued, “Ran Deng once said that when alive, everything around him was like a lamp; when he died, all the lights became like me.” After saying this, Maitreya nodded at Wukong, waved his hand, and gathered the Venerable Arhats to fly westward. From afar, he called out, “Come to me if you need anything.”

Wukong finally understood. He raised his eyebrows, as if asking and answering at the same time, and declared firmly to Maitreya’s retreating figure, “The master is still here!”