Volume 4: The Revelation Unveiled Chapter 472: The Reverse Art

Facing Yuan Shi, his former disciple and now his rival, Tathagata remained expressionless, though his heart was filled with emotions. The Three Pure Ones possessed extraordinary talents and a profound understanding of Daoism, which was why Tathagata had invested so much effort in them, bringing them to this era to assist the Jade Emperor and strengthen Daoism, thereby creating a rivalry with Buddhism. He then devised a grand plan to seize the essence of Pangu’s creation. Yet, the Three Pure Ones turned out to be even smarter and more indifferent than he had imagined, having no ambitions at all. As a result, they dedicated themselves to serving the divine ape and helping it grow stronger.

Tathagata harbored deep hatred toward Yuan Shi, but now he had to defeat him to claim the Creation Furnace. Seeing that the Seven Medicine Buddhas were at a disadvantage under the attacks of the Five Divine Apes’ magical weapons, Tathagata acted swiftly. Raising his hands, he sent several black threads toward Yuan Shi.

Yuan Shi knew that Tathagata possessed an immense knowledge base and dared not underestimate him. He quickly unfurled the Muddy Yellow Flag to shield himself. At first, the black threads were like needles, but upon touching the flag, they turned soft and wrapped around Yuan Shi along with the flag, binding him like iron bands.

Unperturbed, Yuan Shi recited a spell to break free. Using the shrinking technique was effortless for him. But the moment he uttered the incantation, Tathagata also recited a strange spell, causing Yuan Shi’s technique to fail!

This shock was immense for Yuan Shi. How could such a thing happen? He had learned this spell since the last era and had used it thousands of times without any failure. This was even more astonishing than the collapse of the heavens. Seeing Tathagata smiling eerily at him, he realized it was Tathagata’s spell at work. Calmly, he asked, “What is this?” Tathagata replied, “It’s fine to tell you. All spells in the world originate from me, know that?”

Yuan Shi replied coldly, “I don’t know, and I don’t believe it.”

Tathagata said, “Spells in the world are divided into righteous spells and reverse spells. People only know about righteous spells and don’t understand what reverse spells are. The shrinking technique you used just now is a righteous spell. The reverse spell I recited caused it to fail—this is obvious. Why wouldn’t you believe it?”

Frowning, Yuan Shi spat out Triple Flaming Fire to burn through the iron threads binding him, still half-convinced. Tathagata said, “You’re not a three-year-old child. How could this trick deceive you?”

Yuan Shi asked, “If I used Triple Flaming Fire, why didn’t you stop me?” Tathagata laughed and said, “With your intelligence, how could you not understand this?”

Yuan Shi nodded and said, “Even if your reverse magic works, it’s based merely on guesswork. If you can’t guess what spell your opponent will use, it’s utterly useless!”
Tathagata also nodded and said, “That’s true. But if I can guess correctly just once, it will be enough to leave you unable to move. Everything you’ve learned was taught by me personally—how could you escape?”
Yuan Shi realized that Tathagata was using psychological tactics. As Tathagata said, even guessing correctly just once could shock the opponent instantly. Immortals always wielded spells with ease; what if those spells failed in battle? But Yuan Shi thought to himself that he knew no fewer than ten thousand spells and didn’t believe Tathagata could guess correctly. The shrinking spell he used earlier was just a fluke.
However, when the term “reverse magic” came up, Yuan Shi couldn’t help but ponder further. There were so many spells in the world. Everyone only knew how to use them but didn’t know where they originated from. New spells were created by evolving from old ones, while the original spells seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, as if bestowed by heaven. Could Tathagata really know the origin of those spells?
After using his psychological tactics, Tathagata stretched out his hand and released five golden ropes to capture Yuan Shi.
These golden ropes weren’t a single item, and Yuan Shi also knew the spells to control them. Under normal circumstances, even if captured by them, he could find a way to escape. But today, he dared not test his methods. There was only one way to loosen those ropes. If Tathagata knew reverse magic, how could he escape?
At this thought, Yuan Shi hesitated for a moment before using three transformations in quick succession to dodge the ropes’ pursuit. But Tathagata simply threw out seven more golden ropes. Yuan Shi quickly changed his strategy—instead of using further transformations, he opted for a simple displacement technique to get closer to the Creation Furnace.
The struggle between the two was actually over the Creation Furnace. Since Yuan Shi had seized the opportunity, he naturally couldn’t let it slip away, so he rushed toward it. Tathagata didn’t stop him but stood at a distance, watching.
Just as Yuan Shi was about to reach the Creation Furnace, he suddenly saw a blur in front of him—a pair of palms emerged from the furnace and struck at him. There was someone inside the furnace!
Yuan Shi reacted swiftly, pushing out his own palms in response. The two palms collided, sending him flying miles away. His dantian trembled violently, indicating severe internal injuries.
The figure that emerged from the furnace was none other than the top expert under the Queen Mother—Huangjiao the Great Immortal!
Tathagata laughed heartily and said, “If I could take it, I would have done so long ago. How could I let you get your hands on it?”

The Yellow-Horned Immortal glanced coldly at Tathagata, then at Yuan Shi in the distance, as if reading their fates. Yuan Shi remained silent, unsure of what the Yellow-Horned Immortal intended to do. After observing for a while, the Yellow-Horned Immortal finally moved, charging fiercely toward Tathagata. Tathagata frowned in surprise and said, “You fool, why have you come for me?” The Yellow-Horned Immortal stayed silent, as if Tathagata were his innate enemy. Tathagata snorted and said, “Ignorant!” He glanced at the battle between the Five Divine Apes and the Seven Buddhas of Medicine; it seemed the outcome was already decided—the Seven Buddhas of Medicine were being thoroughly defeated by the Five Divine Apes. If it weren’t for the strong physique of the Medicine Buddha protecting the other Buddhas, many would have already been killed or injured. With determination, Tathagata silently recited a spell and suddenly disappeared from the air, reappearing as the Bodhisattva Nili!

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Xuan Nu saw the deadly attack from Bodhisattva Nili and was pondering whether to fight or flee when suddenly Nili’s figure flashed and transformed into Tathagata, the Sovereign of the World. Xuan Nu realized there was a mysterious connection between Tathagata and Bodhisattva Nili—this must be Tathagata using some transformation spell. When Tathagata arrived here, he was stunned to find Xuan Nu before him! When he ascended to the Thirty-Six Heavens, Bodhisattva Nili faced the Nine-Layer Zengcheng Fortress with no one else present at Qitianling. He never expected that while he was preoccupied, Qitianling had never given up its pursuit of Qianzhangyu. But what was puzzling was—could Bodhisattva Nili, even with five hundred Buddhas at his side, not conquer the Nine-Layer Zengcheng Fortress? He didn’t have time to overthink it. Seeing Tathagata, Xuan Nu was overjoyed. She still felt some fear facing Bodhisattva Nili, but she was 80-90% confident in capturing Tathagata. Tathagata reacted quickly and said, “The Creation Furnace has been taken by the Yellow-Horned Immortal, and Yuan Shi has also been severely injured by him. What are you still doing here?” The Yellow-Horned Immortal? How could he have taken the Creation Furnace? In an instant, Xuan Nu made up her mind—ignoring everything else, capturing Tathagata was the top priority. She flipped her hand and took out the Hunyuan Golden Seal, reciting a spell and saying, “Disappear!” Tathagata didn’t dodge. He pointed at the Hunyuan Golden Seal, and its bright light dimmed significantly. The spell used by Xuan Nu proved ineffective. The Hunyuan Golden Seal was just like the Golden Rope—it relied solely on a fixed incantation to function. If Xuan Nu had used her martial arts to capture Tathagata, he would have had no countermeasure. But instead, she used the Hunyuan Golden Seal, which Tathagata was familiar with, as a weapon—exactly as Tathagata had expected. Just like Yuan Shi before, Xuan Nu was also shocked and shouted, “What is this?”

Tathagata sneered in reply, looking at Xuan Nu with an unafraid expression. Xuan Nu gritted her teeth, put away the Hunyuan Golden Seal, and leaped forward to capture Tathagata. Knowing Xuan Nu’s strength, Tathagata threw nine golden ropes to capture her. Xuan Nu frowned, flicked her fingers, and sent out an invisible embroidery needle that struck Tathagata’s raised arm. She twisted her body, avoiding eight of the golden ropes but still getting caught by one. Once the rope touched her body, it transformed into three golden bands. Xuan Nu recited the incantation to control them, only to be surprised by its complete ineffectiveness. Tathagata pulled out the embroidery needle from his arm and snarled, “Dareful rebel! How dare you hurt me!” With his current power, even if Xuan Nu remained motionless, Tathagata could hardly harm her. He took out the Stupa Tower from his bosom, recited a spell, and a palm as white as jade flew out, consisting only of the index and middle fingers, slowly approaching Xuan Nu. Seeing this palm, Xuan Nu was terrified—it was one of Tathagata’s third bodies, usually only able to be used in Buddhist hells. But now, with the power of reversing fate filling the world, Tathagata’s third body could move freely among the realms, unafraid of destruction. Having suffered greatly from this palm, Xuan Nu realized she was no match and used every trick in her arsenal to break the three golden bands on her body before fleeing. The palm pursued her slowly from behind. Tathagata waved his hand, calling the palm back, and flew away with it to the Thirty-Six Heavens. Although Bodhisattva Ni Li was powerful, her opponent was Huangjiao Daxian, who was no less strong than her. With five Creative Divine Apes watching eagerly, they decided to spare Xuan Nu for now for the sake of the Creative Furnace. Upon arriving at the Thirty-Six Heavens, they saw Huangjiao Daxian fighting fiercely with Bodhisattva Ni Li, while Yuan Shi and the five divine apes watched from the side, occasionally commenting but not interfering with the Creative Furnace. Tathagata pointed the jade palm at the Creative Furnace, and the palm, as if having eyes, flew toward it. At that moment, a group of people emerged from the Creative Furnace—the eighteen sages controlled by the Queen Mother. It turned out Huangjiao Daxian had taken these eighteen sages to guard the furnace, though it was unclear whether he was doing it for the Queen Mother or for his own gain. The jade palm, possessing awareness, saw the eighteen sages and hooked one of them with its index finger before stopping in midair. Though filled with the power of reversing fate, its true strength was invisible to ordinary cultivators. The sage thought the palm was just one of Tathagata’s magical artifacts. Seeing that Tathagata’s cultivation was not extremely high, he rushed forward and grabbed the palm.