Volume 4: The Revelation Revealed Chapter 474: Lowering a Thing This golden flower had five petals, glowing brightly. The five divine apes, upon seeing it, couldn’t help but recall many past events from their lives. Chaos gave birth to the vitality of all things, yet it was misunderstood and persecuted by humans. Generation after generation, they spent their lives in exile. Driven by self-interest or deception, people regarded these divine apes as ominous beings. All those painful memories resurfaced in the minds of the five divine apes. The divine apes tried to save the world, yet humans hated them in return. There was no greater injustice in the world than this. The five divine apes were deeply engrossed in these thoughts, filled with indignation. Just then, a yellow cloud drifted over the golden flower. It was Yuan Shi, who, seeing that the five divine apes had grasped the path of Tathagata, couldn’t help but intervene and cover the golden flower with his Yellow Chaos Flag. He knew that although the five divine apes were highly skilled, none weaker than Tathagata, their cultivation progress was too rapid. Though their magical powers surpassed those of ordinary people, their mental fortitude still needed much refinement. With his move, Yuan Shi shattered the illusion of the golden flower. Naturally, Tathagata was displeased. He could also see that Yuan Shi had made great progress in array formations. If he used ordinary methods, he truly wouldn’t be able to deceive him. But setting up the Great Yin-Yang Array of Heaven and Earth wasn’t something that could be done in a hurry. How could it be accomplished in such a rush? Seeing that the seventeen sages had retreated to the Creation Furnace, and only Yellow-Horn Immortal was still fighting desperately against Ni Li, already at a disadvantage, Tathagata said, “If you don’t know when to quit, don’t blame me for being ruthless.” Yuan Shi replied, “Since you’re an enemy, why pretend to be friendly?” Tathagata sighed and said, “You know very well that this world will perish sooner or later, and everyone in it will become prey.” Yuan Shi said, “If you had said this years ago, maybe I would have helped you!” “Oh?” Tathagata was surprised. “What’s the difference?” Yuan Shi said, “As the ruler of the world, instead of spreading your teachings properly, you go against nature by creating hell and coveting the destinies of sentient beings. Such acts against heaven make me ashamed to be associated with you!” Tathagata was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter. “I never expected that I, Tathagata, would have such an inflexible disciple. The beings of this world? You want to save them?” Ignoring Tathagata’s mockery, Yuan Shi replied solemnly, “That’s right, I intend to save them!” Tathagata shook his head and said, “By then, you might not even be able to save yourself. What will you use to save others?” He pointed at the five divine apes one by one and asked, “Rely on them? Five naive monkeys?”
The Five Divine Apes had just awakened from the Golden Flower Illusion when they saw Buddha speaking insolently. They immediately unleashed their magical weapons to attack. At that moment, a white jade palm appeared in front of Buddha. With a flick of its finger, a powerful gust of energy was sent out, forcing the Five Divine Apes and Yuan Shi back far away.
Buddha pointed at Yuan Shi from afar and said, “The Creative Divine Ape will eventually be mine. Why don’t you wake up?”
Yuan Shi remained unshaken and sneered, “You were once the ruler of the world, but now you’ve almost become a stray dog with nowhere to go or rely on. How dare you still talk big?”
Buddha smiled and said, “How can sparrows understand the ambitions of eagles? After millions of years of planning, why would I care about the gain or loss of a single city or land?”
Wang Yu could no longer hold back. He summoned the God-Slaying Circle and hurled it at Buddha. The white jade palm shot out a finger, causing the God-Slaying Circle to soar into the sky and vanish without a trace. Wang Yu hurriedly flew up to search for it, filled with utter horror. He thought that with his current cultivation level and the God-Slaying Circle formed from his Sword of Extermination, no one in the world except Xuan Nu could possibly withstand it. Yet, that white jade palm was like a ghost—no matter what divine powers were used, it could not withstand even a slight flick of its finger.
Seeing that the Yellow-Horned Immortal was struggling to hold on, Yuan Shi sighed and raised the Heaven-Subduing Banner to help him. Though he knew it was no match for Ni Li, he had no choice at the moment.
Just as Yuan Shi stood opposite Ni Li, he suddenly saw a figure flying from afar—it was Xuan Nu of the Nine Heavens. Overjoyed, Yuan Shi shouted, “First, get rid of this evil ghost!”
It turned out that Xuan Nu had been forced back by the white jade palm. She had first gone to Kunlun Immortal Island, where the people of Qi Tian Ling were fighting fiercely against the five hundred bodhisattvas. The gates of the Nine-Layer Zeng City were tightly closed, as if ignoring the world outside. Xuan Nu knew that the beasts in the city were formidable, and obtaining the Thousand-Foot Jade would require careful planning. Seeing that the people of Qi Tian Ling were on the verge of victory and would defeat the five hundred bodhisattvas soon, she felt at ease. Though these people were strong, they still had no chance against the white jade palm and Ni Li Bodhisattva.
Xuan Nu then went to the Thirty-Six Heavens, where she saw Lao Jun, Ling Bao, Zi Wei, the Holy Mother of Li Shan, and the various Buddhas fighting fiercely. The cultivation level of these Buddhas was much higher than that of the five hundred bodhisattvas. The four of them fought while retreating, aiming only to hold back the enemy forces. Xuan Nu joined the battle and fought recklessly. With her abilities, none could match her, and the Buddhas were utterly defeated by her.
Xuan Nu asked Lao Jun, “Where have Yuan Shi and the Five Divine Apes gone?”
Lao Jun replied, “They kept going upward. I think they’re trying to seize the Creative Furnace!”
The Creation Furnace! Xuan Nu was shocked—the Creation Furnace was of utmost importance. She couldn’t bother helping Laojun and the others turn the tide, so she left them behind and rushed toward the sky’s apex. There, she saw Tathagata confronting those four divine apes with his white jade hand, while Yuan Shi was fighting against Bodhisattva Ni Li alongside the Yellow-Horned Immortal.
Xuan Nu was extremely clever. She immediately realized that the Yellow-Horned Immortal was a temporary mercenary, and the priority now was to unite against Tathagata. Without hesitation, she joined the battle and attacked Bodhisattva Ni Li with fierce speed.
Ni Li hated Xuan Nu deeply, but with Xuan Nu and the Yellow-Horned Immortal working together, he was no match for them. He had no choice but to use every trick at his disposal to hold them off.
The four divine apes looked at each other helplessly in the face of that white jade hand that left them at a loss. Tong Feng thought for a moment before sending a message: “It seems this hand fears softness rather than strength. I’ll first entangle it with the power of wood, and then Wu Zhi Qi will freeze it with the power of water. Let’s give it a try.”
With that, Tong Feng shook the Everlasting Tree, causing its whip tips to unfurl like new spring leaves, densely wrapping around the white jade hand. The hand emitted a gust of wind, withering all the green leaves on the tree. Tong Feng was shocked and quickly retracted the Everlasting Tree. Though they understood the principles of creation, as they belonged to the five elements, they didn’t know as much about forces that defied creation as Wukong did. They felt completely overwhelmed by the white jade hand and were momentarily at a loss.
Seeing Ni Li at a disadvantage, Tathagata seemed impatient. He pointed at the four divine apes, and the white jade hand shot out like lightning. Before it reached them, its wind force struck Wu Zhi Qi in the chest—fast as Hou Yi’s arrows. Wu Zhi Qi couldn’t dodge in time and tried to block it with his Sea-Covering Whip, but he felt as if a giant hammer had struck him, spewing a mouthful of blood.
The clever divine ape rushed forward to support Wu Zhi Qi, while the Arm-Through-Heaven ape stood in front of him, fearing another deadly attack from the hand. Tong Feng, determined, abandoned the Everlasting Tree and fought the hand with bare hands.
In just a few exchanges, the white jade hand tapped Tong Feng’s waist, sending him flying dozens of feet away. He tumbled several times before finally stabilizing himself, clearly injured.
Tathagata seemed to want to show off and shouted, “Don’t kill them—capture them all!”
Hearing Tathagata speak, Ni Li’s divine power surged. He stretched out his hand and unleashed the Buddhist underworld realm, spanning across the sky. This realm was vast, allowing Ni Li to exert his power. It appeared as if the Buddhist underworld stretched from the sky’s apex down to the netherworlds.
Although Xuan Nu possessed the secrets of the Mysterious Sky Art, she couldn’t penetrate Ni Li’s realm. She had no idea what was happening with the four divine apes, but since the realm blocked her path, she could only intensify her attacks and defeat Ni Li first.
The white jade palm traced a path through the air, emitting a crystal-clear glow under the sunlight as it headed straight for the Armless Divine Ape. The Armless Divine Ape held the Earth Spirit Pearl close to his chest, a yellow light shining brightly from it, his expression solemn. He knew he was no match—likely unable to block even a single strike—but he couldn’t retreat, as Wuzhi and the Clever Divine Ape were behind him. The Earth Spirit Pearl was summoned, but the white jade palm showed no concern. With a flick of its middle finger, the pearl flew back and struck the Armless Divine Ape’s left shoulder. The Armless Divine Ape spun three times around, his left arm hanging limp, its bones broken. The Clever Divine Ape, holding Wuzhi, retreated hastily. In a flash, the white jade palm disappeared from the air. Just as the Clever Divine Ape was speeding away, he suddenly froze, his left foot tightly grasped by those two fingers. He tried to kick with his right foot, but the back of the white jade palm blocked it, making him feel as if he had kicked against a towering jade pillar, nearly breaking all his toes. The white jade palm prepared to strike again when a loud shout came from afar: “Stop being arrogant!” Hearing this voice, some were shocked and some delighted—it was Wukong! The most alarmed was Buddha. He knew well that that severed arm was far stronger than half of that white jade palm. Buddha understood that Wukong, as the leader of the Seven Divine Apes, not only had the highest cultivation level but also was full of strategies and possessed many mysteries beyond even his comprehension. Thus, he had invested the most effort and resources in Wukong. According to his predictions, it should have been easy for that severed arm to capture Wukong—after all, the power of defying fate could achieve anything. But now, with Wukong appearing here while the severed arm was nowhere to be seen, it meant Wukong had defeated it? No, not just defeated—it was Buddha’s third avatar, with an extremely delicate connection to him. Buddha had been focusing solely on controlling the white jade palm and hadn’t paid attention to the severed arm. Upon checking, he found that the arm had disappeared! Yes, it had vanished—not defeated, nor taken by Wukong, but utterly gone from this world, reduced to ashes, never to reappear. This scene was eerily familiar. Back then, when everyone attacked the Buddhist hell, Wukong had emerged from it carrying a complete hand of the Great Sun Buddha—a hand that couldn’t withstand the forces of nature and would vanish upon contact. But this time was different. Now, there was a power that defied fate in the world. Logically, even if that severed arm’s magic ran out, it should be able to regenerate—so why would it disappear? Wukong landed beside the Clever Divine Ape and, without a word, swung his staff at the white jade palm.
The white jade hand was not afraid at all; it reached out and grabbed the Tianji Stick. Wukong smiled inwardly—its severed arm had gradually lost its power to reverse fate due to the blows from the Tianji Stick. All of that power now flowed into Wukong’s body, nourishing the Black Leaves on his Hunyuan Dao Fruit. Clearly, this hand and the severed arm shared the same origin; subduing it was nothing difficult for him! As expected, the moment the white jade hand touched the Tianji Stick, it froze instantly. Buddha’s expression changed drastically as he shouted, “Retreat!”