Volume 4: The End of Cosmic Secrets Chapter 501: Effort in Vain

Wukong clearly sensed that after Yuan Shi altered the formation, the intensity of the anti-creation force near Qingqiu Mountain had indeed diminished significantly. It seemed that the sealing technique was truly effective.
Although Yuan Shi had said he was 70% confident in sealing the formation, its actual success still filled everyone with excitement. Huangjiao Daxian was the most agitated, his body trembling slightly, as if he could already see the day when Tathagata would be defeated.
Yuan Shi rested for a while. Mastering formation magic was extremely exhausting; one had to bring both body and mind to their peak to ensure perfection. Moments later, everyone gathered at Mount Kuaiji, the southeastern pillar supporting the sky.
These eight formations were similar to one another and interacted with each other, so sealing them required a specific sequence. With prior experience, Yuan Shi hesitated no longer. He moved swiftly through the formation several times before sealing it. From there, he effortlessly proceeded to Mount Zhaoyao in the south, Mount Changle in the southwest, Mount Fuyu in the west, Mount Buzhou in the northwest, and Mount Qiaoming in the north, sealing all seven illusory formations with ease.
Wukong happily felt that the anti-creation force in the world was indeed decreasing. Xuan Nu had come up with an unexpected idea that proved highly effective—a true pleasant surprise. Without this anti-creation force, Tathagata’s third incarnation would be unable to progress, dealing a fatal blow to him.
They arrived at the last formation, Mount Qiaoming in the north. Yuan Shi stood atop the peak motionless for a long time. Wukong asked, “Why isn’t the Great Heavenly Venerable taking action?”
Yuan Shi turned to Wukong and said slowly, “Once this formation is sealed, Tathagata will never have a chance to turn things around. With your cultivation in yin and yang, guarding this world, Tathagata will likely never dare to show himself again.”
Wukong asked, “So what?”
Yuan Shi smiled and said, “Nothing much. For some reason, I suddenly feel a bit hesitant… But it doesn’t matter. The path of creation cannot be wrong; it must be Tathagata who is at fault!”
Wukong remained silent. In fact, he had had the same thought before. Tathagata was originally from beyond the heavens, determined to leave this world and treating all living beings as insignificant. After all, in his eyes, they were nothing but ants—why should he care? For those who valued the creation of this world, opposing Tathagata was only natural. But he himself had such thoughts because he was not a pure creation divine ape…
As he pondered, Yuan Shi took action. Once he made up his mind, he showed no hesitation. In moments, the last illusory formation was sealed. Yuan Shi stood quietly atop the peak, lost in thought.
Seeing the eight formations sealed, Xiangliu let out a mournful cry to the sky and lamented, “Poor my master!”

Huangjiao Daxian laughed heartily, his voice shrill and piercing, reaching straight into the sky, as if all the grievances accumulated over countless years were pouring out through that laughter.
Xuan Nu let out a long sigh. Fortunately, Yuan Shi Tianzun had a profound understanding of the art of formations, which allowed him to sever Buddha’s path to achieving his third form. Since joining this assembly, she had been plotting to compete with Buddha, both openly and secretly. Though she had gained some advantage, she had always felt uneasy, unable to fathom Buddha’s moves. With the eight illusionary formations sealed today, she finally felt at ease.
Wukong also knew that Buddha’s greatest reliance was likely his body as the Great Sun Buddha. Buddha had been striving toward this goal constantly. With Yuan Shi’s success, it seemed Buddha no longer had a chance to turn things around. But was Buddha really defeated this easily? That seemed too simple.
As everyone was lost in their own thoughts, suddenly something unexpected happened. Yuan Shi and Wukong, standing atop the pillar that supported the sky, felt the pillar shake violently, as if struck by a huge hammer. After the shaking, there was no movement again.
At that moment, the formation on the nine branches of the pillar began to show visible ripples, and then… it disappeared!
Yuan Shi’s expression changed drastically. He had left marks on the other seven formations, so he knew that all eight illusionary formations had disappeared at the same time.
Although Wukong was unaware that the other seven formations had vanished, he could sense that the nearly vanished force of anti-creation was surging back like a wave!
This force of anti-creation was far stronger than before. If the original force of anti-creation in the world was like scattered stars in the sky, it was now like the scorching sun—its intensity had increased by more than ten times.
Since Wukong could sense this change, Xuan Nu could too. Her face turned from red to pale, changing several times in an instant, before she spat out a mouthful of blood and nearly collapsed.
Seeing everyone’s reaction, Xiang Liu, though unaware of the details, could guess what was going on. He laughed arrogantly and said, “It’s all within my master’s plan!”
Huangjiao Daxian was still confused and asked, “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Yuan Shi murmured, “We’ve lost. We thought we could cut off the source, but instead, we helped Buddha succeed…”
Huangjiao asked repeatedly, “What? What’s going on? Weren’t we sure to succeed?” Yuan Shi had no time to answer him; he was still struggling to figure out the true nature of the illusionary formations.
Annoyed, Huangjiao rushed toward Xiang Liu, intending to kill him to vent his anger. Wukong quickly said, “No!” Although Xiang Liu was detestable, this ugly monster was the king of the five races. Who knew what uses the king of the five races might have? He couldn’t be killed carelessly.

Yin and Yang saw Wukong protecting Xiang Liu, so they stretched out their fingers to create a realm, enclosing Xiang Liu within it. This realm spun a few times on Yin and Yang’s fingertips before suddenly disappearing, its whereabouts unknown.
Huang Jiao had not even a final outlet for his anger. With a roar, he flew away along with the twenty-seven sages.
Wukong, worried about Xuan Nu, flew over and asked, “Is there any serious problem?”
Xuan Nu shook her head. Her complexion was still very poor, but after spitting out that mouthful of blood, she gradually calmed down. She replied, “This time, we truly suffered a crushing defeat.”
Wukong frowned deeply, recalling the whole sequence of events, and gained a new understanding of Buddha’s profound scheming. Thinking back to the battle on Kunlun Immortal Island, it was clear that Buddha hadn’t used his full strength. If he had unleashed that white jade palm and the Arm of the Great Sun Buddha from the start, he could have swept through the Heavenly Court in an instant—destroying everything there, including the Creation Furnace and the Peach Tree. Unless they could somehow defeat the Kai Ming beasts under Lu Wu’s control, everything in the Heavenly Court would surely fall into Buddha’s hands.
But at that time, Buddha acted leisurely, engaging in battles with the Heavenly Court, seemingly deliberately waiting for reinforcements from Qitianling. When the army from Qitianling arrived, Buddha left only Ni Li on Kunlun Immortal Island while he himself led his main forces to the Thirty-Six Heavens to pretend to fight against the Three Pure Ones. This delay continued until Wukong, the Five Divine Apes, and Xuan Nu arrived, after which Buddha finally unleashed the Arm of the Great Sun Buddha.
Why didn’t he seize the Creation Furnace earlier? It belonged to him after all, and once in his hands, it could be used to great effect.
Later, the Creation Furnace ended up in Yuan Shi’s hands. Given Yuan Shi’s obsession with formations, upon seeing so many never-before-seen formations, he would naturally insist on studying them thoroughly before giving up. And it was precisely then that Xuan Nu came up with the idea of having Yuan Shi try to decipher the formation on the Pillar That Supports the Heavens. This series of strategies were interlinked, requiring a huge price, but in the end, everything unfolded as Buddha had planned.
Thinking of this, Wukong couldn’t help asking, “Buddha, why not seal the formation yourself? Wouldn’t that be foolproof?” Although Buddha’s strategy was ingenious, it also carried considerable risks—what if Yuan Shi couldn’t figure out the formation in the Creation Furnace? What if Xuan Nu hadn’t offered that idea? What if sealing the formation failed…
Xuan Nu smiled bitterly. “Don’t you understand? His move is actually aimed at striking at our morale! It would be easy for Buddha to seal the formation himself, but he deliberately lets us do it as a way to show us, ‘You can’t defeat me.’”
Wukong sneered dismissively. “Trying to dampen our fighting spirit with just this battle? He underestimates us too much.”

Xuan Nu said, “Of course, it’s not just that. Now, the power of reversing fate is more than ten times greater than before, so the speed at which the Great Sun Tathagata can be refined is much faster. For us, this is like a sharp sword hanging over our heads, something we can never ignore.”
Wukong nodded. Xuan Nu was right. Who knew what the Great Sun Tathagata would look like when he appeared? Although the Five Divine Apes could subdue him, this wasn’t something to take lightly. Failure would mean eternal doom.
So what should they do now? Wait? Or go look for where the Tathagata was?
“Can we find the Tathagata?” Wukong asked.
Xuan Nu shook her head. The hiding technique used by the Tathagata was called “a realm within a realm.” This magic was almost beyond what this world should allow. Not only was it extremely difficult to find the Tathagata, but even if found, it would be impossible to capture him.
Wukong still felt unwilling and glanced at Yin Yang again.
Yin Yang also said, “There really isn’t much we can do.”
At that moment, Yuan Shi silently flew away from the Golden Heaven and Silver Earth, disappearing without a trace. The peacock didn’t understand what was going on either. Seeing Yuan Shi leave and Xuan Nu, Wukong, and Yin Yang seemingly having something to discuss, it also took off to search for the Great Peng on Wudang Mountain.
Xuan Nu didn’t chase after Yuan Shi. She sighed, “This time, Yuan Shi has suffered the greatest harm.”
Indeed. Yuan Shi had always prided himself on his battle formations. The best way to strike someone was to deliver a heavy blow in their strongest area. Full of confidence, Yuan Shi was hit hard just when he thought he had succeeded. Though his mental cultivation was high, the one who swung that stick was his former master and now his opponent—the Tathagata. It seemed unharmed, but an invisible mental barrier had already formed. Whether he could overcome this obstacle depended only on himself.
Yin Yang said, “Just now, the Pillar Holding Up the Sky moved. This formation is truly formidable.” Yin Yang took out Xiang Liu and returned it to Xuan Nu. Wukong said, “It’s better to leave this beast under Xuan Nu’s care.” He then said to Yin Yang, “I’m going into seclusion.”
“What seclusion?” Yin Yang was surprised.
Wukong replied, “With the Great Sun Tathagata about to appear, if I don’t cultivate in seclusion, what if I can’t defeat him? Everything will be lost!”
Yin Yang grabbed Wukong and said, “Sigh, what good will seclusion do? The realm of Yin and Yang has already transcended the limits of this world. Further cultivation won’t help.”
Hearing something hidden in Yin Yang’s words, Wukong asked, “Then help me find a good place.”
Yin Yang said, “I’ve already told you—go now!”
Xuan Nu asked, “Where to?”
Yin Yang took Wukong and left without answering, “Out of the sky!”