Volume 4: The Revelation of All Secrets, Chapter 514: The Five Elements Formation
When the Yin-Yang Divine Ape introduced this formation, he described it in highly mystical terms. The Five Elements Divine Ape naturally regarded his words as sacred truth. It was because of this formation that Yin and Yang dared to ignore Qitian Ridge.
Seeing the Great Sun Tathagata in fear, Feng Tong thought to himself that the formation still hadn’t been fully activated yet, yet it already possessed such power. It seemed he had overestimated the Great Sun Tathagata earlier. With these thoughts in mind, he didn’t slow down for a moment and shouted, “Activate the formation!”
At his command, Wang Yu’s Divine Slicing Ring and the Three Swords of Extermination in the air emitted streams of white-gold light, enveloping the edge of this realm. These lights merged with the green glow of the Everlasting Tree, the black light of the Sea-Submerging Whip, the red light of the Wind-Fire Banana Fan, and the yellow light of the Earthly Spirit Pearl. This realm thus transformed into a colorful sphere shrouded in the hues of the five elements, its brilliance dazzling and beautiful to behold from afar. Who could tell that this was one of the most formidable formations in the world?
The Great Sun Tathagata hung alone within the formation. Having no face, he naturally couldn’t show emotions, but now he was no longer as composed as before. Sitting cross-legged, he formed numerous magical seals with his hands and sent them toward the edge of the realm.
The multicolored halos were extremely mysterious. When these seals touched them, they simply dissipated like ripples on water. The Great Sun Tathagata tried at least a thousand different methods, yet to no avail.
Those on Qitian Ridge below could no longer see what was happening inside the realm. They only saw the Great Sun Tathagata trapped, while the Five Elements Divine Apes, each with a solemn expression, cast spells from outside, filled with unease. Such a formidable formation was beyond their ability to engage with, and it seemed they had even lost the right to observe…
This world originated from chaos, nurtured by Yin and Yang, and from it emerged the five elements. Thus, the Five Elements Formation was the ultimate formation beyond the realm of Yin and Yang. Only Wukong and the Yin-Yang Divine Apes could break it. Others, unable to transcend the realm of Heavenly Saints in this world—even the Great Sun Tathagata excluded—found it extremely difficult to escape.
The Great Sun Tathagata had reached the realm of Heavenly Saint, and his physical body was extremely strong. Therefore, he was certain to win in any battle against any of the Five Elements Divine Apes. The Tathagata had created the Great Sun Tathagata’s body specifically for use beyond the heavens, where there was only anti-creation energy. To establish a foothold there, one had to cultivate an anti-creation body. With this, even if they failed to leave the heavens or if the world reverted to chaos, the Tathagata could still preserve his current status as a Heavenly Saint and attempt it again in the next cycle of time.
When the Tathagata takes action, he always plans with great foresight. As one from beyond the heavens, with his understanding of the workings of creation, and driven by a determination and resilience that have persisted for hundreds of years to ascend beyond the heavens, he has long prepared many backup plans for himself. Thus, despite repeated setbacks, he still keeps control of his quest to ascend firmly in his own hands.
The Great Sun Tathagata resides in the Realm of the Five-Element Divine Apes and is in no hurry to leave. You see, his obsession with formations is no less than that of Yuan Shi, and his mastery of formations truly makes him the greatest in the world.
Yet this formation is a Formation of Creation, one unknown to the Tathagata. Therefore, the Great Sun Tathagata keeps probing the mysteries of this formation—those hand seals are meant to locate its core.
To his disappointment, the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—interact in a flawless cycle of mutual generation and restraint; there seems to be no flaw to find.
Tongfeng, seeing the Great Sun Tathagata searching frantically within the realm and knowing deeply about the art of formations, naturally understood what the Great Sun Tathagata was trying to do. As for the flaw in this formation, Tongfeng knew it lay in the relatively weaker cultivation level of the Intelligent Divine Ape.
Among the five-colored halos, only the red flame appeared slightly dimmer—by a mere fraction, almost imperceptible. Tongfeng could only hope the Great Sun Tathagata would fail to notice, but the chances were slim.
Tongfeng secretly sent a message, urging the five-colored halos to move faster. After pondering for a while, the Great Sun Tathagata clasped his hands, pointed forward, and sent a beam of black light that struck the inner wall of the realm.
As soon as the black light appeared, the five-colored halos dimmed instantly. The Great Sun Tathagata observed carefully: among the five colors, black was the strongest, while red was the weakest. Naturally, red belonged to the Intelligent Divine Ape.
The Great Sun Tathagata already knew the Intelligent Divine Ape’s cultivation was slightly inferior. Earlier, he had ordered Nili to fight first to lure out the Five-Element Divine Apes and assess their strength.
That’s why, after seeing the Intelligent Divine Ape’s cultivation level, Nili used a transformation spell to have the Great Sun Tathagata fight instead. If the Intelligent Divine Ape had reached the same level of Heavenly Sage as the other divine apes, the Great Sun Tathagata might have had to seriously consider whether to engage in a direct fight.
Seeing the red halo as the weakest, the Great Sun Tathagata felt even more confident. No matter how strong a formation is, as long as there’s a flaw, there’s always a solution. He sent a few more hand seals to probe; these struck the black light at the weakest spot, where a slight ripple suddenly appeared.
The Five-Element Divine Apes immediately sensed this and hurriedly channeled more energy to reinforce that area. But Tongfeng felt a hint of concern—it seemed the Great Sun Tathagata had indeed discovered something.
Tongfeng urgently shouted, “Formation Kill!”
At the edge of the photosphere, three streams of golden light shot forth, heading straight for the Great Sun Tathagata. The power of the Three Swords of Exterminating Immortals became apparent—those three streams of golden light were so swift and sharp that they instantly filled the Great Sun Tathagata with dread.
With a quick decision, he dodged two of them and used his arm to meet the third. The golden light struck his right arm, producing a sound like metal hitting stone. His movement froze, and upon looking at his arm, he saw an extremely tiny dent. His physical body was made of solid material capable of supporting the heavens—yet even the combined power of the Five Elements Divine Apes could damage it! Without time to think further, several more streams of golden light attacked. Instead of confronting them head-on, he simply dodged within the realm.
At the edge of the realm, numerous columns of water sprouted. The black water corroded the air, making crackling sounds. It wasn’t poison but rather the power of water pushed to its extreme. These columns of water poured down from above, almost filling the entire space of the realm. The Great Sun Tathagata shrank to almost the size of dust. At that moment, yellow light surged from the bottom of the realm, enveloping that speck of dust. Instantly, invisible flames attacked, refining the Great Sun Tathagata.
Under the combined assault of the Five Elements’ powers, the Great Sun Tathagata suffered greatly. Although the counter-creation force could suppress the creation force, the power of the Five Elements Divine Apes was simply too strong. He felt as if he were in a furnace, struck by sharp golden energy, entwined by green wood energy, wrapped in yellow earth energy, corroded by black water energy, and tempered by red fire.
Just then, the Great Sun Tathagata suddenly noticed an extremely slight fluctuation in those invisible flames. After this fluctuation, the yellow earth energy was also affected. Seeing a rare opportunity, his body swelled dramatically, and the counter-creation force erupted like a geyser, freeing him from the control of the Earth Spirit Pearl. He leaped upward as the light of the Three Swords of Exterminating Immortals illuminated his body, green wood energy wrapped around him, and drops of black water fell from above. However, the black counter-creation energy surrounding him slowed down the Five Elements’ powers. In a flash, the Great Sun Tathagata seized the gap and jumped to the top of the realm.
Though he was temporarily free, he had been struck several times—there were over a dozen dents on his chest and back, and many drops of water had fallen on his head and shoulders, leaving some black marks.
Weng Tong sighed in relief when he saw the Great Sun Tathagata escape. All his combined efforts of the Five Elements had failed to hold him back. Although he suffered minor injuries, they were not serious. It seemed that the clever Divine Ape indeed had a huge flaw.
Since one attack hadn’t worked, further attacks would be useless. Weng Tong began to consider a retreat. If he couldn’t defeat the Great Sun Tathagata, escaping from this Buddhist hell was the top priority.
How could the Great Sun Tathagata just stand by and let the Five Elements Divine Apes escape?
Tongfeng thought for a moment before sending a message: “Withdraw the formation!”
Hearing this, the Five Elements Divine Apes were shocked, but after some reflection, they could roughly guess Tongfeng’s intention. The cleverer among them lacked a slight amount of cultivation, which prevented them from controlling the Great Sun Tathagata. But even if they hadn’t withdrawn the formation, it wouldn’t have been easy for the Great Sun Tathagata to emerge. Why give up so easily?
When the formation was removed, everyone on Qitian Ridge was horrified. They had thought the Five Elements Divine Apes were so powerful that fighting five against one would give them a better chance of winning. But once the colorful formation was dismantled, the Great Sun Tathagata remained unharmed, standing in midair. Dayu and the others guessed that the Divine Apes must have given up because they were unable to capture the Tathagata.
Yet the Great Sun Tathagata said, “There’s one who is quite astute.”
He was referring to Tongfeng, and only he and the Great Sun Tathagata understood Tongfeng’s intentions.
Tongfeng realized that it was almost impossible to use this formation to control the Great Sun Tathagata, so he quickly ordered the Divine Apes to withdraw it. He certainly wanted to try again, but he knew the Tathagata was an expert in formations. If given more time, the Tathagata would uncover the intricacies of this formation, rendering it useless if used again.