Volume 4: The End of Cosmic Secrets, Chapter 516: Insufficient Fire

This black wall of cosmic force was not as hard as iron but rather as smooth and delicate as black jade. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be nothing but a wall formed by the extreme concentration of anti-cosmic force.
The combined power of the five elements at their peak was invincible in this world. Even the mighty Vairocana, whose body was as solid as towering jade pillars, suffered damage under this force. Now, when this multicolored cosmic force struck the black wall, it produced an immediate effect—the wall began to show signs of melting.
Yet the melting was extremely slow. Everyone knew that since Vairocana had given them three days, it would not be easy to complete the task. The Five Divine Apes patiently continued to exert the full power of the five elements. The wall couldn’t be very thick; even if it was only one foot thick, it would still take more than three days to melt.
How exactly did Vairocana master the control of anti-cosmic force to such a degree? Feng Tong couldn’t help but think that forces from beyond the heavens were truly mysterious.
The Five Divine Apes had already mastered the full power of the five elements. Pangu belonged to the lineage of cosmic forces, so the power he passed on to the Divine Apes of Cosmic Force naturally had no contradictions.
The five forces of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth were called the extremes of the five elements because they embodied the ultimate forms of each element’s forces. For example, the force of wood included forces such as entanglement, sprouting, growth, nourishment, withering, destruction, and return to roots—dozens of different forces in total. As for the force of metal, there were forces like sharpness, dullness, solidity, hardness, tempering, and carving.
That multicolored cosmic essence, though appearing as just one force, actually encompassed all forces in the world. Only this force could counteract anti-cosmic force.
Anti-cosmic force was as dark as an inkstone, while this multicolored cosmic force was like a lump of ink. Though weak, if persisted in, it could eventually wear a hole into the inkstone.
In the blink of an eye, a day passed in haste. The Five Divine Apes showed no signs of fatigue. On the black wall, a dent as large as a pot lid and three inches deep had already appeared.

By the second day, Hou Tu and the others already felt a bit strained. Hou Tu took out some pills to replenish their magical energy from her bosom and ordered everyone to take them. The concentration of the dark mist they controlled was far weaker than that of the black wall, but this reverse-creation force was extremely peculiar. Although they were all true saints, their magical powers were hardly useful; only the powers of the five elements could be employed. After enduring for a day, they gradually found some patterns, making it much less strenuous than at first. At this rate, it would be no problem to hold on for three days.

By the third day, the indentation had reached seven inches deep. Just then, the multicolored force suddenly changed. The red fire element controlled by the Intelligent Divine Ape twitched slightly. This slight movement caused the earth, metal, water, and wood elements to weaken slightly in turn.

In just that instant, the indentation even recovered half an inch on its own. The Five Elements Divine Ape was shocked—turning a hole in this wall seemed like rowing against the current, with no progress possible.

The Intelligent Divine Ape’s gaze darkened. Since he had not reached the level of a Heavenly Saint, he could not master the control of the five elements to the fullest extent, as one of those elements required reaching the status of a Heavenly Saint to be utilized.

Compared to the other divine apes, he was the weakest among the Five Elements Divine Apes. If his actions hindered everyone from breaking through, the guilt would be immense. But for now, he could only concentrate and strive not to make another mistake.

Of course, no one else could blame him. The Creation Divine Apes shared a telepathic connection and would not hold him accountable. Besides, the Intelligent Divine Ape had always been diligent. His failure to reach the level of a Heavenly Saint was merely due to starting late, not his fault.

Yet, just an hour later, this situation occurred again, lasting longer this time. The indentation even recovered to five inches deep, meaning half a day’s effort had gone to waste.

The Intelligent Divine Ape trembled—clearly, the second incident had greatly affected him.

Feng Tong quickly sent a message: “Steady your mind!”

Though Feng Tong said this, seeing the depth of the indentation, he also felt disheartened. It seemed almost impossible to break through within three days. Even so, they had to keep going. With the power of the five divine apes alone, it was impossible to pierce through the black wall; they could only hope for a miracle.

But with the most powerful ones, Wukong and Yin-Yang, outside the realm, who else could help them?

Another half day passed, and the indentation finally returned to seven inches deep. But what good was that? This gamble was doomed to failure.

Qilin watched anxiously from outside but knew he was powerless, so he dared not interfere.

At that moment, a red light shot out from Qitian Ridge and arrived in no time, chirping loudly, “Grandpa Qilin, what are they doing?” Qilin turned to look and saw it was Honghai’er, so he casually replied, “They’re tearing down a wall!” “Tearing down a wall? I’ll help too!” Without hesitation, Honghai’er spat out a column of fire. Qilin was shocked—how could he allow a child to cause trouble at such a critical moment? He grabbed Honghai’er, but the column of fire moved extremely fast and instantly struck the Five-Color Creative Force. Surprisingly, the Five-Color Creative Force wasn’t affected at all; the fire column disappeared upon touching it. Even more astonishingly, the power of red fire seemed to strengthen slightly! The Extreme Fire Force contained nearly a hundred types of fire, including the Extreme Red Fire, Extreme White Fire, Extreme True Fire, Extreme Karmic Fire, Extreme Virtual Fire, and so on. The column of fire spat out by Honghai’er contained one of them—the Extreme Sun Fire. Although his cultivation level wasn’t high, having grown up in fire, his internal flame was pure and genuine, surpassing many experts who used fire. When this flame mixed into the Extreme Fire Force, it was immediately absorbed entirely by the Intelligent Divine Ape’s Extreme Fire Force. In other words, the Extreme Sun Fire within the Extreme Fire Force was strengthened. The Intelligent Divine Ape was delighted; he felt that with this flame added, his Extreme Fire Force had become slightly more stable. Though it was minor, it was still beneficial. As soon as he reacted, Fengtong immediately understood and sent a message to Qilin, “Set fire!” Qilin wasn’t foolish either. Seeing that Honghai’er’s flame didn’t conflict with the Five-Element Force of the Creative Divine Ape, he realized the fire had taken effect. So he too spat out a black-purple flame, which merged into the Five-Color Creative Force. Seeing the Extreme Fire Force strengthen slightly again, the Intelligent Divine Ape felt slightly disappointed. The flame spat out by Qilin was called the Extreme Beast Fire. This flame, along with Honghai’er’s Extreme Sun Fire, were originally part of the Extreme Fire Force. Now, though it had strengthened slightly, there was no fundamental change. But it was understandable—even the Intelligent Divine Ape needed to reach the Heavenly Sage realm to comprehend that flame, so how could Honghai’er and Qilin? Without that flame, the Extreme Fire Force remained incomplete, which was why its power was unstable. The Great Sun Tathagata naturally knew the flaw in the Five-Element Divine Ape, which was why he pretended to be generous by giving them three days. He wanted to make the Creative Divine Ape suffer a setback so he could proceed with his next plan to take control.

A glimmer of hope appeared, only to vanish instantly. Although the Red Boy and the Qilin provided some assistance, it was so minimal as to be negligible. Moreover, there was no one else on Qi Tian Ling who was skilled in using fire. Although Zhu Rong was the Fire God, she was busy dispelling the Black Mist of Destiny and had no time to divert her attention. Even if someone else could replace Zhu Rong, her role would likely be similar to that of the Red Boy and the Qilin. With such formidable fire powers, the Intelligent Divine Ape must have already reached perfection.

Knowing it was impossible, they still persisted. Half another day passed, and with only half an hour left before the three-day deadline, the depth of the depression had reached nine inches.

At that moment, Ni Li arrived.

The Bodhisattva Ni Li flew over from afar and, seeing the Five-Element Divine Ape concentrating on attacking the black wall formed by the force of anti-creation, sneered, “Indeed impressive. This wall is only an inch thick. I wonder if you can break through that last inch in half an hour?”

Of course, the others had no time to reply to him. Ni Li continued, “I knew from the start that the Five-Element Divine Ape had a major flaw. If all of you were truly Heavenly Saints, I would have lost this bet already. But alas, hahaha…” Ni Li laughed wildly, extremely arrogant.

The others realized that Ni Li’s purpose was to demoralize them, so they ignored him entirely, hoping to break through the remaining inch in those half an hour.

Seeing that the others remained calm, Ni Li said, “You really don’t know how to appreciate things. Living inside the furnace, you think you’re superior. But you must understand that only by rising above the heavens can you achieve lasting success. Can’t you see the situation clearly today? If you can’t even break through this realm, how can you possibly avert the disaster of the end of this world? It would be better if you quickly returned to my Buddha, Tathagata, and be granted immortality!”

As he continued to mock and taunt, suddenly a pair of colorful wings rose from Qi Tian Ling, diving straight at Ni Li, with a cry, “Ugly ghost, hand over your life!”

Ni Li looked closely and saw it was the Peacock Great King who had escaped from the Buddhist hell. With a mocking laugh, he said, “The Peacock Mother of Buddha? You really don’t know what’s good for you. Leaving my Buddhist hell is like throwing a precious gem in the mud. Why have you come back today? Are you seeking death?”

The Peacock said nothing. In fact, Ni Li Bodhisattva had a grudge against him for killing his father. He had long been restraining himself, but during the earlier battle, he couldn’t intervene. Now, seeing Ni Li interfering with the Five Divine Apes and the others in their cultivation, he naturally came to stop him.

Ni Li’s figure, like a ghost, floated in front of the Peacock and reached out to grab its neck. Before he could get close, three invisible arrow feathers appeared in the black void, blocking his path.

Ni Li was startled; he immediately turned, dodging the three arrows. He didn’t need to look to know that the archer must be Hou Yi. Recalling how Hou Yi’s arrow had pierced his throat in the past, he could hardly bear it anymore. So he bent his body and charged toward Qi Tian Ling.