Volume 4: The Revelation of All Secrets Chapter 551: The Rotation Wheel Appears

As expected, a green light enveloped the Eight Trigrams Mirror, surrounding only Tathagata, while the yellow light blocked everything else. To Hou Tu’s surprise, Tathagata’s mastery over earth elements was even greater than hers as the Goddess of Earth. He could effortlessly wield the supernatural powers of all the saints—this must be due to his accumulation of spiritual energy.

Tathagata’s ambitions were enormous. Just this alone made it impossible for these saints to tolerate him.

Fuxi also did not think he could harm Tathagata. Tathagata’s realm was half a level higher than everyone else present, a difference as vast as heaven and earth.

Yet, knowing this, they still had to keep Tathagata occupied to prevent him from putting pressure on Wukong.

Surrounded by the green and yellow lights, Tathagata showed no signs of strain, appearing utterly at ease. The others surrounded him and launched spells at him.

Millions of years ago, Tathagata was merely the former Buddha of Buddhism who stepped down. At that time, in the eyes of others, he was just a Buddha with a hint of mystery. But as soon as he reentered the world, he performed astonishing feats—defeating Pangu and seizing Mount Sumeru, the greatest event among the saints in tens of millions of years.

After that, Tathagata disappeared, gradually fading from people’s sight. Among the saints, only a few scheming ones still remembered him; the rest paid little attention. Millions of years—neither long nor short—was enough for people to forget certain things.

It was not until recently, with sudden changes in heaven and earth, that everyone realized there were such audacious and delusional individuals among the saints, who dared to try to capture all the saints like fish! It was utterly intolerable!

Yet, despite their best efforts, they could not break through the yellow light surrounding Tathagata. The Buddha’s diamond-like strength had been refined to its extreme by Tathagata and integrated into various supernatural powers. His physical body was now far stronger than the rocks of Mount Sumeru, approaching that of a true sage.

Just then, two auspicious clouds appeared in the west and quickly approached. Upon closer inspection, they were the long-absent Ancient Lamp-Burning Buddha and the current Buddha of the present era, Maitreya.

Before they even got close, Maitreya called out from afar, “Why do the many oppress the few?” Though he did not know the full details, after all, Tathagata had once been the leader of Buddhism. It was unimaginable to offend so many saints at once, no matter what the reason. His words seemed to support Tathagata, but actually, he was trying to understand what had happened.

Jizang, who had always been on good terms with them, went forward and briefly explained the situation. Upon hearing this, both Lamp-Burning Buddha and Maitreya showed expressions of disbelief.

Randan said skeptically, “Where is such a miraculous power that can swallow a sage’s spiritual essence?”
Ksitigarbha replied, “Cultivating spiritual essences is beyond our comprehension, but in that case, swallowing them outright is not impossible either.”
Randan said, “If that’s truly the case, we must ask him carefully.”
Randan was an ancient Buddha of extremely high status. Even Ksitigarbha and Maitreya had to act as his disciples in his presence. Among all the sages, aside from Fuxi, the Phoenix, the Qilin, and Zhenwu, everyone else showed reverence when they saw Randan.
When Randan entered the battle circle, everyone unconsciously slowed their attacks. Randan raised his voice and said, “Tathagata, why have you done this?”
Tathagata continued to fend off the attacks while answering without delay, “It’s merely for the sake of survival; there’s no other intention.”
“Survival? By attaining the Buddha Dharma, one can achieve immortality—have all your years of studying Buddhist scriptures been in vain?” Randan asked.
“Haha! Your so-called immortality is false, while my gathering of spiritual essences is real!”
With just one sentence, Randan realized that Tathagata was deeply obsessed and could no longer be persuaded. Seeing Tathagata’s cultivation rise so rapidly, seemingly reaching the legendary state of discarding falsehood and retaining truth, Randan was also surprised and asked, “How did you progress so quickly?”
Tathagata replied, “It doesn’t hurt to tell you. You cultivate the Dharma, while I cultivate spiritual essences. Though they seem to lead to the same goal, they are actually very different.”
Cultivating spiritual essences? In essence, isn’t this still using others’ spiritual essences to achieve enlightenment, a self-serving act?
Randan’s face turned grave. He lifted his robe sleeves and took out a bright lamp, saying, “I once said you would surely become a Buddha, but today I see your demonic heart running rampant. In that case, how about I take away your demonic thoughts?”
Tathagata was slightly surprised. Though Randan was highly cultivated, he wasn’t strong enough to threaten him—why would he dare say such things? As the ancient Buddha and the source of all Buddhas, Randan always kept his word. Tathagata couldn’t help but feel a hint of unease.
Randan turned to look at Fuxi. Fuxi understood Randan’s intention and removed the blue light from the Bagua Mirror. Randan raised the lamp in his hand and shouted, “Let all light be as I am!”
As soon as his words fell, the lamp emitted intense light, as bright as the midday sun, shining brightly on Tathagata. Tathagata knew Randan’s true power—this light was the light that illuminated all Buddhist Dharma and supernatural powers in the world. Any Buddhist would be exposed under this light.
But Tathagata didn’t care. What he possessed now was the most powerful magic among all sages in the world. Even if he didn’t use his own Buddhist powers, what could they do?

Then Randeng said, “I have long lamented the suffering of sentient beings and sought a way to free them, but found no means. Now that I have attained bodhi, nothing stands in my way! The Buddha told Maitreya that there are nine practices for a bodhisattva: abandoning all evil paths and not associating with evil companions. What are these nine?”

Maitreya descended beside Randeng, putting aside his eternal smile and speaking sternly, “First, one must free oneself from desire and stay away from evil. One should not think of any unwholesome practices, thus attaining tranquility and joy.”

Randeng continued, “Since the Tathagata still harbors desires, I shall take away your power of reading others’ minds!”

This power of reading others’ minds is actually a divine ability in Buddhism that is not taught to outsiders. By mastering it, one can understand others’ thoughts and discern the differences in their minds, thereby truly perceiving their mental states.

The bright light trembled as if an invisible force had been drawn away from the Tathagata. His expression remained calm, but he showed surprise—he had not expected Randeng to possess such power to take away a divine ability from him. It seemed he had underestimated him. Yet the Tathagata had his own strengths; after a brief moment of surprise, he regained his composed expression and stood quietly, waiting for Randeng to perform his magic.

Randeng asked again, “The Buddha told Maitreya—what are the second of these nine practices for abandoning evil paths?”

Maitreya replied, “The first is to quiet the mind. Without thoughts or actions, one attains a state of concentration, with the mind filled with joy.”

Randeng said, “Since the Tathagata still has an unsettled mind, I shall take away your power of supernatural movement!”

This power of supernatural movement, also known as the power of will, allows one to turn stones into gold, water into fire, fly freely, and manifest anything desired. These abilities are all exerted through focus alone. Since the Tathagata wanted to seize others’ thoughts, he was no longer fully focused on Buddhist principles, so this power also had to be taken away.

The Tathagata naturally reacted; he merely glanced at Randeng with a cold smile, saying nothing.

Randeng demanded, “The Buddha told Maitreya—what is the third of these nine practices for abandoning evil paths?”

Maitreya replied, “The third is to let go of joy and maintain constant tranquility. One’s body becomes stable like that of the sages, with no thoughts arising from what is spoken or observed.”

Randeng said, “Since the Tathagata engages in evil in the world, his body is unstable, and he loses his state of tranquility. I shall take away your power of eliminating mental flaws!”

This power of eliminating mental flaws refers to the Buddhist practices of discipline, concentration, and wisdom, which help overcome greed, hatred, and delusion, eliminate attachments, and fundamentally cut off mental flaws, thereby attaining supreme enlightenment. In fact, this power bears some resemblance to the Taoist practice of reversing the natural order—controlling fate, transforming the posterior into the prior, refining the self, building a foundation, transforming essence into energy, energy into spirit, and spirit back into emptiness, through three returns and nine transformations. This power is extremely important for Buddhist practitioners; without it, their path to cultivation is severed.

The Tathagata had taken away his powers of perfection, and finally, after speaking, he first laughed heartily twice before saying, “Randhan, do you think Buddhism only relies on such inferior tactics?”
Randhan was stunned. The Nine Divine Powers of Buddhism were supreme spells kept secret within the Buddhist tradition—how could the Tathagata dismiss them? The Tathagata continued, “Even if you’ve taken away those nine powers, what does it matter? They only waste time, which I detest.”
With that, the Tathagata raised his hand and commanded, “Let the Gem Wheel appear!”
A melodious sound rang out from the void, and beneath his feet, a magnificent palace suddenly appeared, lifting him entirely off the ground. As the palace rose, Randhan’s bright lamp dimmed.
Before the Tathagata, a golden wheel appeared out of nowhere. The wheel was fourteen feet in diameter, with a thousand spokes emitting various colors and lights. Beside it stood four celestial beings with ominous appearances and extremely imposing aura. Strangely, it was impossible to tell their levels of cultivation, making them truly awe-inspiring.
The Tathagata brought out this golden wheel and smiled slightly at Randhan and Maitreya, asking, “What do you think?”
Randhan and Maitreya were shocked, finding this utterly incredible. The Tathagata showed a hint of pride and waved his hand again, saying, “Let the Elephant Treasure appear!”
From within the palace beneath his feet, an unprecedented giant elephant stepped forward.
The elephant was five feet tall, its body pure white like jade. Its massive frame was supported by six huge feet like jade pillars. Its head and trunk were red, with six ivory tusks resembling cream.
The elephant faced the crowd with a fierce expression, waving its trunk and letting out strange noises. But when it turned toward the Tathagata, it became as gentle as a lamb. It walked up to the Tathagata and, as if recognizing him as its master, lifted him onto its back, placing its front feet on the golden wheel as if soaring through the air!
The Tathagata sat atop the elephant’s back and said from above, “Randhan, do you recognize it?”
Randhan exclaimed, “This is impossible!”
It was no wonder Randhan was shocked—those Gem Wheel and Elephant Treasure were signs mentioned in Buddhist scriptures before the appearance of a Chakravartin.
A Chakravartin was said to be the supreme ruler in Buddhism, known as the most honorable king, and was rare in the world. As an ancient Buddha, Randhan knew the Buddhist scriptures better than anyone else. The scriptures often mentioned that when a Chakravartin appeared, he would create the Seven Treasures and possess four divine powers—four supreme abilities.

However, within the Buddhist community, almost everyone knew of the name of the Cakravartin, yet no one had ever seen him. Over time, it was considered nothing more than a legend. Unexpectedly, the two strange phenomena seen earlier were clearly the seven treasures of the Cakravartin. If the Cakravartin truly was as miraculous as described in the Buddhist scriptures, then indeed no one in the world could subdue the Tathagata.