In the land of ten thousand Buddhas, endless lotus blossoms.
The young little Phoenix knelt before the Buddha, bowed and offered incense, then stood up.
His snow-white kasaya (monk’s robe) trailed softly on the ground like flowing water, and his soft black hair fell beside him. When he rose, a faint, lingering fragrance arose—like a lotus silently blooWisdom on a dark water surface at night.
Countless eyes in the shadows of the great hall secretly watched him, whispers echoed from the void all around. Yet the Phoenix closed his eyes, his expression calm, gently sliding his fingers over a pure azure glass Buddhist bead in his hand.
“A-Huang.”
The Phoenix turned his head, and in the light at the hall’s entrance stood a man, his face obscured by reflections.
A shy smile flickered in the bright eyes of the little Phoenix. He turned and walked toward the man, offering his delicate little hand and softly saying, “Shakyamuni.”
On Mount Sumeru, the glass path winds down the nine heavenly steps, disappearing into the clouds.
Two figures, one large and one small, walked hand in hand. The Phoenix looked up at the man beside him and asked, “Shakyamuni.”
“Hm?”
“Venerable Bhadra said the Phoenix was once separated—that I should have a brother. Is that true?”
Shakyamuni was silent for a moment, then asked back, “What do you think?”
“… I don’t know. They all dislike me…”
Shakyamuni placed his hands gently on the little Phoenix’s shoulders, looked into his clear, watery eyes, and said softly, “It’s not true. When I found you, you were only an egg.”
The little Phoenix looked back in confusion.
Shakyamuni said, “Don’t mind what others think. Just trust me.”
The little Phoenix of the Thirty-Three Heavens was always alone.
He never spoke to anyone, nor paid attention to others. Often, he would quietly watch you, lower his eyes, walk away alone, passing by without making a sound.
Every day, he knelt to recite sutras before the Buddha—coWisdom alone, leaving alone—amid the curling incense smoke so quietly it was like a wisp of smoke.
Playful little novices once stopped him and asked, “Why are you always alone?”
“…”
“I heard you have a dreadful appearance. Is that true?”
The little Phoenix stared at the ground.
His face never moved; he neither spoke nor smiled, like a jade sculpture. The novices waited without a reply, giggled, and scattered, while he continued out of the hall and climbed step by step into the boundless sea of clouds.
The venerables sat high on lotus thrones, their sighs full of compassion, but no one heard.
“There should have been two, but only one broke out of the shell…”
“̌It is said that the Huang (female phoenix) devoured the Feng (male phoenix), and thus was born with an extremely evil form, bringing down ninety-nine thousand thunder sea heavenly tribulations the moment it hatched..”
“Is it true? Even the thunder tribulations could not burn away his dreadful appearance?”
After a long silence on the lotus throne, Venerable Bhadra sighed deeply.
“The phoenix undergoes nirvana but does not die. Its obsessions, resentments, and doubts will forever reincarnate with its inauspicious, extremely evil form, lifetime after lifetime…”
The little Phoenix sat atop a glass pagoda, cupping his snow-white cheeks with both hands, gazing at the dazzling starry sea beneath like a vast galaxy.
A man quietly approached and sat behind him, placing his hands on the little Phoenix’s shoulders. “What are you thinking about?”
“… Nothing.”
The Phoenix turned and rested in his arms, quietly staring with his clear, mercury-like black and white eyes. Under the loose hair near his temples appeared a small blue mark. The man brushed aside his hair and asked, “What’s this about?”
“… The Three Worlds Wisdom King hit me. He wanted to talk, but I ignored him, so he hit me…” The Phoenix looked at the man and softly asked, “Will the Three Worlds Wisdom King become a Buddha?”
The man chuckled, “Are you afraid that if he gains powerful magic, he’ll bully you even more?”
The Phoenix lowered his eyes. His eyelashes were extremely long, casting a fan-shaped shadow on both sides of his nose like a fragile treasure that would shatter with a light touch.
“Will you become a Buddha too, Shakyamuni?”
The man was silent for a moment, then said, “Everyone vows to become Buddha, to enjoy bliss and endless lifespan. But even Buddhas must endure Buddha calamities. Through reincarnation or descending in true form, they unravel the inner demons born from long lives, and finally return to the lotus throne, the supreme realm atop the formless heavens…”
“If one does not become a Buddha, does life have an end?”
“Yes.”
The little Phoenix grasped the man’s sleeve, “Then… will you leave me someday?”
The man smiled and stroked the Phoenix’s flowing soft, cool hair.
“You are a phoenix, immortal in the nine heavens and ten lands. Even if you return to the void beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, as long as the fire of nirvana burns, you will be eternal.”
The Phoenix opened his mouth as if to say something, but ended up staring blankly. The brilliant stars of the long heavenly river reflected in his eyes, flickering indistinctly between water and starry sea.
“I… I don’t need those. I have Shakyamuni, and that’s enough.”
The man reached out to touch the corner of his eye. The Phoenix suddenly transformed into the form of a young divine bird; his wings were like the lightest silk, and his long tail feathers drew brilliant light arcs across the galaxy. Tiny star dust rippled in circles along the river of stars, finally gently drifting onto the man’s shoulder.
“I have Shakyamuni, and that’s enough.”
“Hmm,” the man stroked the phoenix’s soft plumage and gently said, “Your faith in me is enough.”
Below Mount Sumeru, the ice and snow stretch endlessly, the eternal cold wind howling to the horizon. On a black rock poking through the snow stood the Three Worlds Wisdom King, looking down from above at the Phoenix who knelt and bowed step by step up the snowy mountain stairs toward the unreachable peak.
“Making a great vow…” he muttered.
The little Phoenix was covered in snow, his long hair dampened by the melting snow, clinging to his pale face that looked as if it could dissolve into the cold wind at any moment. He took a step forward, knelt and bowed, rose and stepped again, then knelt again, repeating endlessly. After countless bows, he stumbled but was caught from behind by the Three Worlds Wisdom King.
“What are you doing?”
The Phoenix said nothing, gently breaking free, knelt and bowed once more, rose and took a step forward again.
“Hey!” The King shouted loudly, “What vow are you making? Didn’t you hear me ask you? Hey!”
He rushed through the snow to block the Phoenix’s path, but the little Phoenix simply went around him and knelt again, continuing onward.
His eyes showed nothing but the eternal blowing snow.
The King grew angry and grabbed his shoulders again. Despite the force making his own face red, the Phoenix still took a step forward, bowing slowly, as if the obstacles before him—including the King and all causes and conditions—were no different.
“What are you doing! What vow are you making?” The King shouted, gripping his shoulders tightly, “The snowstorm is too fierce, you won’t reach the peak! Give up!”
With great strength, the Phoenix was finally unable to move and shook his head.
“Hey, what do you mean? You don’t agree? How about this—since I’m going to become a Buddha, you should come worship me…”
The little Phoenix raised his hand, grabbed the King’s wrist that held his shoulder, and slowly forced him to loosen his grip.
His fingers were so cold, carrying the chilling frost lingering in his bones, as if unmelting ice flowed in his veins. The King cursed, gritted his teeth, broke free, and impulsively wanted to strike him. But the Phoenix slipped past and softly said, “The vow I make is also to become Buddha. You cannot do it.”
His voice drifted away into the howling wind and snow. The King paused, then turned around.
The Phoenix staggered, bowing again and again in the snow, moving forward step by step.
That may have been the longest yet shortest journey remembered by the Three Worlds Wisdom King. Years later, recalling it, all he could remember was the flying snowflakes, the roaring wind, and the small, thin child in flying robes who bowed step by step ahead.
At dawn, the Phoenix returned to the Thirty-Three Heavens.
He stood before the great Buddha hall, on a high lotus throne with a wrathful diamond-eyed Vajra, bowing Bodhisattvas, and various venerables with different expressions, all lowering their heads to look down at him. The Phoenix was wrapped in the chill of ice and snow, looking up into the countless deities and Buddhas. Melting ice dripped from his hair and robes, falling into a small puddle beneath his feet.
The Three Worlds Wisdom King stopped outside the hall behind him.
A venerable asked, “What vow do you make?”
The Phoenix replied, “To become Buddha.”
“To become Buddha yourself?”
“I wish Shakyamuni would become Buddha.”
Silence fell over the gods and the Thirty-Three Heavens.
The King outside the door widened his eyes in shock.
After an unknown time, the venerable’s voice echoed through the void: “When sentient beings are all saved and hell is empty, your vow will come true; if your heart is true, then go to the blood sea.”
The Phoenix knelt, bowed, and turned his gaze toward the hell beyond the nine heavenly realms.
There were starving corpses everywhere, fierce ghosts in hell; endless wails and laments; an eight-thousand-zhang pool of blood lotus flowers floating among decaying corpses.
The Phoenix’s temples were still icy; his pale, calm face steadily crossed the threshold.
“—What are you doing? You cannot go!” The King rushed forward and blocked him, shouting, “The blood sea has countless top-level demons. Even you, Phoenix, cannot return! Don’t go!”
But the Phoenix only glanced at him with terrifying brightness in his eyes—a light of resolve so strong it could shake heaven and earth once made.
The King felt uneasy: “Phoenix…”
The Phoenix pushed him away, staggered two steps, then suddenly slipped on the jade platform of the nine heavenly steps.
Had he finally reached his limit? The King hurried over to help him up, but a hand suddenly reached out and stopped him. Then someone picked up the little Phoenix.
The King looked up and saw a man appear out of nowhere, staring coldly at him.
That gaze bore a thousand dignified commands, a diamond anger pressing down, immense power forcing the King to retreat several steps, stunned and uncertain.
The man carried the little Phoenix and vanished into the void.
Three hundred years later, the Phoenix descended from the Thirty-Three Heavens, arriving in the Four Evil Paths, heading straight for the Blood Sea.
News reached the demon path: Rahu had fallen, Pozhi had fallen, Quluo Qiantuo had fallen, and Vemacitrin had fallen. The Great Asura King led his troops to the Blood Sea, only to see red smoke rising and covering the sky, boiling water surging and flooding the land. The Phoenix summoned the Heavenly Dao’s divine form, holding a pure cyan glass Buddhist bead in his left hand and a silver-white long spear in his right. With one thrust, countless great demons were cleaved in half and shattered!
The Blood Sea shook violently, giant waves rolled to the horizon, and countless sea demons surfaced, emitting terrifying shrieks amidst the scattered limbs and corpses.
“Primeval Phoenix—!” the Great Asura King roared furiously, “What are you doing? Get out of the Four Evil Paths at once!”
The Phoenix swept with his spear, splitting apart the nine heads of a giant demon snake descending from the sky amid the earth-shattering destruction!
The Great Asura King manifested his true form towering 28,000 yojanas tall. One foot stepped into the Blood Sea, with the water only reaching his navel; then he raised a mountain-sized palm that covered the sun and moon. The earth turned into dark void, icy blood flowed upward to the heavens. The Asura King, with nine heads and a thousand eyes, spewed blazing fire, his roar shaking the nine heavens and ten lands: “Primeval Phoenix! Today is your death day—!”
In the center of the Blood Sea, a white-robed youth rushed to the sky. His left hand’s Buddhist bead transformed into a huge and splendid pure cyan longbow in the raging wind: “—If Hell is not empty today, then it is my death day.”
The youth stopped in mid-air and slowly drew a blood-dripping phoenix bone from his body.
The Great Asura King’s eyes widened in shock but saw the youth breathing painfully, nocking the bow and string. The bowstring was like a crescent moon, and the phoenix bone emitted a cold, sharp radiance.
The next moment, he released the arrow.
The bone arrow shot like a meteor, breaking through the air, and with one shot pinned the Great Asura King firmly in the Blood Sea!
Amid the deafening roar of the earthquake, the seabed of the Blood Sea quickly cracked open. Countless demons had no time to surface and were instantly sucked underground.
The tsunami caused by the earth’s shaking covered the sky and sun. The Asuras screamed and fled in panic, many pushing each other and falling into the Blood Sea. The wave crest collapsed like a mountain, and the nine-headed infant demon screamed, spreading three thousand dense bone wings, rushing at the Phoenix in the raging wind!
The Phoenix’s fingertips cracked as he gripped the longbow tightly.
“Today, I shall cleanse the Eight-Thousand-Zhang Blood Lotus Pond…”
The youth took a deep breath and pulled out a second phoenix bone still carrying flesh.
Every nerve in his body trembled from the intense pain, but the fingers holding the bowstring were like ancient ice—steadfast and unshaken, shaking heaven and earth.
“—Shakyamuni,” he whispered, “from this day on, there shall be no more Blood Sea in Hell.”
He released the string; the phoenix bone pierced the wind and waves, blowing the top demon—the nine-headed infant—into a magnificent blood blossom that stretched for ten thousand li!
The Phoenix drew twelve bones from the Blood Sea one after another, slaying all the great demons. The Blood Sea calmed, and the myriad demons of Hell bowed in submission.
At the twelfth arrow, suddenly golden Buddha light, like a sharp sword, split the nine heavens and ten lands, completely covering the Four Evil Paths in boundless Buddhist chants. Everyone looked up to see an immortal bird flying in the sky, lotus blossoms blooWisdom, and on the supreme 33rd Heaven of the Six Paths, the majestic image of Mount Sumeru appeared.
It was the radiant light of all the Buddhas returning to their seats.
—Someone had attained Buddhahood.
The Phoenix exhaled deeply, swallowing the hot blood in his mouth, pushing the blood-soaked long hair behind his ear, and smiling as he looked at the endless Buddha light.
—The fragrant elephant Buddha realm, the boundless lotus, all existed in this very smile.
·
The Phoenix slowly walked ashore from the Blood Sea, suddenly noticing among the scattered demon fragments a gray-clad Asura standing on the cracked earth, staring directly at him.
He was a very young Asura, likely inexperienced, his head and face covered in the blood of demons, eyes burning with unhidden passion. To the Phoenix, he posed no threat at all. The youth’s gaze didn’t linger on him, casually transforWisdom the longbow into a pure cyan hair ribbon, tying it into his bloodstained long hair, then picking up the silver-white spear and walking away.
But the Asura suddenly called out behind him: “—Why don’t you kill me?”
The Phoenix didn’t answer.
Silence fell for a moment, then the youth shouted loudly: “My name is Fan Luo!”
… What does it have to do with me…
The Phoenix thought, not bothering to remember the name, walking away in the wind mixed with iron and blood.
·
After returning to the 33rd Heaven, the Phoenix found that Shakyamuni, who had grown up with him, had completely vanished.
No trace of him was in the Buddha hall, no statue on the lotus throne, nowhere on Mount Sumeru could his presence be sensed. The man who had raised the young Phoenix alone for hundreds of years, who had been his only companion in endless solitude—had just disappeared like that.
What happened to him? Did something go wrong when he attained Buddhahood?
Had he gone beyond the 33rd Heaven into the void outside?
The Phoenix trembled all over, standing in the empty hall, then suddenly ran out. But just after stepping down the jade stairs, he bumped into the Great Asura King, staggering and falling to the ground in a daze.
“What’s wrong with you?” the Great Asura King asked in shock, reaching out his hand.
The Phoenix did not ignore him like before but stared blankly at him, pale, lips trembling.
The Great Asura King had never seen this side of him and felt a chill in his heart: “—Phoenix? What’s wrong?”
“… Shakyamuni is gone.” After a long pause, the Phoenix finally spoke: “Where… where is he?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Shakyamuni… the one who raised me!”
The Great Asura King was shocked, looking at him: “You are the primeval divine bird. Who could have raised you?”
They stared at each other for a moment. The Great Asura King wanted to say more, but the Phoenix suddenly pushed him away and staggered towards the Buddha hall.
In the Buddha hall, incense curled thickly, and Venerable Bhadra sat on the lotus throne in a half-red robe, eyes half-closed.
The Phoenix knelt on the cold, heavy pure-gold floor tiles, his hoarse voice like blood in his throat: “Where is Shakyamuni?”
Venerable Bhadra lightly moved his Buddhist beads. The hall was silent except for the clear clicking sounds. After a long time, the elder opened his eyes but did not look at the kneeling Phoenix, only saying: “The Buddha has returned to the realm of formlessness.”
— Beyond the 33rd Heaven lies the formless realm, where only consciousness remains.
The Phoenix’s lips turned slightly pale, as if losing the last trace of blood color: “But Shakyamuni promised not to leave me… What do I do now? I’m… alone again!”
The elder sighed inaudibly and slowly faded into the distant incense mist.
“You have always been alone. No one but you can see Shakyamuni…”
“Your cultivation is too low, Phoenix. As a primeval divine bird with an ominous appearance, if you cannot wholeheartedly take refuge in my Buddha, in your next life you will start another cycle of Buddha trials…”
The Phoenix opened his eyes wide. A strand of black hair stuck to his snow-white cheek, his expression helpless and desolate.
“Go back, little Phoenix. When you have cultivated great wisdom and great merit and are bestowed the title of Wisdom Wang, come back to Mount Sumeru’s summit to see this vast assembly of Buddhas.”
Venerable Bhadra waved his sleeve. The Phoenix felt the wind howl past his ears as he was removed from the Buddha hall. The magnificent golden gate echoed heavily, slowly closing in front of him.
·
From that day on, the Phoenix began his kneeling sutra practice, closed his door, and vanished from the 33rd Heaven.
No one saw him again or heard any news.
It was said he practiced under the largest Bodhi tree, kneeling all year long without rising; his hair grew to the ground, and his snowy robes spread to the water’s edge. Each time he recited a sutra, a beautiful lotus blossomed on the water’s surface.
Over time, it became a crystal fairyland, surrounded by boundless lotuses.
Everyone longed for it, but it was a forbidden place in the 33rd Heaven.
— What has become of that Phoenix now? The Great Asura King sometimes wondered.
That arrogant, indifferent, and stubborn Phoenix, pitiful in his loneliness… What has become of him now?
·
Month after month, year after year, time flew like a shuttle, white horses passing through fleeting years.
The Eight-Thousand-Zhang Blood Lotus Pond in Hell filled again, the rotting flesh emitting a foul stench, demons howling in the Blood Sea, their cries even audible before the Buddha hall atop Mount Sumeru.
Venerable Bhadra, after returning from saving sentient beings, passed through the Hell Path and dropped a treasure vase into the Blood Sea. Because the vase sealed countless Blood Sea demons, the elder asked the Bodhisattvas, Wisdom Kings, and Arhats who could retrieve the treasure vase from the vast waves of the Blood Sea?
The Arhats first tried and all failed; the Wisdom Kings tried as well and all failed—the Blood Sea had become a vast ocean. Countless evil ghosts and resentful spirits roamed within; finding the small treasure vase was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Then the other elders suggested that since the Phoenix had once cleared the Blood Sea and slain the great demons, why not send him to the Hell Path to try?
Venerable Bhadra hesitated for a long time but ultimately commanded the Great Asura King to summon the Phoenix.
After thousands of years that felt endless, the Great Asura King once again saw that arrogant, proud, and stubborn little Phoenix.
He entered the forbidden area of the 33rd Heaven, where a small river flowed like broken jade around a huge Bodhi tree. Under the tree knelt that familiar figure. So many years had passed, but his hair now fell like a waterfall to the ground, his snow-white robes spread out like a thousand-year-old blooWisdom water lily.
How frightening, the Great Asura King thought.
A face unchanged by time, a beautiful countenance that time could not touch. Rather than a blessing from heaven, it seemed more like a fatal ominous appearance that lured moths to the flame.
“Venerable Bhadra’s treasure vase dropped into the Blood Sea…” the Great Asura King briefly explained the purpose, carefully watching the Phoenix’s expression. From that indifferent face, nothing could be seen. For a moment, he wondered if the Phoenix could even hear others or if he had completely become one with the Bodhi tree.
But he didn’t wait long.
The Phoenix opened his eyes, water-like radiance flowing under his lashes, slowly reaching out: “Lend me the knife.”
The Great Asura King was stunned but still took off the gem-encrusted dagger from his waist and handed it over. The Phoenix drew the blade, grabbed his hair with one hand, and cut it off with the other.
“…You!”
The Phoenix stood up and casually tied the half-length cut hair, saying: “Let’s go.”
·
The Phoenix descended to the Blood Sea for the second time. The Four Evil Paths trembled, and the Asura tribe fled in panic. The Blood Sea boiled fiercely, stirred by countless great demons rising from its depths.
Yet the Phoenix stood at the edge of the Blood Sea for a long moment without drawing his blade.
He simply walked in.
Everyone in the 33rd Heaven was shocked. Just as his toes touched the bloodwater, a snow-white lotus bloomed beneath his feet!
Rotting corpses screamed, demons roamed, and mountain-sized demons crowded the sea surface; but the Phoenix walked toward the center of the Blood Sea. With every step, a lotus bloomed underfoot, supporting his progress across the vast red smoke sea.
Behind him, a long lotus path blossomed deep
