Chun T’i now called to his help the spiritual peacock, and took the form of a warrior with twenty-four heads and eighteen arms.  His mysterious weapons surrounded T’ung-t’ien Chiao-chu, and Lao Tzu struck the hero so hard that fire came out from his eyes, nose, and mouth.  Unable to parry the assaults of his adversaries, he next received a blow from Chun T’i’s magic wand, which felled him, and he took flight in a whirlwind of dust.

The defenders now offered no further resistance, and Yuean-shih T’ien-tsun thanked Chun T’i for the valuable assistance he had rendered in the capture of the village, after which the gods returned to their palace in the Western Heaven.

Attempts at Revenge

T’ung-t’ien Chiao-chu, vanquished and routed, swore to have his revenge.  He called to his aid the spirits of the twenty-eight constellations, and marched to attack Wu Wang’s army.  The honour of the victory that ensued belonged to Chun T’i, who disarmed both the Immortal Wu Yuen and T’ung-t’ien Chiao-chu.

Wu Yuen, armed with his magic sword, entered the lists against Chun T’i; but the latter opened his mouth and a blue lotus-flower came out and stopped the blows aimed at him.  Other thrusts were met by similar miracles.

“Why continue so useless a fight?” said Chun T’i at last.  “Abandon the cause of the Shang, and come with me to the Western Paradise.  I came to save you, and you must not compel me to make you resume your original form.”

An insulting flow of words was the reply; again the magic sword descended like lightning, and again the stroke was averted by a timely lotus-flower.  Chun T’i now waved his wand, and the magic sword was broken to bits, the handle only remaining in Wu Yuen’s hand.

The Golden-bearded Turtle

Mad with rage, Wu Yuen seized his club and tried to fell his enemy.  But Chun T’i summoned a disciple, who appeared with a bamboo pole.  This he thrust out like a fishing-rod, and on a hook at the end of the line attached to the pole dangled a large golden-bearded turtle.  This was the Immortal Wu Yuen, now in his original form of a spiritual turtle.  The disciple seated himself on its back, and both, disappearing into space, returned to the Western Heavens.

The Battle Won

To conquer T’ung-t’ien Chiao-chu was more difficult, but after a long fight Chun T’i waved his Wand of the Seven Treasures and broke his adversary’s sword.  The latter, disarmed and vanquished, disappeared in a cloud of dust.  Chun T’i did not trouble to pursue him.  The battle was won.

Buddhahood

A disciple of T’ung-t’ien Chiao-chu, P’i-lu Hsien, ’the Immortal P’i-lu,’ seeing his master beaten in two successive engagements, left the battlefield and followed Chun T’i to the Western Paradise, to become a Buddha.  He is known as P’i-lu Fo, one of the principal gods of Buddhism.