Recaps

Hun Xiu bypassed the Hall of Souls’ trials and returned to the Great Thousand World, where he reunited with Medusa after a thousand-year absence. He kept his return secret and stayed with her, while Nie Tianxin passed the selection and mistakenly believed Hun Xiu had been eliminated.

• Hun Xiu entered the Hall of Souls’ illusion trial and immediately shattered it, causing Hun Xiao to sense his aura and search for him.
• Hun Xiu watched Hun Xiao leave, then vanished and appeared at Medusa’s secluded cultivation grounds.
• Medusa initially thought Hun Xiu was an illusion, but recognized him when he spoke and embraced him in tears.
• Hun Xiu agreed to keep his return secret and stay with Medusa for a few days.
• Three days later, Nie Tianxin had passed the Hall of Souls’ selection and advanced to Earth Sovereign, but could not find Hun Xiu and assumed he had failed.
• Hun Qiu introduced himself to the new disciples, and the crowd eventually burst into laughter at his appearance.

Hun Xiu predicted that Nie Tianxin would become a ruler, then returned to the Hall of Souls as news of his reappearance spread across the Great Thousand World. Lin Dong arrived to challenge Hun Xiu over an old humiliation, and Hun Xiu accepted while warning him of the cost of defeat.

• Hun Xiu told Medusa that Nie Tianxin had the potential to become a ruler within a hundred years, but said the Hall of Souls should treat him like every other disciple.
• News of Hun Xiu's return spread, and Lin Dong emerged from seclusion to travel with Lin Diao and Lin Hu to the Hall of Souls.
• Lin Dong confronted Hun Gu and declared that he had come to challenge Hun Xiu, not to make an enemy of the Hall of Souls.
• Hun Xiu appeared, and Nie Tianxin and the new disciples recognized him as the legendary Emperor Xiu.
• Hun Xiu warned Lin Dong that losing would carry a price he could not bear, but Lin Dong insisted on fighting.

Lin Dong challenged Hun Xiu, but his strongest halberd strike failed to move Hun Xiu and left Lin Dong overwhelmed by the gap in their strength. Hun Xiu offered him a way out, and Lin Dong admitted defeat while vowing to catch up and surpass him someday.

• Lin Dong insisted on fighting Hun Xiu, and Hun Gu cleared the void while the Hall of Souls experts shielded the Western Heaven Continent.
• Hun Xiu kept his hands behind his back and invited Lin Dong to attack without preparing.
• Lin Dong launched his God-Demon Annihilation strike, but it struck an invisible barrier and the backlash sent him flying ten thousand miles away.
• Hun Xiu asked whether Lin Dong still wished to fight, and Lin Dong fell silent as he realized he could not contend with him.
• Hun Xiu told Lin Dong to catch up, then appeared before him and offered him a way out.
• Lin Dong put away his halberd, admitted he was no match for Hun Xiu, and secretly vowed to surpass him one day.

Hun Xiu killed Lin Dong with a casual finger after Lin Dong admitted defeat, leaving the Great Thousand World shocked and the Martial Realm without its ruler. He spared Lin Diao and Lin Hu, who returned to a Martial Realm threatened by outside factions and internal rivals.

• Hun Xiu confronted Lin Dong over the consequences of his defeat, and Lin Dong realized Hun Xiu had never intended to spare him.
• Lin Dong summoned his halberd and challenged Hun Xiu, but Hun Xiu pointed one finger and turned Lin Dong and his weapon to dust.
• Lin Diao stopped Lin Hu from rushing at Hun Xiu, and the brothers resolved to survive so they could someday seek revenge.
• Hun Xiu considered killing Lin Diao and Lin Hu but let them live, while Nie Tianxin vowed to become as powerful as Hun Xiu.
• The visiting factions left, and the Martial Realm descended into chaos as outside forces coveted it and internal rivals gained ground.
• Lin Diao and Lin Hu safely returned to the Martial Realm but struggled to suppress its many ambitious Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereigns.

Long Aotian cornered Lin Hu and Lin Diao and tried to force them to submit, but their defiance and Shi Long’s suspicions disrupted his plan to make Shi Long kill them. Long Aotian killed Shi Long instead, leaving the two brothers still trapped among his forces.

• Long Aotian besieged the wounded Lin Hu and Lin Diao and demanded they submit to him, but both refused and denounced him as a traitor.
• Long Aotian ordered Shi Long to kill the brothers and promised him the position of Second Realm Master, while Lin Diao warned Shi Long he could be killed afterward.
• Shi Long hesitated, then rejected the offer and tried to pass the task to Long Aotian’s trusted aide, Long Tianba, who refused as well.
• Long Aotian grew furious when Shi Long would not act and struck him, piercing his heart with a claw.
• Long Aotian drained Shi Long’s vitality, killing him as Lin Hu and Lin Diao remained surrounded.

Long Aotian killed Shi Long and moved to eliminate Lin Hu and Lin Diao, but Ling Qingzhu appeared and forced him to kneel before challenging him. She summoned the Firmament Ranking and managed to inscribe only the character “Ling,” leaving her short of becoming a Master.

• Long Aotian killed Shi Long and planned to blame him for Lin Hu and Lin Diao’s deaths before attacking the two brothers himself.
• Ling Qingzhu appeared as the Martial Realm Mistress, forced Long Aotian to his knees with her aura, and confronted him.
• Long Aotian recovered, challenged Ling Qingzhu, and expressed his desire to make her his woman.
• Ling Qingzhu unleashed her full aura and summoned the Firmament Ranking, alarming the rebels and drawing the attention of powerful figures across the Great Thousand World.
• Ling Qingzhu tried to write her full name on the ranking but exhausted herself after inscribing only “Ling.”

Ling Qingzhu and Long Aotian both became Half-step Dominators after leaving their surnames on the Firmament Ranking. Their battle ended with both badly injured, leaving neither able to overpower the other.

• Ling Qingzhu struck Long Aotian, who survived the attack and revealed that he could summon the Firmament Ranking.
• Hun Xiu told Medusa that Long Aotian would likely manage to leave only his surname on the ranking.
• Long Aotian summoned the Firmament Ranking and struggled until he inscribed his surname, becoming a Half-step Dominator.
• Long Aotian and Ling Qingzhu clashed with the Dragon Transformation Art and her cyan lotus, and both suffered serious injuries.
• Long Aotian realized he could not crush Ling Qingzhu without reaching the Master Realm.

Ling Qingzhu accepted Hun Xiu’s help and became a Dominator by writing her full name on the Firmament Ranking, surpassing Long Aotian. The chapter ended with Long Aotian kneeling and pleading for mercy, leaving Ling Qingzhu stunned.

• Long Aotian and Ling Qingzhu argued after their evenly matched battle, and Ling Qingzhu warned that a Dominator could kill him.
• Ling Qingzhu agreed to Hun Xiu’s offer, and Hun Xiu empowered her, healing her injuries and releasing a terrifying aura.
• Ling Qingzhu summoned the Firmament Ranking again and wrote her given name, becoming the first Dominator in a thousand years who did not belong to the Hall of Souls.
• Long Aotian realized Ling Qingzhu had become a Dominator and fell to his knees, pleading, “Mercy, Mistress!”
• Ling Qingzhu was stunned by Long Aotian’s sudden submission.

Ling Qingzhu killed Long Aotian and the Martial Realm’s traitors, then forced the outside factions to return what they had taken. After entrusting the Martial Realm to Lin Diao and Lin Hu, she departed toward the west, leaving them to infer that she was going to face a terrifying power.

• Ling Qingzhu rejected Long Aotian’s pleas and killed him with a storm of power.
• Ling Qingzhu executed the Martial Realm’s rebel followers, frightening the watching factions.
• Ling Qingzhu warned the outside factions to return the Martial Realm’s possessions, and they complied.
• Ling Qingzhu healed Lin Diao and Lin Hu and entrusted the Martial Realm to them.
• Ling Qingzhu looked west and vanished, while Lin Diao stopped Lin Hu from trying to hold her back.

Hun Xiu brought Ling Qingzhu into the Hall of Souls, then prepared to leave the Great Thousand World and encouraged Nie Tianxin to pursue becoming a Sovereign. He departed for Heaven Origin World, where the chapter recalled Zhou Yuan’s defeat at his hands.

• Lin Diao vowed to grow stronger and find his sister-in-law, blaming Hun Xiu for the Martial Realm’s fate.
• Hun Xiu removed Ling Qingzhu’s veil, embraced her, and introduced her to the women of the Hall of Souls as a new member of their family.
• One month later, Hun Xiu privately met Nie Tianxin and told him he planned to leave the Great Thousand World for other planes and universes.
• Hun Xiu encouraged Nie Tianxin to become a Sovereign, and Nie Tianxin promised to catch up to him before his return.
• Hun Xiu left the Great Thousand World for Heaven Origin World, where Zhou Yuan had once served as the universe’s guardian before Hun Xiu destroyed him.

Hun Xiu arrived at Peach Blossom Garden and revealed that Zhou Yuan had fallen, then destroyed Tun Tun and the Heaven Origin World while forcing Yao Yao to postpone her revenge. After leaving Yao Yao behind, Hun Xiu traveled to the Journey to the West world, where his divine sense alarmed the Three Realms' powerful beings.

• Hun Xiu appeared at Peach Blossom Garden and told Yao Yao he had come to take her away, while Tun Tun recognized him as the terror Zhou Yuan had once warned about.
• Hun Xiu destroyed the peach trees and threatened Yao Yao, then killed Tun Tun when Tun Tun struggled against him.
• Yao Yao attacked Hun Xiu in grief and rage, but her strike vanished without affecting him.
• Hun Xiu destroyed the Heaven Origin World and offered Yao Yao one chance to kill him in the future; she held back, and he left her behind.
• Hun Xiu forced Big White Goose to grow stronger on the Myriad Manifestation Continent, then traveled to Flower and Fruit Mountain in the Journey to the West world.
• Hun Xiu's divine sense swept through the Three Realms, startling Grand Supreme Elder and drawing the attention of Jade Emperor Zhang Bairen, Chi Yao, and other Heavenly Court powers.

Hun Xiu visited Sun Wukong beneath Five Elements Mountain and mocked him before leaving. Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang entered Shuangcha Ridge, where the Tiger Demon captured him and prepared to eat him as Taibai Jinxing watched from hiding.

• Queen Mother Chi Yao and the Buddhas sensed a terrifying divine sense, but none could identify its source, so Tathagata Buddha ordered Guanyin Bodhisattva to monitor the Journey to the West.
• Hun Xiu appeared beneath Five Elements Mountain, met Sun Wukong, and dismissed his former rebellion as a joke before leaving him furious.
• Tang Sanzang rode into Shuangcha Ridge as Taibai Jinxing hid nearby, intending to rescue him and earn merit when the planned danger arose.
• The Tiger Demon captured Tang Sanzang and brought him to its cave while Taibai Jinxing watched, confident he could intervene.
• Tang Sanzang identified himself as the scripture pilgrim, and the Tiger Demon revealed it planned to eat him for the rumored benefits of his flesh.

Taibai Jinxing rescued Tang Sanzang from the Tiger Demon, but Hun Xiu appeared and revealed himself as the supposedly dead Haotian. Haotian demanded that Zhang Bairen surrender the authority over the Three Realms, leaving the Jade Emperor and the Heavenly Court in disbelief.

• Taibai Jinxing killed the Tiger Demon and rescued Tang Sanzang, who thanked him for saving his life.
• Hun Xiu appeared before Tang Sanzang, and Taibai Jinxing returned when he heard the monk cry for help.
• Taibai Jinxing's attack had no effect on Hun Xiu, who forced him to his knees and revealed himself as Haotian.
• Haotian ordered Taibai Jinxing to tell Zhang Bairen to trade Tang Sanzang for the authority over the Three Realms.
• Taibai Jinxing rushed into the High Cloud Palace and told Zhang Bairen that Haotian was alive and had abducted Tang Sanzang.

Hun Xiu used his role as Haotian to convince the Heavenly Court that Haotian had returned, then defeated Li Jing and sent Nezha back with a threat to Zhang Bairen. Zhang Bairen raged at the message as the prospect of Haotian reclaiming the throne threw the Three Realms into uncertainty.

• Taibai Jinxing told Zhang Bairen that Haotian was alive and had kidnapped Tang Sanzang, and Thousand-Mile Eyes and Wind-Attuned Ears confirmed they saw him at Shuangcha Ridge before Hun Xiu injured them.
• Zhang Bairen ordered Li Jing to investigate, and Li Jing brought Nezha and ten thousand Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to Shuangcha Ridge, convinced Haotian was a demon in disguise.
• Hun Xiu summoned the Haotian Mirror from Zhang Bairen and knocked Li Jing from the sky with his presence, then pinned him to the ground.
• Nezha recognized Hun Xiu as resembling Haotian, and Hun Xiu ordered him to tell Zhang Bairen to prepare to surrender the throne; Nezha left Li Jing behind and returned to Heaven.
• Nezha told Zhang Bairen that Li Jing was Hun Xiu's captive and relayed Haotian's threat, prompting Zhang Bairen to smash objects in anger.

Zhang Bairen tried to find an immortal willing to deal with the demon at Shuangcha Ridge, so Taibai Jinxing recommended Erlang Shen. When Taibai told Yang Jian that the demon called himself Great Emperor Haotian, Yang Jian erupted with pressure and demanded to know what he meant.

• Zhang Bairen argued that the gods and Buddhas would keep him on the throne, then asked the immortals in the High Cloud Palace to capture the demons at Shuangcha Ridge.
• Fire Virtue Star Lord and Water Virtue Star Lord refused Zhang Bairen's order, and the other gods also avoided volunteering.
• Taibai Jinxing recommended Erlang Shen of Guanjiang Estuary, and Zhang Bairen ordered him to invite Erlang Shen to slay the demon.
• At Yang Residence, Howling Celestial Dog attacked Taibai Jinxing before Yang Jian came out and pretended not to know why the Star Lord was bedraggled.
• Taibai Jinxing told Yang Jian that the demon called himself Great Emperor Haotian, and Yang Jian released a terrifying aura as he demanded an explanation.

Yang Jian reached Shuangcha Ridge and attacked Hun Xiu, whom he believed to be Haotian, to avenge his family, but none of his blows could harm him. Guanyin Bodhisattva arrived after sensing the battle and saw Yang Jian fighting an unidentified opponent.

• Taibai Jinxing told Yang Jian that Haotian might be alive at Shuangcha Ridge, and Yang Jian set out with the Howling Celestial Dog to kill him.
• Hun Xiu kept Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing pinned beneath his foot until Li Jing called for Yang Jian's help, and Hun Xiu stomped him into the dirt to silence him.
• Yang Jian used his Celestial Eye and confirmed that Hun Xiu looked exactly like Haotian, then asked if he was truly his uncle.
• Yang Jian attacked Hun Xiu with his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, but Hun Xiu remained unharmed as the blows flattened Shuangcha Ridge and its surrounding mountains.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva arrived after sensing Great Principle Golden Immortal-level magical power and saw Yang Jian battling an opponent she could not identify.

Hun Xiu overwhelmed Guanyin Bodhisattva and Yang Jian, then brought them and their companions to the Heavenly Court and reclaimed the Jade Emperor’s throne from Zhang Bairen. His return stunned the Three Realms, and Chi Yao and Grand Supreme Elder recognized him as Haotian.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva arrived at Shuangcha Ridge, recognized Hun Xiu as Haotian, and was pinned to the ground when she challenged him.
• Hun Xiu subdued Yang Jian and swept up Guanyin Bodhisattva, Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing, and Howling Celestial Dog before taking them to the Heavenly Court.
• Hun Xiu entered the High Cloud Palace, killed an immortal who challenged him, and forced the gathered immortals and gods to kneel.
• Hun Xiu made Zhang Bairen leave the Jade Emperor’s throne, took the seat, and announced his return to the Three Realms.
• Chi Yao and Grand Supreme Elder heard Hun Xiu’s voice and recognized him as Haotian; Chi Yao then reunited with him in the High Cloud Palace.

Hun Xiu overwhelmed Grand Supreme Elder and reclaimed control of the Three Realms after Zhang Bairen surrendered and was erased. He lifted the gods’ restrictions, sent Guanyin Bodhisattva to summon Duobao to discuss the Journey to the West, and ordered Yang Jian and the Howling Celestial Dog imprisoned.

• Hun Xiu confronted Grand Supreme Elder, resisted his attempt to free Zhang Bairen, and declared that Zhang Bairen could no longer rule the Three Realms.
• Hun Xiu’s aura injured Grand Supreme Elder, who gave up intervening and disappeared from the High Cloud Palace.
• Hun Xiu reclaimed the throne as the supreme ruler of the Three Realms, and Zhang Bairen submitted to his command.
• Hun Xiu erased Zhang Bairen from the Three Realms and lifted the restrictions on Guanyin Bodhisattva, Yang Jian, Li Jing, the Howling Celestial Dog, and the others.
• Hun Xiu ordered Guanyin Bodhisattva to tell Duobao to discuss the Journey to the West in the Heavenly Court, then sent Yang Jian and the Howling Celestial Dog to the Sky Prison.

Hun Xiu demanded all the merit from the Journey to the West, but Tathagata rejected his terms and challenged him, believing the times had changed. Hun Xiu effortlessly dispelled Tathagata’s attack and forced him to his knees, showing that the Three Realms were no longer as Tathagata remembered.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva told Tathagata and the Buddhas that Haotian had returned and taken control of the Three Realms.
• Tathagata and Guanyin Bodhisattva went to the Heavenly Court to negotiate the Journey to the West with Hun Xiu.
• Hun Xiu demanded all the merit from the pilgrimage, and Tathagata refused, arguing that the Journey to the West would continue regardless.
• Tathagata challenged Hun Xiu to fight and claimed that the times had changed.
• Tathagata’s golden palm attack vanished against Hun Xiu, who overwhelmed him with his pressure and forced him to his knees.
• Hun Xiu told Tathagata that the Three Realms had long since changed.

After Hun Xiu defeated Tathagata and reduced him to the early Quasi-Saint stage, Tathagata returned to Spirit Mountain and reported Hun Xiu’s demand for all the merit from Journey to the West’s eighty-one tribulations. Subhuti, Randeng, and Maitreya went to the Heavenly Court to confront Hun Xiu, where he refused to hand over the Scripture Pilgrim without receiving the merit and prepared to fight them.

• Hun Xiu kicked Tathagata, reducing his cultivation from the peak to the early stage of Quasi-Saint, and Guanyin Bodhisattva took him away from the Heavenly Court.
• Tathagata told Subhuti, Randeng, and Maitreya that Hun Xiu demanded all the merit from Journey to the West and had defeated him without using his full strength.
• Subhuti decided to confront Hun Xiu with Randeng and Maitreya, while Tathagata hoped their defeat would secure his position as Buddhist Sect leader.
• Subhuti, Randeng, and Maitreya arrived at the Heavenly Court and demanded that Hun Xiu hand over the Scripture Pilgrim.
• Hun Xiu insisted on receiving all the merit from the eighty-one tribulations before giving up the Scripture Pilgrim, and Subhuti challenged him to fight.

Hun Xiu defeated Subhuti, Randeng, and Maitreya in the Heavenly Court, killed Subhuti, and reduced the other two’s cultivation. Beyond the Three Realms, Daoist Zhunti learned that his incarnation had been destroyed by Haotian and was left puzzled by Haotian’s return.

• Subhuti, Randeng, and Maitreya attacked Hun Xiu together, but his barrier rebounded their Dharma power and left them defeated.
• Grand Supreme Elder arrived at Jade Pool Hall, saw Hun Xiu had overwhelmed the three, and departed without intervening.
• Hun Xiu killed Subhuti, causing Daoist Zhunti to sense the loss of his incarnation and discover through calculation that Haotian had destroyed it.
• Daoist Zhunti and Daoist Jieyin wondered how Haotian could have returned, while Randeng and Maitreya feared Hun Xiu would kill them next.
• Hun Xiu spared Randeng and Maitreya but reduced their cultivation from the peak of the Quasi-Saint realm to its initial stage as punishment.

After Randeng and Maitreya returned from the Heavenly Court, Tathagata learned that Subhuti had likely perished and was left to handle Hun Xiu’s demands. As Tathagata considered compromising, a projection appeared, and he recognized the World Honored One.

• Randeng and Maitreya returned to Spirit Mountain badly injured, while Tathagata asked what had happened to Subhuti.
• Randeng and Maitreya’s grief led Tathagata to realize Subhuti might have perished in the Heavenly Court.
• Randeng and Maitreya said they would enter seclusion and leave the Buddhist Sect’s affairs to Tathagata.
• Tathagata weighed Hun Xiu’s excessive demands and considered compromising, since the Scripture Pilgrim was in Hun Xiu’s hands.
• A projection appeared in Tathagata’s secret chamber, and Tathagata bowed, greeting the World Honored One.

Daoist Zhunti sent a projection to the Heavenly Court to demand the release of the Scripture Pilgrim, but Hun Xiu rejected his claims and dismissed the projection. Chi Yao warned Hun Xiu that the Buddhist Sect would not let the matter go and urged him to release the prisoner, but he refused.

• Daoist Zhunti's projection questioned Tathagata about the death of his incarnation and then headed to the Heavenly Court.
• Tathagata recounted what had happened and hoped Daoist Zhunti could retrieve the Scripture Pilgrim from Hun Xiu.
• Daoist Zhunti's projection confronted Hun Xiu in the Jade Pool, claiming the Journey to the West was ordained by the Heavenly Dao.
• Hun Xiu challenged Daoist Zhunti's authority and accused him of defying the Dao Ancestor's decree, then erased his projection with a wave of his hand.
• Daoist Zhunti complained to Daoist Jieyin that Hun Xiu had berated him, while Chi Yao warned Hun Xiu the Buddhist Sect would not let the matter rest.
• Chi Yao urged Hun Xiu to release the Scripture Pilgrim, but he refused.

Hun Xiu accepted the Buddhist Sect’s magical treasures in exchange for agreeing to continue Journey to the West and releasing Tang Sanzang. After Tathagata departed with the pilgrim, Hun Xiu resolved to claim the journey’s merit as the Three Realms approached chaos.

• Chi Yao urged Hun Xiu to return Tang Sanzang, but he assured her he could handle the Buddhist Sect.
• Daoist Zhunti nearly descended into the Three Realms in anger after Hun Xiu dispersed his projection, but Daoist Jieyin stopped him.
• Daoist Zhunti and Daoist Jieyin suspected an unseen powerful being had manipulated Zhunti’s anger, though neither could divine who it was.
• Daoist Jieyin instructed Tathagata to offer Hun Xiu three top-grade, ten high-grade, and fifteen mid-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures to secure the journey’s continuation and Tang Sanzang’s release.
• Tathagata brought the treasures to Hun Xiu, who accepted them, agreed to Journey to the West, and returned the unharmed Tang Sanzang.
• Tathagata left with Tang Sanzang, while Hun Xiu privately resolved to take all the journey’s merit and anticipated chaos in the Three Realms.

After Tang Sanzang reached Two Realms Mountain, he found Sun Wukong trapped beneath an unusually enormous Five Elements Mountain and removed its talisman with Guanyin Bodhisattva’s help. The mountain grew impossibly heavy instead of releasing Sun Wukong, and Guanyin tried to break through the disruption with her magic.

• Tathagata Buddha returned Tang Sanzang to Spirit Mountain, checked him for tampering, erased some of his memories, and sent him onward with Taibai Jinxing’s rescue story intact.
• Tang Sanzang reached Two Realms Mountain, where Sun Wukong had waited for three years after Guanyin Bodhisattva promised a Scripture Pilgrim would free him.
• Tang Sanzang hesitated to climb the unnaturally tall Five Elements Mountain, so Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared and used a spell to send him to its summit.
• Tang Sanzang removed the talisman, but the mountain became far heavier and crushed Sun Wukong deeper into the earth instead of freeing him.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva reassured Tang Sanzang and struck the mountain with her magical power as Sun Wukong pleaded for help.