Recaps

Hun Xiu left the Great Thousand World and reclaimed his authority as Haotian in the Three Realms, defeating the Heavenly Court and Buddhist leaders. After bargaining with Tathagata, he returned Tang Sanzang so the Journey to the West could continue, but the attempt to free Sun Wukong went awry.

• Hun Xiu returned to the Hall of Souls, reunited with Medusa, and defeated Lin Dong before destroying him when he renewed his challenge.
• Ling Qingzhu became a Dominator with Hun Xiu’s help, killed Long Aotian, and restored order in the Martial Realm before Hun Xiu took her into his family.
• Hun Xiu left for other worlds, destroyed the Heaven Origin World, and traveled to the Journey to the West world, where he announced himself as Haotian.
• Hun Xiu captured Tang Sanzang and several Heavenly Court figures, then seized the Jade Emperor’s throne and erased Zhang Bairen from the Three Realms.
• Hun Xiu defeated Tathagata, killed Subhuti, and reduced Randeng and Maitreya’s cultivation after the Buddhist leaders challenged his control of the pilgrimage.
• Daoist Jieyin arranged for Tathagata to offer Hun Xiu spiritual treasures, and Hun Xiu accepted them and returned the unharmed Tang Sanzang.
• Tathagata sent Tang Sanzang onward with some memories erased, but when Tang Sanzang removed the talisman on Five Elements Mountain, it grew heavier and crushed Sun Wukong deeper into the earth.

Hun Xiu’s schemes restored the Ancestral Dragon and brought Eastern Sovereign Taiyi back into the Three Realms, disrupting the Journey to the West and challenging the Buddhist Sect’s influence. The Buddhist Sect withdrew from the contest for the Eastern Sovereign Bell while Tathagata planned to recruit Taiyi, and the Bell’s power stirred again at Fuling Mountain.

• Guanyin and Samantabhadra failed to free Sun Wukong from Mount Buzhou, while the Green-Robed Daoist took Tang Sanzang and Tathagata set out to investigate.
• Duobao fought Tathagata at Spirit Mountain before Hun Xiu rescued him, then Hun Xiu brought Golden Cicada from the past to replace Tang Xuanzang on the journey.
• Tathagata restored Tang Xuanzang’s place in the journey, while Hun Xiu summoned Ancestral Dragon Ao Zhan, who empowered Little White Dragon and confronted the Buddhist Sect at Eagle Sorrow Gorge.
• Ao Zhan defeated Tathagata and the Buddhist fighters until Hun Xiu stopped the battle, and Ao Lie released Tang Xuanzang before becoming his white horse.
• Guanyin encountered Daoist Cihang, her former identity, while Hun Xiu summoned Eastern Sovereign Taiyi and sent him to recruit Zhu Bajie.
• Zhu Bajie left the Gao Family with Gao Cuilan, fought Sun Wukong, and was protected by the Eastern Sovereign Bell when Guanyin intervened.
• The Great Powers and Buddhist Sect disputed possession of the Eastern Sovereign Bell, until Mahavairocana Tathagata revealed that he was Little Tenth and that Eastern Sovereign Taiyi was alive.
• Tathagata led the Buddhist Sect away from the Bell and agreed to offer Taiyi the position of Present Buddha, while the Bell released a terrifying force at Fuling Mountain.

Eastern Sovereign Taiyi returned and began gathering demons to rebuild the Demon Court, while Tang Xuanzang’s party gained Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing as disciples. After the Ginseng Fruit Tree vanished, Zhenyuanzi captured the pilgrims and forced Tathagata to negotiate, leaving the Buddhist Sect searching for answers and weighing a bargain or war.

• Eastern Sovereign Taiyi returned, defeated Kunpeng, and gathered former Demon Court generals, but the Heavenly Court claimed Kunpeng and made him guard the South Heaven Gate.
• Guanyin disciplined Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, after which Tang Xuanzang accepted Zhu Bajie as his disciple and renamed him Zhu Wuneng.
• Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie rescued Tang Xuanzang from Yellow Wind Cave with Great Master Lingbao’s help, then discovered the Red-Haired Monster was Sha Wujing, a former Heavenly Court general assigned to protect Tang Xuanzang.
• Hun Xiu stopped Guanyin from transferring Sha Wujing to the Buddhist Sect without his approval, then arranged for Sha Wujing to accompany the pilgrims and return to the Heavenly Court after the journey.
• Guanyin discovered that the Ginseng Fruit Tree had disappeared, and Zhenyuanzi used the Book of Earth to find and capture Tang Xuanzang’s party.
• Zhenyuanzi imprisoned the pilgrims at Five Elements Temple and pierced the disciples’ Pipa Bones, while Sun Wukong’s insults brought Tathagata and Guanyin to confront him.
• Tathagata offered Sun Wukong to Zhenyuanzi as punishment, and Zhenyuanzi tormented him in the Oil Cauldron before agreeing to discuss the missing tree.
• Tathagata told Daoist Zhunti and Daoist Jieyin that the tree had vanished, and Daoist Zhunti instructed him to offer Zhenyuanzi more pilgrimage merit or threaten war if he refused.

Hun Xiu acquired the Book of Earth and the Book of Humanity while manipulating the Journey to the West trials and creating doubles that baffled even the Saints. After defeating Hongjun and the Saints in Chaos, he returned to the Three Realms and decided to step out of the shadows.

• Tathagata deceived Zhenyuanzi about the Ginseng Fruit Tree, and their battle at Five Elements Temple ended when Hun Xiu intervened, took the Book of Earth, and promised to protect Zhenyuanzi.
• Hun Xiu retrieved the Ginseng Fruit Tree, obtained the Book of Humanity from Houtu in exchange for helping her leave the Netherworld, and later stopped her fight with Eastern Sovereign Taiyi.
• During the White Bone Spirit trial, Zhu Bajie tried to assault her until Grand Master Xuandu intervened and rebuked him, then told Hun Xiu he was disappointed in Tianpeng.
• Hun Xiu took Grand Supreme Elder from the Grand Supreme Saint and sent him to Lotus Flower Cave, where a second, apparently genuine Grand Supreme Elder appeared and confused the Three Realms’ powers.
• Dao Ancestor Hongjun and the Saints investigated the two Grand Supreme Elders, but Hun Xiu’s double was ultimately erased and the Pingding Mountain tribulation ended.
• Hun Xiu captured Manjusri Bodhisattva, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Manjusri Guangfa Heavenly Venerate, and Cihang, then transformed the latter pair into convincing copies and sent them back.
• Hun Xiu fought Daoist Zhunti and Daoist Jieyin in Chaos, then faced Hongjun and the other Saints, stopping Hongjun’s attack with a single strike.
• Hun Xiu spared Hongjun and the Saints, returned to the Three Realms, and decided to emerge from the shadows as Hongjun recognized Haotian as the mastermind.