Chapter Summaries

The Heavenly Court and the Three Sovereigns sent aid as the Qin Empire faced a massive Demon Race invasion. Ying Zheng reached the southwestern front with the Xuanyuan Sword, while Xiao Zhen and the Heavenly River Navy fought alongside Qin forces on the Northern Sea battlefield.

• The Jade Emperor ordered Li Jing and Xiao Zhen to lead 100,000 Heavenly River Navy soldiers to help defend the Qin Empire, and approved other officials’ requests to join them.
• Fuxi, Shennong, and Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan met Ying Zheng, promised to defend the coast, and left him the Fuxi Zither, Shennong Cauldron, and Xuanyuan Sword.
• Wang Jian summoned Lord Wu'an Bai Qi to fight for Qin again, and Bai Qi agreed on the condition that it would be his last battle.
• Ying Zheng reached the southwestern border, learned the vanguard had suffered heavy losses, and ordered Meng Tian to attack with 5,000 Human Immortal elites.
• On the Northern Sea battlefield, Xiao Zhen subdued a Golden Immortal flood dragon, but a late Golden Immortal sea demon emerged and forced him into battle as other Heavenly Court fighters held off the remaining demons.

Xiao Zhen and the Heavenly Court forces confronted Demon Master Kunpeng, who had joined Lu Ya’s side against the Qin Empire. The Three Sovereigns and Yang Jian arrived to challenge him, but Duobao’s Evil Incarnation joined the fight, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Xiao Zhen destroyed a mid-grade Immortal Tool to blow off one of the nine-headed monster’s heads, forcing it to flee into the sea.
• Kunpeng swallowed the fleeing monster and struck Xiao Zhen away, then rejected Li Jing’s appeal to withdraw.
• Fuxi, Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan, and Shennong arrived and fought Kunpeng, while the injured Xiao Zhen expected the Three Sovereigns to overpower him together.
• Yang Jian arrived with reinforcements as Kunpeng’s forces were pushed back, and Kunpeng secretly demanded help from his allies.
• Duobao’s Evil Incarnation emerged from black qi and attacked the Three Sovereigns, turning the fight into a battle between two sides of three.
• Xiao Zhen identified the rat demon through his system and opened a livestream as the clash continued.

Meng Tian was defeated by the Bull Demon King before Ying Zheng intervened and confronted Golden Crow Crown Prince Lu Ya, whose Eastern Emperor Bell devastated soldiers and gave the demons the advantage. As the Qin army struggled against the demon forces, a powerful human swordsman arrived and killed a demon king with one strike.

• Meng Tian fought the Bull Demon King but was sent flying and gravely wounded, until Ying Zheng arrived and blasted the demon king away.
• Ying Zheng faced Lu Ya, who revealed the Eastern Emperor Bell and used it to wound souls and kill soldiers across the battlefield.
• Ying Zheng attacked Lu Ya with the Fuxi Zither, then clashed with him using the Shennong Cauldron against the Eastern Emperor Bell.
• The Qin forces were pushed back as Wang Jian and the remaining Golden Immortals fought the demon army's superior numbers.
• A black-armored swordsman arrived, revealed the power of a Great Luo Golden Immortal, and cleaved a demon king in half with a streak of sword qi.

Bai Qi fought the Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird while Ying Zheng battled Lu Ya, as the Buddhist sect watched from the shadows. The Great Peng Bird fled after Bai Qi wounded him, and Lu Ya withdrew once the coastal battle was decided, warning Ying Zheng about a powerful, unscrupulous sect.

• Bai Qi revealed his Great Luo Golden Immortal cultivation and charged at the Great Peng Bird, while Ying Zheng continued fighting Lu Ya.
• Samantabhadra and Guanyin discussed the Buddhist sect’s recent subjugation of the Great Peng Bird and his obedience to the World Honored One.
• Lu Ya apologized to the Great Peng Bird and left Bai Qi for him to handle, but Bai Qi quickly gained the upper hand and badly wounded him.
• The Great Peng Bird fled, promising to return with the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle, while Bai Qi could not catch up.
• Tathagata ordered Lu Ya to retreat after the Three Sovereigns forced Kunpeng back and killed the enormous black rat at the coast.
• Lu Ya withdrew with the Eastern Emperor Bell and warned Ying Zheng that he would face an unscrupulous sect, while Ying Zheng let him go.

After the Qin Empire defeated the Demon Race, Xiao Zhen helped Ying Zheng choose a successor and watched the empire endure Buddhist attempts to stir rebellion. Centuries later, Xiao Zhen reached the peak of the Golden Immortal realm and learned that Sun Wukong had returned from his apprenticeship, setting the stage for his next exploits.

• After Kunpeng ordered the sea demons to retreat, Kong Xuan swallowed Buddha Tathagata and fought him for control of Spirit Mountain.
• Xiao Zhen found Ying Zheng nearing death, and Ying Zheng chose to retire to Fire Cloud Cave after Fusu could rule on his own.
• Years later, Ying Zheng abdicated in favor of Fusu and went to Fire Cloud Cave, while Buddhist agents tried to recruit Xiang Yu and Liu Ji to challenge the Qin Empire.
• Xiang Yu drove the Buddhist agents away, and Liu Ji secretly alerted Qin troops, helping expose their arrival from the west.
• Several centuries later, Xiao Zhen emerged from seclusion at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm and learned Sun Wukong had returned from his apprenticeship.
• Xiao Zhen sent a capable subordinate to keep watch on Sun Wukong, who was expected to raid the Underworld and Dragon Palace next.

Jiao Mowang and other demon kings helped steer Sun Wukong through a series of planned events, while the Buddhist Sect paid the Heavenly Court and other parties to keep the scheme on track. After Sun Wukong was excluded from the Peach Banquet and got drunk, Xiao Zhen redirected him toward the Immortal Elixir Hall, with the Jade Emperor’s approval.

• Jiao Mowang sparred with Sun Wukong, defeated him, and prompted him to seek a weapon at the East Sea Dragon Palace.
• The Dragon Kings gave Sun Wukong the Golden Cudgel and Chainmail Armor, then Black and White Impermanence took him to the Underworld.
• King Yama and the Dragon King of the East Sea reported Sun Wukong’s actions, while Xiao Zhen watched and livestreamed the proceedings.
• Sun Wukong became Keeper of the Heavenly Stables, rebelled, and returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain before proclaiming himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
• The Heavenly Court made Sun Wukong guardian of the Peach Garden, and he ate its immortal peaches before being left off the Peach Banquet guest list.
• After Sun Wukong disrupted the Peach Banquet and got drunk, Xiao Zhen directed him toward the Immortal Elixir Hall, and the Jade Emperor tacitly approved.

Xiao Zhen orchestrated Sun Wukong’s theft of substituted elixirs from the Immortal Elixir Hall, then watched as the monkey raided Laojun’s Alchemy Room and rapidly increased his cultivation. Meanwhile, Han Li and Luo Feng joined the Chat Group and received welcome gifts from Xiao Zhen.

• An alchemist replaced the Immortal Elixir Hall’s valuable stock with specially prepared elixirs, and Sun Wukong stumbled upon the hall’s storage token after roughing up the alchemist.
• Sun Wukong entered the elixir vault, ate every bottle, and took some elixirs for the little monkeys while Xiao Zhen recorded the theft to use against the Western Buddhist Sect.
• Xiao Zhen shared the footage and distributed elixirs through the Chat Group as members joked about adding Sun Wukong’s debts to their tabs.
• Sun Wukong then raided Laojun’s Alchemy Room, ate its elixirs, and temporarily surged to the early Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
• Han Li and Luo Feng joined the Chat Group, learned about their futures, and received elixir gift packs and a cultivation technique from Xiao Zhen.

At the Tai Nan Gathering, Han Li examined the Chat Group’s gifts and worried that others might covet his Little Green Bottle. Meanwhile, Xiao Zhen’s livestream showed the Heavenly Court’s staged campaign against Sun Wukong end with the Monkey King captured and sent to Laojun’s Eight Trigrams Furnace.

• Han Li opened the Chat Group’s red packet, found many medicinal pills and an immortal-level cultivation technique, and decided to study the other members’ storylines.
• Nezha pretended to lose to Sun Wukong, after which Li Jing ordered the Heavenly Soldiers to attack Flower-Fruit Mountain and the Jade Emperor later ordered their withdrawal.
• Guanyin reviewed the Heavenly Court’s enormous claimed losses, saw Xiao Zhen’s image of a monkey emptying the Immortal Elixir Hall’s vault, and agreed that the Buddhist Sect would pay.
• Yang Jian fought Sun Wukong, but Laojun captured the Monkey King with a bracelet and took him away after his punishments failed to kill him.
• Laojun received the Jade Emperor’s permission to try refining an immortal pill from Sun Wukong, and Xiao Zhen ended the livestream while the monkey awaited the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Xiao Zhen traded with Han Li for the Little Green Bottle and accepted him as a nominal disciple. At the Ascension Convention, Xiao Zhen killed a cultivator who attacked him, then sent Han Li to fight so he could judge his strength.

• Han Li offered Xiao Zhen the Little Green Bottle in exchange for treasures to improve his cultivation aptitude.
• Xiao Zhen traveled to Han Li's world, suppressed the Divine Sense on the bottle, and accepted Han Li as a nominal disciple.
• Xiao Zhen and Han Li went to watch the Seven Great Sects of Yue Country hold the Ascension Convention.
• A cultivator surnamed Lu sent a Wind Blade toward Xiao Zhen, but it curved back and killed its caster.
• Xiao Zhen told Han Li to enter an arena so he could see how strong his new disciple was.

Han Li won the recruitment contest and chose to stay in his world under Xiao Zhen’s guidance so he could complete his mission himself. Xiao Zhen was promoted to master of the Immortal Elixir Hall, while events in the Heavenly Court and the Chat Group unfolded around him.

• Han Li defeated more than ten opponents, then chose to remain in his world and take Xiao Zhen’s incarnation as a ring-bound mentor.
• Xiao Zhen learned that the Monkey King had gained Fiery Golden Eyes, caused havoc in Heaven, and was suppressed by Buddha Tathagata.
• At the Peach Banquet, Xiao Zhen shared a scene of Fairy Chang'e dancing with the Chat Group, and Marshal Tianpeng was banished for molesting her.
• Xiao Zhen received Buddhist compensation and was promoted to master of the Immortal Elixir Hall, with Yang Chan assigned to monitor its ledgers.
• Xiao Zhen told the Chat Group he could no longer distribute pills as freely, prompting members to propose schemes, including Yang Jian’s suggestion that he marry his sister.

After learning of the Journey to the West demon-extermination mission, Xiao Zhen joined Ying Zheng’s plan to interfere with Golden Cicada’s reincarnation and sabotage the Buddhist Sect. They located the young reincarnation, but discovered that powerful Buddhist Sect figures were already watching over him.

• Xiao Zhen visited Ying Zheng at Fire Cloud Cave, where Ying Zheng revealed his anger at the Buddhist Sect’s past schemes against the Qin Empire and proposed turning Golden Cicada’s reincarnation against them.
• The system issued Xiao Zhen a lucrative mission to kill demons involved in Journey to the West, and Xiao Zhen invited the chat group to discuss how to take part without provoking the immortals who owned the demons.
• After two days, Xiao Zhen returned to Fire Cloud Cave and proposed using his soul to control Golden Cicada’s reincarnation; Ying Zheng agreed to help him sabotage the pilgrimage.
• Ying Zheng used Qin’s National Destiny to locate Golden Cicada’s first reincarnation, a five- or six-year-old monk living at a dilapidated temple with powerful Buddhist Sect members nearby.

Xiao Zhen completed his takeover of Golden Cicada's soul, broke through to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, and returned to find the Journey to the West beginning. In Xuanzang's tenth life, he lived as a notorious rogue until the Qin Empire selected a scripture-seeker, and Xiao Zhen remotely controlled him as the selection assembly began.

• Xiao Zhen used the system to invade Golden Cicada's soul and arranged for a Bodhi Seed to absorb resentment from many worlds until it corrupted and fused with the soul.
• Xiao Zhen learned that the Curtain-Rolling General had been a Buddhist Sect spy whom the Jade Emperor exposed and cast down to the mortal realm.
• Xiao Zhen reached the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm in another world, returned to the Heavenly Court, and discovered that the Journey to the West had begun and Golden Cicada had taken over Xuanzang's body.
• Xuanzang became a dissolute rogue in the Qin Empire, while the Buddhist Sect discovered the corrupted Bodhi Seed but could not remove it without risking damage to his soul.
• Guanyin prepared to begin the pilgrimage despite Xuanzang's behavior, and the Qin court announced a scripture-seeker selection after its ruler agreed to cooperate with the Buddhist Sect.
• Soldiers dragged Xuanzang from a brothel to the selection assembly, where Xiao Zhen remotely controlled him as he teased an elder who had vowed to eat his own excrement if Xuanzang were chosen.

Xuanzang won the Qin Empire’s scripture seeker selection despite running poorly and forgetting his Buddhist teachings, after Guanyin and the examiner intervened to ensure his victory. When the other monks protested and gathered outside the imperial palace, Emperor Qin Zhen ordered them to accept the decision and they dispersed.

• Xuanzang barely qualified in the running round after Guanyin secretly gave him a boost, then passed the appearance round while older monks were eliminated.
• Xuanzang admitted he had forgotten the scriptures during his Buddhist knowledge test, provoking laughter and outrage from the other monks.
• The examiner complained to Guanyin, who gave him a top-grade Jade Pendant, and he declared Xuanzang the winner.
• The monks accused the selection of being corrupt, while Xuanzang boasted to Da'an Temple’s elders that his competitors were simply inferior.
• The next day, protesting monks gathered outside the imperial palace, and Emperor Qin Zhen ordered them to accept the decision or complain to Guanyin and Buddha.
• The Qin Empire’s soldiers intimidated the monks into leaving the palace.

Xuanzang left for the Western Heavens with a black donkey after receiving a cultivation technique, royal travel supplies, and gifts from the Qin court. After several years without trouble, he reached the desolate western border and encountered a Tiger Demon, beginning his first trial.

• Xuanzang rode his black donkey to Xianyang, where Guanyin gave him a body-cultivation technique and the court presented him with an official document, a durable iron bowl, and 250 taels of silver.
• Xuanzang set out west from Xianyang and traveled for three or four years without encountering a demon.
• Near the Qin Empire's western border, Xuanzang's donkey balked at a mountain after hearing a tiger's roar, and Xuanzang beat it forward with his monk's staff.
• The Tiger Demon leaped from the mountain, threatened to eat Xuanzang, and dismissed him as a weak monk when Xuanzang challenged it.

Xuanzang survived a Tiger Demon’s attack with help from a disguised hunter, then reached Five Fingers Mountain and met Sun Wukong. After Xuanzang fell while climbing to remove the seal, Guanyin Bodhisattva rescued him.

• Xuanzang charged the Tiger Demon, but a hunter killed it with an arrow and guided Xuanzang safely out of the mountains.
• Xiao Zhen realized Taibai Jinxing had arranged the rescue, while Xuanzang traveled for months and reached Five Fingers Mountain.
• Sun Wukong begged Xuanzang to free him, but Xuanzang doubted his claims until the Earth God confirmed his identity.
• Xuanzang agreed to break the seal and climbed toward the golden talisman after the Earth God refused to help.
• Xuanzang slipped and fell down the mountain, but Guanyin Bodhisattva caught him with her magical power.

Xuanzang freed Sun Wukong from Five Fingers Mountain with Guanyin’s help, then began their journey west and showed his unconventional approach to Buddhist rules. After spending the night at a peasant household, Xuanzang cultivated while Sun Wukong wondered whether his master was a hidden genius.

• Guanyin helped Xuanzang reach Buddha’s seal, and Xuanzang removed it before leaping down as she caught him with divine power.
• Sun Wukong burst out of Five Fingers Mountain, thanked Guanyin, and set off with Xuanzang after receiving her guidance.
• Xuanzang and Sun Wukong stayed at a peasant household, where Xuanzang paid for chicken and duck and explained that eating meat would help him complete his mission.
• Xuanzang cultivated the Buddhist Body Cultivation Method that night, and Sun Wukong sensed his remarkable progress.
• New activity stirred outside while Xuanzang cultivated.

Xuanzang received the Golden Hoop and used the Headache Sutra to force Sun Wukong to submit, though the monkey secretly grew resentful. When they reached the White Dragon Horse’s pool, Sun Wukong fought the dragon but let him escape, and Xuanzang questioned him.

• Sun Wukong killed the bandits who attacked the old man’s family, frustrating Xuanzang, who had hoped to collect a reward.
• Guanyin appeared to Xuanzang in a dream, gave him a flower-patterned cap, and taught him the Headache Sutra.
• Sun Wukong put on the cap, which became the Golden Hoop, and Xuanzang tightened it with the sutra until the monkey collapsed and promised to behave.
• Sun Wukong repeatedly failed to destroy the Golden Hoop as the scripture-seeking group traveled onward.
• Sun Wukong fought the White Dragon Horse at a pool, but the dragon fled, and Xuanzang asked why he had not captured him.

Sun Wukong fought the White Dragon Horse until Guanyin explained that the dragon was meant to join Xuanzang’s pilgrimage, then transformed him into a mount. The party reached Guanyin Zen Temple, where Elder Jinchi became captivated by Xuanzang’s Brocade Kasaya.

• Sun Wukong drove the White Dragon Horse from his pool, but Guanyin arrived and explained the dragon’s mission to accompany Xuanzang westward.
• Guanyin transformed the White Dragon Horse into a mount, and Xuanzang let the frightened donkey run away.
• Xuanzang, Sun Wukong, and the White Dragon Horse continued their journey and found a Zen temple where Elder Jinchi welcomed them.
• Elder Jinchi showed Xuanzang his kasaya collection, and Sun Wukong brought out the Brocade Kasaya.
• Xuanzang wore the radiant Brocade Kasaya and said Guanyin had given it to him, astonishing Elder Jinchi.

Xuanzang exploited Elder Jinchi’s jealousy over the Brocade Kasaya, first inviting him on the scripture-seeking journey and then offering to sell the robe. After Guanyin’s coin toss rejected the sale, Xuanzang privately named a price of twenty thousand taels of gold, leaving Elder Jinchi to find the money.

• Xuanzang told Elder Jinchi about the scripture-seeking mission, making him jealous of Xuanzang’s chance to meet Buddha Tathagata and possess the Brocade Kasaya.
• Xuanzang invited Elder Jinchi to join the journey west, but Elder Jinchi hesitated and asked to buy the kasaya instead.
• Xuanzang tossed a copper coin to seek Guanyin Bodhisattva’s permission, and Guanyin used divine power to make it land tails-up.
• That night, Xuanzang offered to sell Elder Jinchi the kasaya for one hundred thousand taels of gold, then agreed to accept twenty thousand taels after hearing how much the Zen Temple could raise.

Elder Jinchi plotted to steal Xuanzang’s cassock, but Sun Wukong stopped the attack and pursued him to the Black Bear Demon’s cave. The Black Bear Demon was badly wounded, and Guanyin Bodhisattva was on her way as Sun Wukong prepared to strike the final blow.

• Elder Jinchi agreed to his disciples’ plan to kill Xuanzang and Sun Wukong and take their treasures, but Sun Wukong subdued the attackers and learned Jinchi had escaped in a gust of demonic wind.
• Sun Wukong and Xuanzang found Jinchi had been rescued by the Black Bear Demon, who had come to visit him and sensed Sun Wukong’s power.
• The Black Bear Demon refused to surrender Jinchi and fought Sun Wukong, who quickly gained the advantage.
• Xuanzang urged the White Dragon Horse to attack, and the transformed horse stabbed the Black Bear Demon from behind as Sun Wukong raised his Golden Cudgel to kill him.
• Xiao Zhen’s true body reported that Guanyin Bodhisattva had left Mount Putuo and would arrive in less than the time it took to burn an incense stick.