Recaps

After the deaths of the Chan Sect’s disciples, the Saints clashed over the Jie Sect and the Immortal Execution Sword Formation fell. Tongtian prepared the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, bargained with Zhou Ming for help escaping the Heavenly Dao, and Wen Zhong returned to Golden Ao Island to stand with his sect.

• Yang Jiao opened a passage through Immortal Weng of the South Pole’s banner, allowing Zhao Gongming and Yang Jian to kill him with their attacks.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun attacked Zhao Gongming and the Yang siblings, but Tongtian intervened, and the Twelve Golden Immortals’ True Spirits were drawn into the Investiture of the Gods.
• Zhunti tried to seize Kong Xuan, but Di Xin and Nuwa protected him, while Taiqing broke up the fight between Tongtian and Primordial Lord Tianzun.
• Dao Ancestor Hongjun stopped Primordial Lord Tianzun from freeing Guang Chengzi’s True Spirit, and Primordial Lord Tianzun joined forces with Taiqing against Tongtian.
• Tongtian accepted Primordial Lord Tianzun’s challenge and entered the Immortal Execution Sword Formation with Wu and Nuwa, but Taiqing and his incarnations removed the four swords and collapsed the formation.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun challenged Tongtian to form the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, and Tongtian returned to Golden Ao Island to prepare his disciples for battle.
• Tongtian offered Zhou Ming the Heaven-Opening Marks in exchange for help saving Jie Sect disciples and a chance to sever his Saint Position, and Zhou Ming secured Nuwa’s further assistance.
• Wen Zhong left Chaoge for Golden Ao Island, where Saint Mother Jinling directed him to follow Yunxiao and help the disciples master the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation.

Tongtian and the Jie Sect fought the Four Saints, and Zhou Ming helped end the Tribulation while freeing Tongtian from the Heavenly Dao. The surviving disciples entered the Heavenly Court, while Wu surrendered the throne and departed for Huoyun Cave.

• Tongtian led the Jie Sect disciples into battle at Sishui Pass, where the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation faced the Four Saints and Nuwa and Wu fought Taiqing and Zhunti.
• Zhao Gongming used the Six Souls Banner to curse the Saints, and Jieyin and Zhunti withdrew from the Mystic Gate to establish Buddhism as the formation collapsed and Jie Sect disciples were killed or captured.
• Tongtian agreed to help shatter the Investiture of the Gods, freeing countless True Spirits, but Hongjun arrived and punished the Saints for wrecking the Primordial Wilderness.
• Zhou Ming intervened as Tongtian renounced his Saint Position, then helped him sever his Heavenly Dao connection in exchange for Tongtian’s Heaven-Opening Mark.
• Hongjun destroyed the Saint-Smiting Pills, set terms for the Saints and Wu, and joined Zhou Ming in repairing the Primordial World before the surviving Jie Sect disciples returned to Golden Ao Island.
• Nuwa forced Jieyin and Zhunti to promise her a share of the West’s future merit, while they planned to earn more Merit by helping deliver suffering beings in the Underworld.
• Haotian appointed Saint Mother Jinling and other Jie Sect survivors to Heavenly Court posts, and planned to place the arriving Chan Sect disciples under their command.
• Wu passed the Human Emperor Sword and throne to Yin Jiao, then left for Huoyun Cave with Queen Jiang, Consort Huang, Su Daji, and the Three Demons of Xuanyuan Tomb.

Wu began developing a Human Clan Hunyuan Dao as Zhou Ming completed the Pangu Realm, while Pingxin established a Buddhist mission in the Underworld and Hongyun demanded repayment from the Western Saints. Taiqing later sent Duobao to the West, where Randeng and Shen Gongbao tried to redirect his resolve as the Western Saints prepared for their Great Prosperity.

• Wu returned to Huoyun Cave, announced his plan to develop a Human Clan Hunyuan Dao, and entered seclusion while Hongyun prepared to prove the Dao.
• Zhou Ming and the others merged the Primordial Fragments into the Pangu Realm, then studied Pangu’s legacy through the three Heaven-Opening Marks.
• Pingxin allowed Dizang and his Buddhist disciples to settle on Yin Mountain and guide souls for one percent of the Merit, while warning them to obey Underworld law.
• Dizang vowed to deliver suffering beings across the Six Paths and never become a Buddha until hell was empty, earning Merit Golden Light as Pingxin watched his work.
• Hongyun attained the Hunyuan Realm, confronted Jieyin and Zhunti over the Purple Sky Palace karma, and set a deadline of ten thousand years after the Great Prosperity of the West for repayment.
• Taiqing appointed Duobao to lead Buddhism in the West and gave him the Four Swords of Zhu Xian, while Jieyin and Zhunti agreed to try converting him.
• Duobao entered the Western wilderness and calmly resisted pleas, Dharma debates, and threats as he developed his own understanding of Buddhism.
• Shen Gongbao’s attempt to turn Duobao’s former Jie Sect disciples against him backfired, so Randeng granted Shen one final chance to meet Duobao.

Duobao established the Greater Vehicle path as Buddhism’s present Buddha, while the Saints negotiated the terms of the West’s eastward expansion. Sun Wukong trained under Patriarch Bodhi and left Mount Fangcun, as Zhou Ming and the Ancestral Wu prepared to watch the coming Havoc in Heaven.

• Shen Gongbao told Ancient Buddha Randeng that Duobao had broken free of Taiqing’s control and intended to build a Buddhist path that could save all sentient beings.
• Jieyin and Zhunti chose to adopt Duobao’s teachings, and Duobao defeated Randeng in a Dharma debate before becoming Tathagata, the Buddha of the Present.
• Zhou Ming reached the Hunyuan Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, severed the Wu Clan’s Karma with the Primordial Wilderness, and moved the clan into the Pangu Realm, where the Ancestral Wu later attained the same realm.
• Jieyin and Zhunti negotiated with Hongyun, Fuxi, the other Saints, and Haotian over support, responsibilities, and Merit for Buddhism’s eastward scripture-seeking journey.
• Tathagata assigned Guanyin Bodhisattva to coordinate preparations and protect the Spirit Monkey, who left Flower-Fruit Mountain, crossed the seas, and found Patriarch Bodhi at Spiritual Terrace, Cubic Inch Mountain.
• Patriarch Bodhi named the Spirit Monkey Sun Wukong, taught him cultivation and transformations, then ordered him to leave Mount Fangcun without revealing his teacher.
• After Sun Wukong left, Zhunti and Jieyin arranged for Tathagata to monitor him, while Zhou Ming and the Ancestral Wu discussed the approaching Havoc in Heaven after Sun Wukong disrupted Haotian’s banquet and ate Taishang Laojun’s golden pills.