Chapter Summaries

Jiang Zhen visited Ma Xiaoling to warn her about her family’s bloodline and leave her three mysterious arrows before departing. After Wang Zhenzhen urged her to trust her instincts, Ma Xiaoling absorbed the arrows and learned how they could protect her and help her face the Mastermind.

• Jiang Zhen told Ma Xiaoling that he was leaving and warned her that her family’s bloodline was part of a scheme, then gave her three arrows.
• Ma Xiaoling questioned Jiang Zhen about her bloodline, but he refused to explain further and left.
• Wang Zhenzhen advised Ma Xiaoling that whoever treated her as a chess piece might discard her, prompting Ma Xiaoling to consider the arrows her chance to break free.
• Ma Xiaoling pressed the arrows to her heart, absorbed them, and learned that two could protect her while the last could be used against the Mastermind.

Jiang Zhen arrived in the Primordial Wilderness Journey to the West World and joined Sun Wukong, whose sworn brothers suspected that outside forces were guiding his plans. After Jiang Zhen warned away powerful watchers, Sun Wukong brought him and the others to Flower-Fruit Mountain to meet the Six Demons.

• Sun Wukong told the Six Demons that powerful friends were coming to help with the War on Heaven, prompting them to wonder whether he had discovered their backers’ plans.
• Bull Demon King and the other demons agreed to test Sun Wukong’s arriving friends and learn what they intended.
• Jiang Zhen appeared with the group and projected his power, alarming Tathagata, Jade Emperor, and other powerful figures who had been watching Sun Wukong.
• Jiang Zhen explained that he had driven away the watchers, and Sun Wukong realized that powerful forces had been keeping an eye on him.
• Sun Wukong brought Jiang Zhen and the others to Water Curtain Cave and introduced his six sworn brothers, including Bull Demon King.

The Six Great Sages challenged Zhang Chulan’s group to prove their strength, and Little Stone accepted the Bull Demon King’s invitation to fight. Little Stone overpowered the Bull Demon King with a sword strike, while Jiang Zhen explained that Little Stone’s Sky Horn Ant Treasure Art made his strength exceptional.

• The Flood Dragon Demon King demanded that Zhang Chulan and his friends prove their strength, and Sun Wukong objected to the challenge.
• The Bull Demon King offered to fight while suppressing his power, but Zhang Chulan’s group refused the handicap.
• Little Stone stepped forward to fight the Bull Demon King, and the group moved outside to keep the battle from damaging Water Curtain Cave.
• The Bull Demon King struck Little Stone with his Iron Cudgel, but Little Stone blocked it and shoved the weapon aside.
• Little Stone attacked with the Grass Extinguishing Sword Art and sent the Bull Demon King flying with one blow.
• Jiang Zhen explained that Little Stone’s mastery of the Sky Horn Ant Treasure Art gave him overwhelming strength.

Little Stone defeated the Bull Demon King, and Esdeath challenged the Flood Dragon Demon King. The Flood Dragon Demon King summoned the waters of the East Sea into a giant water dragon as their fight began.

• Little Stone fought the Bull Demon King for an hour, cutting off one of his horns before the Bull Demon King surrendered.
• Little Stone told the Bull Demon King that Esdeath specialized in ice and could suppress the Flood Dragon Demon King's water magic.
• Esdeath confronted the Flood Dragon Demon King, who threatened to beat her but not kill her for the sake of his Seventh Brother.
• Esdeath released a freezing aura that changed the sky and brought down snowflakes.
• The Flood Dragon Demon King flew over the East Sea and summoned its waters into an enormous water dragon that charged at Esdeath.

Esdeath fought the Flood Dragon Demon King at sea, revealing that she could freeze time and space with a single attack. The Flood Dragon Demon King conceded defeat, leaving the onlookers astonished by her strength.

• Esdeath froze the Flood Dragon Demon King's water dragon into ice and attacked him with falling ice cones.
• The Flood Dragon Demon King countered with surging seawater, and Little Stone told the onlookers that Esdeath had not yet shown her true specialty.
• The Flood Dragon Demon King transformed into a black Jiaolong and summoned an Azure Pearl that raised enormous waves from the East Sea.
• Esdeath transformed into a Five-Clawed Ice Dragon and froze the surrounding space before punching the Flood Dragon Demon King away.
• Esdeath explained that she had frozen time and space, and the Flood Dragon Demon King admitted defeat.

The East Sea Dragon King learned that Esdeath, a powerful Five-Clawed True Dragon, had defeated the Flood Dragon Demon King and sent an invitation to her. Meanwhile, Xiao Huo fought the Peng Demon King and revealed the strength of his Rainbow Transformation Technique and Emperor Fire.

• The Turtle Prime Minister told the East Sea Dragon King that Esdeath had frozen space while defeating the Flood Dragon Demon King, and that she was now with the Monkey and the Six Great Sages.
• The East Sea Dragon King ordered the Turtle Prime Minister to invite Esdeath to the Crystal Palace.
• The Peng Demon King challenged the group, and Xiao Huo stepped forward to fight him.
• Xiao Huo dodged the Peng Demon King's attack with the Rainbow Transformation Technique and sent him flying with a strike from his ruler.
• Xiao Huo unleashed black wind flames that pursued the Peng Demon King, while Jiang Zhen explained that Xiao Huo's devoured flames had strengthened his Emperor Fire.

Xiao Huo faced the Peng Demon King, using his Endless Fire Lotus to force a stalemate before they agreed to settle the fight with one strike. Xiao Huo’s flaming ruler destroyed the Peng Demon King’s attack and devastated the sea, prompting the Peng Demon King to concede defeat.

• The Peng Demon King transformed into a Golden Winged Great Peng, shattered Xiao Huo’s flames, and charged at him.
• Xiao Huo unleashed his Endless Fire Lotus, and the Peng Demon King refused to enter its deadly flames.
• Xiao Huo and the Peng Demon King agreed to decide the victor with one move, and both prepared their attacks.
• The Peng Demon King hurled his Fang Tian Hua Ji at Xiao Huo, but Xiao Huo’s flaming ruler erased the gale, melted the weapon, and struck the sea.
• The Peng Demon King admitted defeat, and Xiao Huo returned to his original form and exchanged compliments with him.

Hong Hong of Tushan fought the Lion Camel King and shattered his summoned mountains with her fists, revealing her overwhelming strength. The battle continued as she charged through the mountains and clashed with him, while Zhang Chulan explained that she and the others had not yet shown their full power.

• The Lion Camel King challenged the assembled fighters, but Zhang Chulan and Uncle Jiu declined to face him.
• Hong Hong of Tushan stepped forward, revealed her Nine-Tails, and was identified by Sun Wukong as a Half-step Taiyi powerhouse from the Tushan clan.
• The Lion Camel King charged with his Great Saber, but Hong Hong sent him flying with a single punch.
• The Lion Camel King summoned mountains with his Mountain Moving Technique, and Hong Hong shattered each one with her fists.
• Zhang Chulan told Sun Wukong that Hong Hong and the others had not fought at full strength and described their hidden abilities.
• Hong Hong charged through the mountains and exchanged blows with the Lion Camel King, leaving the onlookers amazed.

Hong Hong of Tushan defeated the Lion Camel King by unleashing the Divine Abilities stored in her nine tails. The Macaque King then challenged the group, and Natsu began fighting him in a direct, instinctive clash that was still underway at the chapter’s end.

• Hong Hong of Tushan used the powers of her nine tails to overwhelm the Lion Camel King, who conceded defeat.
• Jiang Zhen explained that a Nine-tailed Celestial Fox could store Divine Abilities in its tails and said Hong Hong had not yet reached her complete state.
• The Macaque King stepped forward to fight, and Zhang Chulan warned that he could read and understand his opponents’ fighting styles.
• Zhang Chulan chose Natsu to face the Macaque King because Natsu relied on powerful close combat and was not suited to mind games.
• Natsu charged the Macaque King with simple, instinctive attacks, and the two fought evenly as the Bull Demon King urged the Macaque King not to lose.

Natsu’s attack revealed that the Macaque King possessed the Emerald Light Two Forms Lantern, a powerful Xiantian Spiritual Treasure. Jiang Zhen explained the mysterious origins of Sun Wukong’s sworn brothers, leaving Sun Wukong to consider his third brother’s possible connection to Kun Peng in the North Sea.

• The Macaque King lost focus while reacting to the Bull Demon King, and Natsu struck him with Fire Dragon’s Roar.
• The Macaque King used the Emerald Light Two Forms Lantern to absorb Natsu’s flames, prompting the Bull Demon King to identify the treasure.
• Jiang Zhen explained that the lantern had belonged to Eastern Emperor Taiyi and described its powers to confuse and refine enemies.
• Sun Wukong asked whether his sworn brothers had unusual origins, and Jiang Zhen discussed the Bull Demon King’s Mystic Gate ties and the Flood Dragon Demon King’s possible connections to ancient sea beasts.
• Jiang Zhen described the Golden Winged Great Peng’s two ancestral lineages, including one descended from Kun Peng, then looked toward the Northern Border as Sun Wukong pondered his third brother’s origins.

Jiang Zhen explained the extraordinary possible origins of Sun Wukong’s brothers while Natsu and Macaque King ended their stalemate in a draw. Zhang Chulan then fought King Yu Rong, whose Wind Fire Staff could not penetrate Zhang Chulan’s transformed Golden Light Spell.

• Jiang Zhen said Lion Camel King might descend from Nine Spirits Yuan Sheng, Macaque King might be connected to the ancient Demon Race, and King Yu Rong might descend from the Wind Fire Divine Monkeys of Huoyun Cave.
• Natsu and Macaque King remained evenly matched, so they agreed to call their fight a draw.
• Zhang Chulan challenged King Yu Rong to a fight so he could witness the Great Sage Who Drives Gods’ Divine Ability.
• King Yu Rong attacked with his Wind Fire Staff, but Zhang Chulan blocked the flames with his Golden Light Spell.
• Zhang Chulan explained that he had revised the Daoist Golden Light Divine Spell into an independent technique, and King Yu Rong said it was still not enough.

Zhang Chulan defeated King Yu Rong by summoning a Thunder Tribulation that overwhelmed the Great Sage’s divine ability, then joined the Six Great Sages in Water Curtain Cave. The gathered demons learned about the formidable powers of Li Lianhua, Sword God Li, and Lin Jiu, leaving the Bull Demon King especially impressed by Lin Jiu.

• King Yu Rong used his divine ability to summon deity phantoms and weaken Zhang Chulan’s Golden Light Spell.
• Zhang Chulan summoned a Thunder Tribulation, whose lightning shattered the phantoms and gradually forced King Yu Rong onto the defensive.
• King Yu Rong conceded, and the Six Great Sages acknowledged Zhang Chulan’s strength before the group entered Water Curtain Cave.
• The Flood Dragon Demon King questioned the strength of Zhang Chulan’s companions, so Zhang Chulan described Li Lianhua, Sword God Li, and Lin Jiu’s abilities.
• Lin Jiu explained that his talismans expressed the power of the Heavenly Laws, and the Bull Demon King reacted with growing interest.

Jiang Zhen met Qiu Niu, who had come to ask about Esdeath’s origins and cultivation. Qiu Niu explained how the Nine Dragon Sons escaped the Dragon Clan’s karmic burden and gained merit by protecting the Human Race, ending with the destruction of the Nine Dragon Barrier and their rise to Grand Unity Golden Immortals.

• Jiang Zhen met Qiu Niu above the East Sea and learned that he was a Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
• Qiu Niu asked Jiang Zhen where Esdeath’s Five-Clawed True Dragon bloodline came from and how she had reached the peak of the Golden Immortal realm.
• Jiang Zhen asked why Qiu Niu had cultivated beyond the usual limits of the Dragon Clan, and Qiu Niu explained that the Nine Dragon Sons were born to mothers outside the clan and bore less karmic burden.
• Qiu Niu recounted how the Nine Dragon Sons aided the Dragon Clan, learned that service to the Human Race could earn merit, and waited for their destined opportunity.
• Qiu Niu said the Nine Dragon Sons entered King Yu’s Nine Tripods, formed the Nine Dragon Barrier to protect the Human Race, and were freed when the barrier shattered during the Battle of the Investiture of the Gods.
• Qiu Niu said the Nine Dragon Sons gained Heaven and Earth’s merit, became Grand Unity Golden Immortals, and erased their karmic burden.

Qiu Niu asked Jiang Zhen about Esdeath’s cultivation, hoping her method could help the Dragon Clan escape its karmic burden, but learned that she was not truly part of the clan. As Qiu Niu warned Jiang Zhen about Buddhism’s plans for Sun Wukong, Jiang Zhen revealed that he had attained Eternal Daluo, and Qiu Niu explained how that realm surpassed Grand Unity Golden Immortals.

• Qiu Niu explained that he and the other Dragon Clan ancestors felt indebted to the clan and could not abandon its affairs.
• Jiang Zhen told Qiu Niu that Esdeath’s bloodline came from outside the Primordial Wilderness, so she did not inherit the Dragon Clan’s karmic burden.
• Qiu Niu realized that dragons outside the Dragon Clan could avoid its karmic burden, and Jiang Zhen agreed only to ask whether Esdeath would meet them.
• Qiu Niu warned Jiang Zhen to stay away from Sun Wukong because Buddhism and other powers had schemes surrounding him.
• Jiang Zhen said he was not afraid of Quasi-Saints and revealed that he had attained Eternal Daluo.
• Qiu Niu explained to Ao Guang that Eternal Daluos had transcended the River of Fate and could master an entire Law, unlike Grand Unity Golden Immortals.

Qiu Niu warned Ao Guang that Jiang Zhen might be powerful enough to resist the great factions over Sun Wukong and urged the Dragon Clan to abandon its schemes. Jiang Zhen advised Ao Guang to report the Golden Cudgel to the Heavenly Court without involving the Dragon Clan, and Sun Wukong later visited him on Flower-Fruit Mountain.

• Qiu Niu told Ao Guang that Jiang Zhen might rival the factions seeking to interfere with Sun Wukong and that a conflict could devastate the Primordial Wilderness.
• Qiu Niu warned Ao Guang to change the Dragon Clan's plans for the Journey to the West Tribulation and choose a side if events spiraled out of control.
• Qiu Niu told Ao Guang to report the Golden Cudgel to the Heavenly Court and deny the Dragon Clan's responsibility for it.
• Sun Wukong appeared at the summit of Flower-Fruit Mountain, where he joked to Jiang Zhen that he could drink an ocean of Monkey Wine.

Jiang Zhen explained why the East Sea Dragon Clan was interested in Esdeath and warned Sun Wukong about the clan’s power and the dangers of karma. When Sun Wukong asked how to handle the Underworld, Jiang Zhen offered to stabilize his soul so the Underworld could not bind it.

• Sun Wukong sensed that the East Sea Dragon King had visited, and Jiang Zhen explained that the Dragon Clan was interested in Esdeath’s Peak Golden Immortal realm.
• Jiang Zhen recounted the Dragon-Han Initial Tribulation and explained how the three clans’ karma had hindered their cultivation.
• Jiang Zhen said Esdeath could visit the East Sea for the Dragon Clan’s resources if she chose, and Sun Wukong complained that Ao Guang had once given him only armor.
• Jiang Zhen described the Dragon Clan’s powerful figures and treasures, then asked whether Sun Wukong still planned to raise hell in the Underworld.
• Sun Wukong admitted he had no plan, so Jiang Zhen offered to stabilize his soul and prevent the Underworld from binding it.

Jiang Zhen reassured Sun Wukong that the Dragon Palace and the Underworld had little grounds to punish him, then gave him a character to protect him. As Sun Wukong slept, Black Impermanence and White Impermanence arrived with Buddhist-sealed Soul-Locking Chains and attacked him.

• Jiang Zhen told Sun Wukong that the East Sea Dragon Palace would likely only report the stolen Sea-Calming Divine Needle, and that the Underworld could do nothing if Sun Wukong stayed away.
• Jiang Zhen wrote the character “Stability” on Sun Wukong’s hand and explained that characters held power rooted in the Heavenly Laws.
• Sun Wukong returned to the mountain’s foot and fell asleep while Jiang Zhen watched from above.
• Black Impermanence and White Impermanence arrived and discussed how Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha had helped because the westward journey involved merit and Fortune.
• Black Impermanence and White Impermanence threw their Soul-Locking Chains at Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong’s soul repelled the Soul-Locking Chain, and Jiang Zhen took him into the Underworld after warning him about its hidden power. In the Hall of Yama, King Yama discovered that the chain’s imprint had been worn away.

• Sun Wukong’s soul knocked away the Soul-Locking Chain twice, so Black and White Impermanence gave up and returned to the Underworld.
• Jiang Zhen told Sun Wukong that Empress Pingxin and the revived Ancestral Witches made the Underworld far more powerful than it appeared.
• Sun Wukong agreed to visit the Underworld, and Jiang Zhen used the Power of Spacetime to take them there.
• Jiang Zhen and Sun Wukong arrived as Black and White Impermanence returned empty-handed and followed them into the Hall of Yama.
• Xie Bi'an explained that Sun Wukong’s soul had resisted the chain, and King Yama discovered its imprint had been worn away.

King Yama discovered that the Buddha Seal on the Soul-Locking Chain had been worn down after it failed to contain Sun Wukong, and he went to inform Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. Jiang Zhen and Sun Wukong secretly observed Di Jiang appear in the Underworld before following King Yama to Ksitigarbha, who saw the damaged seal and demanded an explanation.

• King Yama told Black and White Impermanence that Sun Wukong’s soul cultivation had overwhelmed the Buddha Seal, then took the Soul-Locking Chain to inform Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha.
• Jiang Zhen kept Sun Wukong hidden as Di Jiang appeared, sensed someone watching him, and searched the area with spatial ripples that passed through them.
• Jiang Zhen identified Di Jiang as one of the Twelve Ancestral Witches and warned Sun Wukong to flee rather than fight him.
• Jiang Zhen took Sun Wukong to Ksitigarbha’s Buddhist domain, where King Yama arrived with the Soul-Locking Chain.
• Ksitigarbha saw that the Buddha Seal had been worn down and forcibly broken, then asked King Yama what had happened.

Ksitigarbha and Tathagata investigated why Sun Wukong had not been summoned to the Underworld and learned that a powerful, mysterious being was shielding him. Tathagata planned another attempt and considered involving the Heavenly Court, while Sun Wukong realized they were deciding his fate without him.

• Ksitigarbha sent Diting to investigate, and Diting found no trace of Sun Wukong in the Water Curtain Cave, only the six drunken demons who had sworn brotherhood with him.
• Diting reported a fierce battle near Flower-Fruit Mountain and said an unknown power had blocked his hearing and was connected to Sun Wukong's disappearance.
• Ksitigarbha tried to observe the mysterious being, but a voice shouted, "Get lost!!!" and dispelled his Buddhist light.
• Tathagata told Ksitigarbha that powerful beings across the Three Realms had sensed the mysterious figure and been driven back by a single word.
• Tathagata ordered Ksitigarbha to have Black and White Impermanence try again and suggested the Heavenly Court might act if needed, offering it benefits.
• Sun Wukong complained that they had decided his fate, and Jiang Zhen asked what else he had expected.