Chapter Summaries

Gu Changsheng learned that Yuan Hong had become Old Ancestor Bodhi’s disciple and was guarding the Peach Garden, where Yuan Hong secretly stole Immortal Peaches. After the Seven Fairies discovered the missing peaches, Yuan Hong froze them and sneaked into the Peach Banquet, then wandered into Doushuai Palace, drawn by the scent of pills.

• Gu Changsheng reflected that Yang Jian had fused the bloodlines of Wu Zhiqi and the Intelligent Stone Monkey, and that the Long-armed Ape Monkey and Six-Eared Macaque remained.
• Yuan Hong disguised himself to steal ripe Immortal Peaches and slept in the Peach Garden between raids.
• The Seven Fairies found only small peaches left, confronted Yuan Hong, and accused him of stealing the others.
• Yuan Hong froze the Seven Fairies with the Seventy-two Transformations and left for the Peach Banquet.
• Yuan Hong ate and drank at the unattended Peach Banquet, then stumbled into Doushuai Palace and slipped inside to investigate its fragrant pills.

Yuan Hong plundered the Peach Garden and Doushuai Palace before fleeing to the Western Ox Continent. Haotian learned of the thefts and sent Taibai Jinxing to invite Li Jing to capture him, while Yuan Hong remained carefree among the demons.

• Yuan Hong ate the immortal peaches and pills, then escaped through the South Heavenly Gate.
• The Seven Fairies reported that the peaches were gone, and Taishang Laojun reported that Doushuai Palace had been plundered.
• Haotian learned that Yuan Hong had left the Heavenly Palace without permission and ordered Taibai Jinxing to investigate.
• Taibai Jinxing confirmed Yuan Hong was responsible, and Haotian ordered him to invite Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li to capture the Demon Monkey.
• Yuan Hong returned to the Western Ox Continent and spent his days drinking and roaming with the demons.

A year after the Peach Banquet was disrupted, Li Jing led hundreds of thousands of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to Yuan Hong’s demon mountain, where Nezha confronted the demon monkey. Nezha and Yuan Hong fought fiercely, and Nezha began eroding Yuan Hong with his Demonic Qi.

• Li Jing surrounded Yuan Hong’s demon mountain with Heavenly Soldiers and Generals and demanded that Yuan Hong surrender.
• Yuan Hong recognized Nezha, remembered their previous clash, and charged at him with the Bohai Sky Pillar.
• Nezha met Yuan Hong’s attack with his Fire-Tipped Spear and Samadhi True Fire as their battle shook the surrounding area.
• Li Jing ordered the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to attack and capture the lesser demons.
• Yuan Hong enlarged himself and attacked Nezha with Heaven and Earth Manifestation, but Nezha countered with fire dragons and then suppressed the Bohai Sky Pillar.
• Nezha released Demonic Qi that began eroding Yuan Hong.

Nezha captured Yuan Hong but was ordered to bring him to the Heavenly Court alive, where the immortals failed to harm him. Taishang Laojun took Yuan Hong to Doushuai Palace to be refined in the Alchemy Furnace, while Gu Changsheng observed the events and recognized the scheme behind sparing the monkey.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva tried to stop Nezha from killing Yuan Hong, and Li Jing ordered Nezha to bring the demon monkey to the Heavenly Court for judgment.
• Nezha pierced Yuan Hong with his Fire-Tipped Spear, shattered his Heaven and Earth Manifestation, and let the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals take him away.
• At the Execution Stage, Yuan Hong laughed as the Thunder Department Gods and other immortals failed to harm his invulnerable body.
• Taibai Jinxing explained that Yuan Hong had learned Mystic Sect divine arts and consumed Taishang Laojun's pills, and Nezha offered to deal with him.
• Taishang Laojun asked to refine Yuan Hong in the Alchemy Furnace, and Haotian ordered the divine generals to escort him to Doushuai Palace.
• Gu Changsheng watched from Purple Mansion Grand Hall and realized the Buddhist Sect's plans meant Yuan Hong was not meant to be killed.

Yuan Hong emerged from Taishang Laojun’s Eight Trigrams Furnace and rampaged through the Heavenly Court, demanding Haotian’s throne. As the battle shook heaven and earth, Gu Changsheng recognized Haotian’s actions as a deliberate scheme, and the Buddha Ancestor appeared before frightened humanity.

• After forty-nine days in the Eight Trigrams Furnace, Yuan Hong emerged strengthened and overwhelmed by battle intent.
• Yuan Hong fought his way to the Hall of the Exalted and demanded that Haotian surrender the Jade Emperor’s throne.
• Haotian sent Taibai Jinxing to invite Duobao Tathagata, then watched coldly as divine generals confronted Yuan Hong.
• Gu Changsheng told Chang Xi that the Heavenly Court’s turmoil was a good show that had only just begun.
• The battle’s baleful energy brought blood rain and panic to the human realm, where the Buddha Ancestor appeared in a golden body.

Duobao Tathagata suppressed Yuan Hong beneath Five Finger Mountain, while the Queen Mother punished Curtain-Rolling General and Gu Changsheng assigned Yang Jiao a role in the Journey Westward tribulation. Five hundred years later, Tang Dynasty prospered, but a strange incident in Chang'an left Li Shimin distressed despite the guards at his palace gates.

• Duobao Tathagata defeated Yuan Hong and suppressed him beneath Five Finger Mountain, damaging the Heavenly Court's reputation.
• The Queen Mother ordered Curtain-Rolling General cast into the mortal world for shattering her Glazed Lamp, and he fled to Purple Mansion Continent.
• Gu Changsheng told Yang Jiao to take a place in the Journey Westward tribulation and find Golden Cicada's reincarnation in five hundred years.
• Five hundred years passed, and Li Shimin ruled a prosperous Tang Dynasty after succeeding Li Yuan.
• A strange incident in Chang'an troubled Li Shimin, and Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong could not resolve it by guarding the palace gates.

Xuanzang went from Golden Mountain Temple to Chang'an to pray for Li Shimin, who was being tormented by the vengeful Jing River Dragon King. Xuanzang confronted the dragon in Taiji Palace, but the chapter ended before he revealed how he would save Li Shimin.

• Fa Ming chose Xuanzang to travel to Chang'an and pray for Li Shimin.
• Xuanzang arrived in Chang'an, where Cheng Yaojin recognized him and hurried him to Taiji Palace.
• Li Shimin fell asleep despite his fear, and the Jing River Dragon King's enormous head appeared at his window, demanding his life.
• Xuanzang intervened and identified the apparition as the Jing River Dragon King.
• The Jing River Dragon King challenged Xuanzang to explain how he would save him.

Xuanzang subdued the Jing River Dragon King in Li Shimin’s dream, then asked the emperor to hold a forty-nine-day Water and Land Dharma Assembly. As the assembly began in Chang’an, two ragged monks challenged Xuanzang over his Buddhist teachings.

• The Jing River Dragon King attacked Li Shimin, but Xuanzang used Buddhist prayer beads to subdue him and send him into reincarnation.
• Li Shimin awoke and later learned from Cheng Yaojin that Xuanzang had been at the palace; he invited Xuanzang to court and offered him a position as protectorate Dharma Master.
• Xuanzang declined the position and asked Li Shimin to authorize a forty-nine-day Water and Land Dharma Assembly, which the emperor approved.
• Xuanzang led twelve hundred monks in the assembly at Huasheng Temple as Li Shimin and his officials attended, and Buddhist light spread over Chang’an.
• Two barefoot, bald monks pushed through the crowd, confronted Xuanzang on the high platform, and asked whether he could teach Mahayana Buddhist teachings.

Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared at the Water and Land Dharma Assembly and sent Xuanzang west to obtain the Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. On Shuangcha Ridge, demons tried to capture and eat Xuanzang, but an unseen force began killing them.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva revealed herself, offered the Mahayana scriptures in the Western Heaven, and gave Xuanzang a Brocade Kasaya and Nine-Ringed Monk's Staff.
• King of Tang sent Xuanzang west, and Xuanzang left Chang'an with two attendants and a white horse.
• At Shuangcha Ridge, General Yin, Lord Xiongshan, and Te Chushi prepared to capture and eat Xuanzang.
• Xuanzang said the demons could not kill him, and General Yin's head was suddenly severed.
• An unseen force then cut off Lord Xiongshan's head, leaving Te Chushi pale with fear.

Xuanzang and Yang Jiao traveled west after the demons at Shuangcha Ridge were slain, then reached Five Finger Mountain, where Xuanzang freed Yuan Hong from his five-hundred-year imprisonment. Yuan Hong emerged eager for revenge against Tathagata.

• Xuanzang killed Te Chushi, and Yang Jiao arrived to protect him on his journey west.
• Yang Jiao told Xuanzang that his two attendants were dead and that he had killed the remaining lesser demons.
• Yang Jiao and Xuanzang reached Five Finger Mountain, where Yang Jiao explained that Duobao Tathagata had imprisoned Yuan Hong there.
• Yuan Hong told Xuanzang that Guanyin Bodhisattva had sent him to join the monk's journey and asked to be freed.
• Xuanzang removed the Golden Seal, and Yuan Hong roared that he would take revenge on Tathagata.

After Yuan Hong escaped Five Finger Mountain, he attacked Yang Jiao and Xuanzang but was overpowered by Yang Jiao and Yang Jian. Yang Jian killed Yuan Hong, leaving Xuanzang to learn that the Erlang True Lord was also his senior brother.

• Five Finger Mountain collapsed, freeing Yuan Hong, and Yang Jiao rescued Xuanzang from the mountaintop.
• Yuan Hong attacked Yang Jiao and Xuanzang with the Bohai Sky Pillar, but Yang Jiao knocked him back and concealed the battle within a Chaos Qi domain.
• Yang Jiao summoned Yang Jian, who joined the fight and struck Yuan Hong down with his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Divine Halberd.
• Yang Jiao introduced Yang Jian to Xuanzang as his senior brother, and Xuanzang recognized him as True Lord Erlang.
• Yang Jian severed Yuan Hong's arm and then cut off his head, killing him.

Yang Jian devoured Yuan Hong’s origin and transformed into him while the Buddhist powerhouses broke through Yang Jiao’s Chaos Domain. Disguised as Yuan Hong, Yang Jian joined Xuanzang’s pilgrimage, leaving the Bodhisattvas unaware that the real Yuan Hong was gone.

• Yang Jian completely devoured Yuan Hong’s origin and began absorbing his blood and qi as Yang Jiao held off the Buddhist attackers.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva, Puxian Bodhisattva, Juliusun Buddha, and Manjushri Guangfa Bodhisattva broke through the Chaos Domain and found Yang Jian transformed into Yuan Hong.
• Yang Jiao claimed that he and Yuan Hong had merely exchanged insights on the Dao, and the disguised Yang Jian told the Bodhisattvas that he had been restless after five hundred years of suppression.
• Yang Jian asked Xuanzang to accept him as a disciple, but Xuanzang declined, and Yang Jian agreed to travel west without becoming his disciple.
• The Bodhisattvas accepted the explanation that Yuan Hong had tempered his temperament and allowed him to accompany Xuanzang.

After Yang Jian deceived the Bodhisattvas by taking Yuan Hong’s place, Xuanzang’s group continued west and reached Eagle Worry Stream. They recruited the West Sea Dragon King’s Third Prince as Xuanzang’s mount and resumed their journey.

• Yang Jian, Yang Jiao, and Xuanzang set out on foot after Guanyin Bodhisattva and the others departed.
• Gu Changsheng watched the group travel west and reflected that the Chan Sect would gain much of the western journey’s destiny.
• At Snake Coil Mountain’s Eagle Worry Stream, a white dragon lunged from the water toward Xuanzang, but Yang Jian stopped it with the Bohai Sky Pillar.
• The dragon identified himself as the Third Prince of the West Sea Dragon King and explained that Guanyin Bodhisattva had ordered him to wait for the sutra pilgrim.
• Little White Dragon transformed into a white dragon horse, and Xuanzang mounted him to continue westward.

Yang Jian and Yang Jiao reached Elder Gao’s estate with Xuanzang and learned that Zhu Ganglie, a pig demon, had imprisoned Gao Cuilan. Yang Jian agreed to confront him, and the chapter ended as Elder Gao worried that the demon was too formidable.

• Yang Jian killed the Black Bear Spirit on Black Wind Mountain, despite Guanyin’s objections, and the group rested before continuing west.
• Yang Jian caught a young man fleeing Elder Gao’s estate, and the man explained that his household was troubled by a demon.
• Yang Jiao and Yang Jian offered to subdue the demon, while the young man warned that earlier demon hunters had been captured.
• Elder Gao told the travelers that Zhu Ganglie had imprisoned his daughter Gao Cuilan upstairs for more than half a year, though he had taken no lives.
• Yang Jiao whispered a plan to Yang Jian, and Elder Gao voiced his fear that Zhu Ganglie was too formidable.

Yang Jiao and Yang Jian confronted Zhu Ganglie, who revealed that he had once been Marshal Tianpeng and was waiting for the scripture pilgrim at Guanyin Bodhisattva’s request. Yang Jian nearly overwhelmed him with a burst of Tyrannical Aura, but Yang Jiao intervened, and the chapter ended with Yang Jiao asking whether Zhu Ganglie belonged to Saint Taiqing’s Human Sect lineage.

• Yang Jian disguised himself as Gao Cuilan and coaxed the pig demon into admitting he had been Marshal Tianpeng, banished after molesting Chang’e.
• Yang Jian revealed himself as Yuan Hong and chased Zhu Ganglie into the sky, where he easily gained the upper hand.
• Zhu Ganglie said Guanyin Bodhisattva had told him to wait for the scripture pilgrim.
• Yang Jian’s eyes turned red as Tyrannical Aura surged, and he raised the Bohai Sky Pillar to strike Zhu Ganglie.
• Yang Jiao stopped Yang Jian’s attack, and Zhu Ganglie recognized him as Yang Jiao, Brother Changsheng’s disciple.
• Yang Jiao sensed Saint Taiqing’s immortal aura on Zhu Ganglie and asked whether he was a disciple of the Human Sect.

Yang Jian learned that refining Yuan Hong had bound him to the Chaos Demon Ape’s Tyrannical Aura, and Gu Changsheng suppressed it with Chaos Qi while explaining how it could ultimately be resolved. Yang Jiao and Yang Jian returned to Gao Village as Xuanzang’s party prepared to continue west, leaving Zhu Bajie to promise Gao Cuilan he would return as her son-in-law.

• Yang Jiao learned Zhu Ganglie served Taishang Laojun, then Xuanzang named Zhu Ganglie Bajie and kept the group at Gao Village for several days.
• Yang Jiao took Yang Jian to Purple Mansion Continent, where Yang Jian told Gu Changsheng about the Tyrannical Aura affecting him.
• Gu Changsheng explained that Yang Jian had inherited the Chaos Demon Ape’s Tyrannical Aura by refining Yuan Hong, then used Chaos Qi to suppress it.
• Gu Changsheng said that fusing the Six-Eared Macaque’s Origin Power could resolve the aura, while the Chaos Qi would keep Yang Jian free of its control.
• Yang Jiao and Yang Jian returned to Gao Village, and Xuanzang’s party prepared to resume its journey west.
• Zhu Bajie told Gao Cuilan he would return after the Journey to the West for Sutras and become her family’s son-in-law.

Xuanzang and his companions reached Wuzhuang Temple on Longevity Mountain, where Great Immortal Zhenyuan had arranged for them to stay and offered Xuanzang two Ginseng Fruits. The party settled in for the night, while Yang Jian meditated alone.

• Xuanzang, Yang Jian, Yang Jiao, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing arrived at Longevity Mountain and recognized Wuzhuang Temple as Great Immortal Zhenyuan’s dojo.
• Qingfeng Mingyue welcomed Xuanzang and his companions, explaining that Zhenyuan had gone to Chaos Beyond the Heavens but had prepared lodging for them.
• Qingfeng Mingyue served the party a vegetarian meal and brought Xuanzang two Ginseng Fruits at Zhenyuan’s instruction.
• Yang Jiao described the rarity and properties of the Ginseng Fruit, while Yang Jian stopped Zhu Bajie from asking Xuanzang for one.
• Xuanzang ate the Ginseng Fruit, Zhu Bajie went to the kitchen and ate leftover scorched rice, and Yang Jian meditated alone after night fell.

Old Ancestor Bodhi ordered Yang Jian, disguised as Yuan Hong, to uproot the Ginseng Fruit Tree, but Gu Changsheng realized Bodhi intended to make Zhenyuanzi owe him karmic debt. Gu Changsheng secretly removed a trace of aura from the tree that could expose the culprit, then decided to let Yang Jian carry out the uprooting and turn Bodhi’s scheme against him.

• Old Ancestor Bodhi appeared before Yang Jian and ordered him to uproot the Ginseng Fruit Tree at Wuzhuang Temple, claiming he had weakened it beforehand.
• Yang Jian contacted Gu Changsheng, who explained that Bodhi planned to revive the tree afterward and make Zhenyuanzi owe him karmic debt.
• Gu Changsheng inspected the Ginseng Fruit Tree and discovered that Bodhi had tampered with it without Zhenyuanzi’s knowledge.
• Gu Changsheng used the Primordial System to find a trace of aura hidden in the tree and removed it so Zhenyuanzi could identify who was responsible.
• Gu Changsheng decided to let Yang Jian uproot the tree and turn Bodhi’s scheme against him.

Yang Jian, disguised as Yuan Hong, destroyed Zhenyuanzi’s Ginseng Fruit Tree and fled with Xuanzang’s group, while Zhunti and Jieyin watched their plan unfold. Zhenyuanzi caught up with them and confronted Yang Jian in a fury.

• Gu Changsheng secretly took all the Ginseng Fruits and told Yang Jian to follow their plan.
• Yang Jian disguised himself as Yuan Hong, smashed the Ginseng Fruit Tree with the Bohai Sky Pillar, and escaped.
• Yang Jian woke Xuanzang and the others, and they fled Wuzhuang Temple under cover of night.
• Zhenyuanzi sensed the tree’s destruction and rushed back from the Western Paradise as Zhunti and Jieyin watched.
• Zhenyuanzi appeared above the fleeing group and accused Yang Jian of destroying his tree.

Yang Jian revealed that Gu Changsheng had arranged for the Ginseng Fruit Tree to be toppled, exposing Zhunti’s interference in the tree to Zhenyuanzi. Gu Changsheng offered to restore it, and his true body appeared through a spatial rift.

• Yang Jian asked Zhenyuanzi to spare the others, but Zhenyuanzi used Sleeve Universe to take Xuanzang and the rest away while keeping Yang Jian behind.
• Yang Jian told Zhenyuanzi to ask his master why the tree had been toppled, then revealed Gu Changsheng through a barrier of Chaos Qi.
• Gu Changsheng showed Zhenyuanzi the aura Zhunti had left in the Ginseng Fruit Tree, and Zhenyuanzi realized Buddhism had plotted against him.
• Gu Changsheng returned Yang Jian to his original form and explained that Old Ancestor Bodhi had ordered the tree toppled.
• Gu Changsheng offered to restore the Ginseng Fruit Tree, and his true body stepped out of a spatial rift.