Chapter Summaries

At the Water-Land Dharma Assembly, Sha Wujin endured the Banning Hoop’s effects and used his Endless Extraction System to extract a Law-Locking Hoop fragment. Amitabha Buddha watched Ma Sui grow excited as he absorbed the experience, leaving Amitabha Buddha baffled by the scene.

• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate and Supreme Pure Laozi discussed whether Sha Wujin would find a way to use his system.
• Sha Wujin realized the Banning Hoop suppressed laws and Dao Resonances but had not suppressed his Endless Extraction System.
• Sha Wujin selected the Banning Hoop as his extraction target and obtained a Law-Locking Hoop fragment.
• Upper Pure Master Tongtian claimed credit for Sha Wujin’s extraction, and Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate and Supreme Pure Laozi challenged him.
• Zhou Qingqing thought Ma Sui could learn from Zhu Bajie’s and Sha Wujin’s experiences through his Omni-Simulation System.
• Amitabha Buddha noticed Ma Sui growing excited while the protagonists suffered under the Tightening Hoop Spell and wondered what was wrong with the scene.

Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate sent Cihang Daoist into her past to settle the karma from her Buddhist deeds, hoping it would help her break through her cultivation bottleneck. Cihang recognized her past self on a Blue Planet and began watching the events unfold.

• After Qingqing recalled that Cihang had kept two circlets, Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate summoned Cihang to the Three Pure Ones Hall.
• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate lectured Cihang for neglecting her cultivation and for the trouble her past karma was causing during the Calamity.
• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate reversed karma and sent Cihang to witness her past, while Amitabha Buddha recognized the Three Pure Ones’ plan.
• Cihang arrived on a Blue Planet and saw her Buddhist self carrying the Willow Pure Dew Vase and a circlet, then realized she was witnessing the events of Four Saints Test the Zen Mind.
• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate declared that Cihang would settle her own mistakes rather than leave him to bear the blame.

Cihang Daoist reversed causality at the Water-Land Dharma Assembly, where she found her counterpart preaching Mahayana Buddhism as Guanyin Bodhisattva. After dismissing Guanyin with a willow branch containing Yang Mei’s origin, Cihang redirected Tang Sanzang toward spreading Daoism, while Amitabha Buddha grew irritated.

• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate showed Supreme Pure Laozi and Upper Pure Master Tongtian the scene of Cihang’s causality reversal.
• Cihang Daoist saw her counterpart, Guanyin Bodhisattva, preaching Mahayana Buddhism at the Water-Land Dharma Assembly in Chang'an.
• Cihang drew out the willow from her Willow Pure Dew Vase, making Guanyin disappear before Tang Sanzang and the Tang Emperor.
• Supreme Pure Laozi and Upper Pure Master Tongtian recognized the willow as containing Yang Mei’s origin, and Amitabha Buddha realized it had thrown Guanyin beyond space.
• Cihang told Tang Sanzang to abandon Buddhism, study Daoist teachings, and spread them westward.
• Amitabha Buddha exerted his power to make Cihang leave the Water-Land Dharma Assembly sooner.

Cihang Daoist reached the three hoop episodes in the karmic threads and thwarted Amitabha Buddha’s schemes by using Daoist methods. She ended with all three hoops in her hands, having removed them from Sun Wukong, the black bear, and Red Boy.

• Cihang Daoist arrived as Guanyin Bodhisattva planned to give Tang Sanzang the Tightening Hoop and Spell for Sun Wukong, and she resolved not to harm her senior sister’s disciple.
• When the Willow Branch failed to shift her out of the scene, Cihang Daoist merged Jade Void arts with Guanyin’s Wondrous Dharma and seized the Flower-Inlaid Golden Hat before Sun Wukong could put it on.
• Cihang Daoist used the Willow Branch as a sword to flick the Golden Hoop off the great black bear.
• Cihang Daoist used feeling as the foundation for Taishang’s forgetting of feelings and removed the Banning Hoop from Red Boy.
• Cihang Daoist gathered all three hoops, leaving Amitabha Buddha astonished by the result.

Cihang Daoist returned to the Three Pure Ones Hall after retrieving the three hoops and, with the Three Pure Ones’ guidance, stabilized her realms and attained the Dao of Primordial Chaos. She announced her new title as Cihang Universal Salvation Heavenly Venerate, while Amitabha Buddha witnessed the rise of another Heavenly Venerate.

• Amitabha Buddha tried to sever the Journey to the West karma, but the Taiji Diagram appeared as the karma entered Nirvana.
• Cihang Daoist returned to the Three Pure Ones Hall and thanked Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate, Supreme Pure Laozi, and Upper Pure Master Tongtian for helping her repair the damage she had caused.
• Upper Pure Master Tongtian praised Cihang Daoist’s Yang Mei Sword Drawn from Its Sheath, and Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate recognized that her three realms had stabilized.
• Cihang Daoist combined her Shangqing Realm, Jade Pure Realm, and Supreme Purity Realm methods and attained the Dao of Primordial Chaos.
• Cihang Daoist announced her title, Cihang Universal Salvation Heavenly Venerate, and her Three Lights Divine Water healed the injured Buddhas and Ksitigarbha.
• Amitabha Buddha watched Cihang Daoist’s ascension and reflected on how few beings had attained the Dao of Primordial Chaos in the Primordial World.

Amitabha Buddha gave Cihang Universal Salvation Heavenly Venerate Buddhism’s Perfect Freedom Buddha Fruit to keep her from affecting the spell battle on Blue Planet, and she accepted it at her eldest martial uncle’s command. She became Cihang Universal Salvation Perfect Freedom Heavenly Venerate and was told to return to her dojo, while Qingqing’s thoughts darkened Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate’s mood again.

• Amitabha Buddha stripped away Buddhism’s teachings concerning Guanyin and sent Cihang its Perfect Freedom Buddha Fruit to protect the Blue Planet spell battle.
• The Primordial World’s Saints and Buddhist disciples saw the Buddha Fruit appear and wondered whether Amitabha Buddha was trying to draw Cihang into Buddhism or force the fruit upon her.
• Cihang initially rejected the Buddha Fruit, but her eldest martial uncle told her to accept it, and she absorbed it.
• Cihang announced her new title, Cihang Universal Salvation Perfect Freedom Heavenly Venerate, and Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate told her to return to her dojo and cultivate.
• Qingqing realized Cihang had settled the karma of the headband and wondered whether Eldest Master had met Red Boy, causing Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate and Upper Pure Master Tongtian to notice Eldest Brother’s expression darken again.

Shiva used the Tightening Hoop Spell against Sun Wukong, whose resistance was tested by a manifestation of his own future as the Victorious Fighting Buddha. Sun Wukong recognized that the hoop remained part of the Buddha’s restraint and prepared to fight it.

• Supreme Pure Laozi accepted Qingqing’s private thoughts, while Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate concluded that she had quickly changed his elder brother’s mood.
• The Three Pure Ones reflected on Cihang converting her Buddhist fruition into Dao fruition and becoming a saint.
• Shiva chanted the Tightening Hoop Spell at the assembly, and Sun Wukong faced its effects while Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujin resisted it with the system’s help.
• Sun Wukong saw a Buddha manifestation of himself wearing the Tightening Hoop and carrying an As-You-Will Gold-Banded Staff.
• Sun Wukong shattered the Buddha’s golden flower crown, saw the Tightening Hoop underneath, and realized the hoop remained a link meant to tame him.

Zhou Qingqing watched Sun Wukong battle Victorious Fighting Buddha, whose tightening hoop revealed that Buddhism still sought to control him. Sun Wukong rejected the fate Victorious Fighting Buddha predicted and prepared to bring forth Sun Xingzhe, wielding Punishment Through Rebellion against Buddhism.

• Zhou Qingqing used magic to see Sun Wukong fighting Victorious Fighting Buddha, and Sun Wukong knocked off the golden flower cap to expose the tightening hoop.
• Victorious Fighting Buddha urged Sun Wukong to convert to Buddhism, claiming that casting off the hoop would make him an ordinary monkey and that every path led to the same fate.
• Sun Wukong acknowledged that his fate might be to wear the tightening hoop but said his master had taught him that he could choose another ending.
• Sun Wukong realized he had another title, Sun Xingzhe, and declared that he would punish Buddhism for trying to sentence him with the tightening hoop.

Sun Wukong used the power of Executioner to defeat Victorious Fighting Buddha, forcing him to manifest the Boneless Sarira. The Sarira revived Victorious Fighting Buddha and strengthened him, and he continued trying to persuade Sun Xingzhe to return to Buddhism.

• Victorious Fighting Buddha transformed into a tiger, but Sun Wukong used Heavenly Law, Earthly Manifestation to stomp him and force him back into Buddha form.
• Sun Wukong unleashed Shenni's power as Executioner and overcame Victorious Fighting Buddha's Buddha-nature with the Golden-Hooped Staff.
• Victorious Fighting Buddha fell in realm and turned into the Boneless Sarira, revealing a special branch of the Sarira Great Dao.
• The Boneless Sarira ignited with flames and revived Victorious Fighting Buddha, whose aura grew stronger after his defeat.
• Victorious Fighting Buddha praised Sun Xingzhe and offered him a future in Buddhism, while Sun Xingzhe criticized Buddhism for lacking someone like him.

Sun Wukong the Executioner overcame the Victorious Fighting Buddha’s Boneless Sarira by drawing on his darkened self and defeated him. At the Water-Land Dharma Assembly, Sun Wukong resisted the Tightening Hoop Spell and struck at the Yoga God, astonishing Amitabha Buddha with his doubled protagonist halo.

• The Victorious Fighting Buddha used the Boneless Sarira to strengthen his Buddhist nature and suppress Sun Wukong the Executioner.
• Sun Wukong the Executioner reasoned that the Victorious Fighting Buddha was obstructing his path, then summoned his darkened self to counter the Sarira’s power.
• Sun Wukong the Executioner defeated the Victorious Fighting Buddha, who accepted his punishment as the Boneless Sarira dissolved.
• At the Water-Land Dharma Assembly, the Yoga God intensified the Tightening Hoop Spell while Sun Wukong appeared to suffer unbearable pain.
• Sun Wukong broke free of the spell, changed his attire, and struck at the Yoga God with his staff.
• Amitabha Buddha watched Sun Wukong resist the trial without a cheat and saw his protagonist halo double.

Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujin broke free of the Tightening Hoop Spell and defeated Shiva’s Yoga God transformation at the Water-Land Dharma Assembly. When the Yoga God claimed he could not remove their hoops, the Golden Hoop Immortal used his Omni-Simulation System and a Loosening Hoop Spell to take them off.

• Sun Wukong awakened after the Victorious Fighting Buddha disappeared, and Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujin used the opening to escape the Tightening Hoop Spell and attack the Yoga God.
• Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujin overwhelmed the Yoga God, who surrendered and asked the Tang Emperor to spare him.
• The Tang Emperor ordered the three mighty figures to punish the Yoga God but not kill him, and then demanded that he remove their Tightening Hoops.
• The Yoga God claimed he could not remove the hoops, prompting the Tang Emperor to call for someone capable of doing so.
• The Golden Hoop Immortal stepped forward and recited the Loosening Hoop Spell, removing the hoops from Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujin.

At the Water-Land Dharma Assembly, Ma Sui revealed himself as Golden Hoop Immortal, removed the three hoops, and merged them to attain sainthood as the Primordial Chaos Hoop Saint. After his system was reclaimed, Zhou Qingqing received a mysterious golden hoop bearing Primordial Chaos mystic patterns, prompting the Three Pure Ones to reconsider the nature of circles and Chaos.

• Golden Hoop Immortal loosened the Western hoop from Shiva, then revealed himself as Ma Sui, a Jie Lineage disciple of Daoism.
• Ma Sui merged the three hoops into one and used it to attain the Dao, becoming the Primordial Chaos Hoop Saint.
• Ma Sui crushed the former hoops, blessed the Tang Empire with imperishable golden powder, and told the Yoga God that the hoops had originated from him, not Western Buddhism.
• The Omni-Simulation System announced that its mission was complete and was removed from Ma Sui after he attained sainthood.
• Amitabha Buddha pursued the departing cheat but lost track of the Primordial Chaos Hoop's aura, while Zhou Qingqing received a golden hoop with Primordial Chaos mystic patterns.
• The Three Pure Ones connected the hoop's circular form with their new insights into Primordial Chaos and Chaos.

Golden Hoop Immortal left the Water-Land Dharma Assembly after attaining Primordial Chaos, while the Yoga God seized the chance to request an exchange of teachings with Tang Sanzang. The chapter ended with the Yoga God asking to meet the Tang Emperor’s Imperial Brother.

• The Three Pure Ones recognized that Golden Hoop Immortal had gained a clue about Primordial Chaos, though they knew Qingqing could not yet understand it fully.
• Golden Hoop Immortal realized his eldest senior sister wanted him to leave, so he departed Blue Planet after pranking the Yoga God.
• The Yoga God recovered from his fear of the Primordial Saint and acknowledged that Buddhism had lost face at the assembly.
• The Yoga God asked the Tang Emperor to let him exchange teachings with Tang Sanzang, whom he identified as the Imperial Brother.

Tang Sanzang challenged the Yoga God after watching his companions fight, and the Tang Emperor agreed to give their guest time to recover first. The Yoga God accepted the delay, leaving Tang Sanzang's first battle still ahead.

• Tang Sanzang watched the Yoga God fight and regretted that he had not joined the others in battle.
• Tang Sanzang asked the Tang Emperor to let him face the Yoga God.
• The Tang Emperor proposed giving the Yoga God time to recover so the Tang Empire would not seem to win unfairly.
• The Yoga God accepted the chance to rest before fighting Tang Sanzang.

Tang Sanzang prepared to face the recovered Yoga God by drawing on powers he had cultivated in secret, while Zhou Qingqing’s inner thoughts amused and alarmed the Heavenly Venerates. Sun Wukong judged Tang Sanzang’s preparations and waited for the duel to begin.

• The Three Pure Ones recalled Qingqing’s past and heard her boast about her first venture beyond Eastern Kunlun.
• Tang Sanzang reviewed his Netherworld Ghostfire and Book of Life and Death powers while the Yoga God restored his magical power.
• Qingqing considered staging a Journey to the West performance of A Korean Odyssey after the calamity, startling the Heavenly Venerates.
• Sun Wukong sensed Tang Sanzang’s lamp-flame origin and prepared to judge him by whether he could win decisively.
• The Yoga God announced that he had finished recovering and challenged Tang Sanzang to begin their fight.

Tang Sanzang accepted the Yoga God's challenge and used the Heaven-Burying Scripture to bury his past lives, gaining strength to match the Yoga God's increasingly dangerous movements. As Tang Sanzang continued uncovering and burying earlier selves, his bones repeatedly broke and healed, and the trial remained underway.

• The Yoga God chose to test Tang Sanzang with yoga rather than fight him directly, and Tang Sanzang followed his movements using what he had learned from the Heaven-Burying Scripture.
• Qingqing's system gave Tang Sanzang a task to bury himself, and he used the Burial of Humans Chapter to bury Sui Sanzang.
• Sha Wujin recognized Tang Sanzang as the monk he had killed repeatedly, while Amitabha Buddha observed the burial power and tried to understand its source.
• Tang Sanzang kept pace with the Yoga God, so the Yoga God escalated to his Divine Dance, which threatened to shatter Tang Sanzang's bones.
• Tang Sanzang sensed another past self beyond Sui Sanzang and continued burying his previous lives as his bones broke and reconnected.

Tang Sanzang kept pace with Shiva’s incarnation, the Yoga God, by burying his past lives and reclaiming their power. After finding and burying the Six-Winged Golden Cicada’s origin, he activated ten lifetimes of reincarnation and began matching the Yoga God’s 8.4 million postures.

• The Yoga God regulated his breath and intensified his yoga practice, while Tang Sanzang used the power gained from burying his past lives to keep up.
• Tang Sanzang buried his ninth lifetime, regained the rhythm of the Dao, and impressed the people watching at the Water-Land Dharma Assembly.
• The Yoga God revealed his challenge of 8.4 million postures, and Tang Sanzang searched his sea of consciousness for the remaining origin he needed.
• Tang Sanzang found a golden cicada molt and buried it, activating ten lifetimes of reincarnation and completing his quest.
• Tang Sanzang absorbed the knowledge and power of his ten lifetimes, then matched the Yoga God’s postures with countless afterimages.

At the Water-Land Dharma Assembly, Tang Sanzang extinguished the Yoga God’s destructive fire rings with Demonic Ring Purification, then broke free of the Yoga God’s ascetic stillness. The Yoga God launched a chain of attacks with a venomous snake and his third eye’s divine fire, leaving Tang Sanzang in danger.

• The Yoga God surrounded Tang Sanzang with destructive fire rings, but Tang Sanzang summoned a Dharma robe and extinguished them with Demonic Ring Purification.
• Tang Sanzang pressed his attack, but the Yoga God used his ascetic posture to immobilize him with the power of stillness.
• Tang Sanzang broke free of the immobilization, and the Yoga God summoned a venomous snake around his neck to attack him.
• The Yoga God opened his third eye and unleashed divine fire upon Tang Sanzang.

Tang Sanzang gained Daoist scriptures to counter the Yoga God’s poison and flames, but the Yoga God stripped them from him and prepared a final attack. Tang Sanzang claimed the system reward of Tathagata's Divine Palm and struck first, while Shiva recognized that its power came from Buddhism’s own figures.

• Tang Sanzang formed Daoist scriptures into a dharma robe, sealing away the Yoga God’s poison and flames.
• The Yoga God covered himself in bone ash and used his power to separate the scriptures from Tang Sanzang, who found he could not bend to retrieve them.
• Tang Sanzang claimed his stored system reward and obtained Tathagata's Divine Palm, which the Heavenly Venerates connected to Shakyamuni Tathagata and Patriarch Bodhi.
• The Yoga God gathered his essence, energy, and spirit and prepared to unleash the Heaven-Burning Karmic Dance.
• Tang Sanzang struck the Yoga God with Tathagata's Divine Palm before retrieving the scriptures, breaking his preparations.
• Shiva recognized the palm’s links to Shakyamuni and Patriarch Bodhi, while Amitabha Buddha realized that his junior brother’s incarnation had caused trouble for Buddhism.

Shiva used the Hand Drum to revive the Yoga God, who tried to challenge the Tang Emperor’s authority after losing to Tang Sanzang. The Tang Emperor ordered the envoy executed, and Tang Sanzang killed him with Tathagata’s Divine Palm strengthened by the scripture scrolls, leaving Amitabha Buddha frustrated and waiting for the Scripture Seeking Team’s westward journey.

• Shiva shook the Hand Drum and used its power of faith to make the defeated Yoga God stand again.
• The Yoga God appealed to the Tang Emperor, claiming Tang Sanzang had no right to kill a foreign envoy, but the Tang Emperor rejected his excuses and ordered Tang Sanzang to execute him.
• The Yoga God attacked with the Heaven-Burning Karmic Dance, and Tang Sanzang used Tathagata’s Divine Palm together with the two scripture scrolls to destroy him.
• The Heavenly Venerates discussed the Water-Land Dharma Assembly’s end, while Amitabha Buddha resolved to wait for the Scripture Seeking Team to leave the Tang Dynasty and face the coming counterattack.