Chapter Summaries

The Tang Emperor decreed that Tang Sanzang and his companions would travel west to spread the Tang Empire’s teachings. The team accepted the mission and prepared to set out, with Sun Wukong focused on confronting anyone who blocked them and Zhu Bajie determined to return safely for Cui Lan.

• The Tang Emperor entrusted Tang Sanzang and his companions with carrying the teachings west and gave them authority over the mission.
• Tang Sanzang accepted the decree and vowed to carry the true scriptures westward and proclaim the Tang Empire’s majesty.
• Sun Wukong said he would use his staff against anyone who obstructed their procession.
• Zhu Bajie pledged to keep everyone safe for Cui Lan.

The Preaching Squad left Chang'an after pledging to spread the Dao, and Ao Lie transformed into a dragon car so they could travel together. As the squad headed west, Amitabha Buddha and Shiva worried they would reach the Five Manor Temple too soon, and Shiva prepared to send another Transformation Body to delay them.

• Sha Wujin, Ao Lie, and the other members of the Preaching Squad pledged to join the journey, and the Tang Emperor gave Tang Sanzang their travel documents.
• The Preaching Squad departed Chang'an, and Ao Lie transformed into a dragon car to carry everyone west.
• Sha Wujin took the driver’s seat while Zhu Bajie rode in front and Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong sat in the back.
• Amitabha Buddha realized the dragon car could disrupt his arrangements and resolved to stop the squad before it reached the Five Manor Temple.
• Shiva decided to send one of his remaining Transformation Bodies to slow the Preaching Squad down.

Shiva sent his Beast Lord incarnation to obstruct the Preaching Squad, giving him divine weapons to attack them from afar. Sun Wukong and the others stopped the arrow, but the Beast Lord then unleashed waves of empowered beasts to impede their journey.

• Shiva summoned the Beast Lord and gave him a bow, arrow, axe, and Dharma seal to use against the Preaching Squad.
• The Beast Lord drew his divine bow and fired a powerful arrow toward the traveling Preaching Squad.
• Sun Wukong sensed the attack and raised his staff as Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Little White Dragon Ao Lie joined forces to block it.
• Ao Lie deduced that Shiva or one of his incarnations was behind the attack, while the Beast Lord watched from afar.
• The Beast Lord used his authority to transform nearby animals into varied beast hordes and sent them to obstruct the Preaching Squad.

The Beast Lord repeatedly ambushed the Preaching Squad from within the beast horde, slowing their journey despite their ability to destroy his manifestations. Qingqing decided to give Sun Wukong a system, and Supreme Pure Laozi predicted it would support him or rally others rather than make him overpowered.

• The Preaching Squad fought another encircling beast horde while searching for the Beast Lord hiding among the beasts.
• The Beast Lord emerged as a four-armed ancient god manifestation and attacked the squad from behind, but their combined powers destroyed it.
• The squad realized they could defeat the Beast Lord's manifestations but could not destroy him at the root.
• Qingqing decided to give Sun Wukong a cheat, surprising the Heavenly Venerates in Three Pure Ones Hall.
• Supreme Pure Laozi predicted that Sun Wukong's system would provide support or rally everyone's enthusiasm rather than make him especially powerful.

Zhou Qingqing bestowed a Ranking System on Sun Wukong to spur on the Preaching Squad, but Sun Wukong hesitated to accept it and tested whether Violet Fairy could hear its voice. Amitabha Buddha sensed the unstable cheat and mistook Sun Wukong’s hesitation for special treatment, while Zhou Qingqing recognized his resistance as familiar defiance.

• Supreme Pure Laozi predicted that the next system would motivate the Preaching Squad, and Zhou Qingqing created a Ranking System to rank its five members.
• After the Beast Lord vanished, the Preaching Squad waited aboard Little White Dragon Ao Lie, while Sun Wukong brooded over his failure to defeat the Beast Lord.
• The Ranking System appeared to Sun Wukong and asked him whether he wished to bind it, so he tried to find out whether Violet Fairy could hear its voice.
• Zhou Qingqing misread Sun Wukong’s question as a plan to reject the system, and the Three Pure Ones Heavenly Venerates reacted with amusement.
• Amitabha Buddha sensed the incomplete system and concluded that Sun Wukong was resisting a cheat that allowed him to choose whether to accept it.
• Zhou Qingqing realized Sun Wukong had not chosen yet and privately compared his defiance toward his master with her own supposed respect for hers.

Sun Wukong used his reversed Three Flowers to give the mysterious system a tangible form and began driving out its functions, unaware that Qingqing had created it. Qingqing let him damage the system rather than force him to accept it, while Amitabha Buddha watched in surprise.

• Sun Wukong rejected the system and used his power of origin to try to drive it out.
• Qingqing decided not to force the system onto Sun Wukong and allowed him to keep attacking it.
• Sun Wukong's expression changed, surprising Tang Sanzang and the others aboard the dragon carriage.
• Amitabha Buddha sensed that Sun Wukong's system was weakening and confirmed that Sun Wukong was truly driving it out.
• Sun Wukong reversed his Three Flowers, made the formless system tangible, and damaged its functions while praising his master's power.

Sun Wukong stopped purging the Ranking System after discovering it was harmless, bound to its damaged version, and used it to create a ranking scenario about dealing with the Beast Lord. After returning to normal, he began to reveal his system to the Preaching Squad, while Amitabha Buddha heard him say “XX.”

• Amitabha Buddha sensed that Sun Wukong’s system had lost eighty percent of its power and mistakenly believed Zhou Qingqing and the Three Pure Ones had stopped the purging.
• Sun Wukong decided the remaining system was harmless, asked whether it could still speak, and chose to bind with the Ranking System.
• The damaged system listed five ranking categories and let Sun Wukong independently publish ranking scenarios.
• Sun Wukong added the situation involving the Beast Lord as a ranking scenario and regained control of his vision and movements.
• Sun Wukong told the Preaching Squad he had obtained an “XX,” and Amitabha Buddha heard the disclosure.
• The Preaching Squad asked Sun Wukong what system he had obtained.

Sun Wukong learned that Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujin, and Little White Dragon Ao Lie all had systems of their own, each with a different ability. When Ao Lie attributed their systems to the Lord of Ten Thousand Dragons and the Dao Venerable, Sun Wukong reacted with a strange expression.

• Amitabha Buddha listened as the group discussed Sun Wukong's system but still could not understand what it meant.
• Sun Wukong asked Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujin, and Little White Dragon Ao Lie if they had systems too.
• Tang Sanzang revealed that his system had helped him break through the veil of the womb, find suitable Daoist arts, and become Three Burials.
• Zhu Bajie explained that his system rewarded him for repeating tasks, while Sha Wujin showed how his system let him extract power and create his Glazed World.
• Little White Dragon Ao Lie said the Lord of Ten Thousand Dragons had given him a system that enabled his many dragon forms and Divine Dragon summon.
• Ao Lie named the Lord of Ten Thousand Dragons and the Dao Venerable as the ones who could give them systems, and Sun Wukong's expression changed.

Sun Wukong activated his Ranking System and announced that the group would be ranked by how quickly they defeated the Beast King. The Preaching Squad eagerly accepted the challenge, while the Calamity aura intensified and the hidden Beast Lord faced a harder fight ahead.

• Sun Wukong admitted that his system was the Ranking System and activated it for the group.
• The system announced the Counterattack Against the Beast King scenario, ranking participants by their speed and promising rewards or punishments based on their placements.
• Tang Sanzang and the others welcomed the rankings and said they wanted to place first, while Sun Wukong kept quiet about the system's damaged functions.
• Amitabha Buddha could no longer hear the Preaching Squad because of Calamity restrictions, but he saw that Sun Wukong's system had made them lively.
• The Calamity aura grew denser as Qingqing remained largely unaffected, and the hidden Beast Lord was left facing the group's renewed drive.

The Beast Lord continued harassing the Preaching Squads and chose Little White Dragon Ao Lie as his next target. Ao Lie transformed from his carriage and unleashed a new fused ability, nearly striking the Beast Lord’s true body, while the rankings remained undecided.

• The Beast Lord resumed his harassment plan, which he called Fly Style, and decided to target Little White Dragon Ao Lie.
• The Preaching Squads noticed the Beast Lord’s approach, but Ao Lie refused to let the others take his chance and threw them out of his carriage before transforming into a dragon.
• Ao Lie combined Dead Spirit Bloodfire and Three-Life Causal Flame into Causal Bloodfire and attacked the Beast Lord.
• The Beast Lord sacrificed nearby beasts to sever the flames’ causal links before they could reach his true body.
• Ao Lie judged that his performance might earn him an “A Cut Above” ranking and resolved to keep strengthening his ability.

The Beast Lord discovered that the Preaching Squad had become far stronger, but his retreat let Tang Sanzang seize the initiative with two powerful scriptures. Amitabha Buddha watched in alarm as Zhou Qingqing’s cheat seemed to have changed the squad’s strength, though Zhou Qingqing had only claimed there was nothing wrong with the cards.

• The Beast Lord tested the Preaching Squad with another herd, found Little White Dragon back in dragon-car form, then retreated when Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujin’s weapons filled him with unease.
• The Heavenly Venerates in the Three Pure Ones Hall noted that Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujin had failed to hurt the Beast Lord, leaving Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong under pressure to perform.
• The Beast Lord returned and was caught by Tang Sanzang, who wrapped him in two scripture scrolls and chanted rapidly.
• Sun Wukong called Zhu Bajie an idiot and praised Sha Wujin, while the Heavenly Venerates remarked that their cores remained consistent across reincarnations.
• Zhou Qingqing recognized Tang Sanzang’s familiar chatterbox nature, and Amitabha Buddha concluded that Zhou Qingqing’s cheat had transformed the Preaching Squad’s strength.

Sun Wukong used the power of reversal to break the Calamity’s travel restrictions and pursue the Beast Lord, determined to win first place in the Ranking System. He defeated the Beast Lord and earned the top ranking, while the Three Pure Ones considered a reward for Little White Dragon Ao Lie.

• After Tang Sanzang nearly killed the Beast Lord, the Beast Lord escaped, leaving the group worried that Sun Wukong might not earn any ranking points.
• Sun Wukong poured the power of reversal into Somersault Cloud and restored its ability to travel a hundred and eight thousand li in one somersault.
• Amitabha Buddha realized that Sun Wukong had broken his restriction and could leave the pilgrimage team to pursue the Beast Lord.
• Sun Wukong used Somersault Cloud to reach the Beast Lord, then attacked him with Heavenly Law, Earthly Manifestation and the Golden-Hooped Staff.
• Sun Wukong killed the Beast Lord and ranked “awesome” in the Ranking System’s first settlement.
• Qingqing decided to give Little White Dragon Ao Lie a Crying Horse ornament, and the Three Pure Ones considered restarting horse betting in the Heavenly Court.

Sun Wukong’s new Ranking System ranked the Preaching Squad and issued rewards and punishments. As Amitabha Buddha considered the system’s effects, Bole and Zhao Gongming announced a New Year Festival in the Heavenly Court.

• Sun Wukong ranked Little White Dragon Ao Lie a cut above, and Ao Lie received a Crying Horse charm and a smart aromatherapy diffuser.
• Sun Wukong ranked Tang Sanzang top-tier, granting him priority in the next scenario, and received god-tier status with exclusive titles for his achievements.
• The system ranked Sha Wujin NPC and Zhu Bajie utter trash, activating pain and annihilation punishments for them.
• Amitabha Buddha noticed Sun Wukong’s system was affecting the squad and suspected most of it had been expelled.
• Bole appeared as the new Bimawen with Zhao Gongming and announced a New Year Festival for the Year of the Horse, which Amitabha Buddha suspected would involve horse-race betting.

The New Year Festival’s horse race ended with the white Dragon Horse’s victory, and Zhao Gongming used the gathered wealth aura to attain Primordial Chaos as the God of Wealth. He celebrated by sending red envelopes, but Zhou Qingqing and the Three Pure Ones were shocked by how little they contained.

• Amitabha Buddha joined the New Year Festival and bet on a black Dragon Horse, while the Three Pure Ones observed that the event’s wealth would help Zhao Gongming attain sainthood.
• Bole’s expanded competition drew vast participation, and the black and white Dragon Horses became the final contenders.
• The white Dragon Horse won the race, and the resulting surge of wealth aura helped Zhao Gongming attain the Dao and reach Primordial Chaos.
• Zhao Gongming announced that wealth would come through legitimate transactions and sent red envelopes throughout the Primordial World.
• Zhou Qingqing complained that her red envelope contained only 0.01, and the Three Pure Ones checked their own envelopes and found the same amount.

Amitabha Buddha concealed a deadly new version of the Four Saints Test the Zen Mind, but Zhou Qingqing noticed the scheme and the Three Pure Ones helped her see through it. The Preaching Squad faced a trial where one member’s failure would doom the whole team, while Amitabha Buddha watched to see how they would fare.

• Amitabha Buddha hid the altered Four Saints Test the Zen Mind behind an illusory dreamscape, making the Preaching Squad appear to advance toward Five Manor Temple as usual.
• Zhou Qingqing detected that something was wrong, and the Three Pure Ones Heavenly Venerates joined forces to send her a divine ability that broke the illusion.
• Zhou Qingqing saw that the new rules meant one person’s hesitation or failure would trap the entire Preaching Squad.
• Zhou Qingqing noted that Shiva had helped former Chaos Demon Gods adapt to the Primordial World, making the trial far more dangerous than its original version.
• Amitabha Buddha remained satisfied with Shiva’s tribulation and watched to see how the Preaching Squads would perform.

The Preaching Squad entered the Purple Mansion Vermilion Gate and preached to a household of women who seemed to have Chaos Demon God auras. Ao Lie saw that they genuinely enjoyed the teachings and showered the preachers with affection.

• The Preaching Squad reached the Purple Mansion Vermilion Gate after nightfall, and a noble woman invited them inside to preach to the young ladies in her residence.
• Sun Wukong used his golden eyes to recognize that the women carried auras like those of Chaos Demon Gods, but he accepted the invitation.
• The squad preached the Dao to three beautiful young ladies and the other members of the household, who listened and applauded enthusiastically.
• Ao Lie saw that everyone’s emotional shifts were positive and chose not to tell the others about the titles above the women’s heads.
• After the preaching, Ao Lie saw red hearts appear above everyone, indicating their affection for the Preaching Squad.

Sun Wukong was barred from the Purple Mansion Vermilion Gate and saw his Ranking System assessment fall to "utterly washed." Inside, Tang Sanzang tried to avoid the husband selection, but the woman offered to marry as well and pressed the Preaching Squad to continue.

• Sun Wukong argued that Zhu Bajie should be excluded from the husband selection because he already had a wife, but the woman insisted her daughter wanted to assess him.
• Sun Wukong tried to break the Purple Mansion Vermilion Gate with his Golden-Hooped Staff, but it vanished, temporarily barring him from the residence.
• Sun Wukong used the Ranking System to check on the Preaching Squad and discovered his assessment had become "utterly washed," then sat down to search for a way out of his predicament.
• The woman reassured the Preaching Squad that Sun Wukong was safe, and the system confirmed he had only been barred; the others saw his low ranking as a chance to improve theirs.
• Tang Sanzang tried to excuse himself from the husband selection, but the woman offered herself as a match too, leaving him to question how the matches would be decided.

The old mother proposed a heavenly marriage collision in which she and her daughters would try to catch the Preaching Squad as potential Dao companions. The squad fled to avoid being caught, while Tang Sanzang’s scriptures radiated a threatening aura.

• The old mother offered herself and her daughters as Dao companions and proposed a heavenly marriage collision with the Preaching Squad.
• Little White Dragon Ao Lie spotted hearts above the women’s heads and signaled the squad after realizing what his system revealed.
• The old mother and her four daughters donned red veils and began the collision, forcing the Preaching Squad to use their escape techniques.
• Ao Lie saw both affection and killing intent above the women as they pursued their chosen targets.
• Tang Sanzang stood out as two scripture scrolls circled him with an aura that warned the women away.

Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang, Sha Wujin, and Little White Dragon Ao Lie completed the trial and realized Zhu Bajie had been left alone as the Four Delusion Demon Gods’ target. Zhu Bajie faced their tailored divine abilities and stopped running, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujin emerged from the Purple Mansion Vermilion Gate, and Sun Wukong concluded that the whole group would fail if even one member did not pass the trial.
• Little White Dragon Ao Lie completed the trial after Zhu Bajie urged him by voice transmission to leave, believing Zhu Bajie’s expression showed resolve.
• The group realized the Four Delusion Demon Gods had targeted Zhu Bajie and left him alone inside the gate.
• The old mother and her three daughters confronted Zhu Bajie and unleashed four divine abilities designed to exploit his weaknesses.
• Zhu Bajie stopped running as the Four Delusion Demon Gods’ abilities took hold.

Zhu Bajie pretended to accept marriage to the four women while keeping his Dao heart steady, hoping to deceive them. The women believed they still had ways to sway him and moved the trial toward a bridal chamber.

• Zhu Bajie agreed to marry the women, though his resolve had not wavered.
• The Heavenly Venerates suspected Zhu Bajie was feigning surrender to turn the Four Delusions Divine Ability against its users.
• The old mother told her three daughters to lift their bridal veils after hearing Zhu Bajie agree.
• Zhu Bajie urged the women to hurry into the bridal chamber, continuing to play along.