Chapter Summaries

The Preaching Squad prepared to impersonate the Three Pure Ones Sacred Statues and frighten Chechi Kingdom’s royal preceptors, but the statues revealed the Three Pure Ones Heavenly Venerates’ wrath and stopped them. The three royal preceptors arrived at the Three Pure Ones Temple as the squad reconsidered its plan.

• Tiger Strength Immortal, Deer Strength Immortal, and Goat Strength Immortal arrived at the Three Pure Ones Temple with Daoist soldiers.
• Tang Sanzang realized the royal preceptors had come to test whether they still controlled the temple.
• Sun Wukong proposed that he, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujin impersonate the Three Pure Ones Sacred Statues and manifest their power to frighten the visitors.
• The Preaching Squad agreed, and Sun Wukong reached toward the Primordial Heavenly Venerate’s statue.
• The Three Pure Ones Sacred Statues changed their expressions and radiated wrath, warning the squad not to profane their forms.

The Preaching Squad hid in the Three Pure Ones Temple and confronted Tiger Strength Immortal, Deer Strength Immortal, and Goat Strength Immortal when they tried to restore the sacred statues to their former arrangement. The three demons summoned their divine beasts and attacked, and Sun Wukong prepared to strike back.

• The Three Pure Ones’ anger faded, so Sun Wukong told the Preaching Squad to turn invisible and let the three demon Daoists enter.
• Tiger Strength Immortal, Deer Strength Immortal, and Goat Strength Immortal noticed that the statues’ positions had changed and tried to move them back.
• The Preaching Squad emerged and stopped the demons’ magic, while Sun Wukong said he had restored the statues to their proper positions.
• Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujin accused the demons of arranging the statues incorrectly and using the Three Pure Ones rather than worshipping them.
• The three demons summoned the phantoms of a tiger, a deer, and a mountain goat, and Sun Wukong swept his Golden-Hooped Staff at them.

Tiger Strength Immortal and his brothers turned the Preaching Squad's attack into a public accusation, but Tang Sanzang challenged their claim to Daoist orthodoxy by correcting the Three Pure Ones' arrangement and showing the squad's Tang Empire travel document. The crowd began to doubt the Imperial Preceptors, who rose to denounce the document as proof of nothing.

• Tiger Strength Immortal, Deer Strength Immortal, and Goat Strength Immortal knelt before the Three Pure Ones statues and accused the Preaching Squad of desecrating the temple and bullying them.
• Chechi Kingdom citizens, officials, and soldiers rushed into the temple, blamed the five outsiders, and demanded that they leave.
• Tang Sanzang admitted that the squad had moved the statues, then said they had restored the orthodox arrangement and suggested the Imperial Preceptors were not Daoists.
• Tang Sanzang showed the squad's travel document bearing the Eastern Tang Empire's seal, and the crowd began to question the Imperial Preceptors.
• Tiger Strength Immortal and Deer Strength Immortal stood up and insisted that the travel document proved nothing and that their decades of service established their authority.

After accusing the Tang visitors of being Daoist impostors, Tiger Strength Immortal brought them before the king of Chechi Kingdom and challenged them to a contest. The king ordered a best-of-three contest, and the first trial began with Tiger Strength Immortal praying for rain while Little White Dragon prepared to answer.

• Goat Strength Immortal rallied the townspeople against Tang Sanzang, and Tiger Strength Immortal challenged the Preaching Squad to defend their claim before the king.
• Tiger Strength Immortal and Tang Sanzang presented their accusations and explanations to the king in the Golden Throne Hall.
• The king approved a best-of-three contest, with the losing side ordered to leave Chechi Kingdom.
• Tiger Strength Immortal chose praying for rain as the first trial, and Little White Dragon volunteered to take it.
• Tiger Strength Immortal performed a rain-prayer ritual and sent a golden spell into the clouds.

Tiger Strength Immortal successfully used the Daoist Five Thunder Ritual to summon clouds and thunder, but Little White Dragon’s innate rainmaking power was mysteriously blocked. After revealing his dragon form and roaring to command the Four Seas, Little White Dragon still could not summon even a trace of rain.

• Tiger Strength Immortal used the orthodox Five Thunder Ritual, drawing clouds, wind, and thunder and winning the Chechi Kingdom citizens’ cheers.
• Little White Dragon tried to summon rain through his Dragon Clan bloodline, but the moisture around him could not spread beyond his body.
• Little White Dragon transformed into a half-dragon form and unleashed his Dragon Clan aura, alarming the crowd and forcing Tiger Strength Immortal back.
• Little White Dragon roared to summon the clouds and waters of the Four Seas, but the roar faded without bringing wind, clouds, or rain.

Little White Dragon lost the rain-summoning contest to Tiger Strength Immortal despite having intact dragon powers, and he sensed that something had prevented him from summoning rain. Sha Wujin stepped forward to face Deer Strength Immortal in the second contest, a test of seated meditation and steadfastness.

• Little White Dragon failed to summon rain, and Tiger Strength Immortal claimed victory before the king awarded him the first round.
• Little White Dragon told the Preaching Squad that something had stopped him, though he could not identify what it was.
• Tiger Strength Immortal mocked the Preaching Squad before the king asked what the second round would be.
• Tiger Strength Immortal proposed a seated-meditation contest in which each contestant would ride a cloud to a platform a hundred zhang high and lose by speaking, moving, or falling first.
• Sha Wujin volunteered for the contest and stepped onto the ritual platform to face Deer Strength Immortal.

Sha Wujin began a seated meditation contest against Deer Strength Immortal and discovered his opponent had a remarkably steady Dao heart. Deer Strength Immortal’s illusion then subjected Sha Wujin to venomous creatures and accusations about his killing, leaving him under mounting spiritual assault.

• Deer Strength Immortal and Sha Wujin sat on the high platform and began the meditation contest.
• Sha Wujin sensed that Deer Strength Immortal was deeply composed and far more firm-hearted than he had expected.
• Venomous insects appeared around Sha Wujin, and he found that neither his divine abilities nor physical strength could affect them.
• Voices accused Sha Wujin of killing too many beings and claimed his Dao heart was only an illusion built on slaughter.

Sha Wujin resisted Deer Strength Immortal’s attempt to break his Dao heart and turned the torment into overwhelming killing intent. Deer Strength Immortal fell from the platform in terror, leaving Sha Wujin the winner of the second round.

• Deer Strength Immortal used curses, poisonous creatures, and physical torment to try to make Sha Wujin’s karmic burden overwhelm his Dao heart.
• Sha Wujin endured the assault, drawing on his past punishments from the Ranking System, and converted every disturbance into killing intent.
• Sha Wujin fixed his blood-red gaze on Deer Strength Immortal, whose fear made him lose control and fall from the platform.
• The king and officials watched in shock as Sha Wujin won the second round.

After Sha Wujin won the second contest, the king proposed ending the wager in a tie, but Tiger Strength Immortal insisted that it continue. The Preaching Squad suspected Deer Strength Immortal had deliberately fallen from the cloud ladder, leaving them wary that the royal preceptors were fishing for an opening.

• The king acknowledged Sha Wujin's victory, declared the contest tied, and offered to stamp Tang Sanzang's travel permit so the Preaching Squad could continue its journey.
• Tiger Strength Immortal rejected the king's offer, rallied Deer Strength Immortal and Goat Strength Immortal, and demanded that the wager continue until there was a winner and a loser.
• The king allowed the contest to proceed, while the Preaching Squad concluded that he had been deceived by the royal preceptors rather than conspiring with them.
• Tang Sanzang said the king was not the real obstacle, and Sha Wujin told the others that Deer Strength Immortal's fall seemed deliberate.
• Sha Wujin suggested that the royal preceptors had staged the fall as bait, since Deer Strength Immortal's earlier composure made him unlikely to have been frightened off the ladder so easily.

The Preaching Squad lost the first round of the Partition Guessing Game after Tiger Strength Immortal correctly identified the garments inside the cabinet, despite Zhu Bajie secretly tearing them apart. Sun Wukong recognized that something was wrong and stepped up for the second round, which began with the queen placing a peach inside the cabinet.

• Tiger Strength Immortal asked the king to make all the remaining members of the Preaching Squad participate in the Partition Guessing Game, and the king agreed.
• The queen placed a court garment inside the Vermilion Lacquer Cabinet, and Tiger Strength Immortal identified it as a Mountain-River State Robe and a Heaven-Earth Geographic Skirt.
• Zhu Bajie secretly tore the garment apart using the Thirty-Six Transformations, but it appeared intact when the cabinet was opened, so Tiger Strength Immortal won the first round.
• Zhu Bajie told Sun Wukong through a voice transmission that something was wrong with the cabinet, and Sun Wukong said he had noticed and would handle the next round.
• The queen placed a peach inside the cabinet for the second round, and Sun Wukong prepared to take part.

Sun Wukong and Goat Strength Immortal both guessed that the cabinet held a peach, and Goat Strength Immortal conceded to make the score even. In the deciding round, Tang Sanzang’s attempt to change a Daoist boy’s appearance failed, leaving the Preaching Squad facing defeat.

• Sun Wukong used his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils to see a peach inside the cabinet and guessed it first.
• Goat Strength Immortal also guessed peach and conceded the round, making the contest score one win and one loss apiece.
• Tiger Strength Immortal guessed that the cabinet held a Daoist boy, while Tang Sanzang guessed a young monk.
• The king opened the cabinet and revealed a Daoist boy whose hair and topknot were unchanged.
• Tang Sanzang realized that the Imperial Preceptors had anticipated his power and set him up with the same trick they had used against Zhu Bajie.

The Preaching Squad lost the third Partition Guessing Game after the Vermilion Lacquer Cabinet restored the Daoist novice’s hair, letting Tiger Strength Immortal claim victory. As the others prepared to leave the Chechi Kingdom, Sun Wukong noticed that the ranking system’s mission was still progressing and insisted there was another possibility.

• Tang Sanzang realized the cabinet restored anything changed inside it, undoing his Funeral Great Dao and returning the novice’s hair.
• Tiger Strength Immortal declared that he had won the third round, and the cheering crowd denounced the Preaching Squad as frauds.
• Zhu Bajie, Little White Dragon, Sha Wujin, and Tang Sanzang accepted the defeat, and Tang Sanzang took responsibility before deciding they should leave.
• Sun Wukong stopped the others and pointed out that the ranking system’s mission progress was still advancing.

After the Preaching Squad lost its contest in the Chechi Kingdom, Sun Wukong used his body as an alchemical furnace to reforge his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils. As the old eyes burned away and a new seed awakened with the Hongmeng Creation Pill’s power, golden light enveloped everyone.

• Sun Wukong focused his essence, qi, and spirit to push his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils beyond their limits.
• Little White Dragon recognized that Sun Wukong was turning his body into the Eight Trigrams Furnace, and Zhu Bajie and Tang Sanzang realized he could not be stopped.
• Sun Wukong endured the fire consuming his body and eyes, driven by the Preaching Squad’s loss and the danger of their mission failing.
• The flames destroyed his old eyes, and the Hongmeng Creation Pill’s dormant potency flowed into a new seed.
• Sun Wukong’s body blazed with pure golden light that enveloped everyone.

After reforging his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, Sun Wukong saw karmic chains linking the Vermilion Lacquer Cabinet, the three royal preceptors, and the imprisoned monks. He accused the preceptors of cheating by using the monks as living locks, but the king and crowd demanded proof and rejected his claim.

• Sun Wukong emerged from the golden light with greatly enhanced Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils.
• Sun Wukong saw karmic chains connecting the Vermilion Lacquer Cabinet to Tiger Strength Immortal, Deer Strength Immortal, Goat Strength Immortal, and the monks imprisoned throughout Chechi Kingdom.
• Sun Wukong declared that the contest was not over and questioned the king about who had prepared the cabinet before it was placed.
• Sun Wukong told the people that the royal preceptors had turned the monks into locks and used their suffering to cheat in the contest.
• The king demanded proof, while the people cursed Sun Wukong and accused him of making excuses for losing.

Sun Wukong struck the void with the Golden-Hooped Staff to prove that the three national masters had bound the Chechi Kingdom with hidden chains. His sixth blow tore the chains into view, exposing their links to the Vermilion Lacquer Cabinet, the national preceptors, the city, and the imprisoned monks.

• Sun Wukong raised the Golden-Hooped Staff and struck the void, making the crowd and king hear metallic crashes from invisible chains.
• Tiger Strength Immortal and Deer Strength Immortal called the sounds an illusion, while Goat Strength Immortal watched the staff with growing anxiety.
• Sun Wukong struck the same spot repeatedly as the chains' clanging grew louder, and he challenged the national masters to keep calling it a trick.
• On his sixth strike, Sun Wukong tore open the invisible bindings, revealing black rune-covered chains connected to the Vermilion Lacquer Cabinet, the three national preceptors, the city, and monks imprisoned in Taoist temples.
• Zhou Qingqing praised Sun Wukong in her thoughts for using his reforged Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils to reveal the chains.

The king of the Chechi Kingdom saw the chains linking the royal preceptors, the Vermilion Lacquer Cabinet, and the imprisoned monks, and realized he had been deceived. He voided the three state preceptors’ past contest results and confronted them, leaving their scheme exposed and their position ruined.

• The chains appeared above the Golden Throne Hall, revealing the connection between the three royal preceptors, the Vermilion Lacquer Cabinet, and the imprisoned monks.
• The king reflected on his role in oppressing the monks and, after a long silence, acknowledged that he had seen the evidence.
• The king questioned the royal preceptors about the chains, while the crowd fell silent rather than defend them.
• The king declared that the three state preceptors had cheated and voided all their previous contest results.
• The king apologized to the Preaching Squad, and Tang Sanzang told him he was not at fault for what he had not known.
• Tiger Strength Immortal realized the royal preceptors could not recover their standing after the king and the people saw the truth.

After Sun Wukong exposed the imperial preceptors’ cheating, Tiger Strength Immortal demanded a new contest with lives at stake, arguing that the earlier contests had not proved who represented the Daoist Orthodoxy. Tang Sanzang accepted the challenge but insisted the preceptors retract their declaration that the Preaching Squad had lost and apologize first.

• Tiger Strength Immortal dismissed the earlier contests as invalid and proposed a life-and-death contest against the Preaching Squad.
• The king of Chechi Kingdom objected, but Tiger Strength Immortal argued that refusing to wager their lives would show a lack of confidence in their Daoist arts.
• Tiger Strength Immortal challenged Little White Dragon, Zhu Bajie, and Tang Sanzang to prove themselves, accusing them of not representing the Daoist Orthodoxy.
• Tang Sanzang accepted the wager on behalf of the three but demanded that the preceptors retract their declaration of defeat and apologize before the contests began.

Tiger Strength Immortal, Deer Strength Immortal, and Goat Strength Immortal apologized to the Preaching Squad, but realized Tang Sanzang had used the apology to win the Chechi Kingdom’s people to their side. Both parties then prepared for three life-or-death contests, beginning with an oil cauldron trial.

• Tiger Strength Immortal, Deer Strength Immortal, and Goat Strength Immortal bowed to the Preaching Squad and apologized for cheating in the earlier contests.
• Tang Sanzang accepted the apology and wager of lives, declaring that the Preaching Squad would prove itself the Daoist Orthodoxy.
• The people of the Chechi Kingdom admired the Preaching Squad, while the three state preceptors resolved to kill the three members competing that day.
• The sides set three one-on-one contests: Tang Sanzang against Tiger Strength Immortal, Zhu Bajie against Deer Strength Immortal, and Little White Dragon against Goat Strength Immortal.
• The first contest was to endure an oil cauldron, and Zhou Qingqing recognized the enormous bronze vessel’s beast-face design as a taotie motif.

Little White Dragon and Goat Strength Immortal entered the Taotie Cauldron, where Little White Dragon discovered that its harmless-looking oil was digesting them. He recognized the cauldron as a living Taotie stomach, leaving both contestants trapped inside the ancient fiend’s gastric fluid.

• The King of the Chechi Kingdom announced that Little White Dragon and Goat Strength Immortal would enter the cauldron together and that the loser would die, body and soul destroyed.
• Little White Dragon entered the oil and found that it felt mild, but he sensed it flowing like blood and used the Ice Dragon Pearl to shield himself with frost.
• Little White Dragon saw Goat Strength Immortal floating calmly without any defenses and realized a hidden digestive force was weakening his frost barrier.
• Little White Dragon reinforced his protection with ice armor, then searched his Dragon Clan inherited memories for an explanation.
• Little White Dragon recognized the cauldron’s patterns as those of Taotie and realized they were inside the ancient fiend’s stomach, surrounded by its digestive fluid.

Goat Strength Immortal used three dangerous methods to resist the Taotie Cauldron and carve out a place to survive inside it. The cauldron redirected all its devouring power toward Little White Dragon, who prepared to face the concentrated attack.

• Goat Strength Immortal manifested his True-Origin Goat Head, causing the Taotie Cauldron to mistake him for an offering and slow its erosion of him.
• Goat Strength Immortal connected the patterns on his horns to the cauldron walls and invoked a Countermanding Sacrificial Contract to seize the chief officiant's authority.
• Goat Strength Immortal accepted Taotie's greed Dao rhyme into his Ram-Headed Dharma Form, combining his three methods to establish a pocket of safety inside the cauldron.
• The Taotie Cauldron redirected its devouring power toward Little White Dragon, rapidly thinning his ice armor.
• Little White Dragon accepted the challenge and prepared for a real contest with Goat Strength Immortal.