Chapter Summaries

Cangyuan entered seclusion to refine his World Incarnation while slowing time with the Chaos Bell. Meanwhile, Stone Monkey reached Square Inch Mountain, met Six-Eared Macaque and Yuan Hong, and became their sworn younger brother before learning they had a second brother.

• Cangyuan used the materials from the Innate Gods and Demons to refine his World Incarnation and used the Chaos Bell to slow the passage of time.
• Stone Monkey arrived at Square Inch Mountain and ran toward two immortals he saw landing nearby.
• Stone Monkey met Six-Eared Macaque and Yuan Hong, who told him he was already a Golden Immortal and invited him to travel with them.
• Yuan Hong proposed that the three monkeys become sworn brothers, and they made an oath together in the peach grove.
• Stone Monkey asked about their second brother, and Yuan Hong jokingly claimed they had eaten him before Six-Eared explained the truth.

Stone Monkey joined Six-Eared and Yuan Hong in seeking the Dao at Fangcun Mountain, where the three endured a punishing test to reach Patriarch Bodhi and Cangyuan. Cangyuan and Subhuti agreed to teach Stone Monkey together, while Cangyuan took Six-Eared and Yuan Hong as disciples.

• Six-Eared and Yuan Hong brought Stone Monkey through the boundary gate to Fangcun Mountain and explained that the three thousand Chaos Stone platforms tested their resolve.
• Cangyuan chose to teach Stone Monkey alongside Subhuti, rather than claim him alone or refuse Subhuti's request.
• After two and a half months, the three monkeys crawled past the platforms and asked the two immortals to accept them as disciples.
• Cangyuan accepted Six-Eared and Yuan Hong, while Subhuti and Cangyuan jointly accepted Stone Monkey as their disciple.

Cangyuan arranged Sun Wukong's names with Patriarch Bodhi and planned a powerful team to spread Buddhism beyond the Prehistoric World. As three young visitors secretly climbed into his courtyard, Cangyuan caught them and asked what they wanted.

• Cangyuan suggested Gu Yue Fangyuan as a secondary name for the Stone Monkey, while Patriarch Bodhi named him Sun Wukong.
• Sun Wukong accepted both names and began cultivating under Patriarch Bodhi on Fangcun Mountain.
• Cangyuan planned a Pilgrimage and Preaching Squad with Six-Eared Macaque, Yuan Hong, Sun Wukong, Yang Jian, Nezha, Ao Bing, and Jin Chanzi.
• Cangyuan sent Saintly Sense to Zhunti and Jieyin, urging them to properly train Jin Chanzi for the mission.
• Three figures climbed over Cangyuan's courtyard wall at night, and Cangyuan appeared behind them and asked why they had come.

Cangyuan revealed that Sun Wukong, Six-Eared Macaque, and Yuan Hong were among the protagonists of the Calamity, then persuaded them to unify their origins. After their origins fused, all three became Lesser Chaos Demon Apes, making it possible to use the formation that could synthesize a Chaos Demon Ape.

• Sun Wukong, Six-Eared Macaque, and Yuan Hong secretly visited Cangyuan after realizing he had signaled them to come.
• Cangyuan told the three that they were Calamity protagonists and reassured Sun Wukong that protagonists did not always meet certain death.
• Cangyuan explained that the three shared an origin divided from one supreme existence and offered to reunify their origins; Sun Wukong eagerly agreed.
• Cangyuan divided Sun Wukong's origin among the three and fused portions of their origins into each other's bodies.
• Sun Wukong, Six-Eared Macaque, and Yuan Hong each became a Lesser Chaos Demon Ape, completing the conditions needed to synthesize a Chaos Demon Ape.

After the Immortal Qin’s departure, Huhai’s misrule led to Great Qin’s fall and centuries of dynastic upheaval across the Nine Provinces. Meanwhile, Cangyuan condensed thirteen new World Incarnations, bringing his total to twenty-four.

• Huhai conspired with ministers to weaken Fusu, inherited the throne after Fusu died, and ruled Great Qin corruptly until rebellions erupted.
• Chen Sheng and Wu Guang sparked uprisings, and Xiang Yu later destroyed the Qin army at Julu before Liu Bang defeated him and founded the Great Han.
• The Great Han lasted more than three thousand years before collapsing, while the Nine Provinces continued cycling between unity and division.
• Cangyuan created thirteen World Incarnations from new laws and Innate Gods and Demons’ vital blood, raising his total to twenty-four.
• Cangyuan’s five existing incarnations stood at Saint Nine Heavens, while his other twenty were Ultimate Saints who could reach Sainthood after his next breakthrough.

The God Kings learned that the Primordial Divine Realm was far stronger than Myriad Phenomena Divine Realm and agreed to recall their expeditionary armies, but Supreme Chaos could no longer locate them. As Zeus and Odin sought divine powers who could trace the Primordial World, Zhiming sensed two Hunyuan Taichu Great Luo Golden Immortals searching for it and wondered who they were.

• Zeus and Indra warned the God Kings that the Primordial Divine Realm had overwhelming strength, so the Eight God Kings agreed to recall their expeditionary armies.
• Zeus contacted Supreme Chaos, who found that the expeditionary army's mark and its Destiny and space-time Karma threads had vanished.
• Odin proposed searching for a passage from Myriad Phenomena Divine Realm to the Primordial Divine Realm, but Indra said even the Three Phase Gods and Great Brahman had failed to find one.
• Zeus decided to ask Ananke to locate the Primordial Divine Realm, while Odin said he would ask the Norns to act.
• Zhiming sensed two beings at the Hunyuan Taichu Great Luo Golden Immortal level tracing the Primordial World's location and wondered whether Chaos held others besides him, Shichen, and Yangmei.

Zhiming disrupted Ananke and the Norns’ attempt to trace the Primordial World through Styx, while the God Kings decided to wait for another chance to reach it. In the Primordial World, a Heavenly Secrets heir recognized the infant Li Shimin as destined to save the people.

• Zhiming used the Great Destiny Technique to ruin Ananke and the Norns’ reverse-inference of the Primordial World, then escaped into the Main Vein of the River of Time.
• Zeus and Odin concluded that the missing expeditionary gods might be captives and decided to wait for the Primordial Divine Realm to return.
• Amaterasu suggested capturing Styx to find the entrance to the Primordial Divine Realm, but backed down after learning he was a Primal God.
• Indra ordered increased surveillance of the Myriad Phenomena Divine Realm, with the Three Phase Gods taking turns patrolling it.
• In the Primordial World, a Heavenly Secrets heir visited the Li Clan after strange omens accompanied the birth of Li Yuan’s son.
• The heir predicted the child would save the world and bring peace, and Li Yuan named him Li Shimin.

Li Shimin rose from a prodigious child to the Great Tang’s most powerful general, helping his father overthrow the Sui and reunify the realm. When Li Yuan faced the choice of crown prince, Li Jiancheng yielded the position to Li Shimin, and Li Yuan appointed him heir.

• Li Shimin showed extraordinary talent from childhood, later saving Yang Guang at Yanmen Pass and urging Li Yuan to rebel against the Sui.
• Li Yuan raised troops, and Li Shimin helped capture West River Commandery, defeat Song Laosheng at Huoyi, and take Chang'an.
• After Yang Guang died, Li Yuan founded the Great Tang, while Li Shimin won campaigns across the realm and received the title General of Heavenly Strategy.
• As Li Yuan hesitated over the crown prince, Li Jiancheng felt threatened by Li Shimin’s fortune and voluntarily offered to yield the position to him.
• Li Shimin promised to protect Li Jiancheng, and Li Yuan named Li Shimin crown prince and assigned him to oversee the state and govern affairs.

As Li Shimin’s reign began, rising Karmic Tribulation Energy signaled the coming Journey to the West Calamity. Cangyuan prepared Sun Wukong, Six-Eared Macaque, and Yuan Hong for their destiny, while Saints and other figures awaited Heaven’s will.

• Li Shimin ascended the throne, and the growing Karmic Tribulation Energy frightened cultivators across the Primordial World.
• Cangyuan sensed that the time had come, then met with Sun Wukong, Six-Eared Macaque, and Yuan Hong at Square Inch Mountain.
• Cangyuan told the three monkeys that their mission of destiny had arrived, but told Sun Wukong to wait for its formal announcement.
• Cangyuan and the Heavenly Dao temporarily allied to take fortune from the Myriad Phenomena Divine Realm.
• At Two Worlds Mountain, Eagle Sorrow Stream, and Golden Mountain Temple, a silver-armored general, a dragon carrying a woman, and a hostile young monk awaited events.

The Heavenly Dao issued an edict to form a scripture-seeking and scripture-delivering team that would travel to the Myriad Phenomena Divine Realm, and the Saints considered who should join. Most sect leaders declined to compete for the opportunity, while the chapter ended by establishing Chang'an as the planned starting point of Journey to the West.

• The Eye of Heavenly Dao appeared and proclaimed an edict ordering a team to obtain scriptures from Mount Wuyi's Buddhism and spread the Dao in the Myriad Phenomena Divine Realm.
• Jieyin stopped Zhunti from asking for more disciples, reminding him that Jin Chanzi had already been selected and that the West would profit from the calamity.
• Primordial Lord of Heaven decided not to send his disciples because they were too weak to handle the dangers and he wished to protect his sect's reputation.
• Grand Pure One Laozi declined to involve the Ren Sect because Grand Master Xuandu was its only suitable disciple and Laozi was nearing Dao Integration.
• Sect Master Tongtian left the arrangements to Cangyuan, confident that Cangyuan would provide for the Jie Sect.
• The chapter stated that the Heavenly Dao's planned starting point for Journey to the West was Chang'an.

Li Shimin learned from the Three Sovereigns that the scripture-fetching journey needed the emperor’s permission, while Xuanzang discovered his divine mission and accepted Guanyin’s offer to travel west. Xuanzang set out equipped with three powerful treasures, though the chapter left his journey’s outcome unknown.

• Li Shimin visited the Human Dao Palace in a dream, met the Three Sovereigns, and promised to fulfill his duties as emperor.
• Empress Zhangsun woke Li Shimin after the dream, and he told her he had dreamed of their ancestors.
• Xuanzang sensed a presence at Golden Mountain Temple and saw Guanyin appear in the western sky.
• Guanyin told Xuanzang he had been born to travel west and spread Buddhism, and Xuanzang agreed to the mission.
• Guanyin bestowed the Six-Ray Cicada Staff, the Purple Gold Alms Bowl, and the Brocade Kasaya on Xuanzang for his journey.

After Guanyin Bodhisattva singled out Xuanzang, Li Shimin appointed him to lead a Water and Land Dharma Assembly that freed wronged souls across the Nine Provinces. Guanyin then charged Xuanzang with journeying to Mount Wuyi for Mahayana scriptures to bring relief to Wanxiang, and Li Shimin sent him off as his sworn brother with a passage document and a White Jade Steed.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva manifested at Golden Mountain Temple, identified Xuanzang as a bearer of an important mission, and drew the attention of Li Shimin and the Jinwu Guards.
• Li Shimin summoned Xuanzang to Chang'an and appointed him to preside over the Water and Land Dharma Assembly as Grand Metropolitan Monk Official.
• Xuanzang and twelve hundred eminent monks performed rites at Huasheng Temple, liberating wronged and suffering souls and opening the road to rebirth.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared at the assembly's conclusion and asked Xuanzang to travel to Mount Wuyi for Mahayana scriptures to spread Buddhism and save the people of Wanxiang.
• Xuanzang accepted the pilgrimage, and Li Shimin became his sworn brother and provided him with a passage document and a White Jade Steed.

Xuanzang received the name Tang Sanzang from Li Shimin and began his journey west. At Double-Fork Ridge, he revealed overwhelming power and killed a Tiger Demon who tried to eat him.

• Li Shimin gave Xuanzang the name Tang Sanzang and sent him west with two attendants.
• Tang Sanzang and his companions reached Double-Fork Ridge as night fell and heard a Tiger Demon's roar.
• The Tiger Demon emerged and threatened to eat Tang Sanzang, claiming his flesh would make it a Daluo.
• Tang Sanzang stepped past his attendants and subdued the Tiger Demon with the pressure of a primordial Fierce Beast.
• Tang Sanzang annihilated the Tiger Demon's Primordial Spirit and said the demon's remaining soul would be cleansed in the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

After Xuanzang parted ways with his attendants, he encountered Liu Boqin, who revealed himself as Yang Jian, sent by the Martial Ancestor to escort Xuanzang to Mount Wuyi and then Wanxiang. Yang Jian and Xuanzang set out on the next stage of their journey.

• Xuanzang dismissed the tall one and the short, stout one, then ran a hundred li before stopping for the night.
• The next morning, Liu Boqin arrived as a striped tiger threatened Xuanzang and prepared to kill it.
• Xuanzang asked Liu Boqin to spare the tiger, arguing that it acted by instinct and that killing it would add to his own karma.
• Xuanzang recognized Liu Boqin as an Immortal God, prompting him to reveal himself as Yang Jian, the Heavenly God of Justice.
• Yang Jian said the Martial Ancestor had sent him to escort Xuanzang to Mount Wuyi to obtain the true scriptures and then to Wanxiang to spread Buddhism.

Xuanzang and Yang Jian traveled toward Five Elements Mountain, where Six-Eared Macaque, Yuan Hong, and Sun Wukong joined their scripture-fetching party. After Xuanzang explored the mountain, the group encountered bandits, and Xuanzang’s response turned cold when he learned they had killed people.

• Yang Jian and Xuanzang rode to Five Elements Mountain, where Yang Jian introduced the mountain and its Five Elements Immortal Gate.
• Xuanzang and Yang Jian found Six-Eared Macaque, Yuan Hong, and Sun Wukong gambling at the foot of the mountain, and the three monkeys joined the party as Dao guardians.
• Xuanzang worried that too many guardians would make his pilgrimage seem like an attack on Mount Wuyi, but Yang Jian and Six-Eared Macaque reassured him.
• Xuanzang climbed Five Elements Mountain to experience its immortal scenery, then continued on with Yang Jian and the three monkeys.
• A gang of bandits stopped the five travelers on a forest road and demanded their money and Xuanzang’s golden staff.
• Xuanzang urged the bandits to abandon their wicked ways, then turned cold when their chief threatened him and revealed that they had killed people.

Xuanzang stopped Sun Wukong from attacking six bandits, then killed them himself and explained that he was sending them to punishment so they could eventually reincarnate. As the pilgrims continued toward Mount Wuyi, Jieyin warned Zhunti that Buddhism would receive most of the rewards tied to Xuanzang, leaving Zhunti furious.

• A bandit boasted about the six mountain bandits’ murders and abuses, angering Xuanzang and his companions.
• Sun Wukong raised the Ruyi Golden Cudgel to kill the bandits, but Xuanzang stopped him and said his vicious aura and staff technique were too weak.
• Xuanzang killed all six bandits with a swing of the Six-Ray Cicada Staff, then chanted the Sutra of Rebirth for their victims.
• Xuanzang told Sun Wukong that the bandits would suffer in the Eighteen Levels of Hell before having a chance at reincarnation, and the others accepted his reasoning.
• The five pilgrims resumed their journey while Jieyin told Zhunti that Western Teach would receive only one-third of Xuanzang’s rewards because Xuanzang’s ties to Buddhism would be stronger.
• Zhunti spat saintly blood and lamented that Western Teach had done the work for Duobao.

Nezha and Ao Bing joined Xuanzang’s scripture-fetching squad, which reached Guanyin Zen Monastery on Black Wind Mountain and uncovered Elder Jinchi’s attempt to steal Xuanzang’s Six-Ray Cicada Staff. After Elder Jinchi died, a demon king arrived and blamed the squad for killing his friend.

• Zhao Gongming, Chiyou, Zhu Rong, Di Jiang, and other Great Supernatural Beings waited in the Backup Corps for a chance to help the scripture-fetching squad.
• At Eagle Sorrow Stream, Nezha and Ao Bing met Xuanzang’s group and joined as its sixth and seventh members.
• After traveling for two and a half days, Xuanzang’s seven-person squad stayed at Guanyin Zen Monastery, where Elder Jinchi set fire to their meditation room to steal Xuanzang’s Six-Ray Cicada Staff.
• Sun Wukong caught a novice monk spying and learned of Elder Jinchi’s scheme; when Xuanzang’s group confronted him, Elder Jinchi killed himself by striking his head against a pillar.
• A demon king arrived, found Elder Jinchi dead, and accused Xuanzang’s group of killing his friend.

Xuanzang beat the Black Bear Spirit after he demanded compensation for Elder Jinchi, then spared him when Guanyin Bodhisattva explained that he was a good demon. Guanyin carried the battered bear back to the South Sea, while Xuanzang and his companions resumed their journey.

• The Black Bear Spirit demanded two Spiritual Treasures as compensation for Elder Jinchi's death, and Xuanzang refused to negotiate further.
• Xuanzang fought the Black Bear Spirit and beat him severely without intending to kill him.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva arrived and asked Xuanzang to spare the Black Bear Spirit, explaining that he followed the good path and bore no karmic hindrance.
• Guanyin carried the injured Black Bear Spirit back to the South Sea, where he complained that his assigned ordeal had turned into a beating.
• Xuanzang and his five companions left Black Wind Mountain and continued their journey.

Xuanzang stayed in Gao Village to protect Gao Cuilan and killed the Pig Demon when it came to abduct her. After leaving Gao Village, the pilgrims headed for Yellow Wind Ridge, where Great King Yellow Wind planned to put on a show rather than risk fighting them.

• Xuanzang learned that the Pig Demon had been terrorizing Gao Village and agreed to share Gao Cuilan's room to draw it out.
• The Pig Demon burst into Gao Cuilan's room, attacked Xuanzang, and was killed by a single punch.
• Xuanzang stayed in Gao Village for a day to chant scriptures for the dead before departing, while Gao Cuilan confessed that she would wait for him.
• At Yellow Wind Ridge, Great King Yellow Wind dismissed his demon's suggestion to capture Xuanzang and told it to buy chickens instead.

Xuanzang and his companions reached Yellow Wind Ridge, where he mistook a rat demon carrying chickens for a thief before learning they had been bought. The rat demon invited Xuanzang to meet Great King Yellow Wind, then rushed back to the cave and reported that the Tang Monk had arrived.

• Great King Yellow Wind planned to capture Xuanzang with his Samadhi Divine Wind, pretend to lose, and escape safely.
• Xuanzang asked Yang Jian to check Yellow Wind Ridge for demonic aura, then spotted a rat demon carrying live chickens and attacked it.
• The rat demon explained that he had bought the chickens, and Xuanzang apologized for mistaking him for a thief.
• The rat demon invited Xuanzang to the cave for a chicken feast, and Xuanzang accepted before asking his companions to help find the way.
• The rat demon returned to the cave with the chickens dead from the journey and told Great King Yellow Wind that he had encountered the Tang Monk and his party.