Chapter Summaries

The Rat Demon informed Great King Yellow Wind that he had brought Xuanzang and his companions straight to Yellow Wind Cave, throwing the king’s plans into disarray. Great King Yellow Wind welcomed them with a feast, then tried to arrange sparring matches, and finally challenged Xuanzang.

• The Rat Demon told Great King Yellow Wind that Xuanzang and his companions were approaching because he had invited them to the cave.
• Great King Yellow Wind recognized the companions as powerful figures warned about by Duobao Tathagata and abandoned his plan to ambush them.
• Xuanzang and the others arrived at Yellow Wind Cave, where Great King Yellow Wind greeted them and served them a banquet.
• Great King Yellow Wind proposed sparring with the group, and Nezha accepted his challenge and struck him with a powerful punch.
• Great King Yellow Wind refused to fight Yang Jian after learning he was the Heavenly God of Justice, then chose Xuanzang as his next opponent.

Xuanzang and the others crossed Yellow Wind Ridge after Xuanzang beat Great King Yellow Wind, who had challenged him while underestimating his strength. Great King Yellow Wind returned to Yellow Wind Cave with Bodhisattva Lingji, while Xuanzang's party reached the eight-hundred-li Flowing Sand River.

• Great King Yellow Wind taunted Xuanzang into striking him, and Xuanzang battered him until he was embedded in a mountain.
• Great King Yellow Wind recovered after the Witch Race's Black and White Impermanence returned his Primordial Spirit to his body, then pretended Xuanzang's punches had barely hurt.
• Great King Yellow Wind tried to provoke Sun Wukong and Six-Eared Macaque, then declared himself the winner and sent Xuanzang's party on their way.
• Xuanzang resolved to temper his cultivation as he continued the journey with Yang Jian and the others.
• Back at Yellow Wind Cave, Great King Yellow Wind admitted how badly he had been beaten, and Bodhisattva Lingji summoned him back to Mount Wuyi.
• Xuanzang and his companions left Yellow Wind Ridge and arrived at the eight-hundred-li Flowing Sand River.

Poseidon, the exiled Sea God, planned to torment Xuanzang’s group from the Flowing Sand River. After Xuanzang was swept away by a wave, he emerged unharmed and faced Poseidon in battle.

• Poseidon resented his exile as a river demon and decided to make Xuanzang’s group suffer.
• Yang Jian warned Xuanzang that the Flowing Sand River’s Weak Water could sink Immortal Gods and corrode their bodies and Primordial Spirits.
• Xuanzang tested the river with his arm, then was swept away by a sudden wave.
• Yang Jian explained that Xuanzang’s previous life as the Six-Winged Golden Cicada gave him a powerful Fierce Beast body.
• Xuanzang broke out of the river unharmed and tried to reason with his attacker.
• Poseidon charged from beneath the river and attacked Xuanzang with his trident.

Xuanzang defeated Poseidon at the Flowing Sand River and used the Sea God's trident as a bridge to continue west. At a luxurious manor beneath a barren mountain, the matriarch tried to recruit him and his companions as husbands, but Xuanzang instead offered to punish whoever was threatening her family.

• Yang Jian identified Poseidon as an Outer God, while Six-Eared Macaque and Yuan Hong recognized his Quasi-Saint cultivation and mastery of water.
• Poseidon enlarged himself with divine power and attacked Xuanzang, but Xuanzang defeated him after revealing his ancient Fierce Beast aura.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva took away the unconscious Poseidon and left his trident, which Xuanzang and the others crossed the Flowing Sand River on.
• Xuanzang's party reached a barren mountain and lodged at a luxurious manor where a matriarch lived with her six daughters and servants.
• The matriarch asked Xuanzang and his companions to marry her and her daughters, but Xuanzang offered to find and punish those coveting their estate.
• The matriarch urged Xuanzang to stay and protect the family, promising him wealth and asking, “Holy monk, am I not beautiful?”

Xuanzang passed the Bodhisattvas’ test of his resolve, then accidentally wilted the Ginseng Fruit Tree at Wuzhuang Temple and had Guanyin revive it. The group continued west toward White Bone Mountain, where a female skeleton spirit planned how to obtain Xuanzang’s blood.

• The Manor Matriarch and her six daughters revealed themselves as Guanyin and six other Bodhisattvas after Xuanzang and his companions rejected their advances, and Guanyin praised Xuanzang before departing.
• At Wuzhuang Temple, Xuanzang refused to eat the Ginseng Fruit, angering Qingfeng and Mingyue, and accidentally wilted the Ginseng Fruit Tree when he leaned against it.
• Xuanzang promised to revive the tree, but Yang Jian and the others claimed they could not help, so Guanyin used Three Lights Divine Water to restore it.
• Yang Jian falsely told Xuanzang that his Geng Metal Qi had wilted the tree, and Xuanzang believed him and apologized for blaming Qingfeng and Mingyue.
• The group headed toward White Bone Mountain, where a female skeleton spirit considered obtaining a drop of Xuanzang’s blood without frightening or alarming him.

Lady White Bone tried to lure Xuanzang to her home so she could collect a drop of his blood and advance her cultivation, but he recognized her disguise and she fled. Xuanzang judged that she was not evil by nature and continued across White Tiger Ridge, where he encountered an unfamiliar old man.

• Lady White Bone planned to disguise herself as a mortal and invite Xuanzang home so she could secretly take a drop of his blood.
• Yang Jian and the other five told Xuanzang that they were leaving for Mount Wuyi ahead of him, gave him tokens to summon their help, and departed.
• Xuanzang reached White Tiger Ridge and met Lady White Bone disguised as a young woman carrying food.
• Xuanzang smelled that the young woman was a demon and accused her of deceiving him, so Lady White Bone let go and fled.
• Xuanzang sensed that Lady White Bone carried no hostility or karmic sin and continued on his way.
• One Shichen later, Xuanzang encountered an unfamiliar old man.

Xuanzang saw through Lady White Bone’s disguises and learned that she wanted his blood, not his life. He gave her some of his blood, leaving Lady White Bone stunned.

• Xuanzang recognized Lady White Bone disguised as an injured woodcutter and asked why she had returned in another form.
• Lady White Bone fled, then disguised herself as a crying child, but Xuanzang used Buddha Light to reveal her true form.
• Lady White Bone admitted she had tried to stage accidents to obtain Xuanzang’s blood and explained that she feared he would distrust her as a demon.
• Xuanzang cut his fist and let his blood drip into Lady White Bone’s mouth, leaving her staring at him in shock.

Xuanzang named Lady White Bone Bai Zhenzhen after giving her his blood, and she stole a kiss before he continued west. Half a month later, he pursued the monster who had abducted Bao Xiang Kingdom’s princess and confronted him at Wave Moon Cave.

• Lady White Bone licked Xuanzang’s blood, then offered to repay him and asked to follow him, but Xuanzang refused.
• Lady White Bone asked Xuanzang for a human name, and he named her Bai Zhenzhen.
• Bai Zhenzhen kissed Xuanzang before fleeing to White Bone Mountain, and Xuanzang continued his journey after reciting the Heart-Cleansing Sutra.
• The king of Bao Xiang Kingdom told Xuanzang that a monster had abducted his daughter, and Xuanzang promised to rescue her.
• Xuanzang tracked the demonic aura to Wave Moon Cave, where the monster appeared and asked if he was traveling west to fetch the scriptures.
• Xuanzang asked the monster whether he had abducted Bao Xiang Kingdom’s princess.

Xuanzang defeated Yellow Robe Monster, then learned from the Twenty-Seven Mansions that he was Kui Wood Wolf, a Heavenly Court immortal who had abducted Baihuaxiu. After helping Baihuaxiu return to Bao Xiang Kingdom and protecting her reputation, Xuanzang took her children far away and left them at religious institutions in Caikun Kingdom.

• Xuanzang overpowered Yellow Robe Monster and beat him until the Twenty-Seven Mansions appeared in the sky.
• The Twenty-Seven Mansions identified Yellow Robe Monster as Kui Wood Wolf, who confessed that he had abducted Baihuaxiu, the reincarnation of the Incense-Attending Jade Maiden.
• The Twenty-Seven Mansions took Kui Wood Wolf back to the Heavenly Court to face punishment for breaking the heavenly rules.
• Xuanzang reassured Baihuaxiu that he would testify for her, then returned her to Bao Xiang Kingdom and told the people she was protected by the Heavenly Mandate.
• Xuanzang took Baihuaxiu's two children out of Bao Xiang Kingdom and left the girl at Niganma Nunnery and the boy at Youbing Temple in Caikun Kingdom.

Golden Horn and Silver Horn tried to fulfill their trial by attacking Xuanzang, but Silver Horn’s Purple-Gold Red Gourd failed to capture him. Xuanzang flattened Flat-Top Mountain with a punch, and Golden Horn immediately surrendered.

• Golden Horn and Silver Horn decided to provoke Xuanzang to complete their trial through a magical duel.
• Silver Horn tried to suck Xuanzang into the Purple-Gold Red Gourd, but the treasure had no effect on him and sucked in Silver Horn instead.
• Golden Horn released Silver Horn and challenged Xuanzang to pass through Flat-Top Mountain by carrying him on his back.
• Xuanzang answered with his Intentional Bombing Fist, flattening Flat-Top Mountain and frightening Golden Horn into surrendering.

Xuanzang forced Golden Horn and Silver Horn to submit, accepted their vegetarian alms, and continued west. Meanwhile, Shi Qilin returned to the Kirin Clan to pursue Daluo Golden Immortal of the Origin, and Xuanzang exposed the false King of Wuji before Manjushri intervened.

• Xuanzang frightened Golden Horn and Silver Horn into letting him pass, then asked them for vegetarian alms before leaving Flat-Top Mountain.
• Shi Qilin told Cangyuan he would return to the Kirin Clan and cultivate toward Daluo Golden Immortal of the Origin.
• Shi Qilin left Penglai Immortal Island with Lei Jietuo and Moyuan, while Ancestor Dragon and Yuan Feng sensed his return.
• Xuanzang reached Wuji, identified the King of Wuji as a fiend, and drove the Acquired Green Lion from the kingdom.
• Bodhisattva Manjushri appeared at the critical moment and ordered Xuanzang to stop.

Xuanzang beat the Green Lion and made Bodhisattva Manjushri compensate Wuji before continuing west. At Zuanfeng Hao Mountain, he exposed Red Boy’s disguise and began fighting him, ending as Red Boy unleashed Samadhi True Fire.

• Xuanzang beat the Green Lion, whose memories revealed why he had usurped the King of Wuji’s throne.
• Bodhisattva Manjushri admitted responsibility, cured Wuji’s people, and took the Green Lion and the real King of Wuji away; the eldest prince became king.
• Xuanzang continued west and found a child hanging upside down from a tree on Zuanfeng Hao Mountain.
• Xuanzang recognized the child as a demon by smell, and the child revealed himself as Red Boy, Great King Holy Infant of Huoyun Cave.
• Red Boy tried to seize Xuanzang, but Xuanzang grabbed his wrist and repeatedly slammed him into the ground.
• Red Boy broke free, rose into the air, and prepared to burn Xuanzang with Samadhi True Fire.

Xuanzang disciplined Red Boy, crossed the Black Water River after defeating Tuolong, and met the three benevolent demons of Chechi Kingdom before reaching Tongtian River. When he confronted Great King Linggan, Guanyin appeared and told him to stop.

• Xuanzang survived Red Boy’s Samadhi True Fire, beat him for his misbehavior, and agreed to let Guanyin take him as a daoist boy.
• After Red Boy was taken away, Xuanzang crossed Black Water River, defeated Tuolong, and urged the Black Water River God to report him to the Heavenly Court.
• Xuanzang visited Chechi Kingdom, befriended its Three Great Immortals, and left after debating the Dao with them for two and a half days.
• At Tongtian River, Xuanzang prepared to cross and defeated Great King Linggan with his Intentional Bombing Fist.
• Guanyin appeared and told Xuanzang to stop.

Xuanzang killed Great King Linggan for eating nine people, then fought Great King Dujiao Si before continuing west. In the Kingdom of Women of Xiliang, he drank from the Child-and-Mother River and discovered that he had become pregnant.

• Guanyin told Xuanzang that Great King Linggan was her escaped Goldfish, but Xuanzang insisted the demon answer for the nine people he had eaten.
• Guanyin agreed with Xuanzang’s judgment and left, and Xuanzang killed Great King Linggan with a punch that wounded his soul.
• At Jindou Mountain, Xuanzang fought Great King Dujiao Si, who called a break and then let Xuanzang leave before revealing that he planned to return to the Heavenly Court.
• Xuanzang entered the Kingdom of Women of Xiliang and drank water from the river while crossing by boat.
• The old woman ferrying Xuanzang revealed that the Child-and-Mother River caused anyone who drank from it to become pregnant, and Xuanzang panicked as his belly swelled.

Xuanzang learned that the Fetus-Aborting Spring could end his pregnancy, and planned to use his Passage Document to obtain permission to drink it. Meanwhile, Cangyuan investigated the Child-and-Mother River’s ancient origins and chose to investigate its secret, hoping to earn Transcendent Fertility.

• An old woman told Xuanzang that he could abort the fetus by drinking water from the Fetus-Aborting Spring, but he needed government permission to access it.
• Xuanzang decided to use his Passage Document to seek permission and asked the old woman to take him back.
• Cangyuan discovered that the Child-and-Mother River had originated during the Shang Dynasty, when the Saints reforged the earth, and that earlier investigations had failed to explain it.
• The System offered Cangyuan a choice between receiving the Child-and-Mother Bell and investigating the river for Transcendent Fertility.
• Cangyuan chose to investigate the Child-and-Mother River and waited for Xuanzang to pass the trial before setting out.

Xuanzang entered the Kingdom of Women of Xiliang, drank from the Fetus-Aborting Spring to end his pregnancy, and was escorted to the palace after the kingdom's rulers recognized him as the Pilgrim of Heavenly Mandate. He met the queen, who fell in love with him at first sight.

• Xuanzang entered the capital, where curious women followed him, and asked at the government office for water from the Fetus-Aborting Spring.
• The clerks gave Xuanzang a bowl of murky spring water, which he drank and which returned his belly to normal.
• Women surrounded Xuanzang and groped him until a squad of female soldiers intervened.
• The female soldiers brought Xuanzang to the palace, where the queen received him as the Pilgrim of Heavenly Mandate.
• Xuanzang met the queen, and she fell in love with him at first sight.

The Queen of Xiliang fell in love with Xuanzang at first sight and invited him to walk through the garden with her. She asked him to marry her and rule Xiliang together, but Xuanzang refused, choosing to continue his journey to obtain and deliver the scriptures.

• The Queen of Xiliang became smitten with Xuanzang when she saw him and tucked his Passage Document into her bosom instead of stamping it at once.
• The Queen of Xiliang took Xuanzang by the hand and led him through the garden while asking about Chang'an and his life.
• After speaking with Xuanzang for a Shichen, the Queen of Xiliang confessed her love and offered to entrust her kingdom to him as his wife.
• Xuanzang explained that his pilgrimage and mission to deliver the scriptures would take too long, then refused the Queen of Xiliang’s proposal.
• The Queen of Xiliang cried as Xuanzang chose to save the world through his mission rather than devote his life to her.

Xuanzang struggled to resist the Queen’s love and tried to uphold his Buddhist vows, but her plea moved him to admit that he liked her. The chapter ended with Xuanzang’s feelings laid bare as the Queen held him in her bedchamber.

• Xuanzang left the Queen, and the Grand Tutor comforted her while warning that the Heavenly Mandate of the Pilgrims kept them on different paths.
• The Queen told the Grand Tutor she would make one last effort to win Xuanzang and would not force him if he refused.
• At the Post House, Xuanzang found that reciting the Clear Heart Sutra could not suppress his feelings and considered fleeing after the Queen settled the Passage Document.
• The Grand Tutor summoned Xuanzang to the Royal Palace to appraise a treasure, and he agreed despite his misgivings.
• The Queen told Xuanzang to stay and marry her, then pleaded for one wedding without stopping his journey west; Xuanzang finally admitted that he liked her.

Xuanzang and the Queen married before he continued west, but a demon abducted him and threatened to slaughter the Queen unless he surrendered his primal yang. Xuanzang awakened a terrifying power and declared the demon would be executed.

• The Queen arranged her wedding with Xuanzang, and the people of Xiliang celebrated them.
• After the wedding procession, the Queen gave Xuanzang his stamped Travel Permit and tearfully sent him west.
• A demon wind swept Xuanzang, his White Horse, and his luggage away, leaving the Queen desperate to rescue him.
• The demoness brought Xuanzang to Pipa Cave and demanded his primal yang to help her break through her cultivation bottleneck.
• When the demoness threatened to massacre Capital City and kill the Queen, Xuanzang's eyes turned golden and he declared her rights stripped and her execution imminent.

Xuanzang killed the Red-Armored Poison Scorpion, then struggled to leave the Queen and the Kingdom of Women of Xiliang behind. He turned back, resolved to accept the consequences of staying, and reunited with the Queen outside Capital City, where he kissed her.

• Xuanzang struck down the Red-Armored Poison Scorpion with a blast of ancient ferocity and Buddha Light, annihilating her body and soul.
• Xuanzang rode away from Dudi Mountain but could not stop thinking about the Queen and the suffering she might face.
• Xuanzang decided to return to the Queen, vowed to shoulder the karma of the Kingdom of Women of Xiliang, and ran back while carrying White Horse.
• The Queen waited anxiously outside Capital City as the Grand Tutor tried to reassure her that the Demon-Slaying Division would rescue Xuanzang.
• Xuanzang arrived and the Queen rushed into his arms; he bent down and kissed her as the imperial guards and onlookers stared.