Chapter Summaries

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.

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.