Chapter Summaries

Daoist Jieyin persuaded Daoist Randeng to accept the position of Buddha of the Past and teach Stone Monkey, promising him a path toward sainthood. Meanwhile, Daoist Zhunti waited at the Heavenly Court to see Haotian, but found Zhang Bairen in the side hall instead.

• Daoist Jieyin offered Daoist Randeng a chance to become Buddha of the Past, and Randeng accepted after hearing the terms.
• Daoist Jieyin asked Daoist Randeng to teach Stone Monkey, and Randeng agreed.
• Daoist Randeng established a temple near Mountain Peak beyond the East Sea Coast and waited for Stone Monkey.
• Daoist Zhunti waited at the Heavenly Court until an immortal official escorted him to a side hall to meet Haotian.
• Daoist Zhunti entered the side hall and found Zhang Bairen there instead of Haotian.

Haotian appointed Zhang Bairen acting Heavenly Emperor, and Zhunti offered the Western Teachings’ help in exchange for cooperation with the Journey to the West. Meanwhile, the Monkey King struggled to survive among humans and left the war-torn East Sea Coast in search of a way to become an Immortal.

• Taibai Golden Star delivered Haotian’s decree appointing Zhang Bairen acting Heavenly Emperor while Haotian entered Secluded Cultivation.
• The Heavenly Court erupted in disbelief and protest, but Zhang Bairen’s appointment stood.
• Zhunti proposed that Zhang Bairen cooperate with the Journey to the West and offered Western Teachings’ support in establishing his authority.
• Zhang Bairen said he would consider Zhunti’s offer, and Zhunti left to consult other parties while continuing to press him.
• After waking on a beach, the Monkey King stole clothes, learned human speech, and searched for Immortals while the feudal states’ war engulfed the region.
• After nearly dying several times amid the fighting, the Monkey King left the East Sea Coast for the wider world.

After more than fifty years searching for immortality, the Monkey King learned of an Immortal on Fangcun Mountain and persuaded a woodcutter to guide him there. The woodcutter entered through the mountain gate, but the Monkey King could not cross its invisible barrier.

• The Monkey King helped an injured villager, who told him about an Immortal on a nearby mountain and suggested asking a woodcutter for help.
• The villager sent the Monkey King to the woodcutter by asking him to deliver medicinal plaster to Xu Laosan.
• The woodcutter agreed to take the Monkey King to the mountain, which he identified as Fangcun Mountain, home to an Immortal with Outer and Inner Sect Disciples.
• The woodcutter led the Monkey King to Fangcun Mountain and went inside to report to an Inner Sect senior brother.
• The Monkey King tried to enter through the open gate but was stopped by an invisible barrier.

Monkey waited outside Fangcun Mountain for decades despite being told he lacked the fate to enter and cultivate. As his body aged and weakened, he heard startling news that the chapter left unrevealed.

• Monkey failed to enter Fangcun Mountain, and the woodcutter told him that he might lack the fate to cultivate immortality.
• Monkey stayed outside the gate for ten years, surviving on fruit and dew while the woodcutter repeatedly urged him to give up.
• The woodcutter brought his son Huzi to seek entry, but Huzi was also turned away, and the woodcutter planned to send him to learn butchery.
• Monkey promised to offer Huzi a chance to cultivate if he became an immortal, but the woodcutter left with his son and did not return for several years.
• Monkey continued waiting as his body aged and weakened, while kind-hearted Daoists helped care for him.
• After sixty years of waiting, Monkey heard news that he could scarcely believe.

Monkey learned in a dream that the woodcutter had died long ago and that his hopes of becoming an Immortal might be futile, then awoke back on the day he first came to Fangcun Mountain. He entered the mountain and asked Bai Shan to introduce him to the old Immortal.

• A Daoist told Monkey that the woodcutter had died in a tiger attack more than fifty years earlier, leaving his wife and child to fend for themselves.
• Monkey collapsed from grief and fear that his years of waiting to become an Immortal were only wishful thinking, then stopped breathing.
• Monkey jolted awake beside the woodcutter and realized he was alive and apparently back at the start of his journey to Fangcun Mountain.
• Monkey crossed Fangcun Mountain's gate without encountering the barrier he remembered from his dream and eagerly followed the woodcutter inside.
• The woodcutter introduced Monkey to Bai Shan, who said Monkey had spiritual nature but a sullied foundation, and Monkey asked to meet the old Immortal.

Monkey insisted on pursuing inner sect admission at Fangcun Mountain despite Bai Shan and the woodcutter warning him that the process could take over ten years and might still end in failure. He began working in the Servant Hall, determined to endure the years of chores and learn from the sect’s disciples.

• Bai Shan explained that inner sect candidates had to spend years doing chores, serving disciples, and studying scripture before facing an assessment, while Outer Disciples could pay tuition to learn practical skills.
• Bai Shan judged Monkey’s origins and aptitude poor and advised him to become an Outer Disciple instead.
• The woodcutter warned Monkey that many applicants failed and urged him to settle for learning a few useful skills, but Monkey firmly insisted on becoming an Inner Sect Disciple.
• Bai Shan said ten years would offer only a hope of admission and promised Monkey could become an Outer Disciple if he failed the assessment.
• The woodcutter left Fangcun Mountain, and Monkey became a worker in the Servant Hall, doing chores and occasionally visiting sect disciples in hopes of learning from them.

Monkey spent over ten years working in Fangcun Mountain’s Servant Hall while Inner Sect Disciples repeatedly refused to choose him because he was a small monkey. The chapter ended when an Inner Sect Disciple summoned him to Qingfeng Pavilion.

• Monkey endured the first three years of labor and waited for an Inner Sect Disciple to choose him as a servant.
• After months of rejection, Monkey learned that the disciples thought taking a monkey as a servant would be strange and embarrassing.
• Monkey’s supposed friends turned him away, and he continued working until he had spent six years in the Servant Hall.
• Servants mocked Monkey as he remained unchosen through another three years and then stayed in the hall for over ten years.
• An Inner Sect Disciple summoned Monkey to Qingfeng Pavilion.

After thirteen years as a servant at Fangcun Mountain, Monkey was chosen by Bai Shan despite having no apparent affinity for the Dao. Monkey went to collect his new clothes and identity token, leaving the Servant Hall disciples stunned by his claim that Bai Shan had taken him on.

• Chen San told Monkey that a senior brother wanted to see him, and Monkey hurried to Clear Wind Pavilion.
• Bai Shan told Monkey that thirteen years without being chosen showed he had no affinity for the Dao and urged him to leave cultivation behind.
• Monkey insisted he believed he could become an Inner Sect Disciple, so Bai Shan chose him as his servant.
• Bai Shan gave Monkey a token and instructed him to collect new clothes and an identity token from Chen Xuan.
• At the Servant Hall, Yang An mocked Monkey, but Chen Xuan rebuked Yang An and asked why Monkey wanted new clothes.
• Monkey said Bai Shan had asked him to follow, stunning the Servant Hall disciples.

After Bai Shan named Monkey as his servant, Monkey gained status at Fangcun Mountain and proved his ability by managing sect affairs. Bai Shan later gave him a Dao Scripture to study, and Monkey reached a state of understanding that astonished Bai Shan.

• Chen Xuan treated Monkey with respect after learning Bai Shan had specifically chosen him, while Yang An was expelled from the mountain.
• Monkey's new status drew disciples seeking his favor, but he recognized that their attention came from his connection to Bai Shan.
• Monkey followed Bai Shan, learned to read and manage affairs, and gradually earned responsibility for more of Fangcun Mountain's work.
• After several years, Bai Shan gave Monkey a Dao Scripture and told him to comprehend it to qualify for the Inner Sect.
• Monkey struggled with the scripture for two years until Bai Shan advised him to calm his heart, after which his understanding deepened.
• Bai Shan sensed that Monkey had reached an extraordinary level of insight into the Dao Scripture, beyond what Bai Shan himself could attain.

Monkey spent years comprehending the Dao Scripture on Fangcun Mountain, developing an extraordinary aura that left Bai Shan unable to guide him and increasingly anxious for his teacher’s return. Daoist Randeng finally returned, summoned the Inner Sect Disciples, and began expounding the Dao while observing Monkey, bringing him close to receiving instruction.

• Monkey deepened his understanding of the Dao Scripture over nearly five years, and Bai Shan marveled at his growing aura and unusual talent.
• Bai Shan worried that Monkey might seek a cultivation method on his own and waited for his teacher to return.
• Monkey continued studying, fulfilled his duties, and repaid Xu Laosan while the woodcutter’s family settled into a better life in town.
• Daoist Randeng returned from the Western Lands and ordered Monkey to ring the bell and summon the Inner Sect Disciples.
• Daoist Randeng rebuked the disciples who began to object, then expounded the Dao while secretly watching Monkey.

Daoist Randeng accepted the monkey as his disciple and named him Sun Wukong after testing his account of reaching Fangcun Mountain. When Wukong's excitement disrupted the lecture, Randeng offered to teach him a cultivation method and asked what he wished to learn.

• Daoist Randeng rejected a group of Servant Hall disciples as unsuitable for Inner Sect cultivation, while Bai Shan recommended the monkey.
• Randeng challenged the monkey's claim that he had come from Flower Fruit Mountain, then pretended to calculate and accepted him as a disciple.
• Randeng gave the monkey the Dharma name Wukong and the surname Sun, and the newly named Sun Wukong celebrated as disciples congratulated him.
• Sun Wukong returned to listen to Randeng's lecture but repeatedly danced when he heard profound teachings, interrupting the lesson.
• Randeng offered to teach Sun Wukong a cultivation method and asked what kind he wished to learn.

Sun Wukong rejected several cultivation paths Randeng offered because they could not grant immortality, provoking Randeng to beat him and leave. Believing the beating was a sign of private instruction, Wukong visited Randeng’s chamber at night, where Randeng questioned why he had come.

• Wukong refused Randeng’s offers to teach the Technique Path, Stillness Path, and Movement Path because none could grant immortality.
• Randeng struck Wukong three times with a ruler and angrily rebuked him for rejecting every method.
• After Randeng and the senior disciples left, the other Fangcun Mountain disciples scolded Wukong for interrupting the lesson.
• Wukong went to Randeng’s chamber late at night, waited beside his sleeping figure, and said he had come in response to Randeng’s instructions.
• Randeng sat up and asked when he had summoned Wukong, who began explaining the hint he believed Randeng had given earlier.

Daoist Randeng taught Sun Wukong about immortality and let him choose between two cultivation methods, and Wukong chose the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique. After decades of secluded cultivation, Wukong’s laughter revealed an aura that shocked Bai Shan and Lu Guang.

• Daoist Randeng explained that true immortality required becoming powerful enough to defy the will of heaven and earth, and Wukong connected this lesson to how he had become king of the monkeys.
• Daoist Randeng offered Wukong the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique and the Eight-Nine Profound Art, and Wukong resolutely chose the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique.
• Daoist Randeng taught Wukong the technique, and Wukong bowed to him before leaving to cultivate in seclusion.
• For decades, Wukong trained diligently and occasionally returned to Daoist Randeng for guidance while Fangcun Mountain’s students changed around him.
• Wukong’s laughter rang across Fangcun Mountain, and Bai Shan and Lu Guang sensed that he had reached the Perfected Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.

Bai Shan and Lu Guang discovered that Sun Wukong had reached Perfected Grand Unity Golden Immortal after only several decades of cultivation. Daoist Randeng warned them not to investigate Sun Wukong’s mission, then reflected that it was time for the monkey to descend the mountain.

• Bai Shan and Lu Guang sensed Sun Wukong’s Perfected Grand Unity Golden Immortal aura and struggled to believe how quickly he had advanced.
• Lu Guang wondered whether Sun Wukong had relied on Pills, but Bai Shan judged his realm solid and his cultivation orthodox.
• Bai Shan and Lu Guang asked Daoist Randeng about Sun Wukong, and he warned them not to investigate because they could not bear the Karma.
• After the two disciples left, Daoist Randeng calculated that Sun Wukong’s time to descend the mountain had arrived and wished him well.

Sun Wukong demonstrated his ability to pluck a star and clash with a Heavenly Court Star Lord, drawing envy from Fangcun Mountain’s disciples. Daoist Randeng reprimanded him for showing off and warned of the resentment and trouble his display could cause, then asked how long he had been on the mountain.

• Bai Shan and Lu Guang gave up resenting Sun Wukong after he became a Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
• Sun Wukong plucked a star from the sky and exchanged a palm strike with a Heavenly Court immortal, astonishing the disciples.
• The disciples showered Sun Wukong with insincere praise while secretly envying his abilities.
• Daoist Randeng arrived, scolded Sun Wukong for flaunting his skills, and warned him about the consequences of refusing or agreeing to teach them.
• Sun Wukong pleaded for another chance, and Daoist Randeng asked how many years he had been at Fangcun Mountain.

Daoist Randeng dismissed Sun Wukong from Fangcun Mountain and warned him never to reveal anything about his master or the mountain. After Sun Wukong left, Randeng summoned every member of Fangcun Mountain to the Dao Lecture Hall, leaving the disciples wondering what was happening.

• Sun Wukong begged Daoist Randeng for another chance, but Randeng ended their bond and told him to return home.
• Sun Wukong recalled Flower Fruit Mountain and promised not to reveal anything about Randeng or Fangcun Mountain before leaving.
• Daoist Randeng returned to the Dao Lecture Hall and rang its bell after Sun Wukong departed.
• The Inner Sect Disciples gathered, expecting Randeng to teach them powerful Divine Abilities and demanding equal treatment.
• Daoist Randeng summoned the Outer Disciples and Servant Disciples too, filling the Dao Lecture Hall and its surroundings with the entire sect.

Daoist Randeng disbanded Fangcun Mountain, erased much of his disciples’ memories, and joined the Two Shakyas to establish the Twenty-Four Buddha Realms. Meanwhile, Sun Wukong headed home and confronted the gods and Buddhas secretly following him.

• Daoist Randeng told the assembled disciples that their karmic bond had ended, dismissed them, and closed Fangcun Mountain.
• Daoist Randeng reclaimed the mountain’s spiritual power, turning it into an ordinary peak with an independent consciousness and a trace of Heavenly Dao will.
• Daoist Randeng merged a speck of origin Creation into his Great Thousand Worlds, bringing the Twenty-Four Buddha Realms into being in the Western Lands.
• The Two Shakyas celebrated the Buddha Realms’ emergence and invited Quasi-Saints and other great powers to a ceremony in the Western Pure Land.
• Sun Wukong flew toward East Victory State, eager to return to Flower Fruit Mountain, and noticed a golden light from the Western Lands without investigating it.
• Near home, Sun Wukong called out the hidden gods and Buddhas following him, who appeared from the clouds in confusion.

After leaving Fangcun Mountain, Sun Wukong confronted the gods and Buddhas who had secretly followed him, then returned to Flower Fruit Mountain and discovered it abandoned. Unable to find his monkeys or an earth god, he searched nearby and was rudely turned away by a cultivating immortal.

• Sun Wukong confronted the gods and Buddhas following him and told them to leave, believing they had come because of his earlier clash with a Star Lord.
• Venerable Ananda received a message and led the gods and Buddhas away; Sun Wukong checked that they were not following before flying to Flower Fruit Mountain.
• Sun Wukong found no monkeys at Flower Fruit Mountain and discovered that Water Curtain Cave had been abandoned for a long time.
• Sun Wukong tried to summon the local earth god but found that Flower Fruit Mountain had none, so he searched the surrounding area.
• Sun Wukong asked a nearby immortal how long he had cultivated there, but the immortal told him to get lost.

Sun Wukong searched for the missing monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain and discovered that the Chaos Demon King had enslaved them to mine a mineral vein. After reuniting with the surviving monkeys, Sun Wukong vowed to confront the demon despite their warnings.

• Sun Wukong clashed with the Dragon Subduing Demon King, injured his dragon-scaled arm, and asked whether he had seen any monkeys.
• The Dragon Subduing Demon King said he had seen no monkeys besides Sun Wukong, so Sun Wukong left to continue searching.
• Sun Wukong found the surviving monkeys and their descendants a hundred thousand li to the north, and they recognized him as their king.
• The monkeys told Sun Wukong that the Chaos Demon King had enslaved them to mine a mineral vein and that many had died or been injured.
• Sun Wukong vowed to tear the Chaos Demon King to pieces, while the monkeys warned him that the demon was powerful and urged him to think twice.

Sun Wukong left Flower Fruit Mountain to confront the Chaos Demon King, but found him forcing demons to dig for an Earth Vein Origin so he could break through to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. Realizing the demon was not yet a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, Sun Wukong revealed himself, and the Chaos Demon King tried to deceive him by claiming he was only a puppet.

• Sun Wukong reassured the worried monkeys by boasting of his abilities and set off to find the Chaos Demon King.
• Sun Wukong infiltrated the demon stronghold as a mosquito and saw the Chaos Demon King threaten the demons digging through a mineral vein.
• The Chaos Demon King revealed that he sought the Earth Vein Origin to break through to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm and complained that he could not dig the vein himself without attracting Heaven's Retribution.
• Sun Wukong realized the Chaos Demon King had not reached the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, dispelled his disguise, and confronted him.
• The Chaos Demon King claimed he was a puppet and said the real Chaos Demon King was cultivating in the depths of the mineral vein.