Chapter Summaries

Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen entered a concealed island cave believed to be Sun Wukong's tomb, after Ji Quanzhen's expedition exposed the island and prepared an evacuation and heavy weapons as safeguards. Inside, Lu Ren discovered the tomb's powerful magnetic interference and demonstrated his ability to shrink his body, while Ji Quanzhen warned that the deeper they went, the more dangerous the tomb could become.

• Lu Ren questioned whether the cave was truly Sun Wukong's tomb, and Ji Quanzhen pointed out its unusual terrain and the couplet carved at the entrance.
• Lu Ren found that the island's Magnetic Field was unnaturally inert and confirmed from offshore that it resembled a reclining Buddha, with the cave at its joined hands.
• Ji Quanzhen told Lu Ren that the island's team was evacuating and that bombs, including two hydrogen bombs, were ready if something emerged from the tomb.
• Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen entered the cave in armor, and Ji Quanzhen warned him not to disturb the rock because tomb restrictions could awaken its contents.
• Lu Ren compressed his body to a little over 1.8 meters and explained that shrinking further could cause his flesh to proliferate uncontrollably, as the Martial Dao System risked contaminating him with the Seeking Truth Realm.

Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen descended into a cavern, fought through a swarm of venomous spiders, and discovered a vast structure sealed with Buddhist runes. Ji Quanzhen identified it as the legendary Great Seal, which the System said imprisoned certain existences and concealed secrets of the real world.

• Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen followed a dampening tunnel and found crystalline green secretions and countless fist-sized spiders.
• Ji Quanzhen examined a venomous spider, and Lu Ren incinerated the swarm with his surging vitality and blood.
• Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen reached a huge cavern containing five rune-covered pillars, chains, and a black tower above an abyss.
• Ji Quanzhen recognized the structure as the Great Seal, and the System announced that the sealed land imprisoned existences and hid secrets of the real world.
• Ji Quanzhen measured the Buddhist runes and explained that the Great Seal had once been used to imprison Great Demons.

Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen entered an ancient stone tower deep underground and found an aging black ape bound by chains and a powerful Heaven Earth Lockdown formation. The ape woke and spoke to them, then endured the chains’ primordial spirit attack as the two realized the seal had weakened over time.

• Lu Ren returned to his normal size, and he and Ji Quanzhen descended to the stone tower thousands of meters underground.
• Ji Quanzhen examined the tower and warned that its baleful aura surpassed that of the tombs they had explored before.
• Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen entered the tower and found a giant black ape suspended by five rune-covered chains.
• Lu Ren sensed that the ape remained alive and was being kept awake and suppressed to drain its remaining lifespan.
• The black ape woke and addressed them, then its movement triggered the chains’ primordial spirit attack.
• After the attack subsided, Ji Quanzhen concluded that the chains’ power had weakened enough to activate only about once a day.

Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen discovered that the chained old ape was Sun Wukong, a legendary figure near the end of his life. Sun Wukong offered Lu Ren the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique in exchange for freedom, but Lu Ren rejected the deal and stabbed him with his sword.

• Ji Quanzhen examined the old ape and identified him as Sun Wukong, learning that he had aged greatly and was struggling to stay alive.
• Sun Wukong offered to teach Lu Ren the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique if Lu Ren cut his chains.
• Lu Ren refused Sun Wukong's demand, and Sun Wukong unleashed his baleful aura against him.
• Lu Ren's system blocked the spiritual assault, and he drove his longsword into Sun Wukong's chest despite the ape's threats.

Lu Ren discovered that Sun Wukong had been split between the True Realm and reality and remained bound beneath Five Finger Mountain by five Bodhisattvas who had sacrificed themselves to maintain the seal. Recognizing the corrupted ape as an immense danger, Lu Ren decided to leave him imprisoned and seal the place off.

• Sun Wukong snapped Lu Ren's super-carbon alloy sword, while Lu Ren concluded that the ape's long confinement had made him too dangerous to release.
• Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen found a kasaya-clad Golden Skeleton in a corner, and Ji Quanzhen explained that many aged Buddhist cultivators became demons.
• Lu Ren saw five Bodhisattvas' skeletons restraining Sun Wukong in the True Realm, and Sun Wukong realized Lu Ren could enter it.
• Lu Ren told Sun Wukong that Seeking Truth and reality had become his opposing poles, and Sun Wukong reacted with anger.
• Lu Ren and Sun Wukong concealed their mutual hostility behind faint smiles, and Lu Ren left with Ji Quanzhen to seal off the place.

Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen fled Sun Wukong’s sealed chamber, but Sun Wukong’s body transformed into a monstrous mass before the chains restrained him again. As they escaped, Ji Quanzhen discovered that Sun Wukong had somehow cursed or possessed him, though the Illumination Mirror found no abnormality.

• Lu Ren sensed that Sun Wukong was stalling them and hurried Ji Quanzhen away from the stone pagoda.
• Sun Wukong’s body exploded into writhing flesh, but the chains reformed him as an aged black ape and subjected him to their mental killing art.
• Sun Wukong cursed Tathagata and vowed to escape soon and make Tathagata and the Jade Emperor pay.
• As Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen fled, Ji Quanzhen felt a chill, used the Antarctic Longevity Great Emperor Seal, and realized Sun Wukong had entered his body.
• Lu Ren examined Ji Quanzhen with the Illumination Mirror, which revealed no abnormality, and Ji Quanzhen returned to his old form.

Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen confronted Sun Wukong, who revealed that he had altered Ji Quanzhen as part of a plan to escape by taking over his body. Sun Wukong offered information about sleeping immortals in exchange for freedom, but Lu Ren refused to release him and entered the Seeking Truth Realm, leaving Ji Quanzhen waiting outside.

• Ji Quanzhen returned to Sun Wukong with Lu Ren and demanded to know what Sun Wukong had done to him.
• Sun Wukong offered to reveal where sleeping immortals and gods were hidden if Lu Ren broke his chains.
• Ji Quanzhen warned Lu Ren that Sun Wukong was trying to trap him, and Lu Ren declined to free the Great Sage.
• Sun Wukong admitted that he had chosen Ji Quanzhen as a substitute body because he could not escape in his true form.
• Lu Ren entered the Seeking Truth Realm, and Ji Quanzhen waited outside in shock.

Lu Ren linked himself to the five skeletal Bodhisattvas and used their Buddhist power to refine Sun Wukong beneath Five Finger Mountain. Sun Wukong dissolved completely, but his final cries promised he would return.

• Sun Wukong recognized Lu Ren's Bodhisattva form and asked how far he had advanced along the Ten Realms path.
• Lu Ren connected to the five skeletal Bodhisattvas and began chanting the Heart Sutra to strengthen the mountains suppressing Sun Wukong.
• Sun Wukong unleashed his True Energy and struggled violently, but the five mountains remained unmoved as Lu Ren and the Bodhisattvas continued chanting.
• Buddhist light dissolved Sun Wukong's fur and flesh, and his attempt to disrupt Lu Ren with a primordial spirit gaze failed.
• Sun Wukong shouted threats against Tathagata and vowed to return before his body dissolved into blood and evaporated.

Lu Ren destroyed Sun Wukong’s spirit in the Seeking Truth Realm and left the Sealed Land with Ji Quanzhen, but Sun Wukong’s body began to rejuvenate. After they departed, Sun Wukong opened his eyes and began an eerie ritual that summoned fragmented souls.

• Lu Ren destroyed the skeletal Bodhisattvas and escaped the Seeking Truth Realm before its strange power could erode him.
• Ji Quanzhen revealed that Sun Wukong had placed a curse on him, which seemed fused with his body and Spirit Soul.
• Lu Ren found Sun Wukong motionless as his stored life essence spread through his body and restored his youth.
• Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen left the Sealed Land to avoid disturbing it or triggering one of Sun Wukong’s contingencies.
• After they were gone, Sun Wukong opened his eyes, chanted an unknown invocation for half an hour, and summoned fragmented souls.

Sun Wukong’s scattered Spirit Souls reunited with his body, while Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen retreated to a deserted island to watch Ji Quanzhen’s condition and prepare for Lu Ren’s next breakthrough. In the Inner World, Lu Ren questioned Chang'e about Sun Wukong’s past and learned how Tathagata and the Jade Emperor had imprisoned and tortured him.

• Sun Wukong regained awareness as his Spirit Souls entered his body, and the runes on his chains began to fade.
• Lu Ren and Ji Quanzhen left the cave for an unnamed South Sea island, where scans found no clear signs of Ji Quanzhen’s transformation.
• Ji Quanzhen admitted that he felt his body changing, though he joked that he seemed to be getting younger.
• Lu Ren entered the Inner World and asked Chang'e what had happened to Sun Wukong after his attack on the Heavenly Court.
• Chang'e explained that Tathagata and the Jade Emperor split Sun Wukong’s body and spirit, imprisoned him, and tortured him for over a hundred years to learn his Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique.

Lu Ren returned to the Primordial Path and discovered that Earth’s unusual environment shielded cultivators from unknown beings, making it a rare place to practice. As he continued along the path, he realized a trap had blinded his senses and began using Buddhist techniques to break free.

• Lu Ren questioned Ji Quanzhen about the changes caused by Sun Wukong’s curse, but Ji Quanzhen felt healthy and continued exploring the island.
• Lu Ren entered the Inner World and stepped onto the Primordial Path, while Xu Fu and the others discussed his ability to find it.
• Lu Ren sensed that a strange protective environment around Earth kept unknown beings from noticing him and considered why ancient immortals had sought to return there.
• Lu Ren walked the silent Primordial Path, resisted its trial of solitude, and continued onward as time and his surroundings grew indistinct.
• The Ten Worlds Sutra awakened Lu Ren, who realized a trap had blinded his senses and activated the Ten Realms Seal and Future Buddha True Scripture.

Lu Ren crossed the first trials of the Primordial Path with ease and reached a waystation, where he placed a Dao marker. Before returning to his Inner World, he encountered an identical mirror image of himself that challenged him to approach.

• Lu Ren shattered an illusion, killed the Ketyang Claw, and burned away the flesh creature’s lingering traces.
• Lu Ren used his mind’s eye to see through further illusions and continued along the Primordial Path while enduring attacks of the Five Elements.
• Lu Ren reached the waystation and planted a Dao marker that would let him return to that point later.
• An identical version of Lu Ren appeared beside the marker, bearing three heads and six arms, and questioned him about his origins.
• Lu Ren refused to approach the mirror image, which taunted him by asking if he was afraid.

Lu Ren emerged from the Primordial Path and found Ji Quanzhen transformed into a monkey, with his memories and identity apparently altered by Sun Wukong’s curse. Ji Quanzhen still remembered the curse but believed himself to be an innate spirit monkey, and Lu Ren realized his body and Spirit Soul were turning into a Lingming Stone Monkey for reasons he did not understand.

• Lu Ren left the Primordial Path and discovered that at least a week had passed in the real world.
• Lu Ren found Ji Quanzhen covered in fur and moving like an ape among the island’s monkeys.
• Ji Quanzhen said he felt healthy and had sensed the essence of Seeking Truth, but treated his fur as normal.
• Ji Quanzhen claimed to be an innate spirit monkey and said he cultivated the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique.
• Lu Ren reminded Ji Quanzhen of Sun Wukong’s curse, and Ji Quanzhen remembered its purpose while showing signs of an altered identity.
• Lu Ren concluded that Sun Wukong’s rebirth through Ji Quanzhen had stopped midway as Ji Quanzhen transformed into a Lingming Stone Monkey.

Lu Ren learned that Ji Quanzhen’s body and cognition were changing under Sun Wukong’s influence, though Ji Quanzhen believed he might turn the transformation into an opportunity. After checking on Ji Quanzhen, Lu Ren returned to cultivation and re-entered the Primordial Land, where Subhuti and Xu Fu discussed his obsession with the Primordial Path.

• Ji Quanzhen struggled to remember his former self before realizing he had turned into a monkey.
• Ji Quanzhen feared becoming Sun Wukong’s spare body but decided to seek a way to sever their connection and claim the body for himself.
• Lu Ren warned Ji Quanzhen to contact him if anything abnormal happened, then left him to manage the dangerous transformation.
• Lu Ren gathered seafood, cooked a stew, rested, and breathed in purple aura at sunrise.
• Lu Ren returned to the Inner World and headed into the Primordial Land as Subhuti and Xu Fu discussed his curiosity about the Primordial Path.

Lu Ren confronted his reflection on the second stretch of the Primordial Path and learned it was his inner counterpart, unaware of the system. The two revealed matching powers and began a fierce battle, leaving the outcome undecided.

• Chen Xuzi anticipated that Lu Ren would face his True Self, while Kong Qiu wondered whether Lu Ren would return unchanged.
• Lu Ren used the Illumination Mirror to examine his reflection and confirmed it looked exactly like him, unlike Ji Quanzhen’s altered reflection.
• The reflection explained that defeating it would complete their Spirit Souls and demanded a chance to take Lu Ren’s place in the outside world.
• Lu Ren entered the second stretch and struck the reflection, then released the Ten Realms Seal as the reflection matched his Ninth Stage of Good Wisdom Bodhisattva Dharma Appearance.
• Lu Ren and the reflection clashed with their Three Heads Six Arms forms, trading countless blows that stirred strange beings along the Primordial Path.

Lu Ren fought his mirror image on the Primordial Path while wary of the strange entities watching them, then used 10 Skill Points to complete the Tenth Dharma Cloud Ground and transform his Spirit Soul into a Primordial Spirit. He revealed that the Age of Mythology had ended and that condensing the Human Immortal Dao Fruit now risked contamination, leaving the mirror image questioning the purpose of cultivation.

• Lu Ren and his mirror image battled for an hour, trading blows until both were badly wounded, while Lu Ren watched the strange entities lining the Primordial Path.
• The mirror image attacked after Lu Ren seemed distracted, but the Illumination Mirror slowed him briefly before he shattered its golden beam and prepared a killing art.
• Lu Ren spent 10 Skill Points to upgrade the Ten Worlds Sutra, completing the Tenth Dharma Cloud Ground and transforming his Spirit Soul into a Primordial Spirit.
• Lu Ren took on a Bodhisattva-like form, and the mirror image asked whether he had condensed the Human Immortal Dao Fruit.
• Lu Ren told the mirror image that the Age of Mythology had ended and the path to The Other Shore was blocked by strange entities that could contaminate anyone who condensed the Dao Fruit.
• The mirror image questioned whether cultivation and the Primordial Land still had meaning, and Lu Ren told him he would have to walk the path himself to understand.

Lu Ren reached the perfected Tenth Dharma Cloud Ground and absorbed his mirror image, but he stopped short of condensing the Human Immortal Dao Fruit after sensing that it would attract a terrifying unknown force. As he continued along the Primordial Path, an Otherworldly Angel watched and tried to influence him, and a small figure suddenly appeared before him.

• Lu Ren crushed his mirror image and absorbed its golden light, further strengthening his body and primordial spirit.
• Lu Ren realized that condensing the Human Immortal Dao Fruit could draw a terrifying unknown presence, and he questioned whether the path of the three Dao Fruits had been severed.
• Lu Ren continued along the Primordial Path until the Past, Future, and Present Three Sutras inside him began to revive.
• The path fell into darkness, and Lu Ren used his mind's eye to perceive strange beings, including an eyeball-covered ring that spoke of the world's end and a descending true god.
• The system shielded Lu Ren from an Otherworldly Angel's influence, but a small, thin figure suddenly appeared in front of him, prompting him to ready his lightning.

Lu Ren confronted Shakya, who revealed he had slaughtered an entire nation to project himself onto the Primordial Path and demanded Lu Ren's body. The chapter ended with Shakya realizing Lu Ren had altered the three scriptures he cultivated.

• Lu Ren encountered an old monk on the Primordial Path and recognized him as Shakya.
• Shakya admitted he had sacrificed an entire nation to create a passage and reach Lu Ren.
• Shakya offered to preserve Lu Ren's spirit if he surrendered his body, then threatened him when he refused.
• Lu Ren halted the three scriptures and integrated them into a cycle with his Tenth Ground True Essence.
• Shakya discovered that Lu Ren had altered the three true scriptures and reacted with disbelief.

Lu Ren dispersed Shakya’s projection on the Primordial Path and continued onward, believing the corrupted Shakya had miscalculated. After an unexpected step carried him to the ancient marketplace of Wang City, a beastgirl identified it as the end of the Primordial Path and challenged his presence there.

• Lu Ren used his altered True Scriptures to destroy Shakya’s projection after Shakya threatened to dissect him when his true body returned.
• Lu Ren left the Seeking Truth Realm and wondered what had corrupted Shakya and whether returning immortals and gods would clash.
• Lu Ren continued along the Primordial Path, brushing aside its trials until he suddenly stepped into empty air.
• Lu Ren arrived in a bustling ancient city where vendors sold goods and the system identified the place as Primordial City.
• A beastgirl told Lu Ren that Wang City was the end of the Primordial Path and warned that Buddha’s disciples would have difficulty subduing demons there.

Lu Ren learned that Wang City suppressed energy-based powers and traded one of his five Wang Coins for Lin Hui’s promised guidance. Lin Hui began explaining the city’s origins and rules, leaving Lu Ren with a first glimpse of how its inhabitants maintained order.

• Lu Ren sensed the immense Blood Fiend aura surrounding the beast girl and questioned her motives instead of trusting her appearance.
• The beast girl explained that Wang City’s rules prevented anyone from using energy-based powers, including Mystical Arts.
• Lu Ren noticed weapon marks on Wang City’s walls, and the beast girl said humans had attacked the city in a distant age whose history was lost.
• Lu Ren discovered that he had five Wang Coins, and the beast girl, Lin Hui, offered to guide him around Wang City for one coin.
• Lin Hui told Lu Ren that Wang City’s newcomers had reached the Primordial Path through their Inner Landscapes and that its inhabitants had established a covenant against violence and breaking faith in transactions.