Chapter Summaries

Lin Tian exposed the Buddhist Sect’s plan to benefit from the dwindling spiritual energy and rallied the Three Realms around the need to preserve it. Haotian and Yaochi chose to watch events while building their wealth, as Jieyin and Zhunti resolved that Lin Tian had to die.

• Lin Tian warned the Three Realms that spiritual energy would soon be exhausted and that the Buddhist Sect’s prosperity through the Journey to the West would help Tathagata attain the Dao.
• The Three Realms erupted as its inhabitants realized the loss of spiritual energy threatened their survival.
• Haotian and Yaochi agreed not to oppose Lin Tian and decided to quietly observe how the conflict unfolded.
• Yaochi told Haotian their Spirit Vine City businesses earned a daily surplus, and Haotian planned to use their spirit stones to recruit experts.
• Jieyin and Zhunti agreed Lin Tian threatened their grand plan, and Zhunti offered to descend to the lower realm and kill him.

Zhunti prepared to descend and kill Lin Tian, while Laozi and Yuanshi discussed the threat to Spirit Vine City and watched the armies gather. Lu Ya revealed his Three-Legged Golden Crow form before the Demon Race army, leaving its leaders divided over whether to fight Di Jun’s surviving bloodline.

• Zhunti decided to attack Lin Tian despite the heavenly punishment, and Jieyin failed to dissuade him.
• Laozi and Yuanshi discussed Xuan Yuan’s possible attack on Spirit Vine City and Laozi explained why Lin Tian’s Spirit Stone economy could help the Three Realms recover.
• Laozi and Yuanshi chose to watch the battle, with Laozi prepared to send Xuandu if matters went wrong.
• Lu Ya revealed his Three-Legged Golden Crow form and invoked his identity as the Demon Emperor’s bloodline before the Demon Race army.
• Many demons knelt, while Shang Yang, Bai Ze, Ji Meng, and Qin Yuan fell silent, troubled by the prospect of attacking Di Jun’s surviving heir.

Lin Tian challenged Lu Ya’s loyalty to the Demon Race, leaving him wounded and unable to fight. As the battle resumed, Lin Tian attacked Tathagata’s formation while Zhen Yuanzi engaged him, and neither side gained the upper hand.

• Lin Tian demanded that Lu Ya declare whether he was the Demon Race’s Tenth Crown Prince or Great Sun Tathagata Buddha, and accused him of betraying his race.
• Lu Ya could not answer without risking heavenly punishment, and Lin Tian’s accusations caused his Dao heart to crumble until he spat golden blood.
• Tathagata ordered Ananda and Kashyapa to take Lu Ya to the rear and give him a Ninefold Clear Jade Spirit Pill.
• Lin Tian rejected Tathagata’s appeal for peace and accused him of betraying his senior brother and teacher, briefly stirring unrest among the Buddhist forces.
• Lin Tian attacked the Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation with the Ninefold Samadhi True Flame and Solar True Flame, amplified by the Banana Leaf Fan’s Threefold Divine Wind.
• Zhen Yuanzi challenged Tathagata and engaged him with the Earth Book, while Tathagata wielded the Many-Treasure Pagoda; neither could defeat the other.

The Demon Race Army attacked the Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation as Kong Xuan and Minghe fought to a standstill, while Holy Mother Wudang tried to weaken Buddhism’s resolve. Lu Ya targeted Lin Tian with the Immortal-Slaying Flying Blade, which broke through the Black Origin Water-Control Banner in one strike, leaving Lin Tian determined to deal with Lu Ya.

• The Queen Mother of the West and Randeng used their treasures to keep each other occupied while Minghe joined the battle against Kong Xuan.
• Kong Xuan transformed into his peacock form and attacked Minghe, while Lin Tian’s Samadhi Divine Wind sent a mountain crashing toward the Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation, where it was destroyed.
• Holy Mother Wudang and the Four Great Demon Saints joined Lin Tian in attacking the formation, and Holy Mother Wudang called on Jiejiao’s former disciples to abandon Buddhism and return to Golden Turtle Island.
• Tathagata steadied the Three Thousand Buddhas after Holy Mother Wudang’s appeal shook their morale, while Sun Wukong watched the battle and questioned whether he had been used as a pawn.
• Lu Ya summoned the Immortal-Slaying Flying Blade and sent it at Lin Tian; the blade pierced the Black Origin Water-Control Banner’s defenses before retreating, and Lin Tian resolved to deal with Lu Ya.

Lin Tian and Holy Mother Wudang helped the Demon Race break the Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation, turning the battle into a bloody melee while they fought Lu Ya. Seeing Buddhism on the verge of defeat, Zhunti entered the Three Realms to kill Lin Tian, and the Heavenly Dao appeared over the battlefield.

• Lin Tian chased Lu Ya with Ninefold Samadhi True Flame, forcing the Quasi-Saint to abandon his attack and flee until he transformed and met Lin Tian's power with Solar True Flame.
• Holy Mother Wudang found the Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation's weakness in the Kun position and coordinated with the Four Great Demon Saints to shatter its southwestern corner.
• The three thousand Great Demons charged into the broken formation and clashed violently with the Three Thousand Buddhas as Holy Mother Wudang joined Lin Tian against Lu Ya with the Purple Lightning Hammer.
• Zhunti decided to risk heavenly punishment and entered the Three Realms to kill Lin Tian, despite Jieyin warning him against it.
• The Heavenly Dao manifested above the battlefield as a vertical eye, and its pressure left everyone unable to move.

Lin Tian escaped Zhunti’s attempt to kill him, leaving Zhunti badly injured by heavenly punishment. Laozi, Yuanshi, and Nuwa confronted Zhunti and Jieyin over threatening the Three Realms’ hope, while Lin Tian remained missing.

• Lin Tian vanished into the void just before Zhunti descended, and the chaos Dutian Divine Thunder struck Zhunti with nine bolts.
• White Lotus Boy helped the gravely injured Zhunti leave, while Tathagata said Buddhism planned to erase the painful memories that had wounded Sun Wukong’s Dao heart.
• Jieyin treated Zhunti in the chaos, and Zhunti vowed that the Vine Dao Venerable must be killed.
• Laozi, Yuanshi, and Nuwa confronted Jieyin and Zhunti, condemning Zhunti’s attempt to kill Lin Tian and endanger the Three Realms.
• Jieyin pleaded for mercy while Zhunti refused to yield, and the three Saints remained angry over Buddhism’s threat to the Three Realms’ future.

Jieyin and Zhunti were badly beaten by three Saints, while Lin Tian collected rewards and the Saints planned to force Buddhism to pay reparations. Xuan Yuan led a Human Race army to attack Spirit Vine City, and the chapter ended as his Xuan Yuan Sword began striking its defensive formation.

• The Primordial Heavenly Venerable, Nuwa, and Laozi beat Jieyin and Zhunti in Chaos before returning to Ten Thousand Buddhas Heaven.
• Lin Tian received experience rewards for pranking Zhunti and implicating Jieyin, then planned to use his growing power to restore the Three Realms.
• Laozi and the Primordial Heavenly Venerable sent Xuandu and Guang Chengzi to help force the Buddhist Sect to admit defeat and pay reparations.
• Xuan Yuan, Zhuanxu, and Emperor Shun led three thousand Great Encompassing Golden Immortals to attack Spirit Vine City, revealing Xuan Yuan's alliance with Tathagata.
• The Great Demons activated the Black Tortoise Formation as Xuan Yuan struck it with the Xuan Yuan Sword.

Xuan Yuan attacked Spirit Vine City to stop its growth, but Bai Suzhen rallied the residents to replenish the city’s defensive formation. Fuxi and Shen Nong tried to persuade Xuan Yuan to stop, but he remained determined and sent Zhuanxu and Emperor Shun to aid the Buddhist Sect at Spirit Mountain.

• Xuan Yuan’s sword strikes nearly overwhelmed Spirit Vine City’s Black Tortoise Grand Formation, so Bai Suzhen called on the residents to donate Spirit Stones.
• Fuxi and Shen Nong arrived and urged Xuan Yuan to stop attacking Spirit Vine City.
• Xuan Yuan refused, arguing that the city threatened the Human Race’s future, and dispatched Zhuanxu and Emperor Shun to Spirit Mountain to help the Buddhist Sect.
• Fuxi and Shen Nong warned Xuan Yuan that his attack would make him an enemy of all living beings, but he would not back down.
• Great Master Xuandu, Guang Chengzi, and other members of the Human Teaching and the Chan Sect arrived as Guang Chengzi recognized why Xuan Yuan was fighting.

The Demon Race’s battle against Buddhism at Spirit Mountain turned in the demons’ favor as reinforcements arrived, while Lin Tian held off the Three Great Bodhisattvas. When Xuandu and Guang Chengzi joined the demons on their master’s orders, Tathagata refused to surrender, and the fighting resumed.

• Guang Chengzi and Xuandu set out for Spirit Mountain, while Fuxi and Shen Nong persuaded Xuan Yuan to withdraw with the human cultivators to Fire Cloud Cave.
• Nuwa arrived at Spirit Vine City and told Bai Suzhen that her imperial father and Fuxi had joined the reinforcements after hearing Little Red’s advice.
• Zhuanxu and Emperor Shun reversed the battle for Buddhism, but Lin Tian challenged Guanyin, Wenshu, and Puxian and forced the battlefield into a stalemate.
• Xuandu and Guang Chengzi arrived and announced that they would aid the Demon Race, but Tathagata refused their demand to surrender.
• Lin Tian rejected Tathagata’s offer to withdraw both armies, and Xuandu charged into battle, killing two Buddhas with a sweep of his Taiyi Horsetail Whisk.

Lin Tian forced Tathagata to accept a treaty requiring Buddhism to pay three hundred billion spirit stones in reparations, officially ending the Buddhist-Demon War. As the Three Realms celebrated the settlement, Sun Wukong watched and inwardly crumbled.

• Xuandu and Guang Chengzi threatened to continue killing Buddhists unless Tathagata admitted defeat.
• Lin Tian presented Tathagata with terms requiring Buddhism to pay three hundred billion spirit stones over three thousand years to six victorious parties.
• Surrounded by the Three Realms’ powers and warned that renewed fighting would bring harsher demands, Tathagata signed the treaty.
• Lin Tian announced that Buddhism had admitted defeat and the Buddhist-Demon War was officially over.
• Sun Wukong witnessed Lin Tian’s victory and inwardly crumbled.

After Buddhism lost to Lin Tian, Tathagata erased Sun Wukong’s memories of defeat and arranged for him to find a Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. Sun Wukong swallowed it, broke through to Great Luo, and returned to the scripture pilgrimage group convinced that he had become nearly invincible.

• Tathagata and the Buddhist experts found Sun Wukong in despair, and Tathagata put him to sleep so they could alter his memories.
• Tathagata erased Sun Wukong’s humiliating defeats, restored his belief in his own victories, and decided to raise his cultivation for the pilgrimage.
• Tathagata left a Nine-Turn Golden Elixir in a cave before departing with Guanyin.
• Sun Wukong woke with fabricated memories, found the elixir, and swallowed it, breaking through the barrier to Great Luo.
• Sun Wukong smashed a mountain with his Golden Cudgel and returned to the scripture pilgrimage group, boasting to Zhu Bajie about his new strength.

Sun Wukong resumed the Journey to the West after Zhu Bajie flattered him, while Laozi, Yuanshi, Zhunti, and Jieyin tried to understand how Lin Tian had escaped Zhunti’s attack. Jieyin concluded that Lin Tian had helped change the Three Realms’ fate by guiding its people to mine spirit stones, and Lin Tian’s merit protected him from future harm.

• Zhu Bajie flattered Sun Wukong, and the Tang Monk warned him not to disrespect bodhisattvas before the group continued west.
• The Grand Supreme Elder Lord failed to divine how Lin Tian escaped Zhunti and suspected Hongjun had intervened.
• Laozi and the Primordial Heavenly Venerable concluded that Hongjun had saved Lin Tian and punished Zhunti for opposing the Heavenly Dao’s Great Trend.
• Jieyin told Zhunti that Lin Tian escaped because the people of the Three Realms had collectively changed their fate by mining spirit stones.
• Jieyin explained that Lin Tian’s Merit Golden Wheel reflected his merit and would bring karmic consequences to anyone who attacked him.

Lin Tian returned to Spirit Vine City after defeating Buddhism and forcing it into crushing debt, while Tathagata searched for how the Vine Dao Venerable had uncovered Buddhism’s plan to cultivate through faith. Tathagata warned the Buddhist leaders that he would show no mercy if he found a traitor.

• Lin Tian returned to Spirit Vine City, where Bai Suzhen and Nuwa welcomed him and he boasted about defeating Tathagata through careful planning.
• Lin Tian reflected that Buddhism’s defeat, its debt, and the deaths of over a thousand Three Thousand Buddhas would weaken Tathagata and stabilize the Three Realms.
• Tathagata told Buddhism’s Quasi-Saints that the Vine Dao Venerable had pushed them into conflict and asked how he learned their future plans.
• Guanyin suggested that the Vine Dao Venerable might have deduced Buddhism’s strategy from its temples and golden bodies absorbing faith as spiritual energy declined.
• Tathagata threatened to punish anyone who had leaked Buddhism’s plan to use mortals’ faith as a cultivation shortcut.

Tathagata and the Buddhist Sect leaders analyzed their defeat in the Demon-Buddhist War and the economic changes that had left Buddhism with crushing debts. With the faith-based plan undermined and annual repayments threatening the sect’s survival, Tathagata decided to explore Chaos for a new source of Spirit Stones.

• Randeng explained that Lin Tian and the Demon Race had earned the Three Realms’ gratitude by releasing Spirit Stones, while the Vine Dao Venerable’s actions exposed Buddhism’s development plan and turned factions against it.
• Tathagata and the others speculated that Fuxi had plotted against the Buddhist Sect for centuries, using the conflict among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to protect the Demon Race.
• Tathagata said spiritual energy would continue to increase and that the Three Realms’ shift toward a capital economy could not be reversed, while Buddhism’s faith-based plan had fallen short.
• Guanyin warned that the Buddhist Sect owed three hundred billion Spirit Stones over three thousand years, plus five billion to Zhen Yuanzi, and could not meet its repayments through mining or savings.
• Tathagata declared that Buddhism had to seek Spirit Stones and planned to enter Chaos to find a way to obtain them directly.

Tathagata left Buddhist affairs to the Ancient Buddha and Guanyin while he entered seclusion to find a way to pay the war reparations. Lin Tian discussed the Demon Race’s strategy with the Four Great Demon Saints, identifying Tathagata and Xuan Yuan as future threats and leaving their next move in the Journey to the West unresolved.

• Tathagata ordered the Ancient Buddha to oversee Buddhism and Guanyin to manage the Journey to the West before entering seclusion.
• Lin Tian explained that Buddhism’s limited income made the reparations a severe burden and said he had inferred its faith-gathering strategy from the gold statues in its temples.
• Lin Tian predicted Tathagata would adapt by pursuing both faith and spiritual energy, despite the failure of his original plan.
• Lin Tian advised the Four Great Demon Saints that the Demon Race should focus on the Human Race and Buddhism, especially Xuan Yuan and Tathagata.
• Lin Tian argued that they should keep the stolen supreme treasure unmentioned so they would retain grounds to attack Buddhism again; the chapter ended with a question about how he would interfere with the Journey to the West.

Lin Tian laid out the Demon Race’s plan to exploit divisions between the Human Sovereign and Buddhism during the Journey to the West. At Lotus Cave, Sun Wukong attacked a white-clad girl, shattered the Spirit Stone she carried, and clashed with her green-clad sister, who mocked his old title.

• Lin Tian told the Four Great Demon Saints he would keep stirring up trouble during the Journey to the West and explained that the Demon Race should target Buddhism while trying to put Emperor Xi in control of the Human Race.
• Sun Wukong and his companions reached Lotus Cave, where he spotted a white-clad girl and identified her as a white snake spirit with his Fiery Golden Eyes.
• Sun Wukong struck at the girl, but the Black Origin Water-Control Banner blocked his Golden Cudgel; the green Spirit Stone she dropped shattered, and its tiny sapling withered.
• A green-clad girl rushed to defend her younger sister, and Sun Wukong announced himself as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
• The green-clad girl called Sun Wukong the Protector of the Imperial Horses, provoking him to attack her.

Nuwa defeated Sun Wukong with her Solar True Flame, and she captured Tang Monk while Bai Suzhen gathered the remains of the shattered Spirit Stone and sapling. Sun Wukong recovered with help from Zhu Bajie and Ao Guang, then returned to challenge Nuwa as she confronted him outside the Lotus Cave.

• Nuwa fought Sun Wukong and burned away his fur with the Solar True Flame, forcing him to flee.
• Bai Suzhen and Nuwa collected the Spirit Stone fragments and withered sapling, and Nuwa seized Tang Monk.
• Sandy panicked over Tang Monk's capture, while Zhu Bajie urged him to stay calm and find Sun Wukong.
• Sun Wukong recovered his magic power and fur, then asked Ao Guang to help counter Nuwa's flames with rain.
• Nuwa whipped Tang Monk and questioned him about the attack on Bai Suzhen before leaving the cave to face Sun Wukong.

After Nuwa's golden flames burned Sun Wukong again, he sought help from the Star Lord of Water Virtue and the Jade Emperor, then returned to find Zhu Bajie missing. He infiltrated Lotus Cave and discovered Bajie captured while Nuwa and Bai Suzhen spoke nearby.

• Nuwa's golden flames resisted the Dragon King's rain, burned away Sun Wukong's fur, and forced him to retreat.
• Sun Wukong learned from Ao Guang that Guanyin's Jade Purification Bottle might extinguish the fire, then went to ask the Star Lord of Water Virtue for help.
• The Star Lord of Water Virtue identified the flames as Solar True Flame and said he could not extinguish them, so Sun Wukong went to Lingxiao Hall.
• Haotian promised to send True Person Sa and Lord Long'en to help Sun Wukong subdue the demons.
• Sun Wukong returned and learned Zhu Bajie had been gone for four to six hours, then went alone to scout Lotus Cave.
• Sun Wukong transformed into a fly and found Zhu Bajie tied to a pillar while Nuwa and Bai Suzhen talked.

Sun Wukong returned to Lotus Cave with reinforcements, but Nuwa defeated them with Solar True Flame, capturing True Person Sa and Wang Lingguan. Guanyin recognized Nuwa as Jingwei, the daughter of the Earth Sovereign of the Shennong Clan, and went with Wukong to confront the dangerous ordeal.

• Sun Wukong summoned True Person Sa and Wang Lingguan to help him rescue Tang Sanzang from Lotus Cave.
• Nuwa fought all three with Solar True Flame, forcing Sun Wukong to flee while she captured True Person Sa and Wang Lingguan.
• Sun Wukong went to Mount Luojia and told Guanyin about Nuwa and her fire.
• Guanyin identified Nuwa as Jingwei, daughter of the Earth Sovereign of the Shennong Clan, and explained that her status made her impossible to harm.
• Guanyin took Sun Wukong to Lotus Cave, worrying that Lin Tian might be behind the incident and that the ordeal could cause further trouble.

After Sun Wukong damaged Nuwa and Bai Suzhen’s treasure at Lotus Cave, Guanyin learned they demanded five billion Spirit Stones to release Tang Monk. She brought the crisis to Spirit Mountain, where Randeng and Guanyin faced the Buddhist Sect’s inability to pay as its debts mounted.

• Nuwa confronted Guanyin over Sun Wukong’s attack, and Zhu Bajie revealed that Wukong had tried to kill Bai Suzhen after mistaking her for a White Snake Spirit.
• Nuwa explained that Wukong had shattered a treasure containing an Innate Spiritual Root seedling and demanded compensation before releasing Tang Monk.
• Nuwa asked the Buddhist Sect for five billion Spirit Stones, and Guanyin left for Spirit Mountain to seek instructions rather than agree to the price.
• At Spirit Mountain, Guanyin told Randeng what had happened and warned that Lin Tian might use the incident to worsen Buddhism’s troubles.
• Randeng and Guanyin recognized that Buddhism could not afford the compensation amid its existing debts, and the sect had no clear way to obtain the Spirit Stones.