Chapter Summaries

Randeng and Guanyin negotiated with Nuwa over the Buddhist Sect’s compensation for the destroyed spiritual root, while Guanyin explained the Three Sovereigns and Six Sages to Sun Wukong. They signed an installment contract, later had its interest waived by returning the dead root, and released Tang Monk.

• Guanyin told Sun Wukong that the girl was Shen Nong’s daughter and explained the stature of the Three Sovereigns and Six Sages.
• Randeng and Guanyin went to Lotus Cave to negotiate with Nuwa over the five-billion-Spirit-Stone compensation.
• Guanyin confirmed that the humanoid spiritual root could not be revived, and Randeng signed Nuwa’s contract for repayment in installments.
• Nuwa waived the contract’s interest after Randeng returned the withered spiritual root, and the group released Tang Monk.
• Nuwa warned Sun Wukong not to act recklessly again as she left.

After Nuwa extorted five billion Spirit Stones from Buddhism, Lin Tian tried to revive the withered Humanoid Spiritual Root and discovered it might be a rare chaos spiritual root. Meanwhile, Spirit Vine City’s auction house prepared to open as Guanyin and Randeng arrived to consign treasures.

• Nuwa and Bai Suzhen left Lotus Cave with Sun Wukong, Tang Monk, and his companions, while Randeng and Guanyin accepted Buddhism’s growing debt and Guanyin warned Sun Wukong against acting rashly.
• Nuwa told Lin Tian she had extorted five billion Spirit Stones from Buddhism and gave him the withered Humanoid Spiritual Root.
• Lin Tian planted the root in his Secret Realm and poured enhanced Three Lights Divine Water over it, restoring only a small patch of green.
• Lin Tian suspected the Humanoid Spiritual Root was a chaos spiritual root and decided to spend more of his vast resources trying to revive it.
• Spirit Vine City’s Auction House began collecting treasures, and Guanyin and Randeng entered the city instead of returning to Spirit Mountain.

Randeng and Guanyin registered Buddhism’s Executioner Immortal Sword Formation Diagram for auction, setting off a scramble among the Three Realms. Lin Tian vowed to secure it before the Chan Sect could, while the Primordial Heavenly Venerable ordered Guang Chengzi to bid and Laozi sent a Growth Pill to the auction, anticipating Lin Tian would want it.

• Randeng and Guanyin brought the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation Diagram to the registration desk, and news of the auction spread through Spirit Vine City.
• Holy Mother Wudang and the Bull Devil King urged Lin Tian to obtain the diagram, and the auction manager confirmed its registration.
• Lin Tian recognized Tathagata’s plan to stir up conflict and decided he had to secure the diagram before the Chan Sect did.
• Guang Chengzi told the Primordial Heavenly Venerable that Buddhism was auctioning the diagram, and his teacher ordered him to bid with Chan Sect funds and borrow from the Human Teaching if necessary.
• Laozi sent an attendant to deliver a Growth Pill to the auction, expecting Lin Tian to spend heavily to obtain it.

Lin Tian and the Four Great Demon Saints prepared for a costly auction battle over the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation Diagram, while Randeng explained how Tathagata’s plan would pit Spirit Vine City against the Chan Sect and improve Buddhism’s position. As the Three Realms gathered Spirit Stones for the auction, the Journey to the West pilgrims reached the drought-stricken Wuji Kingdom, where Wenshu approached its desperate king.

• Lin Tian rejected using tricks at the auction and ordered that every bid be backed by verified Spirit Stones, appointing Bai Ze to preside.
• Randeng told Guanyin and the others that Lin Tian and the Chan Sect would both fight for the diagram, leaving Buddhism room to turn from defense to offense.
• The powers of the Three Realms began gathering Spirit Stones for the auction after five hundred years of economic growth and preparation.
• The four pilgrims reached the Wuji Kingdom, where a severe drought had followed the Heavenly Court’s oversight and the absence of Daoist priests.
• Wenshu appeared before the drought-stricken king and offered to guide him to the Western Heaven to become an Arhat.

After the Tang Monk and his disciples reached Spirit Vine City, Sun Wukong attacked a law officer and was captured by the city's Heavenly Net. At the Law Enforcement Hall, he lost a fight with a great demon and was captured again as he tried to flee.

• The Tang Monk and his disciples arrived at Spirit Vine City and marveled at its vast, splendid buildings.
• Sun Wukong argued with an officer, attacked him, and was bound by the city's Heavenly Net.
• The officers took Sun Wukong to the Law Enforcement Hall while the Tang Monk, Zhu Bajie, and Sandy searched for a way to find him.
• A great demon released Sun Wukong, but blocked his Golden Cudgel with one fist and injured his hand.
• Sun Wukong tried to escape on a cloud, but the Heavenly Net captured him again.

Sun Wukong endured a thousand lashes in Spirit Vine City after attacking its enforcers, then returned to Tang Monk and the others. Guanyin and Randeng arranged lodging for the group and warned Wukong not to cause trouble as they attended an auction.

• The Law Enforcement Hall sentenced Sun Wukong to a thousand lashes with a Purple Heaven lightning whip and dumped him in the street afterward.
• Onlookers learned Sun Wukong's identity and flattered him, lifting his spirits despite his injuries.
• Sun Wukong returned to Tang Monk, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing, who had been unable to find food or lodging in the city.
• Randeng and Guanyin invited Tang Monk's party to stay with them, and Guanyin warned Sun Wukong to behave while they attended an auction.

Sun Wukong secretly observed Spirit Vine City's first Three Realms auction, where the great powers gathered to bid on rare treasures and the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation Diagram. The auction began with a life-law seed, and Xuandu outbid Zhen Yuanzi as the first contest unfolded.

• Guanyin and Randeng left Tang Monk and his disciples at an inn after warning them not to cause trouble, and Sun Wukong secretly sent out his primordial spirit to investigate.
• Sun Wukong watched Guanyin and Randeng enter the auction hall, where leaders and representatives from across the Three Realms had gathered for the auction.
• Holy Mother Wudang worried that the Chan Sect might obtain the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation Diagram, while Bull Devil King said Holy Infant would prevent it.
• Bai Ze opened the auction and introduced the first lot, a life-law seed believed to have fallen from Life Daoist's Tree of Life, with bidding starting at one billion spirit stones.
• Zhen Yuanzi bid one and a half billion spirit stones for the seed, and Xuandu of the Human Teaching raised the bid to two billion.

Xuandu won the Life Seed, while Lin Tian weighed the trap surrounding the Executioner Immortal Formation Diagram and resolved to bid for the Growth Pill needed to overcome his bloodline problem. The auction then began bidding on a Chaos God-Devil horn, with Yun Zhongzi and Thunder Marsh Daoist driving the price to five billion Spirit Stones.

• Xuandu of the Human Teaching won the Life Seed for six billion Spirit Stones and collected it after paying.
• Lin Tian discussed the Executioner Immortal Formation Diagram dilemma with Nuwa and Bai Suzhen, then decided he had to bid for the Growth Pill made from Laozi's blood.
• Nuwa spotted Sun Wukong at the auction, though the assembled deities ignored him.
• Lin Tian presented a Chaos God-Devil horn containing Chaos Dutian Divine Thunder as the second auction item.
• Yun Zhongzi and Thunder Marsh Daoist competed for the horn, raising its price to five billion Spirit Stones.

The auction continued as major factions spent enormous sums on rare treasures, while Sun Wukong watched in confusion and felt an inexplicable bond with the Chaos God-Devil Weapon Heaven-Crusher. As bidding for the weapon began, Randeng and Guanyin planned how to price the Executioner Immortal Formation Diagram so the Chan Sect might still compete for it.

• Thunder Marsh won the first treasure for seven billion Spirit Stones, and the Human Teaching bought the God-Devil Skull for sixty billion.
• Minghe secured the God-Devil Heart for a hundred and twenty billion Spirit Stones as Lin Tian's wares earned two trillion in total.
• Bai Ze opened the auction to treasures brought by other factions, and the Queen Mother of the West offered the Chaos God-Devil Weapon Heaven-Crusher.
• Sun Wukong, disguised as a fly, felt Heaven-Crusher was familiar and desperately wanted to obtain it.
• Kunpeng and Haotian began bidding for Heaven-Crusher, while Randeng and Guanyin discussed setting the Executioner Immortal Formation Diagram's starting price at two hundred billion.

Sun Wukong interrupted the auction to demand the Heaven-Crusher Staff, boasting about his past and angering Haotian before Guanyin subdued him and explained how powerful the assembled deities were. The auction resumed and the Demon Race won the staff for three hundred billion, while the Saints reflected on Wukong’s damaged understanding and the changes to the Three Realms.

• Sun Wukong leapt onto the platform and asked the Queen Mother of the West to give him the Heaven-Crusher Staff, then taunted Haotian and announced that he was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
• Haotian rose in fury, but Guanyin seized Sun Wukong and dragged him back before he could cause further trouble.
• Guanyin warned Sun Wukong that the gathered deities were beyond his power, and he realized that he had been arrogant.
• Randeng apologized to Haotian, ending the disturbance, while Zhunti and Jieyin lamented how Sun Wukong had been raised and planned to train him after the Journey to the West.
• The auction concluded with the Demon Race winning the Heaven-Crusher Staff for three hundred billion.

Lin Tian bought the pill containing Laozi’s blood, broke the curse that had kept him from growing, and reached adulthood while Nuwa and Bai Suyuan also lifted their restrictions. The Saints and Buddhist leaders suspected that Lin Tian was connected to Laozi and had been placed to undermine the Journey to the West, but the chapter left their suspicions unconfirmed.

• Great Master Xuandu auctioned a pill made with Laozi’s blood, and Lin Tian won it without competition.
• Lin Tian swallowed the pill and grew from a child into an eighteen-year-old adult as the gathered deities watched.
• Lin Tian told Nuwa and Bai Suyuan to have their restrictions lifted, and both girls grew into young women.
• Bodhisattva Guanyin and Randeng suspected that Laozi had made Lin Tian a pawn against Buddhism’s Journey to the West.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerable, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti also speculated that Lin Tian had been born from Laozi’s blood to disrupt the pilgrimage.

Zhunti and Jieyin concluded that Lin Tian’s actions had transformed the Three Realms and suspected he was Laozi’s son. As Randeng began auctioning the formation diagram, Guang Chengzi struggled to secure enough spirit stones, and Sun Wukong was badly wounded by the scroll’s sword intent.

• Zhunti admitted that Laozi had outplanned the Buddhist Sect, while he and Jieyin blamed Lin Tian’s rise for the surge in spiritual energy and the Daoist School’s growing advantage.
• Lin Tian resumed his original name, leaving the Saints and divinities more convinced that he was connected to Laozi, while Laozi watched from the Heaven of Separation from Hatred.
• Guang Chengzi asked Great Master Xuandu for the promised five hundred billion spirit stones, but Xuandu refused and warned him that Lin Tian could outbid him.
• Guang Chengzi considered selling the Heaven-Overturning Seal after his funding fell short, but could not bear to part with it.
• Randeng unfolded the formation diagram, releasing a fierce wave of sword intent that left Sun Wukong grievously wounded, and Guanyin shielded him and gave him a spirit pill.

Randeng auctioned the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation Diagram, but the bidders hesitated because the Chan Sect held the four swords and the treasure could provoke a dangerous power struggle. The Yellow Springs Daoist unexpectedly drove up the price, and Lin Tian challenged whether he could afford it.

• Randeng explained that the Buddhist Sect was selling the formation diagram to repay its debts and set a starting bid of two hundred billion spirit stones.
• Lin Tian bid the starting price, leaving Guang Chengzi torn between competing for the diagram and avoiding enriching Buddhism.
• The Yellow Springs Daoist entered the auction with a bid of two hundred and fifty billion, then raised it to three hundred billion despite others urging him to stop.
• Lin Tian accused the Yellow Springs Daoist of maliciously inflating the price and doubted he had enough spirit stones.
• The Yellow Springs Daoist defended his right to bid and declared that he could produce one trillion spirit stones.

Yellow Springs Daoist bought the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation Diagram for three hundred billion spirit stones, and Randeng used the money to repay Buddhism’s debts. Lin Tian suspected Wutian was controlling Yellow Springs Daoist and decided it was safer to let Wutian claim the diagram; the auction ended with Lin Tian looking for another way to keep Buddhism in debt.

• Yellow Springs Daoist produced a trillion spirit stones and challenged Lin Tian’s bidding rules, while Lin Tian realized he could not object.
• Lin Tian and his clone concluded that demonic soul-controlling power linked Yellow Springs Daoist to Wutian, and Lin Tian decided not to contest the diagram because doing so could draw Wutian’s hostility.
• Guang Chengzi and True Person Taiyi stopped bidding and discussed assassinating Yellow Springs Daoist after leaving Spirit Vine City.
• With no further bids, Yellow Springs Daoist paid Randeng three hundred billion spirit stones and received the formation diagram.
• Randeng divided the proceeds among six powers, repaying Buddhism’s debts, while Lin Tian resolved to find another way to keep Buddhism in debt.
• The auction ended, and Lin Tian watched the monkey, expecting another opportunity to advance his plans.

Lin Tian explained why Spirit Vine City benefited from the coming conflict over the Executioner Immortal Formation Diagram. Wutian recovered the diagram and planned to emerge in three hundred years, while avoiding conflict with Spirit Vine City.

• Lin Tian told Bull Devil King that the formation diagram would have brought danger to its holder and that Yellow Springs Daoist was being controlled.
• Guang Chengzi and True Person Taiyi attacked Yellow Springs Daoist, but the World-Destroying Black Lotus shielded him and the God-Slaying Spear drove them away.
• Wutian appeared and received the Executioner Immortal Formation Diagram from Yellow Springs Daoist.
• Wutian said he had spared Guang Chengzi to avoid provoking Primordial Heavenly Venerable and discussed Lin Tian's mysterious origins with Yellow Springs Daoist.
• Wutian said Spirit Vine City should not become an enemy and planned for the Demon Cult to emerge in three hundred years, confronting Buddhism first, then the Heavenly Court and the Chan Sect.

After Guang Chengzi’s failed attack on Yellow Springs, Lin Tian considered how to exploit the Buddhist Sect while Guanyin and Randeng altered Sun Wukong’s memories to keep the Journey to the West on course. The next day, the pilgrims set out for the Spirit Vine Residence to endorse their travel documents, while Lin Tian spent time with Nuwa, Bai Suzhen, and Bai Jingjing.

• Guang Chengzi returned to Yuqing Heaven defeated, and Lin Tian told Nuwa that the threat from the Chan Sect had passed.
• Sun Wukong tried to leave the inn to retrieve his staff, but Guanyin stopped him and comforted him as he lamented his weakness.
• Guanyin and Randeng erased Sun Wukong’s memories of his humiliating encounters and strengthened his belief in his own power.
• Sun Wukong woke with no memory of the previous night and joined his master and fellow disciples on their way to have their travel documents endorsed.
• At the Spirit Vine Residence, Lin Tian teased Nuwa and Bai Suzhen, then asked Bai Jingjing to massage his shoulders.

Tang Monk and his disciples visited Lin Tian to have their travel papers endorsed, but Lin Tian provoked Sun Wukong until he destroyed much of Spirit Vine City. Sun Wukong was imprisoned, and Lin Tian told Tang Monk to find someone to resolve the damage before they could leave.

• Lin Tian received Tang Monk and his disciples, then mocked Sun Wukong and refused to share his wine.
• Sun Wukong lost his temper, smashed Lin Tian's food and wine, and rampaged through Spirit Vine City, destroying fifty-two buildings and countless treasures.
• Shopkeepers captured Sun Wukong, and the Law Enforcement Hall sealed his cultivation and imprisoned him.
• Lin Tian confronted Tang Monk about the destruction and told him to find someone to settle the damage before leaving.
• Lin Tian ordered his people to preserve the wreckage as evidence.

After Sun Wukong wrecked shops in Spirit Vine City, Guanyin arrived to face billions of Spirit Stones in compensation claims. Lin Tian brought the dispute to the Law Enforcement Hall, where Sun Wukong was presented for a public judgment.

• Sun Wukong smashed Lin Tian’s food and wine, then flattened dozens of shops in Spirit Vine City.
• Zhu Bajie flew to the Southern Sea and summoned Guanyin, who hurried with him to the city.
• Shopkeepers confronted Guanyin with their losses, and Lin Tian claimed three hundred million Spirit Stones for the destroyed meal.
• Lin Tian proposed judging Sun Wukong and Tang Monk’s party in the Law Enforcement Hall before settling compensation, and Guanyin agreed to pay the losses.
• Lin Tian, Guanyin, Tang Monk, Zhu Bajie, and the shopkeepers gathered at the Law Enforcement Hall, where Sun Wukong was brought in restrained and stripped of his magic power.

Sun Wukong was tried in Spirit Vine City for destroying more than fifty shops and was sentenced to five years of hard labor in a Spirit Stone Mine. Guanyin was left to seek instructions from Spirit Mountain about compensation, while Sun Wukong began his sentence in the mine.

• The Hall Master of Law Enforcement questioned Sun Wukong, who admitted to smashing shops because he felt Lin Tian had looked down on him.
• Lin Tian and the witnesses defended his conduct at the banquet, and the Hall Master of Law Enforcement found Sun Wukong guilty of deliberately damaging property.
• The Hall Master sentenced Sun Wukong to five years in prison mining Spirit Stones and ordered compensation to be assessed separately.
• Guanyin asked to consult Spirit Mountain before deciding how to pay compensation, and the Hall Master dismissed her.
• Law enforcers took Sun Wukong to a mine, where he refused to work and was struck with a whip.

After Sun Wukong was sentenced to labor for destroying homes in Spirit Vine City, Randeng and Guanyin learned that Buddhism faced enormous compensation costs and that freeing him would require bail. They prepared to negotiate the damages while Lin Tian relaxed with Nuwa and Bai Suzhen.

• Sun Wukong endured repeated lashings before settling down to work, while Guanyin reported the incident to Randeng.
• Randeng concluded that Lin Tian had maneuvered Wukong into trouble, and he and Guanyin decided to address Buddhism's growing debts.
• Randeng and Guanyin traveled to Spirit Vine City, where a law enforcement officer told them fifty-two households had sued for compensation.
• The officer presented a verified bill of fifty-eight billion Spirit Stones and explained that Wukong's five-year labor sentence was separate from the damages.
• Randeng learned that Wukong could be released through bail, while Lin Tian drank with Nuwa and Bai Suzhen at the Spirit Vine Residence.