Chapter Summaries

Tathagata and Randeng lured Minghe into Randeng’s Twenty-Four Heavens formation and attacked him to seize the Asura Realm and his Spirit Treasures. As their assault threatened to break his defenses, Minghe summoned his 480 million Blood God Child Clones, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Tathagata, Randeng, and the Six-Eared Macaque agreed to kill Minghe, then traveled to the Chechi Kingdom.
• Randeng trapped Minghe in the Twenty-Four Heavens formation, and Tathagata and Randeng tried to persuade him to submit the Asura Race to Buddhism.
• Minghe rejected their demands, and Tathagata revealed that Buddhism meant to kill him, take his Spirit Treasures, and gain control of the Asura Realm.
• Minghe fought back with A Bi and Yuantu, but Randeng’s Sea-Calming Divine Pearls and Tathagata’s Blessing Scepter overwhelmed his defenses.
• Minghe summoned his Blood God Child Clones, revealing that his primordial spirit could move among 480 million bodies and be restored through the Sea of Blood.

Tathagata and Randeng nearly killed Minghe with the Myriad Heavens Formation and their attacks, but Zhulong and Lin Tian broke the formation and rescued him. Lin Tian confronted the Buddhist pair while Minghe celebrated him as his grandson, deepening the Three Realms’ suspicion that Lin Tian was Laozi’s son.

• Tathagata used the Purple-Gold Alms Bowl to draw out Minghe’s true body while Randeng trapped him in the Myriad Heavens Formation made from the Sea-Calming Divine Pearls.
• Tathagata and Randeng attacked Minghe until the Karmic Fire Red Lotus’s defenses failed and Minghe feared he would die.
• Zhulong and Lin Tian arrived and broke the Myriad Heavens Formation, saving Minghe.
• Zhulong said he had come to reclaim the Sea-Calming Divine Pearls and had helped Lin Tian because Lin Tian canceled his debt.
• Lin Tian taunted Tathagata and Randeng for attacking his grandfather, and Minghe gleefully claimed Lin Tian as his grandson.
• Minghe recalled the mysteries surrounding Lin Tian’s birth and wondered whether Laozi was Lin Tian’s father.

Minghe confronted Tathagata and Randeng over their attempt to rescue the Tang Monk, accusing Buddhism of provoking the crisis and demanding the Great Dao Laws in exchange for keeping Monkey’s offense against the Saints secret. Tathagata showed no concern when Minghe threatened to expose Monkey, and Lin Tian suspected that the True and False Handsome Monkey King explained why the journey could continue.

• Minghe insisted Lin Tian was Laozi’s son and claimed their connection made Laozi his son-in-law, while Lin Tian remained baffled by his own mysterious origins.
• Tathagata asked Zhulong whether he intended to make an enemy of Buddhism, and Zhulong replied that he was protecting the person who had paid him.
• Lin Tian accused Tathagata and Randeng of seeking Minghe’s treasures and criticized Buddhism for letting Monkey profane the Three Pure Ones statues and impersonate the Saints.
• Minghe argued that he had done nothing wrong by taking three monsters as disciples and capturing Monkey after Monkey tricked them into drinking urine.
• Minghe demanded the Great Dao Laws in exchange for silencing his disciples, but Tathagata claimed he had none and said Minghe could spread the story if he wished.
• Lin Tian recalled that Monkey’s behavior changed after the Western Liang Women’s Kingdom and suspected the True and False Handsome Monkey King was connected to the danger.

Lin Tian exposed Tathagata and Randeng’s plan to have Six-Eared Macaque replace Sun Wukong, then threatened to alert Yuanshi and ruin it. Tathagata backed down, swore Buddhism had no Great Dao Laws, and agreed to compensate Minghe and Lin Tian, adding more debt to Buddhism’s enormous loans.

• Lin Tian reasoned that Tathagata intended for Six-Eared Macaque to kill Sun Wukong and absorb his corpse, taking his place on the Journey to the West.
• Lin Tian revealed that he knew the plan, and Tathagata and Randeng were shocked by how much he had uncovered.
• Lin Tian threatened to inform Yuanshi, who could reduce Wukong to ashes and make Six Ears’s replacement impossible.
• Tathagata denied that Buddhism had any Great Dao Laws and offered to swear an oath before the Heavenly Dao.
• Minghe demanded ten billion Spirit Stones in compensation, while Lin Tian asked Tathagata to cover the cost of the house he had given Zhulong.
• Tathagata accepted the terms in exchange for their silence, and Minghe and Lin Tian added the compensation to Buddhism’s loans, bringing its debt to Lin Tian to ninety billion Spirit Stones.

After Zhulong rescued Minghe from Randeng’s Twenty-Four Heavens formation, Lin Tian considered how to prevent the Buddhist Sect from replacing Sun Wukong with the Six-Eared Macaque. The Chechi Kingdom crisis was temporarily settled, and Tang Monk’s party continued westward.

• Lin Tian reflected on Spirit Vine City’s dominance over the Three Realms and its contrast with Taiqing City and Yuqing City.
• The Dragon Clan opened its resource shop, Cloud Sea Billows, on Vermilion Bird Avenue in Spirit Vine City.
• Lin Tian had recruited Zhulong by offering to waive a five-billion-Spirit-Stone debt, and Zhulong broke Randeng’s formation to rescue Minghe.
• Lin Tian concluded that the Six-Eared Macaque might replace Sun Wukong on the pilgrimage and become powerful enough to benefit Buddhism.
• After the Chechi Kingdom crisis was settled, Tang Monk and the others continued westward.

Lin Tian visited the Scorpion Demon on Poison Enemy Mountain and warned her that the Scripture-Seeker’s arrival would bring her a deadly tribulation. After proving his power with the Demon Race’s supreme treasure, he persuaded her to leave seclusion and spend time with him, though she continued to press him for romance.

• Lin Tian arrived at Poison Enemy Mountain and reunited with the Scorpion Demon, who was shocked that he had grown up after only five hundred years.
• Lin Tian warned the Scorpion Demon that her life-and-death tribulation was approaching because the Scripture-Seeker was coming, and said he had come to save her.
• The Scorpion Demon flirted with Lin Tian and doubted his claims about conquering the Three Realms, so he revealed the Demon-Summoning Banner and made her kneel with its power.
• Lin Tian explained that the Demon-Summoning Banner commanded all demons, then invited the Scorpion Demon to leave seclusion and see the realm he had conquered.
• The Scorpion Demon confessed that she had fallen in love with Lin Tian, took him to her boudoir, and suggested they marry, but Lin Tian asked to rest before going out.

Lin Tian reunited with the Scorpion Demon and took her out to see the realm he had built. As they traveled toward the Heavenly Passage River, he explained the origins of the Child-and-Mother River and the Daughter Kingdom, leaving them near the river and its dangerous customs.

• Lin Tian reassured the Scorpion Demon, invited her out of Pipa Cave, and promised that becoming a Great Encompassing Golden Immortal or Quasi-Saint would be easy for him.
• Lin Tian destroyed the Scorpion Demon's steel fork and took her flying toward the Daughter Kingdom.
• Lin Tian explained that life had many forms and described how Lady Nuwa created the women of the Daughter Kingdom and arranged the Child-and-Mother River for them.
• Lin Tian and the Scorpion Demon reached the Heavenly Passage River, where Lin Tian described the Daughter Kingdom's custom of pursuing men who entered its territory.
• Lin Tian explained that people from Chen Family Village had begun crossing the frozen river to seek affairs in the Daughter Kingdom.

Lin Tian and the Scorpion Demon watched as the Chechi Kingdom sent its royal preceptors and army to confront Great King Inspiration, the goldfish demon tied to Guanyin. Lin Tian warned the Scorpion Demon that Buddhism had arranged her future death, while the Tang Monk and his disciples reached Chen Family Village as the confrontation began.

• Lin Tian told the Scorpion Demon that Guanyin's goldfish demon had terrorized Chen Family Village by demanding children and that he suspected Buddhism was framing the Demon Race.
• The Tang Monk and his disciples left the Chechi Kingdom, where the people rejected them, while the Tang Monk blamed the kingdom's suffering on its lack of faith.
• The king of the Chechi Kingdom received a report about Great King Inspiration and ordered the three royal preceptors to capture the demon with ten thousand soldiers.
• Lin Tian explained that Pilanpo had kept the Scorpion Demon alive to become one of the Tang Monk's tribulations and that the Star Officer of the Rooster would eventually kill her.
• The army and the three royal preceptors arrived at Chen Family Village as the scripture pilgrims reached the Heavenly Passage River, and the Tang Monk wondered whether the preceptors had come for them.

The three state preceptors learned that Great King Inspiration had been eating children in Chen Family Village and went to the Heavenly Passage River to attack him. Great King Inspiration emerged to confront them but was quickly overwhelmed by their combined assault.

• The three state preceptors arrived in Chen Family Village, where villagers told them Great King Inspiration had eaten a boy and a girl every year for over a decade.
• Chen Qing and Chen Cheng brought forward the children chosen for this year's sacrifice, and Sheep Power Great Immortal condemned the villagers for trusting the demon.
• Tang Monk and Sun Wukong agreed that the demon had to be stopped, while Tiger Power Great Immortal told the villagers that the state preceptors, not Great King Inspiration, had brought Chechi Kingdom favorable weather.
• The three state preceptors traveled to the Heavenly Passage River and attacked it with their spirit treasures, making Great King Inspiration charge out of the water.
• Great King Inspiration threatened Chen Family Village, but the three state preceptors attacked together and quickly gained the upper hand.

The three state preceptors captured Great King Inspiration and learned that Guanyin had allowed her goldfish to prey on Chen Family Village for years. Guanyin arrived to silence the witnesses, but Lin Tian intervened with a Light Curtain.

• Sheep Power Great Immortal froze the Heavenly Passage River, and the three state preceptors captured Great King Inspiration and crippled his magic power.
• The state preceptors interrogated Great King Inspiration and the mandarin fish, who confessed that Guanyin’s goldfish had demanded children as offerings for ten years.
• The goldfish explained that he had eaten children in hopes of gaining longevity, while Guanyin had tolerated his crimes and later slaughtered the other demons in the river.
• Guanyin realized the goldfish had betrayed her and rushed to the Heavenly Passage River, intending to kill the state preceptors and the villagers.
• Guanyin attacked with a quasi-saint Magic Power Sphere, but Lin Tian raised a Light Curtain to block it.

Lin Tian confronted Guanyin with evidence that she had arranged the goldfish spirit’s crimes and tried to destroy Chen Family Village, then offered to make her his proxy in Buddhism. Guanyin learned that Lin Tian possessed the Chaos Pearl and struggled to decide whether to submit.

• Lin Tian showed Guanyin a water-mirror recording of the goldfish spirit’s confession and her attack on Chen Family Village, threatening to ruin her reputation.
• Guanyin realized she could neither silence Lin Tian nor risk exposing the incident, so she agreed to hear his proposal.
• Lin Tian brought Guanyin into the Chaos Pearl and offered to support her as Buddhism’s leader if she submitted to him.
• Guanyin learned the space was the Chaos Pearl, a chaos supreme treasure, and weighed Lin Tian’s offer against the danger of refusing.
• Lin Tian said he would eliminate Tathagata and could instead support Wenshu or Puxian, while Guanyin worried about Buddhism’s decline and her own future.

Lin Tian persuaded Guanyin to secretly join him, binding her true spirit to the Demon-Summoning Banner and promising her resources and a path to lead Buddhism. After concealing the deal and eliminating witnesses, he took the Scorpion Demon to Spirit Vine City.

• Guanyin weighed Buddhism’s declining prospects against Lin Tian’s growing power and knelt, accepting him as her master.
• Lin Tian made Guanyin merge a strand of her true spirit into the Demon-Summoning Banner and gave her a hundred billion Spirit Stones to build influence within Buddhism.
• Guanyin returned to Mount Luojia as a hidden traitor, believing Lin Tian would eventually surpass Buddhism and might even become a saint.
• Lin Tian ordered the Goldfish Spirit and the Mandarin Fish Spirit killed so no evidence of the arrangement remained.
• Lin Tian took the Scorpion Demon to Spirit Vine City.

Lin Tian brought the Scorpion Demon to Spirit Vine City, where he met Yang Chan and learned that she held a fortuitous opportunity tied to his path to Primordial Unity. He treated Yang Chan and the Scorpion Demon to an extravagant meal, and Yang Chan felt close to breaking through to great encompassing golden immortal.

• Lin Tian showed the Scorpion Demon Spirit Vine City and impressed her with his wealth and status.
• Lin Tian noticed Yang Chan on Vermilion Bird Avenue and learned she was Yang Jian's younger sister, visiting the city for the first time.
• Lin Tian offered to show Yang Chan around, while the Scorpion Demon watched without jealousy.
• Lin Tian took Yang Chan and the Scorpion Demon to Asura Tower and ordered its finest food and wine.
• Yang Chan drank the wine and felt that the barrier to great encompassing golden immortal was within reach.

Lin Tian planned to use Guanyin to seize control of Buddhism and watched as Yang Chan and the Scorpion Demon broke through to Great Encompassing Golden Immortals. He took them to Cloud Immortal Pavilion to inspect Yun Zhongzi’s treasures, where his immense merit and lavish equipment stunned those present.

• Lin Tian planned to use Guanyin to manipulate the Journey to the West, trap Tathagata, and eventually bring Buddhism under his control.
• Yang Chan and the Scorpion Demon broke through to Great Encompassing Golden Immortals, and Yang Chan thanked Lin Tian for helping her.
• Lin Tian led the two women to Cloud Immortal Pavilion and encountered Yun Zhongzi.
• Lin Tian revealed his enormous Merit Golden Wheel, impressing Yang Chan and the Scorpion Demon while Yun Zhongzi lamented his vulgar manner.
• Lin Tian asked Yun Zhongzi to show him top-grade Houtian Spiritual Treasures, and Yun Zhongzi noticed that Lin Tian was already wearing several High-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures.

Lin Tian recognized Yang Chan’s Precious Lotus Lantern and learned from his Spirit Vine True Self that gathering the Three Realms’ flames could help him attain the Dao through fire. The chapter left him intent on pursuing that opportunity while Yang Chan discovered the true power of her treasure.

• Yun Zhongzi presented top-grade Houtian spiritual treasures, and Lin Tian gave the Scorpion Demon and Yang Chan offensive and defensive treasures.
• Yang Chan asked Yun Zhongzi to appraise her lamp, and he identified it as the Precious Lotus Lantern, one of the four great spirit lamps.
• Yun Zhongzi explained the four great spirit lamps, and Lin Tian described their origins and powers, calling the Precious Lotus Lantern the greatest among them.
• Lin Tian asked his Spirit Vine True Self whether gathering the great fires could produce hongmeng sacred fire, and it said that mastering the flames could let him attain the Dao through fire.
• Lin Tian realized Yang Chan’s treasure was the fortuitous opportunity his Spirit Vine True Self had mentioned.

Lin Tian recognized Yang Chan’s Precious Lotus Lantern as a rare treasure tied to his path of mastering the Dao of Fire, and resolved to build a relationship with her while preparing Spirit Vine City for future dangers. After leaving Yun Zhongzi’s pavilion, he amused Yang Chan with a joke and took her and the Scorpion Demon somewhere fun.

• Lin Tian considered the divine fires he still needed to master and worried that Wutian and other rising powers could threaten Spirit Vine City within three hundred years.
• Yang Chan discovered that her Precious Lotus Lantern was a top-grade innate spiritual treasure, and Lin Tian recognized its flame as crucial to his cultivation of the Flame Dao.
• Lin Tian paid Yun Zhongzi and offered him money to keep the lantern secret, but Yun Zhongzi angrily refused the bribe and defended his integrity.
• Lin Tian took Yang Chan and the Scorpion Demon from the Cloud Immortal Pavilion, then explained his joke about rolling away by sending a ball down the street.
• Yang Chan laughed at Lin Tian’s antics, and he offered to take her and the Scorpion Demon somewhere fun.

Lin Tian took Yang Chan and the Scorpion Demon to his Spirit Vine City Stone Market and invited them to choose costly rough stones. Yang Jian and Nezha arrived, and Yang Jian confronted Lin Tian over his closeness with Yang Chan.

• Lin Tian held Yang Chan's hand and brought her and the Scorpion Demon to the Level Five Stone Market, where he told each to pick three stones.
• The Scorpion Demon encouraged Yang Chan to choose stones, and a crowd gathered to watch them cut their selections.
• Nezha spotted Yang Chan and alerted Yang Jian, who pushed through the crowd and demanded to know why she was there and who Lin Tian was.
• Lin Tian called Yang Jian his brother-in-law and traded insults with Nezha, while Yang Chan tried unsuccessfully to pull her hand away.
• Yang Jian told Yang Chan not to let Lin Tian deceive her and ordered her to return with him to the Heavenly Court.

Lin Tian opened Yang Chan’s rough stones and uncovered half of Daoist Shichen’s Time Bluestone, then used his wealth and gifts to persuade Yang Jian that he was a worthy suitor for Yang Chan. He escorted Yang Chan to Mount Hua, where she asked why he treated her so well and he confessed that he had fallen for her at first sight.

• Yang Jian objected to Lin Tian courting Yang Chan, while Nezha urged him to consider Lin Tian’s reputation and status.
• Lin Tian opened a rough stone and released a burst of time that made two hours vanish, revealing half of Daoist Shichen’s Time Bluestone.
• Yang Chan refused to accept the treasure, and Lin Tian continued opening stones, but her remaining stones and the Scorpion Demon's stones were duds.
• Lin Tian showed Yang Jian the valuable treasures he had bought for Yang Chan and argued that he would not leave her shortchanged, leaving Yang Jian and Nezha stunned.
• Yang Chan said she needed to go to Mount Hua, so Lin Tian left the Scorpion Demon in Spirit Vine City and escorted Yang Chan there.
• Yang Chan asked why Lin Tian was so good to her, and Lin Tian said he had fallen for her at first sight.

Lin Tian discovered that the spiritual root in the Spirit Medicine Space was Jianmu, the World Tree, and used vast resources to spur its growth. As Jianmu rose toward the sky, the mighty deities relocated Spirit Vine City to make room for him.

• Lin Tian left Yang Chan on Mount Hua after telling her to stabilize her cultivation and visit him in Spirit Vine City if she missed him.
• After returning to Spirit Vine City, Lin Tian rushed to the Spirit Medicine Space when the city shook and found his humanoid spiritual root growing wildly.
• Lin Tian learned from the Spirit Vine True Self that the spiritual root was Jianmu, whose roots had grown deep into the earth after absorbing Three Lights Divine Water.
• Lin Tian poured in five trillion Spirit Stones to accelerate Jianmu's growth as deities from across the Three Realms, including the Jade Emperor, gathered to watch.
• Lin Tian warned the gathered deities that Jianmu would burst Spirit Vine City apart, and Zhen Yuanzi, the Queen Mother of the West, and others moved the city a thousand li eastward.

Lin Tian used five trillion Spirit Stones to nourish Jianmu until it pierced Great Luo Heaven and restored the Pillar of Heaven and Earth, earning vast merit. He stored the merit rather than becoming a Saint immediately and began advancing by severing his evil corpse.

• The Four Great Demon Saints helped Lin Tian release spiritual energy into Jianmu, while merit accumulated as the tree grew through the heavens.
• After three months and the consumption of all five trillion Spirit Stones, Jianmu reached Great Luo Heaven and connected heaven and earth, restoring the Pillar of Heaven and Earth.
• Haotian envied Lin Tian's achievements and argued that Jianmu's restoration of the Three Realms could earn him enough merit to become a Saint.
• The accumulated merit split among Jianmu, the Four Great Demon Saints, and Lin Tian, who received seventy percent and chose to save it for later.
• Lin Tian followed his Spirit Vine True Self's advice, absorbed the merit, and severed his evil corpse before continuing his breakthrough.