In the west, at the Great Thunderclap Temple.
Buddha Tathagata sat high upon his lotus throne. Below him, the Buddhas, the four Bodhisattvas, the Eight Legions of Heavenly Dragons, the Ten Great Disciples, the Eighteen Arhats, the Nineteen Temple Guardians, and the Twenty-Four Heavens all sat cross-legged, quietly listening to the Western Buddha expound the Dharma.
Suddenly, the Buddha spoke. "Guanyin, how are the plans concerning the Third Holy Mother progressing?"
Guanyin counted on her fingers to divine the answer, then said, "How very strange. There has been no great disturbance in the Heavenly Court, and the Heavenly Court's Fortune has not diminished in the slightest."
"Yang Jian remains the Judicial God, and the Third Holy Mother's family has disappeared."
Buddha Tathagata fell silent at her report. He then performed his own divination, and his expression grew grave.
"It seems an unforeseen variable has appeared."
"Otherwise, the Third Holy Mother, Yang Chan, should already have been imprisoned beneath Mount Hua, and Chenxiang should already have sought a master to study the Way."
"In that case, Guanyin, sorry for the trouble, but please make a trip to the Heavenly Court. It is time the Queen Mother of the West made a move and put some pressure on Yang Jian."
Guanyin Bodhisattva slowly nodded. "I shall obey your decree, my Buddha."
With that, she left the Great Thunderclap Temple and quietly made her way straight into the Heavenly Court, where she met the Queen Mother of the West.
No one knew what Guanyin and the Queen Mother discussed, or what bargain they struck. But immediately after Guanyin Bodhisattva departed, an angry roar rang out from Yaochi. "Summon Yang Jian, the Judicial God, to me!"
At the Queen Mother of the West's roar, the whole of Yaochi in the Heavenly Court descended into