After destroying Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal, the group continued west and arrived in the Wuj Kingdom one day.
Manjushri Bodhisattva had not wanted Azure Lion to descend to the mortal realm. Son Goku was so powerful that sending Azure Lion down would be throwing him away. But Tathagata said, "For Buddhism to flourish, why begrudge a mere mount?" Manjushri Bodhisattva could only send Azure Lion down.
Azure Lion followed the plan, killed the king, and took his appearance. As the false king, he governed the Wuj Kingdom with remarkable efficiency.
Tang Sanzang said, "I never thought this demon had such talent. Compared with the real king, he's better suited to ruling this country."
Son Goku said, "Nephew, what do you say? Should we still save the real king?"
Tang Sanzang said, "Of course we should. Those are two separate matters. Besides, Azure Lion's rule isn't a lasting solution. Can he really govern this kingdom forever?"
Son Goku nodded, then sent Little White Dragon to the Well Dragon King that night to retrieve the real king's corpse.
Little White Dragon took out an immortal pill and handed it to the Well Dragon King. After sending him away, the group gathered around the real king's corpse.
Son Goku said, "Wait here. I'll go borrow a few Soul-Returning Pills from Taishang Laojun."
With that, he vanished.
In the Heavenly Court's Tusita Palace, Taishang Laojun was pondering whether to send Azure Ox down to the mortal realm when he spotted Son Goku. "Great Sage, what brings you here?"
Son Goku said, "Old fellow, I've come to borrow a thousand Soul-Returning Pills to save the king of the Wuj Kingdom down below."
"A thousand? Are you eating them as meals? Besides, Soul-Returning Pills aren't particularly precious, so I never paid them much mind or refined that