Recaps

Xuanzang and his companions left the mindscape and crossed the Tongtian River, where they confronted the Old Tortoise’s fear of choosing his own fate. On the snowy road, Great King Si captured Xuanzang’s companions and faced Wukong, who escaped after losing his Golden Cudgel to a white ring.

• Golden Cicada Child banished Great King Linggan, and Sanzang apologized to the companions before asking Xuanzang to let him disappear with the heart demon.
• Xuanzang helped Sanzang accept his fear and attachments, then agreed to let him enter Xuanzang’s dream and walk his former road.
• Golden Cicada Child gave Xuanzang the Brocade Kasaya and dissolved into the Bodhi Tree, and Xuanzang and his companions returned to the Tongtian River.
• Guanyin sent Old Tortoise to ferry Xuanzang’s group across the river, and Xuanzang told him he would die if he went ashore.
• Little White Dragon explained that Old Tortoise’s shore was his Dragon Gate, but Old Tortoise had to choose whether to face the tribulation without a guarantee.
• Xuanzang and his companions continued through the snow, while A-Hu revealed that he could speak and declined Xuanzang’s offer of a Dharma name.
• Great King Si lured Xuanzang’s companions into his cave, overpowered them, and mocked A-Hu as merely a mount.
• Wukong fought Great King Si, but the demon used a white ring to absorb Wukong’s clones and capture his Golden Cudgel, forcing Wukong to escape.

Wukong and his companions fought Great King Si, whose Diamond Ring defeated the heavenly forces and caused a disastrous flood on Jindou Mountain. After the flood was contained and Xuanzang awakened, the group set out to meet the mysterious benefactor who had entrusted him with a task.

• Great King Si captured Xuanzang and the others, but Wukong disguised himself as a little demon, rescued his companions, and recovered their weapons and the Golden Cudgel.
• Great King Si revealed that A-Hu had been formed from Xuanzang’s seven emotions, then used a golden ring to control A-Hu as You Ren until Little White Dragon broke it.
• Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing fought Great King Si, who struck Wukong with the ring and took Bajie’s Rake and Sha Wujing’s staff.
• Wukong sought help from Heaven, but Great King Si’s ring absorbed Nezha’s weapons, the Fire Department’s fire, and the treasures Wukong’s party had lost.
• Wukong and the Yellow River Water Earl tried to flood Jindou Cave, but Great King Si’s ring redirected the water and the flames, threatening Xuanzang’s group and the mountain.
• Wukong and the heavenly forces contained the flood, while Great King Si used the ring to draw away the fire and water before returning to his cave.
• Xuanzang woke and healed Little White Dragon’s injuries with the Nectar Buddha Wheel, though his broken horn remained unrepaired.
• Xuanzang led his disciples through the flooded mountains toward the mysterious benefactor, and Wukong introduced him to Li Jing near Jindou Cave.

Xuanzang’s account revealed the origins of Great King Si and the sacrifices of Fuxi and Nuwa, while the Old Lord explained how the pilgrimage group’s altered roles could help his disciple. The companions completed the seven cycles of the elixir refinement, and Great King Si emerged restored as Miaole.

• Xuanzang used Great King Si’s broken horn to show the group visions of creation, Fuxi’s life, Nuwa’s sacrifice to mend the sky, and the ancient tree’s later history.
• The Old Lord appeared in Jindou Cave and explained that Great King Si had emerged from Jianmu, while Jiang Shinian had chosen to remain beside the tree.
• The Old Lord revealed that Great King Si had no soul or apertures and asked Xuanzang and his companions to help refine an elixir that could open his primordial aperture.
• The Old Lord explained how Xuanzang’s arrival had altered the pilgrimage group’s roles, and said the companions’ five elements were now complete.
• The Old Lord sealed Jindou Cave and began refining Great King Si with the Diamond Ring, heavenly fire, and Yellow River water, as the companions entered the ring and took their places in Chaos.
• Sha Wujing led Wukong, Bajie, Little White Dragon, and A-Hu through seven cycles that joined the five elements and formed an elixir around the dragon-and-tiger qi.
• The Old Lord turned the Diamond Ring into a golden elixir, and Wukong struck its mystic origin aperture to split it open.
• A restored young man stepped from the lotus, bowed to the Old Lord, and named himself Miaole, his returned disciple.

Miaole rewarded Xuanzang’s companions before they resumed their journey and reached the strange Mother-Child River. After Wukong obtained Abortion Spring water and Bajie tested it, Xuanzang questioned Ruyi True Immortal about whether someone had arranged for him to guard the spring.

• Miaole gave the travelers gifts and battle gear, while A-Hu accepted him as her younger brother and took the name Yu Wuyuan from Xuanzang.
• Xuanzang and his companions discussed the Dragon Maiden’s path to Buddhahood, then continued west and named a lakeside Mysterious Pearl Lake.
• A boatwoman ferried the group across the river, and village women tried to keep the men after Little White Dragon entered their home.
• An old woman explained that Mother-Child River water caused pregnancy and that Abortion Spring water could end it, prompting Xuanzang’s group to investigate the springs.
• Wukong fought Ruyi True Immortal at Mount Jieyang, defeated him, and brought him back with a gourd of Abortion Spring water.
• Bajie drank a mixture of Mother-Child River and Abortion Spring water, suffered severe diarrhea, and recovered after resting.
• Xuanzang and Wukong suspected someone was manipulating the spring water’s value, while the old woman and her daughters secretly buried a jar of it.
• Xuanzang questioned Ruyi True Immortal, who claimed he guarded the spring for gifts, and Xuanzang asked whether someone had sent him there.