Recaps

Yang Niansan left to invite the Sandalwood Merit Buddha to resolve Yulin’s obsession, while Chen Wei investigated the dried Mother-Child River. He discovered that True Immortal Ruyi, the Bull Demon King’s brother, was likely draining the river as revenge tied to old events involving Xuanzang and Sun Wukong.

• Yulin’s question about love unsettled Yang Niansan, who left with Chen Wei after failing to persuade her to abandon her obsession with Xuanzang.
• Yang Niansan decided to invite the Sandalwood Merit Buddha to the mortal realm, then flew toward Spirit Mountain while Chen Wei investigated the dried Water Eye.
• Chen Wei found a fish demon guarding the riverbed, subdued him, and learned that True Immortal Ruyi had ordered him to guard the area.
• Chen Wei asked Ma Muzhi to investigate Ruyi and learned that he was the Bull Demon King’s blood brother and had once clashed with Sun Wukong.
• Chen Wei connected Ruyi’s old grudge to the drying of the Mother-Child River and realized the assignment had become a complicated historical dispute.

Chen Wei visited True Immortal Ruyi at the Miscarriage Spring to investigate the dried-up Mother-Child River. After threatening an official investigation, he got Ruyi to admit he remembered the river and reveal that he wanted a legitimate reason to gain official status and receive incense offerings.

• Chen Wei brought spirit fruit from Flower-Fruit Mountain to meet True Immortal Ruyi at Jieyang Mountain.
• True Immortal Ruyi welcomed Chen Wei warmly after seeing his Heavenly Court credential and accepted the fruit.
• Chen Wei asked Ruyi about the dried-up Mother-Child River, but Ruyi first denied knowing anything and proclaimed his loyalty to the Heavenly Court.
• Chen Wei threatened to report the matter and bring heavenly officials to search Jieyang Mountain, warning that the Miscarriage Spring could be disturbed.
• True Immortal Ruyi stopped Chen Wei from leaving, claimed he remembered the river, and argued that he lacked the authority to intervene without a proper reason.
• True Immortal Ruyi revealed that he wanted an official status that would let him receive incense offerings.

Chen Wei pressured True Immortal Ruyi to restore the Mother-Child River, then the Sandalwood Merit Buddha and Zhu Bajie arrived at Jieyang Mountain with Yang Niansan. The scripture pilgrims reunited, while Xuanzang lingered to clean his shoes before their visit to West Liang City.

• Chen Wei implied he would petition for True Immortal Ruyi’s official recognition if Ruyi first resolved the Mother-Child River’s troubles.
• Chen Wei showed Ruyi Taibai Jinxing’s command token, and Ruyi agreed to restore the river within two hours.
• Buddhist radiance arrived at Jieyang Mountain, prompting Ruyi to flee toward West Liang City with the fruit basket.
• Yang Niansan landed with the Sandalwood Merit Buddha and Zhu Bajie, reuniting the scripture pilgrims.
• Zhu Bajie smashed the stone stele, and Chen Wei addressed him as Marshal Tianpeng, earning Bajie’s favor.
• Yang Niansan urged the group to visit West Liang City, but Xuanzang stopped to clean his shoes and told Bajie to do the same.

Xuanzang reluctantly reunited with Queen Yulin in West Liang Palace, where he rejected her love and accused her of neglecting the kingdom. As Yulin awaited his answer, Yang Niansan pressed Chen Wei on how he would respond to a woman devoted to him.

• Xuanzang stalled before going to West Liang City, and Yang Niansan used spatial translocation to take him, Zhu Bajie, and Chen Wei to the palace.
• Queen Yulin saw Xuanzang and tearfully called him "Royal Younger Brother," while he avoided meeting her gaze.
• Yulin asked whether she meant anything special to Xuanzang, and he blamed her lovesick resentment for endangering West Liang and its people.
• Yang Niansan asked Chen Wei whether Yulin was devoted in love, and he called her hopelessly foolish.
• Yang Niansan asked Chen Wei how he would react if a woman spoke to him that way.

Chen Wei and Yang Niansan realized Yulin’s tribulation aura would not fade through Xuanzang’s comforting words, so they persuaded Zhu Bajie to take her to Spirit Mountain. Zhu Bajie reluctantly agreed, deciding that the Victorious Fighting Buddha could take the blame if the plan went wrong.

• Yang Niansan asked Chen Wei what he would do if a female immortal loved him but had an overbearing elder brother, and Chen Wei advised winning the brother over.
• Xuanzang embraced Yulin and comforted her, urging her to return to ruling Western Liang for the sake of its people.
• Chen Wei observed that Yulin’s tribulation aura remained and concluded that comforting her could not resolve Western Liang’s old grievance.
• Chen Wei and Yang Niansan decided Zhu Bajie should take Yulin to Spirit Mountain, then flattered and pressured him to accept the task.
• Zhu Bajie refused at first, but after Yang Niansan whispered to him, he agreed to take Yulin to Spirit Mountain and said the Victorious Fighting Buddha could take the blame.

Yulin renounced her throne to follow Xuanzang into the Buddhist fold, resolving Western Liang’s lingering resentment and completing the assignment. Chen Wei collected a precious Jade Pendant and returned to the Heavenly Court, while True Immortal Ruyi decided to rename himself Niu Aitian to display his loyalty.

• Zhu Bajie offered to take Yulin to Spirit Mountain, and Xuanzang pretended not to hear the plan before fleeing through the hall’s roof.
• Zhu Bajie assured Yulin that he would blame the Victorious Fighting Buddha if the Buddhas questioned her arrival, and Yulin abdicated and joined him on the journey west.
• Chen Wei and Yang Niansan celebrated completing their assignment, and Yang Niansan forced Chen Wei to accept a treasured Jade Pendant before returning to the Heavenly Court.
• True Immortal Ruyi reported that he had cleared the Mother-Child River’s formation nexuses and said he would return to seclusion.
• Chen Wei advised True Immortal Ruyi to choose a more impressive name, and the demon decided to call himself Niu Aitian.

Chen Wei reported the successful resolution of the West Liang Kingdom case to Taibai Jinxing, who praised him and ordered Li Yin to add him to Bright Hall’s immortal officials’ competition roster. Back at the Folk Customs Censorate, Chen Wei distributed the approved merit, while Yang Niansan unexpectedly repaid a supposed loan and left him chasing after her.

• Chen Wei credited Taibai Jinxing with his success in reconnecting the Mother-Child River’s waterways and clearing the West Liang case of resentment.
• Li Yin tried to present the competition arrangements and objected when Taibai Jinxing ordered him to add Chen Wei to the sealed roster.
• Chen Wei returned to the Folk Customs Censorate, where Ma Muzhi reported that Bright Hall had awarded five thousand years of merit for the case.
• Chen Wei distributed the merit among himself, Ma Muzhi, Yang Niansan, Xiao Yan, and the office’s public expenses, prompting Xiao Yan to vow to work hard.
• Yang Niansan claimed Chen Wei had lent her a thousand years of merit, repaid it, and left as Chen Wei chased after her.

Chen Wei discovered that his ninth-place painting prize had earned him one hundred thousand years of merit, a reward secretly arranged by Yang Niansan through Taibai Jinxing. As Yang Niansan fled from her arriving second brother, Yang Jian, Taibai Jinxing began briefing him on turmoil in the Heaven-Reaching River.

• Chen Wei learned that his painting had placed ninth and earned a hundred thousand years of merit.
• Ma Muzhi explained that Taibai Jinxing had declared ninth place the grand prize after the Great Heavenly Venerable took nine steps.
• Taibai Jinxing told Yang Niansan that Chen Wei's merit would secure the Dao fruit of a True Immortal, and warned her not to arrange such a favor again.
• Yang Niansan spotted her second brother, Yang Jian, and fled with the Treasure Lotus Lamp.
• Li Yin escorted Yang Jian to Taibai Jinxing, who showed him a Jade Slip about the turmoil in the Heaven-Reaching River.

Yang Jian accepted the Great Heavenly Venerable’s assignment to suppress the rebellion at the Heaven-Reaching River after realizing the campaign would secure military merit for him. Chen Wei became a True Immortal, and Yang Niansan fled the office after Chen Wei questioned why a male immortal wore rouge and acted coy.

• Yang Jian agreed to lead the suppression of the rebellion at the Heaven-Reaching River, while Taibai Jinxing promised to arrange troops and commanders.
• Chen Wei absorbed a hundred thousand years of merit and formed his True Immortal Dao fruit.
• Ma Muzhi and Yang Niansan congratulated Chen Wei, and Ma Muzhi credited Yang Niansan as his lucky star.
• Chen Wei praised Yang Niansan, then asked why she was a male immortal who wore rouge and behaved coyly.
• Yang Niansan claimed her inactive voice-transmission talisman had lit up and vanished in golden light, cracking another office floor tile.
• Ma Muzhi sent Xiao Yan to request replacement basalt tiles while Chen Wei wondered about Yang Niansan’s identity.

Yang Chan was captured by Yang Jian and confined after he warned her to stop causing trouble in the Heavenly Court. When she learned he was marching to the Heaven-Reaching River, she persuaded him to consider Chen Wei as an adviser in exchange for staying quietly in her room for three days.

• Yang Niansan flew over the Bright Hall on her seven-colored Auspicious Cloud, and a veteran Heavenly Soldier stopped a recruit from challenging her.
• Yang Jian ambushed Yang Chan with the Heaven-Sweeping Cloak and brought her to the Hall of Justice.
• Yang Chan mocked Yang Jian’s lecture and tried to soften his anger, but he immobilized her with the Body-Binding Spell.
• Yang Jian ordered Yang Chan confined for three days while he marched to the Heaven-Reaching River to suppress a rebellion.
• Yang Chan recommended Chen Wei as an accompanying adviser, and Yang Jian agreed on the condition that she stay in her room for three days.

Chen Wei received orders to join the campaign at the Heaven-Reaching River, where the three demons of Lion Camel Ridge and the five Demon Sages had blockaded the waterway from opposite sides. Their competing sieges trapped a third force between them.

• Chen Wei ordered Ma Muzhi and Xiao Yan to join the expedition but stay behind the front lines, while Yang Niansan remained on leave.
• Ma Muzhi suspected that Yang Niansan was actually Yang Caiwei in disguise, but decided not to reveal his suspicion.
• The Green-Haired Lion, White Elephant, and Golden-Winged Great Peng occupied the Heaven-Reaching River and sealed its inner channels.
• The five Demon Sages led a hundred thousand demon soldiers to seize the waterway, and the Dragon Demon King ordered them to blockade its outer waters.
• The two demon forces sealed the river from within and without, trapping a third force between their blockades.

Yang Jian’s army waited for the demons at the Heaven-Reaching River to weaken one another, while Chen Wei avoided drawing attention and Li Yin’s reckless plan earned him a reprimand. The meeting ended with Yang Jian continuing his patient strategy.

• Yang Jian held the Heavenly Court’s army back so the three inner-river demons and five outer Demon Sages would exhaust one another before the army attacked.
• Li Yin proposed using a One-Line Long Snake Formation for a frontal assault, then backed down when Yang Jian ordered him to lead fifty thousand soldiers.
• Yang Jian dismissed Li Yin and called on Chen Qingquan to offer a plan.
• Chen Wei praised Yang Jian’s existing strategy of waiting, and Yang Jian adjourned the meeting.

Chen Wei realized Yang Niansan was a woman, though he mistakenly concluded she was the Third Holy Mother's personal maid, and told her Yang Jian had praised him. Meanwhile, Yang Jian learned the Third Holy Mother had helped Chen Wei advance and angrily rejected the idea that Chen deserved her support.

• Chen Wei and Ma Muzhi hurried back to the Censorate's Flying Boat, where they found Yang Niansan waiting for Chen Wei after ending her leave.
• Ma Muzhi took Xiao Yan away to give Chen Wei and Yang Niansan privacy.
• Chen Wei praised Yang Niansan, then brought up the Third Holy Mother and concluded that Yang Niansan was her personal maid in disguise.
• Chen Wei told Yang Niansan that Yang Jian had praised his proposal to hold position, and she congratulated him.
• Kang Anyu reported to Yang Jian that the Third Holy Mother had helped Chen Wei gain recognition, attain the True Immortal Dao Fruit, and receive a recommendation to Taibai Jinxing.
• Yang Jian declared that Chen Wei did not deserve the Third Holy Mother's personal support and that the arrangement was unacceptable.

Chen Wei welcomed Pang Long, a talented new recruit from the Bright Hall, into the Folk Customs Censorate. Pang Long proposed a plan to sow discord among the demons at the Heaven-Reaching River, and Yang Niansan urged Chen Wei to present it to the True Lord of Manifest Divinity.

• Ma Muzhi recommended Pang Long, a former Records Copying Office immortal, for a position in Chen Wei's bureau.
• Chen Wei welcomed Pang Long, and Yang Niansan promised to handle the transfer paperwork, earning Pang Long's wholehearted loyalty.
• Chen Wei asked Pang Long how the bureau should respond to the conflict at the Heaven-Reaching River, and Pang Long presented a detailed Cloud Map of the waterways and enemy forces.
• Pang Long proposed spreading false rumors between the Three Demons and the Five Demon Sages so they would distrust and attack one another while the Heavenly Court threatened them.
• Yang Niansan praised Pang Long's scheme and urged Chen Wei to present it to the True Lord of Manifest Divinity, while Chen Wei wondered whether his team could really quell the demon threat.

Yang Niansan defied Yang Jian’s confinement and brought him Pang Long’s plan to prolong the war by stirring conflict among the demons. She persuaded Yang Jian to let her stay and asked to borrow troops for Chen Wei, leaving with instructions to bring him for a private talk.

• Yang Niansan left Chen Wei before he could stop her from volunteering their office for Pang Long’s plan, while Pang Long and Ma Muzhi exchanged a silent signal.
• Yang Jian used his heavenly eye to discover that Yang Niansan had escaped confinement and ordered her to return to the Heavenly Court.
• Yang Niansan explained Pang Long’s scheme to force negotiations through fighting and secretly sow discord among the demons, but Yang Jian rejected it because he wanted the war to continue slowly.
• Yang Jian tried to send Yang Niansan away, but she used the Treasure Lotus Lamp to block his spell and won permission to stay.
• Yang Niansan asked to borrow troops for Chen Wei, and Yang Jian agreed only if she brought Chen Wei to meet him face-to-face.

Chen Wei was summoned to Yang Jian’s Flying Boat after Yang Niansan told the True Lord about their proposed plan. Yang Jian confronted him under the Heavenly Eye’s golden light, and Chen Wei chose to lie about his lack of strategic ability to escape the accusation of making sport of the commander.

• Yang Niansan told Chen Wei that Yang Jian had summoned him to discuss the plan, and Chen Wei reluctantly agreed to go.
• Chen Wei and Yang Niansan reached Yang Jian’s Flying Boat, where Yang Jian dismissed her and spoke privately with Chen Wei while wiping his blade.
• Yang Jian asked Chen Wei about his plan to break the deadlock at the Heaven-Reaching River, and Chen Wei claimed the ideas were only trifling schemes.
• Yang Jian raised his Three-Pointed, Double-Edged Blade and used his Heavenly Eye to immobilize Chen Wei, accusing him of hiding his talent and making sport of the commander.
• Chen Wei decided to lie to Yang Jian.

Chen Wei convinced Yang Jian that his scheme to sow discord among the demons would spare Heavenly Court troops, and Yang Jian appointed him Vanguard with thirty thousand soldiers. Chen Wei interpreted the order to proceed gradually as permission to prolong the campaign, then left boasting to Yang Niansan about their success.

• Chen Wei defended his strategy to Yang Jian as a way to weaken the demons without sacrificing Heavenly Soldiers and Generals in a frontal assault.
• Yang Jian questioned Chen Wei about his fear and his admiration for the Third Holy Mother, then realized Chen Wei had never recognized Yang Chan in disguise.
• Yang Jian assigned Chen Wei thirty thousand heavenly soldiers and appointed him Vanguard, warning him to proceed gradually and avoid rushing the campaign.
• Chen Wei concluded that Yang Jian wanted a drawn-out show of resistance and promised to advance slowly and carefully.
• Chen Wei left Yang Jian's presence and told Yang Niansan that the True Lord had praised his strategy and granted him command of the troops.

Chen Wei received the Vanguard Officer post and prepared to lead his troops onto the Heaven-Reaching River, while Li Yin plotted to use Zhao Dakang to stir up trouble. Chen Wei ordered a conspicuous river patrol designed to avoid fighting, leaving the armies to face off across the water.

• The Holy Manifestation True Lord promoted Chen Wei to Vanguard Officer, and the decree sparked rumors among the immortal officials.
• Li Yin fumed over Chen Wei's promotion, dismissed him as expendable, and offered Zhao Dakang a True Immortal post in exchange for a task.
• Pang Long told Chen Wei that the Lion-Camel King planned to cross the Heaven-Reaching River and proposed that their troops cross to meet him.
• Chen Wei realized the troops could cross without attacking and ordered a highly visible patrol to the river's center.
• Chen Wei assigned Pang Long to coordinate the deployment, Ma Muzhi to handle logistics, and Xiao Yan to learn logistics from Ma Muzhi.

The Three Demons plotted to raid the Heavenly Court Vanguard Army’s supplies and frame the Five Demon Sages, while Zhao Dakang delivered Li Yin’s offer and negotiated a higher price. Chen Wei approved a plan to raid the Five Demon Sages’ supplies and frame the Three Demons, as the Demon Sages independently prepared to raid the Three Demons and blame them for the attack.

• Azure Lion, White Elephant, and Golden-Winged Great Peng planned to steal the Vanguard Army’s supplies and pin the theft on the Five Demon Sages.
• Zhao Dakang delivered Li Yin’s recorded message, and Azure Lion demanded a twenty percent increase in the price before agreeing to act.
• Azure Lion told his brothers that Spirit Mountain and the Heavenly Court had arranged a staged outcome, though Golden-Winged Great Peng worried about Yang Jian.
• Pang Long proposed that Chen Wei raid the Five Demon Sages’ supplies and leave behind the Three Demons’ tokens, and Chen Wei approved the plan.
• A wolf demon proposed that the Five Demon Sages raid the Three Demons’ supply Water Palace and leave Standard Immortal Swords to provoke a fight with the Heavenly Court.
• The Dragon Demon King accepted the wolf demon’s plan, and the gathered Demon Sages prepared to carry it out.

Chen Wei led a midnight raid on the Five Great Demon Sages' supply camp, where his soldiers drugged the guards, looted the provisions, and set the camp ablaze to frame Lion Camel Ridge. As the force withdrew, Chu Feng returned two bulging Storage Bags to Chen Wei, who praised him and invited him to his Flying Boat.

• Chen Wei ordered a thousand soldiers to raid the demon supply base and arranged for Ma Muzhi to keep Kang Anyu occupied at the logistics Flying Boat.
• At midnight, Chen Wei's force traveled through the clouds while the demon factions launched separate raids along the river and its bed.
• Chen Wei and his soldiers found the demon camp poorly guarded, and Chu Feng proposed using Immortal-Drunkenness Powder to incapacitate its occupants.
• After the demons fell asleep, the soldiers looted the camp, left Lion Camel Ridge weapons behind, set the supplies on fire, and retreated.
• Chu Feng returned two full Storage Bags to Chen Wei, who pocketed them and told Chu Feng to report to his Flying Boat.

Chen Wei took the spoils from the burned supply camp, while Peng Demon King and Macaque King staged serious injuries to escape blame. Azure Lion Spirit and White Elephant Spirit abandoned their raid on the Heavenly Court after hearing that their own camp was under attack.

• Chen Wei accepted the spoils from Chu Feng and left with his men.
• Peng Demon King and Macaque King returned to find their supply camp destroyed, then injured each other and blamed the attack on Lion Camel Ridge.
• Azure Lion Spirit and White Elephant Spirit found no Heavenly Court defenses along the Heaven-Reaching River and prepared to raid its Flying Boats.
• Golden-Winged Great Peng warned them that Dragon Demon King was raiding their camp, so Azure Lion Spirit ordered everyone to retreat.
• Ma Muzhi toasted Kang Anyu aboard the Heavenly Court's supply Flying Boat and praised its secure supply lines.

After Chen Wei’s scheme sparked a battle between the Three Demons and the Five Great Demon Sages, he ordered a victory report that claimed the Heavenly Court had won without losses. The demon coalition split apart, and the Golden-Winged Great Peng flew toward the Heavenly Court’s main camp while his brothers stayed behind.

• Chen Wei learned that the Three Demons and the Five Great Demon Sages were fighting, then dictated a dispatch crediting the Heavenly Court’s victory to his plan.
• Kang Anyu recognized the success of Chen Wei’s scheme and sent intelligence to Yang Jian.
• The Lion-Camel King insulted the Golden-Winged Great Peng, and the Azure Lion Spirit realized that someone had manipulated both sides into fighting.
• The Azure Lion Spirit persuaded the Dragon Demon King to call a halt, and the Five Great Demon Sages withdrew from the river.
• The Azure Lion Spirit’s hints enraged the Golden-Winged Great Peng, who flew toward the Heavenly Court’s main camp while the Azure Lion Spirit and White Elephant Spirit stayed behind.

Yang Chan traveled incognito with the Great Heavenly Venerable and Taibai Jinxing to the Heaven-Reaching River, where they discussed her feelings for Chen Wei. As the Golden-Winged Great Peng attacked their Flying Boat, the Great Heavenly Venerable sent Taibai Jinxing to confront him.

• Yang Chan asked the Great Heavenly Venerable to keep her identity secret when they reached the Vanguard's camp.
• The Great Heavenly Venerable recognized Yang Chan's feelings for Chen Wei and agreed to help her see what kind of immortal he was.
• The Flying Boat shuddered as a surge of demonic aura approached, and the Great Heavenly Venerable told Taibai Jinxing to discipline whoever was responsible.
• The angry and hungry Golden-Winged Great Peng spotted the unmarked Flying Boat and decided to attack it as a target for his rage.

The Great Heavenly Venerable arrived at the front-line camp with Yang Niansan and startled Chen Wei and the other immortals with his overwhelming presence. He ordered Chen Wei to accompany him and Niansan on a trip, leaving Chen Wei nervous as he piloted their Flying Boat.

• A sudden thunderclap shook the immortals, and Chen Wei gathered his subordinates while insisting the Heavenly Court would not strike its own camp.
• Yang Niansan arrived with the Great Heavenly Venerable, whom Kang Anyu and Ma Muzhi recognized, though Chen Wei mistook him for one of her elders.
• The Great Heavenly Venerable tested Chen Wei with his divine presence, then eased the pressure when Yang Niansan asked him not to scare Chen Wei.
• Chen Wei praised Yang Niansan lavishly, and the Great Heavenly Venerable told him to board the Flying Boat and accompany them on a trip.
• Chen Wei piloted the boat while Yang Niansan teased him and edged closer, until the Great Heavenly Venerable called her back to his side.

Chen Wei impressed the Great Heavenly Venerable by arguing that the Heavenly Court should give demons honest livelihoods and bring them under its administration instead of simply slaughtering them. After the Great Heavenly Venerable departed, Yang Niansan stayed behind and asked Chen Wei for advice on behalf of a supposedly troubled immortal friend.

• Chen Wei served tea to the Great Heavenly Venerable, who asked what he had learned from his trip to the lower realm.
• Chen Wei said demons lived bitter lives and argued that the Heavenly Court should reorganize them, provide livelihoods, and guide them onto the proper path.
• Yang Niansan praised Chen Wei's proposal, and the Great Heavenly Venerable said serving as a True Immortal was beneath Chen Wei's talents.
• Chen Wei humbly declared that immortals should shoulder their responsibilities, and the Great Heavenly Venerable told him to remember his words before returning to the Heavenly Court.
• Yang Niansan stayed at the Vanguard Camp, then asked Chen Wei for advice about an immortal friend; Chen Wei guessed that she meant herself.