Chapter Summaries

Chu Xingchen returned with the Western Ox-He Continent reports and continued reviewing them with Xie Lingyu, who reluctantly sang him her lineage’s traditional tune. After revealing that his hearing had recovered, Chu Xingchen agreed to learn the song, and he and Xie Lingyu ended the conversation by confessing their affection for each other.

• Chu Xingchen asked Yan Yun to let him take the Western Ox-He Continent Urgent Orders, and Xie Lingyu collected the Jade Tokens before they left Heavenly Derivation Peak.
• Xie Lingyu reviewed the reports with Chu Xingchen but kept Yuyang Daozi’s message about him private.
• Chu Xingchen asked Xie Lingyu to sing the tune Senior Bai had taught her, and she sang it while continuing to share the report.
• Chu Xingchen revealed that he had recovered his hearing, and Xie Lingyu insisted that he learn the tune and sing it back to her.
• Xie Lingyu explained that her lineage’s tradition was to sing the tune only for the person who felt right, and Chu Xingchen told her he liked her.

Li Yingling, Cui Hao, and Li Xingtian discussed Master’s growing closeness with Xie Lingyu, while Chen Baiqing insisted she was happy for them. Chen called Xie Lingyu “Master’s wife,” who accepted the title, and Li Xingtian joined them.

• Li Yingling and Cui Hao teased Li Xingtian about Master and Xie Lingyu seeming more affectionate.
• Li Xingtian said he thought Master and Xie Lingyu getting together would be a good thing, and Chen Baiqing arrived as Cui Hao began talking about love.
• Chen Baiqing said she wanted a home with Master and believed Li Yingling and Cui Hao were treating the situation like gossip.
• Chen Baiqing called Xie Lingyu “Master’s wife” and offered to brew her tea; Xie Lingyu accepted the title and the tea.
• Chen Baiqing went to join Master and Xie Lingyu, and Li Xingtian came along when Master called him over.

Lin Luoyu met Yuyang Daozi at the Great Dao Sect and explained that Chu Xingchen had secretly entered Western Ox-He Continent to reach Guangming Buddha. She left Yuyang to draw the Buddhist Sect’s attention, while Baibo remained at Pearl-Gem Peak, sustained by Chu Xingchen’s pills.

• Lin Luoyu used her token to enter the Great Dao Sect and met Yuyang Daozi, who challenged Chu Xingchen for sending another disciple instead of coming himself.
• Lin Luoyu relayed Chu Xingchen’s apology, and Yuyang explained the pressures he faced while protecting Wukong and Guangming Buddha from the Buddhist Sect.
• Yuyang asked what Chu Xingchen intended to accomplish, and Lin Luoyu revealed that her master had secretly come to Western Ox-He Continent and was heading toward Guangming Buddha.
• Lin Luoyu said she had come to draw the Buddhist Sect’s attention and could be driven back if necessary; Yuyang suspected Chu Xingchen was staging a falling-out.
• Yuyang asked whether Bai Xuanling had also arrived, but Lin Luoyu withheld the details; she knew Bai Xuanling was still at Pearl-Gem Peak, relying on Chu Xingchen’s pills to keep his mind intact.

Wukong, Guangming Buddha, and the badly wounded Winter Melon continued fleeing the Buddhist Sect’s pursuit until Chu Xingchen appeared and stopped them. After Winter Melon mistook him for Cui Hao and furiously cursed him, Chu Xingchen’s teasing angered Wukong too.

• Wukong received a warning on the Jade Token, and Guangming Buddha carried Winter Melon as the trio fled underground and into the air.
• Their escape halted when Chu Xingchen appeared, using an illusion to make Winter Melon see Cui Hao.
• Winter Melon recognized Cui Hao and shouted that she would kill him, while Wukong and Guangming Buddha confirmed the man was actually Chu Xingchen.
• Guangming Buddha sealed Winter Melon’s mouth, and Chu Xingchen joked that he had come to check on her and she should appreciate his kindness.
• Wukong reacted resentfully to Chu Xingchen’s remarks, who realized his teasing had also offended him.

Chu Xingchen arrived to help Wukong and Guangming Buddha escape the Buddhist Sect’s encirclement, proposing they seek negotiations by presenting Wukong as a Buddhist Child who wanted to return. Winter Melon warned them not to trust him, but Chu Xingchen struck her and taunted her about Xu Linglong’s betrayal.

• Chu Xingchen told Wukong that he had come alone and explained that Ru Nan had expanded the Buddhist Sect’s forces beyond their earlier agreement.
• Chu Xingchen proposed that Wukong and Guangming Buddha escape the encirclement and then seek talks, with Wukong claiming he had been misled and wished to return to the Buddhist Sect.
• Guangming Buddha accepted Chu Xingchen’s help, while Wukong privately doubted that Chu Xingchen could be trusted.
• Guangming Buddha released Winter Melon’s seal, and she warned Wukong and Guangming Buddha that Chu Xingchen would betray them.
• Chu Xingchen struck Winter Melon on the forehead and told her that Xu Linglong had sold her out without her realizing it, leaving her stunned.

Chu Xingchen brought Wukong, Guangming Buddha, and Winter Melon to a crowded inn, explaining that the Buddhist Sect had already trapped them and that he had arranged a plan. He decided to share a room with Winter Melon, intending to use her to learn more about Xu Linglong, who might still be in the Dongsheng Shenzhou Territory.

• Chu Xingchen paid the inn’s waiters generously, booked three superior rooms, and asked one waiter to recommend places to find women in the Western Ox-He Continent.
• Wukong questioned Chu Xingchen’s conspicuous choice of a crowded inn, while Winter Melon accused him of leading them to their execution.
• Chu Xingchen explained that the Buddhist Sect could detect their disguises and had guided their escapes until they were trapped, and said they needed to wait for his plan’s right moment.
• Guangming Buddha confirmed the disguises concealed spiritual power and distorted mortals’ impressions, then poured wine for Wukong and said it would not break the precepts.
• Chu Xingchen told Guangming Buddha that Winter Melon would share his room, and Winter Melon agreed while Wukong suspected she had been duped.
• Chu Xingchen planned to use Winter Melon to uncover information about Xu Linglong, whom he believed she had tried to contact and who might be in the Dongsheng Shenzhou Territory.

Chu Xingchen tried to break Winter Melon's defiance while keeping her captive, and she found a way to contact Xu Linglong through a flower in her Sea of Consciousness. As Winter Melon sent another message, Chu Xingchen intercepted her Divine Sense and learned he could control it.

• Chu Xingchen warned Winter Melon not to reveal her killing intent and used a strange technique to force her into a chair.
• Chu Xingchen told Winter Melon that Xu Linglong would not rescue her and offered to burn any message she wrote, but Winter Melon insisted that her hatred outweighed her desire to live.
• After Chu Xingchen left, Winter Melon sent Xu Linglong a message claiming that Cui Hao was plotting to flee from Guangming Buddha's place, and the flower in her Sea of Consciousness responded.
• Chu Xingchen watched Winter Melon's Divine Sense travel beyond the range of his treasure, then captured her next message and discovered he could control it.

Bai Xuanling visited Lü Xuan to ask about Chu Xingchen and the sect’s progress, but her worsening condition made her emotions difficult to control. After nearly provoking Azure Darkness, she returned to Pearl-Gem Peak, where she acknowledged that her condition was becoming harder to manage.

• Lü Xuan told Bai Xuanling that Chu Xingchen had gone to the Western Ox-He Continent and that Lingyu was leading his disciples.
• Lü Xuan urged Bai Xuanling to rest while the sect tested a plan to treat her condition, but she insisted she could go wherever she pleased.
• Bai Xuanling called for Azure Darkness, alarming Lü Xuan and the elders, then said she had only been refreshing her memory of her sword’s name.
• Bai Xuanling flew to Pearl-Gem Peak, and Yan Yun explained that her emotional control had worsened and promised to visit her.
• Bai Xuanling asked Yan Yun to apologize to Lü Xuan and admitted that her condition was becoming harder to control.

Winter Melon changed her attitude toward Chu Xingchen after deciding to endure humiliation until the Devil Master arrived, and Chu Xingchen sent her on a dangerous mission to help them escape the Buddhist Sect’s encirclement. She left with his token, betting her life that she might still find a way to turn the situation around.

• Chu Xingchen, Guangming Buddha, and Wukong ate breakfast together while Winter Melon listened from the third floor.
• Winter Melon joined them and told Chu Xingchen she would help him, even if it meant risking her life.
• Chu Xingchen said they would leave soon because Buddhist Sect Tribulation Transcendence cultivators were closing in.
• After Wukong sensed two Tribulation Transcendence auras, Chu Xingchen gave Winter Melon a token and instructed her to visit a coffin shop, hear out someone there, and run east.
• Winter Melon drank the porridge Chu Xingchen had ordered and left with the token, accepting the danger of the mission.

Winter Melon followed Chu Xingchen’s instructions to flee, only to find him casually buying candied fruit before a Buddhist formation sealed the sky around them. At Heavenly Derivation Sect, Chen Baiqing questioned Li Xingtian about his strange dreams, and he chose to keep what he knew about her hidden.

• Winter Melon presented Chu Xingchen’s token at the coffin shop, where the young man activated a talisman and told her to run east.
• Winter Melon ran back toward the inn and found Chu Xingchen buying candied fruit with two monks.
• Chu Xingchen revealed the Buddhist formation and Tribulation Transcendence auras surrounding them, then said he had found turncoats in the Buddhist Sect.
• Chu Xingchen led Winter Melon toward the city gates and told her not to swagger as they walked.
• Chen Baiqing asked Li Xingtian about strange dreams and invited him to come to her if anything came up.
• Li Xingtian agreed but resolved to keep his secret about Chen Baiqing to himself.

Xie Lingyu and Cui Hao prepared Heavenly Derivation Sect’s support operation for the Western Ox-He Continent, while Huang Miao initially refused to cooperate until Cui Hao identified Xie Lingyu as Chu Xingchen’s wife. At Right Sound Dharma Temple, Ru Nan confronted Ruzhong about his apparent deliberate failures, and Ruzhong said Ru Nan had been giving him time to think of an excuse.

• Xie Lingyu waited for word from the Western Ox-He Continent as Cui Hao kept watch with her.
• When the token sent a message, Xie Lingyu ordered the prepared support team to set out and went to meet the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect’s arriving Tribulation Transcendence cultivator.
• Huang Miao distrusted Xie Lingyu until Cui Hao introduced her as Chu Xingchen’s wife, then flew toward the Western Ox-He Continent.
• Xie Lingyu and Cui Hao set off for the Western Ox-He Continent after Huang Miao departed.
• At Right Sound Dharma Temple, Ru Nan asked Ruzhong why he had waited until then to see him, and Ruzhong replied that Ru Nan had been giving him time to think of an excuse.

Ru Nan confronted his aged senior brother Ruzhong over his ties to the hunted Evil Buddha and the Buddhist Sect’s past. Ruzhong admitted he had come to protect the Evil Buddha and urged Ru Nan to face the truth, leaving the two brothers in silence.

• Ru Nan recalled his bond with Ruzhong and challenged him for hiding his dissatisfaction instead of speaking plainly.
• Ruzhong said he had come to the Western Ox-He Continent to protect the Evil Buddha and reconsider the events that divided the Buddhist Sect.
• Ruzhong told Ru Nan that he had changed under the burdens of becoming the Venerated Buddha and questioned the sect’s splendor and compromises.
• Ru Nan suspected the Evil Buddha had bewitched Ruzhong, then ordered the Bodhisattvas and Arhats to let his senior brother approach.
• Ruzhong apologized for leaving Ru Nan to bear the sect’s burdens alone and said he only wanted to speak honestly with him.
• Ru Nan asked whether Ruzhong intended to betray or destroy the Buddhist Sect, and Ruzhong replied that he had only wanted to grumble to his junior brother.

Ru Nan condemned Ruzhong and ordered the Evil Buddha executed as the Buddhist Sect faced pressure from the three allied Immortal Sects. After learning that their forces were closing in and Chu Xingchen had changed direction, Ru Nan split the Buddhist Buddhas between intercepting them and pursuing the Evil Buddha.

• Ru Nan accused Ruzhong of being beguiled by the Evil Buddha and ordered the Arhats to suppress him for a hundred years.
• Ruzhong asked whether Ru Nan would choose the Buddhist Sect or all living beings, but Ru Nan ignored him and ordered the Evil Buddha executed before he could escape Western Ox-He Continent.
• A Buddha reported that Huang Miao and Chen Xiao were closing in, Yuyang Daozi had demanded the Buddhist Sect honor its promise, and Chu Xingchen had changed direction after settling matters in Southern Jambu Continent.
• Ru Nan ordered nine of the sixteen Buddhas who had crossed the river to intercept the opposing forces and sent the rest to suppress the Evil Buddha.
• Ru Nan noticed that the enshrined Buddha statue resembled him and ordered it rebuilt.

As the Buddhist Sect swept the Western Ox-He Continent searching for him, Chu Xingchen chatted with Lu Zhao, a rogue cultivator who admired the chance to become a legend. Chu Xingchen revealed his identity, encouraged Lu Zhao, and sped off, while Wukong claimed he was just a mortal.

• Buddhist Sect tribulation-transcendence auras swept across the region, forcing cultivators to travel on the ground as its search intensified.
• Chu Xingchen and Lu Zhao joked about why the Buddhist Sect might be searching for someone, and Lu Zhao said he would welcome being hunted if it meant becoming a legend.
• Chu Xingchen asked Lu Zhao's name and revealed through voice transmission that he was Chu Xingchen.
• Lu Zhao recognized Chu Xingchen as a renowned prodigy, and Chu Xingchen gave him wine and promised they might meet other prodigies together.
• Chu Xingchen sped away in a flash of rainbow light, and Wukong told Lu Zhao that he was just a mortal.

Chu Xingchen confronted Buddhist Sect cultivators who demanded that he reveal Evil Buddha’s whereabouts and leave. When a message arrived from the west, Hua Wu True Buddha urged the others to stay, suspecting Chu Xingchen had set a feint in motion.

• Hua Wu True Buddha told Chu Xingchen that Ru Nan Venerable Buddha had taken nine Buddhas to find Huang Miao and Chen Xiao, while two more Buddhas were coming to reinforce them.
• Two Tribulation Transcendence Buddhas arrived and demanded that Chu Xingchen hand over Evil Buddha; Chu Xingchen refused and warned them not to attack him.
• Venliou Buddha asked Chu Xingchen to disclose Evil Buddha’s whereabouts and leave, but Chu Xingchen refused and drew the Azure Long Sword.
• Golden light appeared on Venliou Buddha, Hua Wu True Buddha, and the Golden-Armored Buddha, prompting Venliou to look west and ask Hua Wu to inspect the message.
• Hua Wu True Buddha proposed that they stay and watch for Chu Xingchen’s next move, suggesting the events in the west might be a feint.

Chu Xingchen arranged for Wukong to take Winter Melon to Yuyang Daozi while he prepared a risky plan involving Guangming Buddha, whom the other Buddhas believed they had located. After Chu Xingchen departed to stage a “little magic trick,” Yuankong arrived at Yuyang Daozi’s place, where his role remained unclear.

• Venliou Buddha left Hua Wu True Buddha behind with Chu Xingchen, recognizing that the situation would put Hua Wu under pressure from Ru Nan and the Mundane Buddhas.
• Chu Xingchen summoned Wukong and told him to keep Winter Melon safe and take him to Yuyang Daozi.
• Hua Wu True Buddha asked where Guangming Buddha was, and Chu Xingchen explained that the reported sighting was real and that Guangming Buddha would have to risk appearing briefly to escape the encirclement.
• Chu Xingchen told Hua Wu not to interfere and said he planned to show the Buddhist Sect a little magic trick before departing.
• Yuankong ate the food Lin Luoyu offered him, then tried to leave when Yuyang Daozi questioned whether he could help, but Yuyang Daozi held him in place.

Yuankong reunited with Lin Luoyu and Yuyang Daozi, then Wukong arrived with Winter Melon to join the group. Chu Xingchen took charge and tested Yuankong’s progress with Buddhist scripture by asking him to show some Buddha Light.

• Yuankong asked Lin Luoyu about the battle near Yuzhou City, and she assured him that Chu Xingchen had dealt with the problem.
• Yuankong thanked Yuyang Daozi for the hospitality and said he would help his friends when needed.
• Wukong arrived with Winter Melon, greeted Yuankong as a fellow Buddhist child, and said Chu Xingchen had sent him to follow Lin Luoyu’s instructions.
• Chu Xingchen arrived and took charge, while Yuyang Daozi complained that Chu Xingchen’s troubles had delayed his breakthrough.
• Chu Xingchen asked Yuankong how he had studied the Śarīra from Right Sound Dharma Temple, then told him to show some Buddha Light.

Chu Xingchen planned to use Yuankong’s imperfect resemblance to Guangming Buddha to deceive Ru Nan and the Buddhist cultivators. After recruiting Wukong and Yuyang Daozi to help prepare the act, he decided they would meet Ru Nan the next day.

• Yuankong revealed golden light, and Wukong judged that his Mahayana Buddhism resembled Guangming Buddha’s teachings by only ten or twenty percent.
• Chu Xingchen told Wukong he intended to disguise Yuankong as Guangming Buddha and use distance, a formation, and voice guidance to make the deception work.
• Wukong agreed to help, and Yuyang Daozi agreed to draw Guangming Buddha’s portrait so Yuankong could be made up to resemble him.
• Chu Xingchen defended keeping Winter Melon with them, saying she had turned over a new leaf and had useful information, while warning her not to betray them.
• Chu Xingchen said they would prepare that day and take Yuankong to meet Ru Nan the next day, dismissing Yuankong’s concern that he needed time to learn Guangming Buddha’s mannerisms.

At Wanzhou Ridge, Huang Miao gave Ru Nan a message claiming Guangming Buddha had been recovered and was waiting at Huazhen Hall, prompting Ru Nan to investigate the uncertain pursuit of Evil Buddha. Ru Nan joined the Buddhas searching for Evil Buddha, where suspicion between Hua Wu True Buddha and Golden-Armored Buddha remained unresolved, and he decided to meet Chu Xingchen the next day with Hua Wu and Venliou.

• Huang Miao gave Ru Nan a Message Token saying Guangming Buddha awaited him at Huazhen Hall, then left.
• Ru Nan learned that Evil Buddha had not been captured and ordered the Buddhas to stay in place while he went to check the situation.
• Venliou Buddha and Golden-Armored Buddha suspected Hua Wu True Buddha might have let Evil Buddha escape, but Hua Wu rejected the accusation and intimidated Golden-Armored Buddha with his aura.
• Ru Nan arrived and asked Venliou and Hua Wu whether Evil Buddha had escaped and whether Chu Xingchen's message was true.
• Hua Wu recommended keeping the encirclement in place and meeting Chu Xingchen, so Ru Nan ordered Hua Wu and Venliou to accompany him the next day.

Xie Lingyu returned to Huazhen Hall and found Chu Xingchen preparing Yuankong to impersonate Guangming Buddha. After the disguise was finished and Yuankong was briefed on the Buddhist Sect, Chu Xingchen learned that Ru Nan would arrive the next day.

• Xie Lingyu reunited with Chu Xingchen and asked whether he was safe after his risky undertaking.
• Chu Xingchen explained that Yuankong's disguise used irritating, odoriferous materials to withstand scrutiny from powerful cultivators.
• The cultivators finished disguising Yuankong as Guangming Buddha, and Wukong approved the likeness.
• Chu Xingchen released Yuankong from the restraint, and Yuankong joked about the smell and the spirit stones he owed him.
• Wukong began teaching Yuankong to recognize the Buddhist Sect's leaders, and Chu Xingchen received a message that Ru Nan would come tomorrow.