Recaps

Wukong was injured by Ao Tu’s Soul-Scattering Gourd and returned to Chen Family Village without Bajie, then recovered and asked Heaven for help against the Blood Sea King. While Heaven summoned Perfected Lord Taixi to join the campaign, Ao Tu successfully refined a Second-Turn Golden Elixir.

• Ao Tu captured Bajie and sprayed Wukong with Red Sand after flooding his water residence, leaving Wukong badly weakened.
• Sha Wujing found Wukong unconscious in Chen Family Village, where Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujing cared for him until he awoke the next day.
• Wukong told Tang Sanzang that Ao Tu had captured Bajie and, after recovering, left to request Heavenly troops from the Jade Emperor.
• Wukong explained that the Blood Sea King had revived and was attacking at Tongtian River, then recommended Perfected Lord Taixi to command the campaign despite Heavenly King Li’s objections.
• The Jade Emperor ordered a Divine Official to summon Perfected Lord Taixi, while Ao Tu used Lord Lao’s Elixir Classic to successfully refine a Second-Turn Golden Elixir.

Ao Tu was appointed Demon-Subduing Grand Marshal and prepared to lead Heaven’s forces against the demon in Tongtian River. Wukong urged him to fight the wounded demon first, promising to seek Guanyin’s help if necessary, and Ao Tu set out with the troops.

• Ao Tu continued refining a Three-Turn Golden Elixir while Jiangzhu received a Jade Emperor’s Divine Official and gave him immortal tea and medicine as a courtesy gift.
• Wukong grew impatient waiting in Douniu Palace, found Ao Tu in the Flower Realm, and tried to take the unfinished golden elixir before Ao Tu returned it to the furnace.
• Ao Tu met the Divine Official and went with him to Lingxiao, where the Jade Emperor appointed him Demon-Subduing Grand Marshal and gave him a marshal’s banner and command token.
• Ao Tu mustered the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, clashing with Heavenly King Li over his preparations and rebuking him for challenging the marshal’s orders.
• Wukong told Ao Tu the demon was wounded and advised him to fight first, offering to ask Guanyin Bodhisattva for help if needed; Ao Tu finished preparing the troops to descend.

Nezha joined Wukong and Ao Tu’s Heavenly army to confront the Blood Sea King at Tongtian River. As the army prepared to attack, the Blood Sea King rewarded the White Softshell Turtle with a cultivation method, while Ao Tu began a secret plan to capture him.

• Nezha arrived as Ao Tu’s army was preparing to descend, and Wukong explained the Blood Sea King’s return and the danger he posed.
• Nezha agreed to join the expedition and was appointed vanguard by Ao Tu.
• The Heavenly army reached Tongtian River and spread a Heavenly Net while Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujing took shelter.
• The Blood Sea King urged the White Softshell Turtle to hide, then taught him the Four Seas Dragon Palace's Aquatic Cultivation Method as compensation for occupying his cave.
• Ao Tu asked Wukong about the Blood Sea King’s abilities, claimed to have devised a plan, and summoned Heavenly King Li, Nezha, and Wukong to discuss it privately.

Ao Tu’s plan to lure the Blood Sea King into battle began with Heavenly King Li confronting Tiger Vanguard, who overwhelmed him until the Blood Sea King intervened. Ao Tu, Wukong, and Nezha then surrounded the Blood Sea King and prepared to fight, while he protested that he had not eaten anyone.

• Ao Tu ordered Heavenly King Li to lure the Blood Sea King out, and Wukong persuaded the reluctant king to follow the plan.
• Tiger Vanguard emerged from Tongtian River and battered Heavenly King Li with his Lotus Hammer.
• Heavenly King Li unleashed his Pagoda, but the Blood Sea King knocked it away before it could trap Tiger Vanguard.
• Ao Tu, Wukong, and Nezha surrounded the Blood Sea King as Tiger Vanguard retreated into the river.
• The Blood Sea King denied violating the Heavenly Laws, but Ao Tu condemned him for wanting to eat children and attacked.

Ao Tu, Wukong, and Nezha battled the Blood Sea King, whose power kept the fight at a stalemate. After Heavenly King Li was caught by the Blood Sea King's Soul-Scattering Gourd, Ao Tu summoned Yuqing Divine Thunder, forcing the Blood Sea King to flee into the water.

• Ao Tu, Wukong, Nezha, and the Blood Sea King fought fiercely, with neither side using their full strength.
• Heavenly King Li's Heavenly Dipper Sabers were deflected toward Ao Tu, Nezha, and Wukong, and Ao Tu accused him of conspiring with the demon.
• Heavenly King Li sent out his Pagoda, but the Blood Sea King countered with the Soul-Scattering Gourd and trapped Heavenly King Li in its Red Sand.
• Ao Tu rescued Nezha as he and Wukong escaped the gourd's Red Sand.
• Ao Tu cast Yuqing Divine Thunder from beyond Chaos, and the Blood Sea King fled into the water to avoid its strike.

Ao Tu and the heavenly generals tried and failed to draw the Blood Sea King out of Tongtian River, so Wukong sought help from Spirit Mountain. Guanyin arrived with Tathagata’s Alms Bowl and said she would use her Jade-Cleansing Bottle to collect the river’s waters.

• Ao Tu’s Divine Thunder failed to strike the Blood Sea King, who escaped into Tongtian River, and Ao Tu discovered that Heavenly King Li had been captured.
• Ao Tu’s plans to catch the demon failed: the Heavenly Net was cut, divine fire could not boil the river, the demon ignored insults, and the Giant Spirit God was captured during a false recruitment offer.
• Nezha chased Ao Tu after he proposed using him as bait, and more than a month passed without the generals subduing the demon.
• Wukong went to Spirit Mountain and asked Tathagata Buddha for help; Tathagata sent Guanyin with his Alms Bowl to subdue the demon and retrieve the Black Lotus.
• Guanyin arrived at Tongtian River and told Ao Tu she would collect its waters with her Jade-Cleansing Bottle while his troops surrounded the demon.

Guanyin Bodhisattva, Wukong, Nezha, and Ao Tu subdued the Blood Sea King after draining Tongtian River and countering his Soul-Scattering Gourd. Guanyin discovered that the Black Lotus resisted her power and offered the Blood Sea King a chance to surrender and cultivate on Spirit Mountain.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva drained Tongtian River with the Jade-Cleansing Bottle, exposing the Blood Sea King's underwater palace and provoking him to fight.
• Wukong, Nezha, and Ao Tu attacked the Blood Sea King, but he brought out the Soul-Scattering Gourd and filled the sky with red sand.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva used Tathagata's Golden Alms Bowl to restrain the red sand and draw in the Blood Sea King, while Wukong and Nezha fought Tiger Vanguard and White Bone Spirit.
• A goldfish from Guanyin Bodhisattva's lotus pond struck the Blood Sea King from behind, allowing the Golden Alms Bowl to immobilize him.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva spared the goldfish after Wukong and Ao Tu pleaded for him, then found that the Black Lotus repelled her power.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva loosened the Alms Bowl's restraint and offered the Blood Sea King a chance to surrender the Black Lotus and cultivate on Spirit Mountain.

After the Blood Sea King escaped, Wukong and his companions rescued the prisoners and confronted the villagers’ fear of Great King Linggan. Ao Tu used One Measure of Gold’s belongings to create a boat that could track the missing children’s souls, setting the search for the demon in motion.

• The Blood Sea King faked an attempt to explode, escaped with two demons, and left Great King Linggan behind after beating the goldfish.
• Nezha scouted the Tongtian River and learned from the injured goldfish that the Blood Sea King had fled; Wukong and the others then rescued Bajie, Heavenly King Li, and the Giant Spirit God.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva healed the goldfish and restored the Tongtian River, then urged the villagers of Chen Family Village to follow the righteous path.
• The villagers feared Great King Linggan, and Tang Sanzang asked Guanyin Bodhisattva to revive their children, but she said their souls were in the demon’s hands.
• Ao Tu revealed he could track souls using the children’s belongings, and Chen Cheng brought him clothes and shoes belonging to One Measure of Gold.
• Ao Tu burned One Measure of Gold’s belongings into a gray boat that could lead them toward the missing souls and the demon.

Ao Tu’s soul-tracking spell exposed Great King Linggan as the monster who had eaten the children, and Guanyin stopped Wukong from killing him. The villagers asked Guanyin to restore their children, but Linggan claimed he could not return their souls because he had refined them completely.

• Ao Tu cast a soul-tracking spell, and the Gray Boat repeatedly pursued the goldfish hiding behind Guanyin Bodhisattva.
• Guanyin immobilized the boat and brought down the fleeing goldfish, who confessed to eating children and identified himself as Great King Linggan.
• Wukong raised his cudgel to kill Linggan, but Ao Tu and Guanyin restrained him so Guanyin could question the monster.
• Linggan admitted he had eaten twenty-six children over fourteen years, explaining that the Blood Sea King’s arrival had cost him one year of hunting.
• Ao Tu proposed that Linggan spit out the children’s souls so Guanyin could restore them, and the villagers eagerly agreed.
• Guanyin ordered Linggan to release the souls, but he said he had refined them completely and could not spit them out.

Ao Tu prepared to refine the souls Great King Linggan had swallowed, using the Alchemy Furnace and help from the assembled immortals. The process began with the goldfish being cut open, while the souls remained to be recovered.

• Great King Linggan said he could not release the swallowed souls, so Ao Tu offered to refine them out of him with a Secret Method.
• Ao Tu took Wukong and Nezha to the Flower Realm, completed a Three-Turn Golden Elixir with their magical power, and brought the Alchemy Furnace back to the Tongtian River.
• Great King Linggan turned into a goldfish and entered the furnace, while Ao Tu explained that the refining would take eighty-one days with help from Wukong, Nezha, Bajie, and Sha Wujing.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva held the goldfish down as Heavenly King Li slit open its belly and, at Ao Tu's direction, cleaned its innards and removed its scales.

Ao Tu refined Great King Linggan and recovered the true spirits of the twenty-five children, whom Guanyin restored to life in bodies made from grasses and trees. Great King Linggan’s soul was purified, and Ao Tu arranged for him to receive a clay body and protect the land in hopes of earning merit.

• Heavenly King Li removed Great King Linggan’s organs and scales while Ao Tu prepared the ingredients and Guanyin added water.
• Ao Tu and the others refined Great King Linggan for eighty-one days, separating the children’s true spirits from his soul but failing to restore them fully through alchemy.
• Guanyin gathered the children’s true spirits into the Jade-Cleansing Bottle, repaired their souls, and gave them bodies made from grasses and trees.
• Ao Tu discovered Great King Linggan’s purified, imperishable soul and proposed that he protect the land in a gilded clay body to earn merit.
• Guanyin went to fetch good clay from her lotus pond, while Wukong privately remarked that she favored her goldfish over the common people.

Ao Tu strengthened the revived children with fish soup and sent Bajie to deliver the last bowl to Guanbao. Guanyin helped the villagers establish a Linggan Temple, and Wukong offered to find two little ghosts to serve there.

• Ao Tu defended Guanyin’s handling of her goldfish and explained why she had shown mercy to the villagers and the demon.
• Ao Tu gave the twenty-six revived children fish soup made from Great King Linggan’s physical body, restoring their constitutions.
• Ao Tu sent Bajie to deliver the remaining bowl of soup to Guanbao of the Chen family, and Bajie agreed for the promised reward.
• Guanyin arrived with Mucha and purple soil, and the villagers made and consecrated a clay statue of Great King Linggan in a new temple.
• Mucha asked for two little ghosts to serve at the temple, and Wukong said he knew two.

After escaping the attack at Tongtian River, the Blood Sea King found refuge with the Single-Horned Rhinoceros and plotted to capture Tang Sanzang. Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his disciples left Chen Family Village by boat, unaware of the danger waiting ahead.

• The Blood Sea King fled to Golden Rhinoceros Mountain with the injured White Bone Spirit and Tiger Vanguard, where the little yellow ox recognized him and announced his arrival.
• The Single-Horned Rhinoceros welcomed the Blood Sea King, heard how the monks had injured him, and offered to help him capture Tang Sanzang and eat his flesh.
• The Blood Sea King and the Single-Horned Rhinoceros became sworn brothers and waited for Tang Sanzang to arrive.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples stayed in Chen Family Village for half a month while Chen Qing arranged a boat to carry them across Tongtian River.
• Chen Qing offered Tang Sanzang gifts and provisions; Wukong accepted only a small piece of gold, while Bajie eagerly took the food.
• Bajie jumped aboard with baskets and sacks, nearly capsizing the boat and frightening the boatman.

After crossing the Tongtian River, Ao Tu received his mission rewards and examined several powerful treasures before going to meet Nezha. The chapter ended with the Blood Sea King planting oranges and ordering a sign that barred anyone with a long snout and big ears from eating them.

• The White Softshell Turtle carried Tang Sanzang and his disciples across the Tongtian River, while the White Dragon Horse transformed into a dragon and followed them into the water.
• Ao Tu returned to Heaven, reported his battle, and received praise and rewards from the Jade Emperor; the system then granted him several treasures and carried twenty-two excess days toward the Great Hongjin Cave mission.
• Ao Tu examined the Immortal Apricot, Great Wizard Blood Essence, damaged Third-Grade White Lotus, Fusang fragment, and Star Banner, then left to drink with Nezha.
• Heavenly King Li turned Ao Tu away from Cloud Tower Palace, but Li Zhenying led him inside and accepted an elixir from him.
• The Blood Sea King and the Little Ox Spirits planted orange trees, and he used magic to make them bear fruit before ordering a sign forbidding long-snouted, big-eared visitors from eating the oranges.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples entered the mountains on the way to the Western Liang Women's Kingdom while Ao Tu's quest to keep Wukong in the Golden Rhinoceros Mountain region continued. After Wukong left to beg for food, Bajie wandered off, stole oranges from a grove, and brought them back to share with his master.

• Tang Sanzang worried about crossing the rugged mountains, and Ao Tu's side quest began counting the time Wukong remained in the region.
• When the group stopped for food, Wukong drew a protective circle around Tang Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha Wujing before leaving to beg.
• Bajie left the circle to find shade, smelled oranges, and discovered an unguarded grove.
• Bajie ate his fill, gathered more oranges, and knocked down a sign forbidding long-snouted, large-eared visitors from eating them.
• Bajie returned with the oranges and claimed he had picked them for Tang Sanzang, while Sha Wujing defended him and offered to taste one.

Bajie stole oranges from the Tangerine Grove, leading the Blood Sea King’s demons to capture Tang Sanzang and his disciples. Bound in Golden Pocket Cave, Tang Sanzang pleaded for mercy while the Single-Horned Rhinoceros questioned him about his journey.

• Bajie brought stolen oranges to Tang Sanzang, who refused to eat them after realizing they had been taken without permission.
• The Blood Sea King learned that the oranges and a sign had been disturbed, then led the Little Ox Spirits to pursue the thieves.
• The demons surrounded Tang Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha Wujing, and the Blood Sea King seized Bajie and Sha Wujing while the others captured Tang Sanzang and their supplies.
• At Golden Pocket Cave, the Blood Sea King threatened to cut off Bajie's snout, and Tang Sanzang apologized and asked the rulers to forgive his disciples.
• The Single-Horned Rhinoceros asked Tang Sanzang where he had come from and why his disciples had stolen the oranges, and Tang Sanzang explained their pilgrimage and begged for mercy.

Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing were captured by the Single-Horned Rhinoceros and the Blood Sea King, who planned to eat Tang Sanzang’s flesh. After learning where they had been taken, Sun Wukong headed to the Golden Rhino Cave to confront the demons.

• The Single-Horned Rhinoceros recognized Tang Sanzang and, with the Blood Sea King, ordered the disciples captured so they could eat Tang Sanzang’s flesh and avenge the Blood Sea King.
• The demons gagged Zhu Bajie, bound him and Sha Wujing, and locked the three disciples in the cave.
• Sun Wukong returned from begging for food and found his companions missing, so he questioned the Earth God of Golden Rhinoceros Mountain.
• The Earth God explained that Zhu Bajie had taken oranges from the demons’ grove and that the One-Horned Rhinoceros King had captured the group and brought them to the Golden Rhino Cave.
• Sun Wukong went to the cave and demanded that the demons release his master, and the Single-Horned Rhinoceros went out to fight him while the Blood Sea King stayed behind.

Sun Wukong fought the Single-Horned Rhinoceros at Golden Rhino Cave, but the demon used a magical ring to take both Wukong’s Glazed Bowl and Golden Cudgel. Wukong escaped empty-handed and, stranded on a cliff, called for the local Earth God.

• The Single-Horned Rhinoceros emerged from Golden Rhino Cave and fought Wukong without either gaining the upper hand.
• Wukong used his Glazed Bowl to pin the Single-Horned Rhinoceros, but the demon’s white ring broke its radiance and took it.
• The Single-Horned Rhinoceros used the ring to seize Wukong’s Golden Cudgel, forcing Wukong to flee.
• The Single-Horned Rhinoceros returned to the cave with the Golden Cudgel, where he and the Blood Sea King celebrated and planned to mock Tang Sanzang and his disciples.
• Wukong landed on a cliff behind Jindou Mountain, lamented losing his possessions, and summoned the Earth God.

Wukong went to Heaven to request help against Great King Si, who had trapped Tang Sanzang and stolen the Golden Cudgel, but the Heavenly Realm’s investigation failed to find the demon’s true origin. Wukong sought Perfected Lord Taixi and found him drunk with Nezha and the Heavenly King’s daughter; after giving Zhenying a talisman to visit the Flower Realm, Taixi was left to join Wukong’s effort.

• Wukong questioned the local earth god about Great King Si, then traveled to Heaven to ask the Jade Emperor for troops.
• The Jade Emperor ordered the Kehansi office to investigate, but Zhangren overlooked Tushita Palace and reported that no heavenly star or god had descended.
• Wukong asked the Jade Emperor to send Perfected Lord Taixi, then went to find him in the Flower Realm and learned he was at Cloud Tower Palace.
• Wukong found Taixi drinking with Ao Tu, while Nezha lay drunk beneath the table and Zhenying had been mistaken for Nezha.
• Taixi gave Zhenying a Yin-Yang Talisman so she could visit the Flower Realm, as Wukong prepared to seek his help against the demon.

Wukong, Ao Tu, and Heavenly King Li led heavenly reinforcements to Golden Rhino Cave, where Nezha fought Single-Horned Rhinoceros and discovered the demon’s ring could sweep away his weapons and treasures. Nezha retreated, and Ao Tu returned the many magic treasures Nezha had lost to him while drinking, but the demon remained undefeated.

• Ao Tu agreed to help Wukong and received command of a hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers from Celestial Worthy Jade Emperor.
• Ao Tu, Wukong, and Heavenly King Li brought the army to Golden Rhino Cave, and Nezha went down to challenge Single-Horned Rhinoceros.
• Nezha discovered that his Demon-Slaying Sword, Universe Ring, Universe-Splitting Silk, and Wind Fire Wheels were missing, so Ao Tu tossed each back to him during the fight.
• Single-Horned Rhinoceros used the Diamond Bangle to sweep away Nezha’s Universe Ring, sword, and silk, and Nezha retreated on his Wind Fire Wheels.
• Ao Tu returned Nezha’s remaining magic treasures and said Nezha had lost them to him while drinking, while Single-Horned Rhinoceros mocked Wukong’s helpers.

After the Single-Horned Rhinoceros took the Fire Department’s weapons and treasures with his diamond snare, Ao Tu sent Wukong to recruit the Water Virtue Star Lord. The Water Virtue Star Lord arrived at Golden Rhinoceros Mountain with the Dragon Gods of the Four Tributaries to help capture the demon.

• Nezha returned defeated after the demon seized his weapons and treasures, so Ao Tu proposed using divine thunder while fire distracted the demon.
• Wukong went to Tonghua Palace, and the Fire Virtue Star Lord brought his divine generals to Golden Rhinoceros Mountain.
• The Fire Department attacked Golden Rhino Cave with divine fire, but the Single-Horned Rhinoceros’s diamond snare took their weapons and treasures before Ao Tu could strike with thunder.
• Ao Tu told Wukong to seek the Water Virtue Star Lord, who was reprimanding the Dragon Gods of the Four Tributaries when Wukong arrived.
• The Water Virtue Star Lord mustered his troops, retained the four dragon gods, and followed Wukong to Golden Rhinoceros Mountain to assist Ao Tu.

Ao Tu warned the Water Virtue Star Lord about the Blood Sea King's Black Lotus, but the Star Lord ordered the Four River Dragon Gods to flood Golden Rhino Cave anyway. When their waters failed to enter, Ao Tu gathered the flood into a dome around the mountain, leaving the demons trapped inside.

• The Water Virtue Star Lord threatened the Four River Dragon Gods with punishment and pledged that they would capture the demon, while Ao Tu urged caution and explained the danger of the Black Lotus.
• Ao Tu privately asked the Fire Virtue Star Lord why the Water Virtue Star Lord had not been told about his origins, and learned that the Star Lord was considered too guileless to hear the secret.
• The Four River Dragon Gods poured the Huai, Ji, Yangtze, and Yellow River waters toward Golden Rhino Cave, but the Black Lotus blocked the flood from entering.
• The Water Virtue Star Lord used his Water Bowl to unleash waters from rivers, lakes, and seas, but the Black Lotus remained unmoved and the flood spread across the countryside.
• Ao Tu used his fly-whisk and water-control method to draw the flood into a towering dome around the peaks of Golden Rhinoceros Mountain.

Ao Tu’s plan to trap Single-Horned Rhinoceros failed when the demon used the Diamond Bangle to seize the fly-whisk and absorb divine thunder. After Wukong failed to defeat him, he went to Spirit Mountain for help, but Buddhist monks and Arhats blocked his way and demanded an explanation.

• Ao Tu assigned Water Virtue Star Lord to hold his fly-whisk while the gods hid and waited for Single-Horned Rhinoceros to emerge.
• Single-Horned Rhinoceros took the fly-whisk with the Diamond Bangle, dispersed the water, and absorbed Ao Tu’s divine thunder.
• Wukong distracted Single-Horned Rhinoceros while Ao Tu rescued Water Virtue Star Lord, then escaped when the demon threatened to eat Tang Sanzang.
• Ao Tu told Wukong that their remaining options were to seek reinforcements from the Jade Emperor or ask the Buddha for help, and Wukong chose the Buddha.
• A bhikshu monk and the Eighteen Arhats stopped Wukong at Spirit Mountain and pressed him to explain his urgent business.

Wukong learned from the Arhats that the ordeal at Golden Rhinoceros Mountain was punishment for an offense, then realized Zhu Bajie had stolen the demon’s oranges. After discovering the flood had destroyed the orange grove, Wukong and Ao Tu set off for heaven to seek help restoring it.

• The Arhats told Wukong that the Golden Rhinoceros Mountain ordeal was punishment for an offense and refused to help rescue his master.
• Wukong returned to the group, and Ao Tu advised him to consider whether anyone had broken the Buddhist precepts.
• Wukong remembered that Zhu Bajie had stolen the demon’s oranges and identified the theft as the offense behind the ordeal.
• Wukong and Ao Tu asked the Earth God to show them the orange grove and learned that a flood had drowned it.
• Little Yellow Dragon drained the pool, revealing the ruined grove, and Ao Tu suggested seeking help from the flower-tending immortals in Yaochi.
• Wukong persuaded Ao Tu to accompany him to heaven to ask for a way to revive the orange trees.

Ao Tu and Wukong visited the Queen Mother of the West to seek help reviving the dead, and she agreed to send Hong'er with a Jade Bottle to assist them. Before they could descend, Ao Tu asked Hong'er to help him finish the overdue flower-transplanting work.

• Ao Tu and Wukong entered the Jade Pool Immortal Realm and asked a red-robed fairy to announce their visit to the Queen Mother of the West.
• The fairy rebuked Ao Tu for repeatedly missing her requests to tend Yaochi's flowers, and Ao Tu apologized and explained his demon-subduing duties.
• The Queen Mother of the West recognized Ao Tu beneath his transformation and gave Hong'er a Peach Blossom Mark to ease her travels.
• The Queen Mother of the West sent Hong'er to help Wukong and provided her with the Jade Bottle.
• Ao Tu persuaded Hong'er to complete their flower-transplanting work before they went down to assist Wukong.