Recaps

The Bull Demon King's conflict with Wukong escalated into repeated battles against heavenly and Buddhist forces, drawing in the Blood Sea King and Ao Tu. Ao Tu captured Guanyin Bodhisattva and confronted Mahamayuri Bodhisattva, leaving both sides holding their opponents captive.

• The Bull Demon King refused to help Wukong cross Flaming Mountain and captured Bajie and Sha Wujing after Red Boy joined the fighting.
• The Bull Demon King and Six-Eared Macaque resisted the heavenly forces, while the Scorpion Demon wounded Erlang and forced the gods to retreat.
• The Blood Sea King rescued the Jade-Faced Fox and her daughter, broke the gods' formation, and repeatedly defeated heavenly and Buddhist reinforcements.
• Ao Tu answered Red Boy's plea for help, restored the Blood Sea King's lost essence, and captured Guanyin Bodhisattva along with several Buddhist fighters.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva examined Ao Tu's primordial laws and warned him that his intended path could provoke the great powers and the Six Sages.
• Ao Tu exposed Wukong's disguise and released him with Bajie and Sha Wujing after the Bull Demon King denied capturing Tang Sanzang.
• Wukong warned Ao Tu about the gods' feigned retreat, and Tathagata Buddha sent Mahamayuri Bodhisattva to subdue the demons and rescue Guanyin Bodhisattva.
• Ao Tu matched Mahamayuri Bodhisattva's techniques and captured the heavenly forces after Mahamayuri Bodhisattva seized the Bull Demon King and his allies.

Ao Tu survived Patriarch Styx’s assault, helped bring the Green Cloud Mountain conflict to an amnesty, and underwent a perilous transformation before returning to the Flower Realm. He then investigated the stolen Nine-Leaf Ganoderma Herb and Jisai Kingdom’s missing Sarira, but the arc ended with the King refusing to free the falsely accused monks until the treasure was recovered.

• Ao Tu rescued Bull Demon King from the gods, but an Asura King ambushed him and nearly killed him before Blood Sea King helped him escape.
• Ao Tu and his allies battled Patriarch Styx, who took control of the Asura King, killed Blood Sea King, and fought Ao Tu until Mahamayuri Bodhisattva swallowed them and the attackers.
• Ao Tu survived Mahamayuri Bodhisattva’s digestion, but the giant born from him destroyed Styx’s weapons and red lotus before Ao Tu’s three bloodlines finally fused.
• Ao Tu’s breakthrough failed, but he escaped Mahamayuri Bodhisattva and received guidance from Yuanshi Tianzun, Great Immortal Zhenyuan, and Old Mother Lishan.
• Ao Tu persuaded the Jade Emperor to grant Bull Demon King amnesty and a post in Heaven, then returned to the Flower Realm and gained Buddhist power from the Ancient Buddha’s relic and vow power.
• Ao Tu traced the stolen Nine-Leaf Ganoderma Herb to Princess Wansheng and learned that Nine-Headed Bug had stolen Jisai Kingdom’s Sarira, then released the Princess and her family on condition that they help capture him.
• Ao Tu went with Wukong and Bajie before the King of Jisai Kingdom, but the King refused to free the Golden Light Temple monks until the National Treasure was recovered.

Ao Tu recovered Jisai Kingdom’s stolen treasures while Tang Sanzang became State Preceptor and organized flood relief and trade. After the pilgrims resumed their journey, Ao Tu trapped them in a false Thunderclap Monastery, where his preaching captivated even the rescuers and he imprisoned Wukong.

• Ao Tu subdued Nine-Headed Bug and Wukong, recovered the stolen treasures, and escorted the captives to Heaven.
• Tang Sanzang became State Preceptor of Jisai Kingdom and funded flood relief through trade despite opposition from the ministers.
• The Queen Mother of the West sentenced Nine-Headed Bug to death, banished Princess Wansheng, and returned the purified Sarira through Wukong.
• Ao Tu subdued Old Dragon King Wansheng after his attack on Jisai Kingdom, restored the Sarira, and rescued the old monk’s soul.
• Ao Tu consulted Taishang Laojun and the Jade Emperor about the white lotus and establishing a place for the virtuous, then built a false Thunderclap Monastery on Thorn Ridge.
• Ao Tu trapped the pilgrims in Thorn Village and tested Tang Sanzang and Bajie with marriage before revealing the monastery and posing as the Buddha.
• Ao Tu bestowed scriptures and preached while Wukong sent the guardians to seek help from Spirit Mountain.
• Ao Tu drew the Eighteen Arhats into his sermon and trapped Wukong in a dark cauldron for ten days after Wukong tried to escape.

Ao Tu attained Buddhahood but rejected joining the Buddhist Sect, then used the Lesser Thunderclap mission to pursue his own aims and repeatedly outmaneuver Wukong. The stretch ends with Wukong stealing back the Golden Cymbals and confronting the Yellow-Browed Old Demon.

• Ao Tu’s preaching at Thorn Ridge awakened him to Buddhahood, but he chose to pursue the Great Dao himself and declared that he would avenge past wrongs and oppose the Buddhist Sect’s rise in the east.
• Ao Tu returned to Yaochi, where he learned the Plain-Colored Cloud-Realm Banner had protected him from an unnamed senior’s influence, then sent Jiangzhu to clear Thorn Ridge and began the Lesser Thunderclap mission.
• Ao Tu revived the Apricot Immortal and visited the Yellow-Browed Old Demon, who later tried to mislead Tang Sanzang and his disciples and captured them with his pouch.
• Wukong tricked the Yellow-Browed Old Demon into trading his treasures, trapped him in the Golden Cymbals, and freed Tang Sanzang and the others.
• Ao Tu rescued the Yellow-Browed Old Demon, took the Golden Cymbals, and used a melon-field deception and the Bundle to capture Tang Sanzang and his companions.
• Wukong sought help from Guanyin and went to Yaochi, where Ao Tu gave him clothes and later revealed the truth about Little Western Heaven to Nezha.
• Tathagata Buddha told Wukong that the Yellow-Browed Old Demon and the Demon Dragon were fellow disciples, while Taishang Laojun taught Wukong a Taiji Talisman to anchor the Acquired Bag.
• Wukong disguised himself as a lesser demon, entered Lesser Thunderclap Temple, stole the Golden Cymbals, and revealed himself to the Yellow-Browed Old Demon.