Chapter Summaries

Ao Tu secured the Bull Demon King's amnesty and brought him to Heaven, where the Jade Emperor appointed him Golden Ox Star Lord. The other captive gods and Buddhas were freed and returned to their respective realms.

• Ao Tu retrieved the Soul-Scattering Gourd and Banana Leaf Fan from the mountain, then went to Banana Cave and persuaded the Bull Demon King to accept amnesty and a post in Heaven.
• Ao Tu told the Bull Demon King and Six-Eared Macaque that Great Sun had escaped, and Six-Eared Macaque agreed to remain behind and manage the demons.
• Red Boy stayed on the mountain, while Princess Iron Fan and the Jade-Faced Fox chose to accompany the Bull Demon King to Heaven; the Bull Demon King gave Ao Tu a roster of his demon forces.
• Ao Tu returned the Banana Leaf Fan to the Bull Demon King and escorted him to the Hall of Divine Firmament, where the Jade Emperor appointed him Golden Ox Star Lord.
• Ao Tu introduced the Bull Demon King to Heaven's Star Lords, while Guanyin Bodhisattva released the captive gods and Buddhas, who returned to Heaven as the remaining vajras and arhats went to the Western Heaven.

Ao Tu inspected the rewards for concluding the Flaming Mountain affair and gained a new Buddhist heart that triggered a powerful, disorienting breakthrough. He returned to the Flower Realm with his Buddhist cultivation greatly increased, but believed Ananda had once again obstructed his attempt to reach Daluo.

• Ao Tu returned to the Flower Realm and arranged to have the Jade Emperor confine him for three days so his true body could not descend.
• Ao Tu distributed the Cold Marrow to White Chi and inspected the other rewards, including a new Earth Blaze Array, Shangqing Sword Intent, and Sun-Shooting Divine Bow.
• The Ancient Buddha's Relic and Vow Power joined the Ancient Buddha's Buddha Heart, showing Ao Tu a vision of the fallen Buddha before all three rewards merged into him.
• Buddha-Light and spontaneous Buddhist chants filled the Flower Realm, while Ao Tu's compassion grew until he tried to erase Ananda and all worldly karma.
• Ao Tu exhausted his essence, energy, and spirit before he could act, then returned to himself with unclear memories and greatly increased Buddhist cultivation.

After failing to break through to Great Luo, Ao Tu used the Hetu Luoshu to survey the Three Realms and locate Ananda’s reincarnation near Spirit Mountain. Hong'er and the Azure-Robed Immortal Maiden then came to him for help finding the Queen Mother of the West’s stolen Nine-Leaf Ganoderma Herb, and Ao Tu pretended to calculate its whereabouts.

• Ao Tu suspected his fixation on Ananda had contributed to his failed breakthrough and used the Hetu Luoshu to examine events across the Three Realms.
• Ao Tu discovered that Ananda had reincarnated near Spirit Mountain, though Tathagata had concealed his exact location.
• Ao Tu learned through the Hetu Luoshu that Hong'er was coming to visit and sent Jiangzhu to welcome her.
• Hong'er arrived with the Azure-Robed Immortal Maiden, who revealed that the Queen Mother of the West’s Nine-Leaf Ganoderma Herb had been stolen from before Lingxiao Hall.
• Ao Tu reassured the anxious women and began pretending to calculate where the stolen herb was.

Ao Tu traced the stolen Nine-Leaf Ganoderma Herb to Princess Wansheng and set out to arrest her and Nine-Headed Bug before Wukong could recover the treasures. Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his disciples entered Jisai Kingdom, where soldiers netted Tang Sanzang as a runaway monk.

• Ao Tu divined that Princess Wansheng had stolen the Queen Mother of the West's Nine-Leaf Ganoderma Herb and promised Hong'er he would capture the thieves within a day.
• Ao Tu sent Blood Sea King to gather Bull Demon King's subordinates and sent Great Sun Demon King to Flaming Mountain, where he restored the Fusang Tree's verdant projection but found its true body still weak.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples crossed into Jisai Kingdom and shared scorched rice after Wukong begged for food.
• Ao Tu, disguised as the monk Buzheng, asked Tang Sanzang whether he had encountered suspicious people, then left after Tang Sanzang said he had not.
• Wukong spotted monks hiding in a grove, and mounted soldiers netted Tang Sanzang, prompting Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Monk to prepare to rescue him.

Wukong and his companions were mistaken for fugitive monks in Jisai Kingdom, where soldiers were hunting monks accused of stealing the national treasure. After learning the prisoners included monks who claimed to be innocent, Tang Sanzang and his disciples headed toward the capital, where Wukong noticed signs of decline and they resolved to learn why the King had ordered the arrests.

• Wukong stopped the soldiers who had netted Tang Sanzang, and the soldiers released him after learning the group came from the Great Tang.
• Bajie spotted monks hiding in the grass, and the soldiers arrested them for allegedly stealing Jisai Kingdom's national treasure.
• Several captured monks claimed they could not have stolen the treasure, but Tang Sanzang could not stop the soldiers from taking them away.
• Wukong promised to question the King, and the disciples continued toward the capital.
• Tang Sanzang praised the city's grandeur, while Wukong pointed out its signs of decay and Bajie speculated that the King had neglected his rule.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples freed the persecuted monks of Golden Light Temple and learned that they had been blamed for the disappearance of the kingdom’s national treasure. Ao Tu arrived, healed the monks, and went to investigate the pagoda, where Benbo'erba and Babo'erben were waiting.

• Tang Sanzang and his disciples saw monks being abused in Jisai Kingdom and learned that monks from Golden Light Temple were accused of stealing the national treasure.
• Wukong immobilized the guards and helped free the monks, then led them into Golden Light Temple, where they found more monks imprisoned and tortured.
• The monks explained that the pagoda’s treasure had vanished thirteen years earlier, ending the kingdom’s golden light and the tribute paid by four neighboring kingdoms.
• Soldiers discovered the monks had escaped, but Ao Tu drove them away with Buddhist power, healed the monks, and went up the pagoda to find the culprit.
• Benbo'erba and Babo'erben, two minor monsters sent by Nine-Headed Bug, waited atop the pagoda.

Wukong and Ao Tu discovered that the Nine-Headed Bug and Old Dragon King Wansheng had stolen the Sarira, while Bajie drove the soldiers away from Tang Sanzang. Ao Tu took the captured monsters to Jade Wave Pool, where they warned the Dragon King that he and the prince consort were being summoned.

• Wukong followed Ao Tu to the pagoda’s top and found Bengboliba and Baboliben guarding the empty Sarira vase.
• Wukong and Ao Tu subdued the monsters, who confessed that the Nine-Headed Bug and Old Dragon King Wansheng had stolen the Sarira and that the Princess had taken the Queen Mother of the West’s Nine-Leaf Ganoderma Herb.
• Bengboliba and Baboliben revealed that the prince consort had sent them to watch for Wukong, who was expected to pass through the kingdom.
• As soldiers surrounded the temple, Bajie transformed into a great pig and scattered them while Sha Wujing guarded Tang Sanzang.
• Ao Tu took the two monsters to Jade Wave Pool and ordered the Princess and prince consort to come out and surrender.
• The monsters rushed into the palace and told Old Dragon King Wansheng that Ao Tu was waiting outside.

Ao Tu raided the Aquatic Palace, recovered the stolen treasures, and learned Princess Wansheng had helped Nine-Headed Bug steal Jisai Kingdom’s sarira. He released her and Old Dragon King Wansheng on the condition that they help capture Nine-Headed Bug, while Wukong prepared to clear Tang Sanzang and the monks of the false charges.

• Old Dragon King Wansheng panicked when he heard Sun Wukong had supposedly come to attack, but Bengboliba and Baboliben explained that only a monk had arrived.
• Ao Tu captured Old Dragon King Wansheng, overwhelmed the aquatic soldiers, and found Princess Wansheng hiding in her boudoir.
• Ao Tu forced Princess Wansheng to reveal that Nine-Headed Bug was away and that she had the Queen Mother’s Nine-Leaf Ganoderma Herb and the stolen sarira.
• Princess Wansheng admitted that Nine-Headed Bug had ordered her to steal the herb to preserve the sarira, then claimed kinship with Ao Tu and pleaded to wait for her husband’s return.
• After confirming that Princess Wansheng was a distant relative, Ao Tu released her, Old Dragon King Wansheng, and the aquatic creatures on the condition that they help capture Nine-Headed Bug.
• Wukong told Tang Sanzang that the truth about the stolen national treasure was clear, and Tang Sanzang asked him to let the soldiers take them before the king to clear the monks’ names.

Tang Sanzang convinced the King of the Jisai Kingdom that the Golden Light Temple monks were innocent and that monsters had stolen the National Treasure. Wukong went to find the monsters, and Bajie followed to help; Wukong arrived at Rocky Mountain and Emerald Wave Pool, where he found Buzheng roasting a crab.

• The Imperial Guards surrounded the Golden Light Temple, but the general hesitated to confront Tang Sanzang and his unusual-looking disciples.
• Tang Sanzang showed the general his Passbook and asked to explain the National Treasure theft to the King of the Jisai Kingdom.
• Tang Sanzang told the King that monsters, not the Golden Light Temple monks, had stolen the National Treasure, and Wukong explained that the Nine-Headed Bug was responsible.
• When the King demanded witnesses, Wukong promised to capture the monsters and left for Rocky Mountain and Emerald Wave Pool.
• Tang Sanzang sent Bajie after Wukong, who found Buzheng fishing beside a fire and roasting a large green crab.

Ao Tu, Wukong, and Bajie returned to the palace without the National Treasure, and Ao Tu urged the King of Jisai Kingdom to release the imprisoned monks. The King refused, so Ao Tu condemned his rule and left, while the King dismissed court in anger.

• Ao Tu waited for Nine-Headed Bug to return, explaining that he had released the two lesser demons because they were only following orders.
• Wukong and Bajie worried about returning empty-handed, and Bajie suggested they lie to the King, but Ao Tu refused to blame the crab he had accidentally killed.
• Ao Tu went with Wukong and Bajie to the palace and told the King of Jisai Kingdom that he had not recovered the National Treasure, but had come to seek the monks' release.
• The King refused to free the monks until the National Treasure was recovered, and Ao Tu called him foolish and argued that good rule—not a treasure—secured a kingdom's prosperity.
• The King ordered the guards to remove Ao Tu, but Ao Tu walked out before they could strike him, and the King angrily dismissed court.

After Monk Buzheng’s insults prompted the King of Jisai Kingdom to dismiss the court, the King later regretted his anger and renewed his efforts to enlist Tang Sanzang’s group to recover the National Treasure. When Nine-Headed Bug returned to Jade Wave Pool, Wukong, Bajie, and Monk Buzheng went to confront him.

• Ao Tu cursed the King of Jisai Kingdom, who dismissed court and sent Tang Sanzang and his disciples away without the promised banquet.
• At Golden Light Temple, Ao Tu explained that his scolding was part of his plan, while the monks worried about being forced back into cangues.
• The King regretted alienating Tang Sanzang’s group and held another banquet, where Ao Tu took a seat at the meat table and Bajie devoured the food.
• Over the next few days, the King repeatedly summoned Tang Sanzang to ask about the National Treasure, and Ao Tu told him to wait.
• Ao Tu spotted Nine-Headed Bug returning, and Wukong and Bajie rode with him to Jade Wave Pool to confront the monster.
• Nine-Headed Bug told the Myriad-Sages Old Dragon King and Princess that Bull Demon King had barred him from his palace.

Princess Wansheng lured Nine-Headed Bug out of the Dragon Palace, where Bajie and Wukong confronted him over the stolen National Treasure. After Erlang helped bring the demon down, Ao Tu claimed the thieves and both stolen treasures for Heaven, but Wukong snatched the National Treasure and tried to flee before Ao Tu stopped him with sword intent.

• Princess Wansheng tricked Nine-Headed Bug into leaving the Dragon Palace without his weapon and led him to Ao Tu, Wukong, and Bajie.
• Bajie struck Nine-Headed Bug, who revealed his true form and fought Wukong and Bajie before fleeing into the sky.
• Erlang shot Nine-Headed Bug out of the air, and Ao Tu pinned him down with ancient Buddha's vow power.
• Nine-Headed Bug revealed that Princess Wansheng had the National Treasure, and Ao Tu said he held both it and the Immortal Herb for delivery to Heaven.
• Wukong snatched the National Treasure from Ao Tu and tried to escape, but Ao Tu cut off his path with a strand of sword intent.

Ao Tu defeated Wukong with Buddhist Vow Power and recovered the stolen treasures, then revealed that he would deliver them to Perfected Lord Taixi. Wukong agreed to accompany Ao Tu and Erlang to Heaven, while Bajie returned to inform Tang Sanzang.

• Wukong tried to escape Jade Wave Pool with the treasures, but Ao Tu's Buddhist method kept him trapped there.
• Wukong attacked Ao Tu with the Golden Cudgel, but Ao Tu remained unharmed and crushed him beneath Ancient Buddha Vow Power.
• Wukong conceded the wager and returned the treasures to Ao Tu.
• Ao Tu explained that he had come at Perfected Lord Taixi's request, and Wukong agreed to accompany him to deliver the treasures.
• Ao Tu bound Nine-Headed Bug and Princess Wansheng and rode to Heaven with Wukong and Erlang, while Bajie went back to Tang Sanzang.
• When Wukong asked how a monk and a Daoist had become friends, Ao Tu claimed they had cultivated together before attaining the Dao, and Wukong stopped questioning him.

Wukong recovered the National Treasure Sarira and entrusted it, along with the captured thieves, to Ao Tu, who persuaded him to seek the Queen Mother of the West’s help in returning it. While Wukong prepared to visit her, the King of Jisai Kingdom imprisoned Tang Sanzang and the Golden Light Monastery monks and challenged Tang Sanzang to explain how the kingdom could survive without its treasure.

• Monk Buzheng handed Ao Tu the recovered Nine-Leaf Ganoderma Herb and National Treasure Sarira and entrusted him with Nine-Headed Bug and Princess Wansheng before leaving.
• Wukong asked Ao Tu for the National Treasure, but Ao Tu said the Queen Mother of the West should decide its fate and persuaded Wukong to apologize to her with a gift.
• Bajie returned to Jisai Kingdom and told Tang Sanzang that Wukong had gone to the Heavenly Realm, and Tang Sanzang informed the King.
• After a month without Wukong’s return, the King of Jisai Kingdom believed accusations that Tang Sanzang’s party had taken the treasure, placed them under house arrest, and imprisoned the Golden Light Monastery monks again.
• Tang Sanzang pleaded for the monks and argued that a nation’s true treasures were good governance and a benevolent ruler, but the King produced reports of floods, famine, and displacement and demanded to know how the kingdom could be governed without the National Treasure.

Tang Sanzang urged the King of Jisai Kingdom to address flooding and learned that the court planned relief without controlling the rivers. The King dismissed the court and rejected Tang Sanzang’s suggestion to invite water-management experts from neighboring kingdoms.

• Tang Sanzang read disaster reports and asked the King of Jisai Kingdom how he planned to help the flood victims.
• The King invited Tang Sanzang to observe a court assembly three days later, where Bajie and Sha Wujing urged Tang Sanzang to eat and rest.
• At the assembly, the ministers proposed suppressing unrest, relocating survivors, burying the dead, and restoring farmland, but made no plans to control the water.
• Tang Sanzang asked why the kingdom did not control its rivers, and the ministers explained that Western Liang Kingdom and Gaochang Kingdom had expertise.
• The King of Jisai Kingdom dismissed the court and insisted that recovering the National Treasure mattered more than water control.
• Tang Sanzang privately suggested inviting experts from Western Liang Kingdom or Gaochang Kingdom, but the King objected to asking foreign countries for help.

Tang Sanzang persuaded the King of Jisai Kingdom to let him seek flood-control help from Gaochang Kingdom, then helped oversee relief efforts after the floods were brought under control. When funds ran short, the King refused trade with Gaochang Kingdom and offered Tang Sanzang the position of State Preceptor so he could arrange it himself.

• Tang Sanzang volunteered to seek a flood-control expert from a neighboring kingdom, and Bajie and Sha Wujing accompanied him to Gaochang Kingdom.
• The King of Gaochang Kingdom agreed to send a minister skilled in flood control to Jisai Kingdom and gave Tang Sanzang a letter for its King.
• The minister, Tang Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha Wujing helped control the floods and organize relief, but the work stalled when Jisai Kingdom ran out of silver.
• Tang Sanzang delivered Gaochang Kingdom’s letter proposing trade, but the King of Jisai Kingdom refused because he considered his kingdom superior.
• The King offered to appoint Tang Sanzang State Preceptor, giving him authority to arrange trade, and Tang Sanzang accepted.

Tang Sanzang’s trade and flood-control efforts improved life in Jisai Kingdom, but officials and nobles turned against him, leaving him exhausted and ready to resign. Before he could do so, a request to cultivate newly exposed riverbank land drew him back into a court dispute, which remained unresolved.

• Trade between Jisai Kingdom and Gaochang Kingdom flourished, lowering prices, bringing customs revenue into the treasury, and funding flood-control work.
• Officials, nobles, and some common people accused Tang Sanzang of harming the kingdom, while the King of Jisai Kingdom neither supported nor opposed him; Bajie’s attempt to disrupt the officials’ impeachment did not prevent it.
• After weeks of accusations and counterarguments, Bajie advised Tang Sanzang to avoid taking an active role at court, but Tang Sanzang decided to resign and return to fetching the scriptures.
• A Gaochang official wrote that flood-control work was proceeding smoothly but asked whether to spend money and grain clearing newly exposed riverbank farmland before the planting season passed.
• Tang Sanzang asked the King of Jisai Kingdom to approve clearing the land, but the ministers argued against it, and Tang Sanzang challenged their claims by pointing out the work needed to make the ground farmable.

Tang Sanzang persuaded the King of Jisai Kingdom to let him guarantee grain loans and trade with three neighboring kingdoms, despite the ministers’ denunciations. Ao Tu refined a Sixth-Turn Golden Elixir as a gift for the Queen Mother of the West and arrived at Yaochi with Wukong, where they found Erlang still present.

• Tang Sanzang proposed borrowing grain and opening trade with the other three kingdoms, then offered to guarantee the arrangement, and the King of Jisai Kingdom agreed despite the ministers’ protests.
• Ao Tu failed to refine a Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, and Wukong recognized the failed attempt by its smell.
• Xiao Zhenying visited Ao Tu and explained that her father was recovering from internal injuries; Ao Tu promised to give her pills for her brother and father.
• Ao Tu refined a Sixth-Turn Golden Elixir with Xiao Zhenying helping tend the fire, then set out for Yaochi with Wukong, Nine-Headed Bug, and Princess Wansheng.
• The Queen Mother of the West invited Ao Tu and Wukong into her hall, where they saw Erlang was still there.

Ao Tu and Wukong brought the stolen treasures before the Queen Mother of the West, who punished Princess Wansheng, allowed the Nine-Headed Bug to escape, and returned the purified National Treasure Sarira to Wukong. After delivering Peach of Immortality Banquet invitations across the Three Realms, Wukong returned to Jisai Kingdom and found Tang Monk resigning as state preceptor, while the king appeared stunned by the Sarira.

• The Queen Mother of the West sentenced the Nine-Headed Bug to beheading and banished Princess Wansheng to the Flower Realm with her dragon bones shackled.
• The Queen Mother of the West purified the National Treasure Sarira and gave it to Wukong, then asked him to deliver invitations to the Peach of Immortality Banquet.
• Wukong traveled across the Three Realms delivering invitations, and Guanyin asked whether he had recently encountered the Demon Dragon.
• Ao Tu took Princess Wansheng to the Flower Realm, where he assigned her to tend the flowers and welcomed Xiao Zhenying and Jiangzhu.
• After more than half a year away, Wukong returned to Jisai Kingdom with the Sarira and found Tang Monk resigning as state preceptor; the king stared at the restored treasure in surprise.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples left Jisai Kingdom, unaware that Old Dragon King Wansheng had seized the National Treasure and attacked the capital. Ao Tu suppressed Wansheng, rescued the old monk’s soul, and discovered that the monk’s white lotus fragment could help restore the Third-Grade White Lotus.

• The King of Jisai Kingdom freed the imprisoned monks, and Tang Sanzang’s group departed after Wukong told them about his trip to heaven.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples found a dam and statue honoring the State Preceptor, and they left it standing despite its resemblance to Bajie.
• Old Dragon King Wansheng emerged from Emerald Wave Pool, swallowed the Sarira, destroyed the pagoda, and attacked the people of Jisai Kingdom.
• The old monk’s soul appeared to confront Wansheng, but Wansheng shattered it; Ao Tu caught the soul in a fragment of the Third-Grade White Lotus and pinned Wansheng beneath the restored pagoda.
• Ao Tu returned the Sarira to the pagoda, then took the old monk and lotus fragment to his true body as Tang Sanzang’s group left Jisai Kingdom.
• The fragment merged with the Third-Grade White Lotus and repaired part of its damage, and Ao Tu restored the old monk’s soul with Three Lights Divine Water.