Chapter Summaries

Consort Jinsheng tricked Sai Taisui into surrendering his treasures, then freed Wukong and the imprisoned gods. Wukong sent Consort Jinsheng and the envoy back to Zhu Zi Kingdom and prepared to confront the demons, learning that Sai Taisui had a mysterious backer on Qiyun Mountain.

• Sai Taisui captured Wukong and the gods with the Magpie-Tail Golden Furnace and imprisoned them in his cave.
• Consort Jinsheng feigned affection for Sai Taisui, got him drunk, and stole his treasures while he slept.
• Consort Jinsheng found Wukong in the prison and used a knife transformed from his hair to cut his bonds.
• Wukong put the guards to sleep, freed the gods, and led them out of the Demon Cave with Consort Jinsheng.
• Consort Jinsheng handed Wukong Sai Taisui's treasures and warned him about the demon's backer in Mist-and-Cloud Cave on Qiyun Mountain.
• Wukong sent Consort Jinsheng and the envoy to Zhu Zi Kingdom on a Heavenly Horse while he and the gods stayed to deal with the demons.

Wukong sent Consort Jinsheng home and stayed with the gods to deal with Sai Taisui, then intercepted the messenger Sai Taisui sent to seek help. After learning the location of Mist-and-Cloud Cave, Wukong had the Qiyun Mountain God lead him there to confront the demon.

• Wukong proposed that the gods provoke Sai Taisui into sending for help so he could intercept the messenger, and the gods agreed.
• Sai Taisui discovered that Consort Jinsheng had taken his treasures and freed the prisoners, then sent Youlai Youqu to seek help at Mist-and-Cloud Cave on Qiyun Mountain.
• Nezha pretended to grant Sai Taisui three days to recover while Wukong followed Youlai Youqu in disguise and questioned him about his destination.
• Wukong revealed himself and demanded the Grandmaster's name and location, but Youlai Youqu refused to betray his benefactor, so Wukong struck him dead.
• The Qiyun Mountain God told Wukong that a divine person had occupied the former Quanzhen Daoist residence two years earlier and led him toward Mist-and-Cloud Cave.

Wukong failed to find Ao Tu’s hidden cave, while Youlai Youqu reached the Netherworld and was appointed a Ghost King under Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Wukong captured Sai Taisui and brought him and the other demons to Zhu Zi Kingdom, but the public execution was interrupted by a mysterious voice threatening to avenge its grand-disciple.

• Ao Tu hid Mist-and-Cloud Cave two thousand years in the past, and Wukong could not find its entrance on Qiyun Mountain.
• Youlai Youqu told Lord Yama about Mahamayuri Bodhisattva, then received a Ghost King post under Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
• After deciding Minghe had not discovered his incarnation, Ao Tu waited for a helper before pursuing opportunities in the Netherworld.
• Wukong disguised himself as Youlai Youqu and tricked Sai Taisui into leaving the cave, then struck him down with the Golden Cudgel.
• Heavenly King Li’s forces captured the cave’s demons and brought them, along with Consort Jinsheng, to Zhu Zi Kingdom.
• As Heavenly King Li began the public executions, the sky and earth vanished, and a voice vowed to eat everyone to avenge its grand-disciple.

Ao Tu captured Wukong, Tang Sanzang, and the others, repeatedly swallowing them and defeating their attempts to escape. After Nezha revealed clues that Ao Tu was a Buddhist bodhisattva, Wukong went to seek Guanyin’s help, and she arrived as he waited at Mount Putuo.

• Ao Tu revealed that he had swallowed heaven and earth, captured the pilgrims and gods, and imprisoned them in Mist-and-Cloud Cave to avenge Youlai Youqu.
• Ao Tu had Tang Sanzang and the others beaten and prepared to cook them, but Wukong used a Life-Saving Hair to free the prisoners.
• Ao Tu swallowed the escapees again, resisted their attacks from inside his belly, and spat them out after they exhausted their powers.
• Nezha and the King of Zhu Zi Kingdom suggested Ao Tu was a bodhisattva, and Nezha freed Wukong so he could seek help.
• Wukong traveled to Mount Putuo to find Guanyin, and she arrived with Mucha and asked whether he had encountered trouble in Zhu Zi Kingdom.

Guanyin Bodhisattva met Wukong on his way to confront the demon in Zhu Zi Kingdom and discovered that Sai Taisui was her escaped mount. Ao Tu swallowed both Guanyin Bodhisattva and Wukong, and she recognized a complete primordial law within him before Ao Tu spat them out.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva established her Dharma lineage in Great Tang, then joined Wukong on his journey to retrieve the Golden-Haired Hou.
• Wukong led Guanyin Bodhisattva to Mist-and-Cloud Cave, where Sai Taisui emerged and revealed himself as the Golden-Haired Hou at her command.
• Wukong realized that Guanyin Bodhisattva had meant her mount, not the demon he had fought, and tried to flee when Ao Tu appeared.
• Ao Tu swallowed Wukong and Guanyin Bodhisattva, and she sensed a complete primordial law within him that resembled the law within her disciple.
• Wukong explained the calamity in Zhu Zi Kingdom, and Guanyin Bodhisattva said the king had brought it upon himself by shooting Mahamayuri Bodhisattva’s children.
• Wukong mistakenly accused Ao Tu of being Mahamayuri Bodhisattva, and Ao Tu laughed and spat out Wukong and Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Wukong discovered that the people of Zhu Zi Kingdom were safe and admitted he had been wrong to accuse Mahamayuri Bodhisattva. Ao Tu and Guanyin Bodhisattva discussed Ao Tu’s cultivation and a journey to the Netherworld, then enlisted Wukong to help settle several matters there.

• Ao Tu revealed that he had never eaten the people of Zhu Zi Kingdom, and Wukong confirmed they were unharmed.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva recognized Ao Tu beneath his disguise and discussed his unusual cultivation and the merit she had meant to share with him.
• Ao Tu accepted Guanyin Bodhisattva’s offer of merit and asked her to accompany him to the Netherworld to pursue an opportunity and deal with his grievances against Patriarch Styx.
• Wukong returned, admitted his mistake, and agreed to help Ao Tu ensure the King of Zhu Zi Kingdom remained benevolent and make amends for the Golden-Haired Monkey’s harm to palace maids.
• Ao Tu told Wukong to help rescue his granddisciple in the Netherworld and fight any who tried to obstruct them.

Wukong accompanied Ao Tu and Guanyin Bodhisattva into the Netherworld to account for the unjustly killed victims of Qilin Mountain and compensate them with merit. On their way to see Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, they encountered Patriarch Styx, but Empress Houtu stopped their confrontation and demanded collateral if they wanted to fight.

• Wukong left Tang Sanzang and the others in Zhu Zi Kingdom and joined Ao Tu and Guanyin Bodhisattva in the Netherworld.
• King Yama found records of forty-two people killed by Guanyin Bodhisattva’s beast, and Ao Tu used merit to bless their reincarnated bodies.
• King Yama reported that two bandit leaders were being suppressed and delivered by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, so Ao Tu set out to visit him.
• Ao Tu urged Wukong to clear the road when Patriarch Styx blocked their way, and Wukong attacked him with his staff.
• Empress Houtu restrained Wukong and Patriarch Styx, then warned them to fight elsewhere and leave their treasures as collateral.

Empress Houtu took the Yuantu and Abi Swords from Patriarch Styx before returning them and leading Ao Tu, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and Wukong to the Emerald Cloud Palace to help suffering souls. After eighty-one days of reciting scripture, Ao Tu realized that the white lotus could not purify evil baleful beings, so he used the World-Destroying Black Lotus to absorb their Baleful Qi and refine his teachings.

• Empress Houtu confiscated Wukong's Golden Cudgel as a pledge and pulled the Twin Swords from Patriarch Styx, who then returned to the Blood Sea.
• Empress Houtu brought Ao Tu, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and Wukong to the Emerald Cloud Palace and asked Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to release the savage souls he had suppressed.
• Ao Tu, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and Wukong recited scripture to purify the souls for eighty-one days, but the Third-Grade White Lotus failed under the surging Baleful Qi.
• Ao Tu understood that the white lotus was meant to deliver good people, called forth the World-Destroying Black Lotus, and drew the Baleful Qi into it.
• The Black Lotus absorbed the Baleful Qi, grew from the third grade to the fifth, and helped Ao Tu perfect his scriptural teachings.

After purifying the Netherworld’s Baleful Qi, Ao Tu realized that grave sins still needed to be punished and asked Empress Houtu for permission to create a harsher realm. She revealed a place outside her jurisdiction and explained that he would need a primordial treasure to stabilize it, while Ao Tu said he already possessed a suitable treasure.

• Ao Tu gathered the Baleful Qi, grew the Black Lotus to the fifth grade, and completed the punitive teachings of his Path.
• Ao Tu decided that the souls’ accumulated sins required punishment beyond the existing Eighteen Levels of Hell before they could be reincarnated.
• Ao Tu and Guanyin Bodhisattva revived Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and Wukong, then all four left the purified realm.
• Ao Tu asked Empress Houtu for permission to create a realm that could refine grave sins and complete the Netherworld’s laws.
• Empress Houtu held Ao Tu fast despite the combined strength of Guanyin Bodhisattva, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and Wukong, then pointed him toward a place beyond her jurisdiction.
• Empress Houtu said a primordial treasure was needed to stabilize the new realm, and Ao Tu replied that he had a suitable treasure but had not brought it.

Ao Tu planned to open new realms in the Netherworld and Western Heaven, secured Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s help, and rescued Youlai Youqu by giving him a new body. He reached the Land of the Nine Netherworlds to visit his father and asked Guanyin Bodhisattva to find an immortal who could transform into his supposed wife, Lianlian.

• Empress Houtu advised Ao Tu not to take Patriarch Styx’s treasure, opened a hidden path for him, and warned him not to remove his father from the Netherworld.
• Ao Tu invited Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to help establish his new realms and promised him authority, while he and Wukong joked about their future positions.
• Ao Tu and the others returned to the Emerald Cloud Palace, where Youlai Youqu agreed to stay in the Netherworld but asked for a fleshly body.
• Ao Tu used Great Wizard Blood Essence to give Youlai Youqu a nine-headed, feathered body with a serpent’s tail, then left with his companions.
• At the Land of the Nine Netherworlds, Wukong departed and Ao Tu asked Guanyin Bodhisattva to find an immortal who could transform into Lianlian for his visit to his father.

Ao Tu visited the Jing River Dragon King in the Netherworld with Lianlian, then returned to the Zhu Zi Kingdom. Wukong learned the king’s policies had stirred public hardship and took Bajie to handle the remaining task Ao Tu had assigned him.

• Ao Tu and Lianlian visited the Jing River Dragon King, gave him gifts, and played chess with him and Yellow Brows.
• Ao Tu and Lianlian left the Netherworld and went their separate ways, while Patriarch Styx continued waiting at its entrance.
• After half a year away, Ao Tu returned to the Zhu Zi Kingdom, where Tang Sanzang and his disciples prepared to resume their journey.
• Wukong heard from a shopkeeper that the king’s shifting policies had caused merchants losses and public complaints.
• Wukong recalled Ao Tu’s unfinished request and pulled Bajie away from the guesthouse to carry it out.

Wukong and Bajie frightened the King of Zhu Zi Kingdom into recognizing the harm of his excessive hunting, then Wukong sought help to end the spell separating the king from his queen. Zhang Ziyang removed the queen’s palm-fiber garment, and Tang Sanzang and his disciples resumed their journey west.

• Wukong used a transformed wild boar to lure the King of Zhu Zi Kingdom to Bajie, whose true form terrified the king.
• Wukong, disguised by a strange voice as the Mountain God, explained that the king’s past cruelty and needless hunting were wrong, and the king admitted his fault.
• The king asked how to remove the immortal thorns keeping him from his queen, and Wukong later told Tang Sanzang that he would seek Mahamayuri Bodhisattva.
• Wukong found Mahamayuri Bodhisattva on Snow Mountain, who said he had not cast the spell and revealed that Zhang Ziyang was waiting in Zhu Zi Kingdom.
• Zhang Ziyang removed Consort Jinsheng’s Rosy Cloud Garment, revealing that the supposed immortal thorns were palm fibers he had given the demon king.
• The King of Zhu Zi Kingdom and his officials thanked Zhang Ziyang, and Tang Sanzang and his disciples departed westward.

Ao Tu found White Bone Spirit grievously burned after the Spider Demons brought her into Zhuogou Spring, where its solar fire reacted with her yin nature and bloody qi. He chose to temper her with Solar True Fire and Golden Elixirs, and the chapter ended with her reborn golden skeleton as he prepared to shape her a new body.

• Ao Tu reached Pansi Ridge and found the seven Spider Demons tending to a badly burned White Bone Spirit.
• Ao Tu explained that Zhuogou Spring’s solar fire had scorched White Bone Spirit because she was a yin demon tainted with bloody qi, then carried her into the spring for a complete rebirth.
• Ao Tu transformed the spring into a golden pool with his Demon Emperor bloodline and poured Golden Elixirs into it, while the Spider Demons joined White Bone Spirit in enduring the heat.
• By Wei Hour, White Bone Spirit had been reborn with a golden, jade-like skeleton, and Ao Tu took out the Fifth-Grade Black Lotus to shape her a body.

Ao Tu transformed the White Bone Spirit by giving her a body made from Fifth-Grade Black Lotus root, freeing her from her corpse-demon form. After she awoke, she thanked him and tried to repay him by seducing him, but Ao Tu rebuked her.

• Ao Tu reshaped the White Bone Spirit with Black Lotus root and refined the baleful energy from her body.
• Ao Tu let the little yellow spider eat the lotus-root scraps, and her sisters teased her before she got her share.
• The White Bone Spirit completed her transformation and found her new body comfortable and nimble.
• The White Bone Spirit embraced Ao Tu and thanked him for her rebirth.
• The White Bone Spirit tried to seduce Ao Tu, but he stopped her and scolded her for her unchanging behavior.

Ao Tu stayed at Pansi Cave after rescuing White Bone Spirit, who tried to seduce him while he maintained his distance. When White Bone Spirit reported that the Spider Demons’ master, Many-Eyed Monster, refused to join Ao Tu’s assembled demon forces, Ao Tu said she need not persuade him.

• Ao Tu rejected White Bone Spirit’s advances, gave her his robe, and accepted the Spider Demons’ invitation to stay at Pansi Cave.
• White Bone Spirit tried to share Ao Tu’s bed, but he chased her out and later discovered the youngest Spider Demon sleeping in human form on his chest.
• The eldest Spider Demon learned the youngest was missing and sent White Bone Spirit to check on her; White Bone Spirit went to Ao Tu’s room and climbed under his covers.
• White Bone Spirit told Ao Tu that his Blood Sea Incarnation had gathered demon kings from 269 territories and hundreds of thousands of demon soldiers and lesser demons.
• White Bone Spirit explained that Many-Eyed Monster at Yellow Flower Temple refused to associate with demons, and Ao Tu told her not to persuade him.

Ao Tu refused to let White Bone Spirit attend him until his struggle with the Buddhist Sect was over, then sent her to organize Blood Sea’s demon forces. The next day, he rejected the little Spider Demon’s human-meat banquet and went with her sisters to meet the master of Yellow Flower Temple, while she rushed after them in distress.

• Ao Tu told White Bone Spirit to stop trying to persuade the master of Yellow Flower Temple and ordered her to sort Blood Sea’s demons by whether they could restrain their nature.
• White Bone Spirit confessed her devotion to Ao Tu, who promised to consider her feelings after his struggle with the Buddhist Sect; she stayed beside him through the night.
• The little Spider Demon woke beside Ao Tu, mistook him for Sixth Sister, and then apologized when she realized he was there.
• The little Spider Demon prepared a lavish banquet of human flesh, but Ao Tu refused to eat it and asked her to take him to the master of Yellow Flower Temple.
• The little Spider Demon learned that Ao Tu had left with her elder sisters and denied that she liked eating human flesh before rushing after them.

Ao Tu visited Yellow Flower Temple with the Spider Demons and turned away the little Spider Demon's advances, encouraging her to cultivate instead. After the Many-Eyed Monster repeatedly avoided meeting him, Ao Tu asked for herbs to refine an elixir, prompting the Monster to agree out of curiosity and competition.

• Ao Tu reassured the little Spider Demon that he did not blame her for eating people, but explained that she should not stop unless she chose to cultivate for herself.
• At Yellow Flower Temple, Ao Tu saw through the Daoists' excuses and secured a guest room after the eldest Spider Demon insisted they treat him properly.
• The little Spider Demon visited Ao Tu in only a bellyband, but he refused her advances and persuaded her that their incompatible qi would make intimacy harmful to her cultivation.
• Ao Tu sent the little Spider Demon back to her sisters the next day, and she admitted that she had not succeeded in sleeping with him.
• When the Many-Eyed Monster again refused to receive him, Ao Tu requested common medicinal herbs so he could refine an elixir.
• The Many-Eyed Monster recognized the herbs as ingredients for a Detoxification Elixir and ordered the Daoist to provide them, eager to see what Ao Tu would make.

Ao Tu refined a Detoxification Elixir and a Counter-Detoxification Pill, then arranged for the Many-Eyed Monster to swallow the dangerous elixir. The Many-Eyed Monster survived after taking the counter-pill and recognized Ao Tu’s skill, then went to invite him personally.

• Ao Tu rapidly refined two pills with different yin and yang properties and named them the Detoxification Elixir and the Counter-Detoxification Pill.
• Ao Tu explained that the Detoxification Elixir could kill poisonous creatures and that the Counter-Detoxification Pill could neutralize it, then sent the pills to the Many-Eyed Monster.
• Ao Tu took the Spider Demons to the eastern courtyard, made a balloon for them, and secretly tied a centipede kite to the wall beside the main hall.
• The Many-Eyed Monster dismissed Ao Tu’s warning and swallowed the Detoxification Elixir, which began burning through his body.
• The Daoist helped the Many-Eyed Monster make three prostrations facing east and drink the dissolved Counter-Detoxification Pill, restoring him to health.
• The Many-Eyed Monster praised Ao Tu’s alchemy and set out to invite him from the eastern courtyard.

Ao Tu gained the Many-Eyed Monster’s trust by teaching him alchemy and formations, then offered to take him to meet heavenly friends. Ao Tu brought him into the Heavenly Realm and led him to Douniu Palace, where the Many-Eyed Monster stopped him from entering.

• Ao Tu explained how he refined pills and advised the Many-Eyed Monster on concealing the foul vapor of his poison.
• Ao Tu demonstrated formations to the Many-Eyed Monster for half a month, then taught the Little Spider Demon Daoist etiquette as a pretext to invite her along.
• The Many-Eyed Monster persuaded Ao Tu to take him to the Heavenly Realm instead, and Ao Tu left the Little Spider Demon behind.
• Ao Tu used his swift steps to carry the Many-Eyed Monster past the South Heaven Gate and guided him through the Heavenly Realm.
• Ao Tu and the Many-Eyed Monster reached Douniu Palace, and the Many-Eyed Monster hurriedly stopped Ao Tu from going inside.

Ao Tu brought the Many-Eyed Monster to Douniu Palace and invited the Host of Stars to attend a formation demonstration at Yellow Flower Temple. The stars agreed to join, and the chapter ended with Tang Sanzang and his disciples leaving the Zhu Zi Kingdom Area as Ao Tu received his rewards.

• Ao Tu waited outside Douniu Palace until Taibai Jinxing offered to announce him, then Kang Jinlong and Mao Riji came out to greet him.
• The Many-Eyed Monster watched as the Star Lodges, the Twenty-Eight Mansions, and many other immortals welcomed Ao Tu into the palace.
• Ao Tu shielded the Many-Eyed Monster from the Sun Star Lord's divine power and invited the Host of Stars to practice a formation he had found at the old site of Tang Valley.
• The immortals agreed to attend and entered their names in Ao Tu's register, while the Many-Eyed Monster accepted Ao Tu's friendship and title of Great King.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples left the Zhu Zi Kingdom Area, and Ao Tu received rewards including the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation Diagram and the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree.