Chapter Summaries

Ao Tu organized his eight new disciples to prepare for and learn alchemy while Tang Sanzang and his companions entered Chechi Kingdom. Heavenly officials reviewed the Black Water River God’s and Mingniang’s deeds, awarding both major merit, and Mingniang was selected for a post in the Queen Mother of the West’s Flower Realm.

• Ao Tu told his disciples they could keep their usual clothes, then ordered Alu to change back into his kasaya because he remained a Buddhist Sect disciple.
• Ao Tu assigned the merchant to buy alchemy ingredients, the commoner to tend the furnace fire, and the royal grandson and princess to clean the Alchemy Furnace.
• After Alu returned in his kasaya, Ao Tu began refining an elixir and openly taught all eight disciples how to handle the ingredients and fire.
• Tang Sanzang and his three disciples entered Chechi Kingdom on the Spring Festival, while the changing of their Heavenly Court attendants’ shifts prompted a review of the year’s reports.
• Merit officials revised the Black Water River God’s record to one major merit for building a bridge that aided Tang Sanzang’s journey, and awarded Mingniang a major merit for feeding the pilgrims.
• The Queen Mother of the West selected Mingniang to tend plants in her Flower Realm after recruiting female immortals.

Mingniang became a female immortal and met Jiangzhu while learning about the Flower Realm. Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his disciples entered Chechi Kingdom, where they saw monks conducting a religious ceremony despite hearing that the kingdom detested monks.

• Mingniang entered the Celestial Immortal Pool, gained an immortal body, and was registered as a female immortal.
• Mingniang met Jiangzhu in the flower pool and learned that Jiangzhu was transferring her vital essence to help the Immortal Peony survive transplantation.
• Mingniang questioned Jiangzhu about the Heavenly Realm, then left after learning little from her.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples reached Chechi Kingdom and discussed avoiding trouble because the kingdom was said to detest monks.
• Bajie and Sha Wujing pointed out two monks entering a household to conduct a religious ceremony.

Tang Sanzang and his disciples were rejected by a household in Chechi Kingdom that claimed to invite only Daoists, though Bajie and Sha Wujing had seen two monks enter. They headed for Zhiyuan Monastery and discovered that its monks disguised themselves as Daoists, explaining how the two had disappeared.

• Bajie tried to join a household ceremony with Tang Sanzang and the others, but the servant refused to let the monks inside.
• Wukong investigated the house and found only Daoists performing rites, while Bajie and Sha Wujing insisted they had seen two monks enter.
• An old man warned Tang Sanzang that the people of Chechi Kingdom detested monks and directed the group to Zhiyuan Monastery.
• The disciples watched Daoists approach Zhiyuan Monastery, reveal their shaved heads, and change from Daoist robes into kasayas.
• Wukong realized the Daoists were monks in disguise and understood how the two monks had vanished earlier.

Ao Tu presented the King of Chechi Kingdom with a Body-Nourishing Pill, curing his illness and earning a high title and rewards for his disciples. Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his companions explored Zhiyuan Monastery, where the monks’ Daoist practices angered Wukong, and the chapter ended with the group facing a rude dismissal.

• After seven times seven days, Ao Tu finished refining thirteen pills and sent three to the State Preceptors while preparing one for the King of Chechi Kingdom.
• Alu presented the pill to the King, who recovered from his illness after taking it and granted Ao Tu a lofty title and authority over the Three Teachings.
• The King of Chechi Kingdom rewarded Ao Tu’s eight disciples, and Ao Tu later saw signs that Tang Sanzang and his companions had entered the city.
• Tang Sanzang and his disciples entered Zhiyuan Monastery and saw monks practicing sword techniques, reciting the Yellow Court Scripture, and making talismans.
• Wukong challenged a monk about the monastery’s Daoist customs, but the monk dismissed the group and left, leaving Wukong furious.

Wukong discovered that the monks of Zhiyuan Monastery were imprisoned and learned how Daoist immortals had oppressed them. The old abbot began explaining how the monks had been tricked into debt, leaving Wukong poised to investigate the scheme.

• Tang Sanzang and his disciples reached the guest quarters but found the monks unwilling to give them food.
• Wukong followed two monks and found elderly monks confined in secluded chambers, then froze the attendants and went inside.
• The old abbot recognized Wukong and said the monks had been imprisoned after three immortals gained the King's trust and promoted Daoism.
• The old abbot explained that Buddhist Guardian Garan had promised the monks a Great Tang pilgrim and Wukong would come to save them.
• The old abbot said the Daoists arranged inflated repair costs that left the monastery deeply in debt.

Wukong learned that Daoists and corrupt officials had seized Zhiyuan Monastery’s property, while Abbot Alu had imprisoned the former abbot and the other elderly monks. After promising to seek justice, Wukong planned to investigate Perfected One Taixi at court, and he spotted Alu’s return with royal rewards as well as a ceremony at Ao Tu’s location.

• The former abbot told Wukong that the Daoists had taken Zhiyuan Monastery’s farmland and debts, and that Alu had joined them and imprisoned the old monks.
• Wukong promised to get the former abbot justice, then confronted two monks and learned they had been told to pretend not to recognize him and drive him away.
• The two monks revealed that Alu was making elixirs with Perfected One Taixi, and Wukong told Tang Sanzang he would investigate at court the next day.
• Bajie suggested Wukong use his Fiery Golden Eyes to identify Taixi and the other Daoists, and the pilgrims ate the food the monks had left before going to sleep.
• Alu returned with royal rewards for helping Taixi make elixirs, while a ceremony honoring the Three Pure Ones took place near Ao Tu; Wukong saw both events from the air.

Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing sneaked into the Three Pure Ones Monastery and ate all the offerings after Wukong drove away the Taoists with a wind spell. They disguised themselves as the Three Pure Ones and were still in the hall when Great Immortal Huli and the others arrived to investigate.

• Wukong spotted three monster Taoists and an obscured figure at the monastery, then woke Sha Wujing and Bajie to join him.
• Wukong blew out the hall’s lamps with a powerful wind, prompting Ao Tu and the Taoists to leave.
• The three disciples entered the hall, exchanged courtesies, and transformed themselves into the Three Pure Ones’ likenesses.
• Bajie hesitated to move the Taishang Laojun statue, but Wukong sent all three statues away with a spell.
• Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing ate every offering before a Taoist patrol alerted Great Immortal Huli.
• Great Immortal Yang Li slipped on a banana peel as the immortals investigated, and Wukong laughed from above.

Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing tricked the three state preceptors into drinking their urine while disguised as the Three Pure Ones. After learning the travelers’ identities, the preceptors vowed to capture them, while Ao Tu tested whether they would pursue immortality by eating Tang Sanzang.

• Wukong told Great Immortal Huli and the other two to bring vessels for holy water, then he, Bajie, and Sha Wujing filled them with urine.
• Great Immortal Huli and Great Immortal Yang Li tasted the urine, and Huli sent a flask of it to Ao Tu before Wukong and his companions revealed themselves and fled.
• Great Immortal Huli and the others rushed to retrieve the flask, and Deer Power Immortal explained their humiliation to Ao Tu.
• Ao Tu identified the fugitives as Sun Wukong, Zhu Wuneng, and Sha Wujing, the disciples of Tang Sanzang, and the preceptors vowed to have the kingdom hunt them down.
• Ao Tu suggested that eating Tang Sanzang’s flesh could grant immortality, but the three preceptors rejected the idea as evil, and Ao Tu said he had only been testing them.

Ao Tu helped Great Immortal Huli and his companions restore the desecrated statues, then joined them at court as they accused Sun Wukong, Zhu Wuneng, and Sha Wujing of the offense. Wukong admitted the accusation after Ao Tu proposed a test, and Ao Tu challenged Wukong to prove his own charges against him.

• Ao Tu cleansed the eastern privy with lotus magic and helped Great Immortal Huli and his companions restore the Three Pure Ones statues.
• Great Immortal Huli and his companions asked the King of Chechi Kingdom to arrest Sun Wukong, Zhu Wuneng, and Sha Wujing for desecrating the statues.
• When Tang Sanzang and his disciples arrived to have their travel papers endorsed, the guards arrested them and brought them before the King.
• Wukong challenged the accusations and dismissed the rough portraits as insufficient proof, while Great Immortal Huli and his companions insisted they had recognized the disciples.
• Ao Tu suggested a sweet-water test, and Wukong warned Tang Sanzang not to drink before admitting that the disciples had caused the uproar.
• Ao Tu accused Wukong of shamelessness, and Wukong accused Ao Tu of oppressing monks and deceiving the King, prompting Ao Tu to demand proof.

Wukong challenged Ao Tu to a contest of magic after accusing the State Preceptors of harming the monks, but Tang Sanzang learned that the king’s account undermined those accusations. Ao Tu won the transformation contest and challenged Wukong to a treasure contest, exposing the Daoist origins of the pilgrims’ weapons.

• Wukong and Ao Tu argued over the monks’ deaths, and Wukong challenged Ao Tu to compete in magic despite Tang Sanzang’s concerns.
• Wukong stopped Great Immortal Huli’s rain spell and brought rain himself, but Ao Tu halted the gods’ weather and seized the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas.
• Wukong proposed a transformation contest, while Tang Sanzang questioned the king and learned that the monks’ resettlement money and the claims about elixirs were not as alleged.
• Ao Tu broke Wukong’s transformation by tickling him, claimed victory, and chose a treasure contest as the next wager.
• Ao Tu identified Wukong’s Golden Cudgel and Bajie’s rake as treasures of the Daoist School, leaving Wukong speechless and Bajie ashamed.

After his brothers were exposed and failed to defeat Ao Tu, Sun Wukong persuaded Tang Sanzang to wager the Brocade Kasaya, but the robe could not withstand Ao Tu’s attack. Wukong then challenged Ao Tu to a contest of supernatural arts, and Ao Tu summoned Primordial Beginning Yuqing Divine Thunder as the contest began.

• Ao Tu recognized Sha Wujing as the Curtain-Rolling General, and Sun Wukong proposed wagering Tang Sanzang’s Brocade Kasaya.
• Tang Sanzang reluctantly agreed to the wager after Sun Wukong, Bajie, and Sha Wujing urged him to continue competing.
• Ao Tu’s Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe blocked Sun Wukong’s strike, and Sun Wukong stepped in to protect Tang Sanzang from Ao Tu’s counterattack.
• Sun Wukong refused to admit defeat and challenged Ao Tu to compete in supernatural abilities and immortal arts.
• Sun Wukong attacked Ao Tu in midair, but the robe repelled his cudgel, and Ao Tu summoned Primordial Beginning Yuqing Divine Thunder.

Wukong survived Ao Tu’s Divine Thunder but lost their wager and was forced to worship the Three Pure Ones with Tang Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha Wujing. Seeking a way to resume the scripture journey, Wukong went to Heaven to recommend someone for an official post, and the chapter ended as he addressed Celestial Worthy Jade Emperor.

• Ao Tu’s Divine Thunder left Wukong badly injured, but Bajie forced the smoke from his lungs and woke him.
• Ao Tu sent Wukong to recover at Zhiyuan Monastery, where Alu cared for him until his injuries healed.
• Wukong, Tang Sanzang, Bajie, and Sha Wujing worshipped the Three Pure Ones, and Tang Sanzang admitted Buddhist arts were inferior to Daoist arts under the wager.
• Wukong asked Ao Tu to let them leave before completing the required 1,111 days of worship, but Ao Tu refused.
• Wukong left a false body at the monastery and went to Heaven, where Nezha told him the Queen Mother of the West needed a steward for her Flower Realm.
• Wukong entered Lingxiao Hall and told Celestial Worthy Jade Emperor that he had come to recommend a talented man for an official post.

Wukong persuaded Celestial Worthy Jade Emperor to summon Ao Tu to Heaven for an immortal appointment. After bidding farewell to the King of Chechi Kingdom and his disciples, Ao Tu ascended with Wukong, but the Growth Heavenly King stopped them at the gate until Wukong led the way.

• Wukong recommended Perfected One Taixi to Celestial Worthy Jade Emperor, who issued an edict and sent Wukong to invite him to Heaven.
• Wukong presented the edict, Immortal Tablet, and Golden Seal to Ao Tu, who accepted and gathered his disciples, the State Preceptors, and the King of Chechi Kingdom to say farewell.
• Ao Tu entrusted the Alchemy Furnace and a Furnace-Guarding Method to Alu, instructed him to watch over Tang Sanzang and his disciples, and encouraged his other disciples to continue cultivating.
• Ao Tu comforted the Little Princess, called her Moy-er, and promised to protect her from reincarnation if she completed her cultivation.
• Ao Tu ascended to Heaven with Wukong and the immortal officials; the Growth Heavenly King barred their way until Wukong led them through.
• Outside Lingxiao Palace, Wukong went in to announce Ao Tu, while Nezha laughed at Wukong's embarrassed manner.

Ao Tu received an appointment as Perfected Lord Taixi and took charge of the Flower Realm, where he reunited with Jiangzhu without revealing their connection. Wukong arrived to discuss Ao Tu’s disciple, but the chapter ended before he explained what had happened.

• Nezha noticed Ao Tu’s worried reaction when he said he was gravely wounded, but Ao Tu concealed his identity and entered the hall for his appointment.
• The Jade Emperor appointed Ao Tu Perfected Lord Taixi to oversee the Flower Realm, crediting Wukong’s recommendation and granting him gifts and a palace.
• Ao Tu led the immortals into the Flower Realm using the Taiji Talisman Seal, and Zhang and Lu restored the palace and named it Taixi Flower Realm.
• Ao Tu spotted Jiangzhu among the immortals but did not acknowledge her, then assigned her to brew tea when Wukong arrived.
• Wukong began telling Ao Tu that his disciple was too rigid, but the chapter ended before he finished.

After Wukong returned from heaven, he urged Tang Sanzang to leave Chechi Kingdom before completing their promised period of bowing, but Alu stopped them at the monastery gates. Alu challenged Tang Sanzang over breaking his word and demanded written proof that he was leaving by choice, leaving the travelers unable to depart quietly.

• Alu accepted repayment of Zhiyuan Monastery’s principal, returned the interest, built a hall for the Buddha statue True Buddha Taixi, aided the poor, and attracted many new novices.
• Wukong told Tang Sanzang that Perfected One Taixi had ascended to heaven and persuaded him to leave before completing the promised one thousand one hundred and eleven days of bowing.
• Wukong admitted to Sha Wujing that he had lied about telling Alu of their departure and planned for the group to slip away at dawn.
• Alu and the monastery’s monks and novices blocked the gates, then led Tang Sanzang into the main hall and questioned him about breaking his promise after only sixty days.
• Wukong claimed he was responsible for leaving, but Alu demanded that Tang Sanzang write a statement confirming he was breaking his promise rather than being released by the monastery.

Wukong sought Ao Tu’s help to release Tang Sanzang and his disciples from their punishment, and Ao Tu proposed a new contest between Buddhism and Daoism. Ao Tu gave Wukong letters to help arrange it, leaving Wukong to carry out the plan.

• Alu insisted that Tang Sanzang either write down his broken pledge or keep the betrayal in his heart, and refused to accept Wukong’s claims without a message from his master.
• Wukong visited Ao Tu in the Taixi Flower Realm and asked him to void the wager, but Ao Tu said the punishment had become a public matter in the Buddhism and Daoism Conflict.
• Ao Tu proposed that Buddhist monks compete against the Three Imperial Preceptors using Buddhist methods, with a Buddhist victory canceling the punishment and establishing a Buddhist lineage in Chechi Kingdom.
• Ao Tu wrote letters for the Three Imperial Preceptors and Alu, while revealing his identity as Jiangzhu’s benefactor and accepting her help.
• Ao Tu handed the letters to Wukong, who hurried off to put the new contest plan into motion.

Wukong arranged a new contest between Buddhist and Daoist disciples in Chechi Kingdom and obtained Tathagata Buddha’s approval to bring Buddhist teachings there. Kasyapa arrived at Zhiyuan Monastery to choose a sincere disciple, but found that its monks studied Daoist practices, leaving only the people in the meditation chamber to consider.

• Wukong returned to Chechi Kingdom, told Tang Sanzang what had happened, and secured Alu’s and Great Immortal Huli’s agreement to hold another contest.
• Wukong went to Spirit Mountain and persuaded Tathagata Buddha to support the contest and provide a Buddhist scripture.
• Tathagata Buddha sent Kasyapa with the Treatise on the True Dharma and instructed him to find a sincere disciple in Chechi Kingdom.
• Kasyapa arrived at Zhiyuan Monastery and examined over two hundred monks, but the six promising novices all studied Daoist texts and practices.
• Alu explained that the monks studied Daoist methods to sustain the monastery while remaining devoted to Buddha, then said only those in the meditation chamber had not practiced Daoist methods.

Kasyapa transmitted Buddhist scripture to three elderly monks at Zhiyuan Monastery, but they performed poorly against the Daoist disciples in the renewed contest. Alu offered his alchemy furnace to prove his devotion to Buddhism, and Kasyapa accepted him as a sincere disciple.

• Kasyapa selected the old abbot and two other elderly monks to receive the true scripture, then sentenced Alu to copy Buddhist texts for seven days for his past conduct as abbot.
• Wukong arranged a contest between three Buddhist disciples and disciples of Great Immortal Huli and his companions to take place one month later.
• The elderly monks struggled to cultivate, and the first monk failed to summon rain before collapsing from heatstroke.
• The old abbot lost the second contest when Deer Power Immortal's disciple defeated him with the Art of Moving Mountains, and Kasyapa stopped the third contest by making the final monk collapse with a headache.
• Alu told Wukong that Perfected One Taixi had instructed him to seek Buddhist teachings, and Wukong recommended him to Kasyapa.
• Kasyapa questioned Alu's Buddhist devotion, and Alu offered his alchemy furnace as proof, convincing Kasyapa to accept him.

Alu received the Buddhist scripture and helped Kasyapa spread Buddhism in Chechi Kingdom before Kasyapa returned to Spirit Mountain. Ao Tu organized the Flower Realm, then attended a Star-Contemplation Assembly where the Star Lords offered him their support.

• Kasyapa gave Alu the Treatise on the True Dharma, and Wukong used his Golden Cudgel to keep the old abbot and two monks confined.
• The Buddhist Sect won the next contest, and Kasyapa remained in Chechi Kingdom to spread Buddhism through Alu and a series of Sacred Signs.
• Alu returned the scripture to Kasyapa, then arranged a portrait of him transmitting the Dharma; Kasyapa praised Alu and departed for Spirit Mountain.
• Ao Tu assigned the immortals to offices in the Flower Realm, planted the Bitter Bamboo by the Immortal Spring, and told Jiangzhu to tend it.
• Taibai Jinxing and Little Alligator Dragon invited Ao Tu to Douniu Palace, where he and the Star Lords pretended to meet anew and discussed anything but the stars.
• As Ao Tu left the assembly, the Star Lords urged him to seek their help if he ever faced trouble.

Ao Tu received rewards for obstructing the Pilgrim and began studying alchemy, but his attempt to refine a Second-Turn Golden Elixir failed. After Golden Horn persuaded him to deliver two scriptures to Taishang Laojun, Ao Tu reached Herb Fields number 6,212 and found Lord Lao waiting for someone with a very particular carrying pole.

• Ao Tu collected his rewards, used xirang to enrich his Herb Fields, and reviewed the rewards available in the Tongtian River quest.
• Ao Tu studied a Three-Turn Golden Elixir, successfully made a First-Turn Golden Elixir, then failed while refining it into a Second-Turn Golden Elixir.
• Golden Horn asked Ao Tu to deliver the Elixir Classic and the Artifact Classic to Taishang Laojun at Herb Fields number 6,212, and Ao Tu agreed.
• Ao Tu accidentally saw the open scriptures on his journey and later arrived at number 6,212, where he found Lord Lao tending his Herb Fields.
• Lord Lao asked Ao Tu to carry water and manure with a pole weighing thirteen thousand five hundred jin that could change size and had bands on both ends, but Ao Tu said he did not have one.