Recaps

After the Jade Emperor ordered the Heavenly Court and Western Sect to stop escalating their conflict, Xu Xiao and Guanyin accepted the decree and withdrew. Xu Xiao resumed the journey west with Sun Wukong and Xuanzang, warned that the road ahead would be more dangerous.

• Taibai Jinxing announced the Jade Emperor’s decree, and Xu Xiao and Guanyin agreed to set aside their fight until the tribulation ended.
• Guanyin returned to Spirit Mountain with the unconscious Arhat Nadietuo, while Great Emperor Zhenwu warned Xu Xiao about the Western Sect and gave him a Black Tortoise Divine Talisman.
• Taibai Jinxing and Great Emperor Zhenwu departed, and Sun Wukong praised Xu Xiao for wounding Guanyin.
• Xu Xiao told Sun Wukong that their victory had depended on surprise and promised Xuanzang he would explain what had happened later.
• Xu Xiao, Sun Wukong, and Xuanzang said goodbye to the old cowherd and his family and set out west.

Xu Xiao challenged Xuanzang’s belief that seeking the Western scriptures would deliver all living beings, arguing that the quest might be a scam. He reassured Xuanzang that his original world and disciples would continue without him, then questioned whether the disciples would willingly accept their destined outcomes.

• Wukong complained about walking to Spirit Mountain, and Xu Xiao insisted they follow the Jade Emperor’s orders.
• Xuanzang sighed over his original disciples, so Xu Xiao concealed the group and began answering his questions.
• Xu Xiao asked whether Xuanzang sought scriptures for the world or for Buddhism, and argued that the scriptures might not truly deliver anyone.
• Xuanzang defended his vow, citing the Buddha’s promise and his wish to lessen the world’s suffering.
• Xu Xiao told Xuanzang that someone else would take his place and that his disciples would still attain their destined ranks.
• Xuanzang objected that the quest was good for his disciples, but Xu Xiao pointed out that they might not be willing to make amends.

Xu Xiao showed Xuanzang the truth of Sun Wukong’s past and the pilgrimage’s predetermined course, then revealed how the scriptures enriched Buddhist institutions without improving the world. The chapter ended with Xu Xiao asking whether Xuanzang would continue down the path.

• Xu Xiao brought Xuanzang’s primordial spirit into a dark world and showed him Sun Wukong’s birth and early life.
• Xuanzang watched Sun Wukong’s rise, rebellion against the Heavenly Court, and eventual imprisonment beneath Five Elements Mountain.
• Xu Xiao showed Xuanzang how the pilgrimage and its trials had been planned by the Western Sect and Heavenly Court, and how Xuanzang had used the Golden Headband to control Sun Wukong.
• Xu Xiao revealed that the scriptures’ return led Buddhism to flourish while temples exploited believers and the world remained unchanged.
• Xuanzang rejected the vision as an illusion and slander, but Xu Xiao challenged him to judge the truth for himself and asked whether he would continue down the path.

Xu Xiao shattered Xuanzang’s faith in the Western Sect’s motives and urged him to become a Buddha so he could impose his own teachings and save all living beings. Xuanzang returned to his body with a new obsession suppressed in his Buddha heart and continued the journey, while Xu Xiao prepared to expose the Buddhist Sect’s schemes.

• Xu Xiao told Xuanzang that immortals and Buddhas pursued their own desires and that the journey west served the Western Sect’s plans.
• Xu Xiao urged Xuanzang to become a Buddha and use his own teachings to change the Three Realms.
• Xuanzang questioned Buddhist doctrine and wondered whether he could truly deliver all living beings.
• Xu Xiao used the Great Dao of Variables to alter Xuanzang’s distant future slightly, and Xuanzang’s obsession took root in his Buddha heart.
• Xuanzang returned to his body, exchanged a glance with Xu Xiao, and urged the monkey to continue moving.
• Xu Xiao watched Xuanzang depart and planned to expose the Buddhist Sect’s evil step by step.

Xuanzang sought lodging at Guanyin Monastery while Xu Xiao and Wukong secretly followed him. A guest monk spotted the precious Brocade Kasaya in Xuanzang’s luggage and left with greed in his heart.

• Xu Xiao suggested that Xuanzang stay at the monastery, and Wukong recognized its name and cursed Guanyin.
• Xuanzang entered Guanyin Monastery alone while Xu Xiao and Wukong concealed themselves and followed him.
• The guest monk welcomed Xuanzang after learning he came from the Great Tang and was traveling west to seek scriptures.
• The guest monk exposed the Brocade Kasaya while handling Xuanzang’s luggage and stared at it greedily.
• Xuanzang covered the kasaya and kept his composure as the guest monk hurried away to prepare food and hot water.

Elder Jinchi coveted Xuanzang’s Brocade Kasaya and arranged to burn him and take it, but Xu Xiao exposed the plot and turned the fire against Guanyin Monastery. As the monastery burned, Xuanzang pleaded for mercy, while Wukong headed toward the nearby mountain spirits and tree monsters.

• A guest monk told Elder Jinchi that Xuanzang possessed a priceless kasaya, and Jinchi decided to visit him and inspect the treasure.
• Xu Xiao and Wukong watched the monks’ scheme unfold, while Xu Xiao said Xuanzang needed to face the tribulation and its lesson about greed.
• That night, Xu Xiao woke Xuanzang and showed him the monks piling firewood and oil around his room to kill him and seize the kasaya.
• Xu Xiao used Magic Power to spread the fire throughout the monastery, and Xuanzang begged him to stop as the monks cried out.
• Wukong arrived at the mountain gate of the nearby mountain spirits and tree monsters as the monastery burned.

Xu Xiao had Wukong bring the Black Bear Demon to him and used his Dao of Cause and Effect to examine the demon’s past, confirming he had not harmed innocents. He spared the demon and gave him instructions, while Xuanzang reflected on Jinchi’s greed before the group prepared to continue west.

• Wukong returned with the battered Black Bear Demon, whom Xu Xiao accused of encouraging Jinchi’s greed.
• The Black Bear Demon denied responsibility and agreed to open his Divine Sense when Xu Xiao threatened to kill him.
• Xu Xiao showed Xuanzang the Black Bear Demon’s past, revealing how the demon and Jinchi had helped each other while Jinchi grew greedy and the demon restrained his ferocity.
• Xuanzang acknowledged that even a devoted monk could succumb to greed and resolved to remain vigilant, earning Xu Xiao more Power of Variables.
• Xu Xiao spared the Black Bear Demon and gave him instructions, then told Xuanzang and Wukong to rest before resuming their journey.

At the Great Thunder Monastery, Guanyin warned that Xu Xiao’s strange Great Dao threatened the Western Sect’s plans for the journey to the West. After learning he had disrupted the Guanyin Monastery tribulation and claimed its merit, the Buddhist assembly demanded action, and Guanyin urged Xu Xiao’s execution.

• Tathagata told Guanyin not to be troubled by her defeat and insisted that the journey to the West would fulfill the Sages’ plans.
• Guanyin described Xu Xiao’s ability to erase merit and disrupt Buddhist schemes, while Jialan and other Buddhist figures dismissed him as a mere pawn.
• Kasyapa discovered that the Guanyin Monastery tribulation had passed without its merit reaching the Western Sect.
• Kasyapa reported that a strange fire had destroyed Guanyin Monastery, the Buddhist protectors had been blinded, and Xu Xiao had shared the tribulation merit with Sun Wukong and Xuanzang.
• The buddhas erupted in anger over the lost merit and the disruption to their plans for the eighty-one tribulations.
• Guanyin urged the assembly to execute Xu Xiao, even if doing so offended the Heavenly Court.

Guanyin persuaded the Buddhist assembly that Xu Xiao had become too dangerous to leave unchecked, and Tathagata approved a secret assassination disguised as the next journey-west tribulation. He assigned Manjushri and Samantabhadra to arrange the trap at Yellow Wind Ridge, where the Buddhist Sect prepared to strike Xu Xiao while protecting Xuanzang and Sun Wukong.

• Guanyin proposed using the next tribulation to conceal a coordinated attempt to kill Xu Xiao.
• Manjushri, Samantabhadra, Lingji, and other Buddhist figures offered demons and their mounts as forces to ambush Xu Xiao.
• Tathagata approved the plan and ordered Manjushri and Samantabhadra to stage the trap at Yellow Wind Ridge.
• Tathagata ordered the assembly to spare Xuanzang and subdue Sun Wukong if possible, while allowing the journey west to be postponed.
• Manjushri and Samantabhadra accepted the order and vanished to carry out the plan.

Xu Xiao and Xuanzang’s group entered the abandoned Ancient Kingdom near Yellow Wind Ridge, where Xu Xiao sensed the Buddhist Sect’s influence over the Yellow Wind Demon. The chapter ended as Wukong went to investigate demons approaching their lodging while Xu Xiao guarded Xuanzang.

• Xu Xiao sensed a surge of the Power of Variables but could not determine its cause, and he welcomed the changes it might bring to his plans.
• Xuanzang’s group passed Gao Village without meeting Zhu Bajie and continued west into the Kingdom of Flowing Sands.
• Old Wang warned them about Yellow Wind Ridge and suggested a route through the Ancient Kingdom of Sahali, but Wukong insisted they would continue west.
• Xu Xiao tried to alter the Yellow Wind Demon’s fate, discovered it was bound by many threads of cause and effect, and stopped before drawing the Buddhist Sect’s attention.
• The group lodged in the ruined city and saw traces of its former Buddhist presence before settling in for the night.
• Wukong sensed demons approaching, transformed into an insect to investigate them, and left Xu Xiao to guard the sleeping Xuanzang.

Xu Xiao and the others captured four rat demons who claimed they had once been humans from the Kingdom of Sahali. Xu Xiao’s investigation and visions revealed the kingdom’s Buddhist destruction and the curse that transformed its people, leaving him furious at the Western Sect and the beings behind the calamity.

• The monkey followed four rat demons as they approached the house, then immobilized them and brought them inside.
• Xu Xiao examined the rat demons’ pasts and grew livid before lifting the Immobilization Technique so they could explain themselves.
• The rat demons said they had been people of the Kingdom of Sahali until a strange illness transformed everyone into rat-like creatures after the king ordered Buddhism destroyed and rats revered.
• The rat demons explained that they could neither live normally nor die, and had taken the Yellow Wind King’s spying task in exchange for a chance at freedom.
• Xu Xiao used the leading rat demon’s blood to recreate the kingdom’s past, revealing the royal family’s destruction of Buddhist temples, the giant insect’s attack, and the rat demon’s arrival and appointment as state preceptor.

Xu Xiao revealed that the Buddhist Sect had cursed the people of the Kingdom of Sahali, and Xuanzang’s faith in its teachings collapsed. Xuanzang made great vows to become the kind of buddha who personally saved all living beings, shaking the world and drawing a startled reaction from Buddha Tathagata.

• Xu Xiao identified the rat demons’ affliction as the Sentient Beings' Skin-Form Curse and explained that its victims could be freed but not saved from death.
• Xu Xiao broke the curse on the rat demons, who returned to human form and asked to spend their final days that way.
• Xuanzang grieved over the Kingdom of Sahali’s fate and questioned whether Buddhist compassion and the journey west were lies.
• Xu Xiao told Xuanzang that the Buddhist Sect had used fear and the curse to punish the kingdom and draw offerings.
• Xuanzang vowed that, if he were a buddha, he would abandon status and offerings to personally guide and save all living beings.
• Xuanzang’s vows shook the Great Dao, caused the journey’s tribulation Qi to vanish from Spirit Mountain’s golden pool, and prompted Buddha Tathagata to ask whether a born buddha had appeared.

Xuanzang became Heart Light Tathagata, while Xu Xiao used the resulting surge of variables to attain the Daluo Golden Immortal realm. Their actions overturned the Journey to the West’s planned course, and Tathagata ordered an immediate attack on both of them.

• Xuanzang’s vows earned the Heavenly Dao’s recognition, and he became Heart Light Tathagata with a golden body of merit.
• Xu Xiao absorbed the Power of Variables unleashed by Xuanzang’s transformation and broke through to Daluo, uniting his selves across countless spacetimes.
• Xu Xiao cured the rat spirits of the Skin-Form Curse and turned its effects back on Spirit Mountain, injuring Bodhisattva Lingji.
• Buddha Tathagata and the other leaders at the Great Thunder Monastery realized that the Journey to the West had escaped their control, while Guanyin warned that Xuanzang’s Buddhist principles threatened their faith.
• Tathagata ordered forces at Yellow Wind Ridge and Lion Camel Ridge to surround and kill Xu Xiao and Heart Light Tathagata.

Xu Xiao fought the Buddhist demons who came to seize Heart Light Tathagata, using the Dao of Variables to turn aside their attacks and the Tribulation Cause Sword to strip Yellow Wind Demon of his cultivation. Xuanzang escaped with the rescued people while Xu Xiao remained to face Golden-Winged Peng and the others.

• Golden-Winged Peng, Yellow Wind Demon, Azure Lion, and White Elephant attacked Xu Xiao and demanded that he hand over Heart Light Tathagata.
• Xu Xiao altered Golden-Winged Peng's attack, and Wukong held off Azure Lion and White Elephant as Xuanzang protected the people.
• Xuanzang gathered the rescued people and flew east while Xu Xiao stayed behind to fight the demons.
• Golden-Winged Peng attacked Xu Xiao with a flurry of sword strikes, but the Dao of Variables made every blow miss.
• Yellow Wind Demon unleashed the Samadhi Divine Wind, and Xu Xiao severed his karma, reducing him to a yellow-furred marten without cultivation.

Xu Xiao struck down the Golden-Winged Peng with the Tribulation Cause Sword, stripping away his cultivation and reducing him to a chick. As the Azure Lion and White Elephant tried to flee, Xu Xiao unleashed the Power of Variables and sent it to Wukong.

• After watching Xu Xiao defeat the Yellow Wind Demon, Wukong summoned the Divine Staff of Battle and struck the Azure Lion, then met the White Elephant’s charge with another blow.
• Xu Xiao warned the Golden-Winged Peng that he had spared him because of a favor to an elder, but the Peng challenged him to attack.
• Xu Xiao thrust the Tribulation Cause Sword, whose fated strike pursued the Golden-Winged Peng despite his speed and bloodline powers.
• The sword stripped the Golden-Winged Peng of his Golden Immortal Dao Fruit and Ancestral Phoenix bloodline, reducing him to a tiny chick.
• The Azure Lion and White Elephant lost their will to fight and tried to flee, but Xu Xiao trapped them with the Power of Variables and sent that power into Wukong’s brow.

Xu Xiao helped Wukong unite his selves across countless worlds and advance toward Daluo, but Bodhisattva Lingji tried to stop the breakthrough. Xu Xiao killed Lingji and destroyed his Dao Fruit, openly severing any chance of reconciliation with the Buddhist Sect.

• Xu Xiao poured Power of Variables into Wukong, who gathered his selves across countless timelines and unleashed the Dao of Battle against the Azure Lion and White Elephant.
• As Wukong began breaking through to Daluo, Bodhisattva Lingji arrived and tried to strike him with the Flying Dragon Treasure Staff.
• Xu Xiao blocked Lingji and accused him of using the Journey to the West trials to conceal the Buddhist Sect's role in the Skin-Form Curse.
• Lingji tried to flee and claimed it was a misunderstanding, but Xu Xiao cut off his head and crushed his Daluo Dao Fruit with the Great Dao of Variables.
• Xu Xiao took Lingji's head, leaving the Buddhist Sect and himself in open, irreconcilable conflict.

After Wukong reached the Daluo realm, he and Xu Xiao went to Spirit Mountain to confront the Buddhist powers who had manipulated his fate. Wukong shattered Spirit Mountain’s protective formation, and a group of figures emerged to stop his next strike.

• Wukong reached the Daluo realm, recognized the schemes behind his fate, and thanked Xu Xiao for helping him gain a new life.
• Xu Xiao invited Wukong to confront the Buddhas at Spirit Mountain, and Wukong agreed to go with him.
• At the Great Thunder Monastery, Tathagata sensed the death of Lingji and watched Xuanzang, the newly recognized Light-Heart Tathagata.
• Wukong attacked Spirit Mountain’s protective formation with the Divine Staff of Battle, while Xu Xiao searched for its weak points.
• Xu Xiao empowered Wukong with the Power of Variables, and Wukong shattered the formation with one blow.
• Wukong charged to strike Spirit Mountain, but more than a dozen figures flew out to block him.

Xu Xiao and the monkey fought the Western Sect’s defenders at Spirit Mountain while Xuanzang held Buddha Tathagata in a Buddhist debate. Xu Xiao challenged Guanyin, and their clash left him intent on stirring up a greater conflict to gain Power of Variables.

• The monkey fought the Eighteen Arhats, injuring most of them as his Dao of Battle grew stronger.
• Buddha Tathagata tried to suppress the monkey, but Xuanzang arrived and invited him to debate Buddhist principles, halting his move.
• Guanyin confronted Xu Xiao outside Thunder Monastery and attacked him with the willow branch from the Jade Purification Vase.
• Xu Xiao countered with the Cause and Effect Tribulation Sword, and the Power of Variables shook Guanyin’s Great Dao.
• Guanyin revealed his Thousand-Armed Guanyin form, and Xu Xiao charged to fight him, hoping the conflict would earn him more Power of Variables.

Xu Xiao defeated Guanshiyin at Spirit Mountain before Great Emperor Zhenwu arrived to bring him back to the Heavenly Court. When Zhunti attacked Xu Xiao and badly damaged his Dao foundation, the Jade Purity Primordial Heavenly Venerable intervened and challenged Jieyin and Zhunti to fight.

• Xu Xiao used the Dao of Variables to overwhelm Guanshiyin while Manjushri and Samantabhadra debated whether to intervene.
• The Jade Emperor Great Heavenly Venerable ordered Great Emperor Zhenwu to mediate and bring Xu Xiao back to the Heavenly Court.
• Xu Xiao presented Lingji's head and accused the Western Sect of obstructing the scripture journey and harming mortals.
• Jieyin and Zhunti appeared, and Zhunti struck Xu Xiao; Xu Xiao survived by burning Small Chiliocosms, but his Dao foundation was damaged.
• The Jade Purity Primordial Heavenly Venerable appeared, claimed Xu Xiao as his grand-disciple, and rebuked Jieyin and Zhunti.
• The Primordial Heavenly Venerable summoned the Pangu Banner and challenged Jieyin and Zhunti to fight.

The Primordial Heavenly Venerable attacked Jieyin and Zhunti for harming his disciple’s disciple, Xu Xiao, and refused to back down despite their appeal to Hongjun’s Heavenly Dao tribulation. As their battle threatened to destroy Western Godaniya and destabilize the world, Jade Emperor Haotian mobilized the Heavenly Court and hurried to seek Hongjun’s intervention.

• The Primordial Heavenly Venerable rejected Jieyin and Zhunti’s claim of brotherhood and challenged them to fight over their attack on Xu Xiao.
• Jieyin tried to invoke Hongjun’s Heavenly Dao tribulation, but the Primordial Heavenly Venerable struck Western Godaniya with his Three Treasures Jade Ruyi.
• The Twelfth-Grade Golden Lotus blocked the first blow, but the Pangu Banner tore through its barrier and continued toward Western Godaniya.
• Jieyin attacked with his Golden Body of Merit while Zhunti sent the Azure Lotus Treasure Flag to oppose the Pangu Banner.
• Jade Emperor Haotian ordered the Heavenly Court to stabilize the world and contain the battle’s shockwaves, then went to the Purple Cloud Palace to seek Hongjun’s help.

After recovering from Sage Jieyin’s attack, Xu Xiao prepared to leave the world on Great Emperor Zhenwu’s advice, but a powerful newcomer arrived and claimed to be a fellow transmigrator sent by the Transmigrators’ Alliance. Zhenwu and Xu Xiao accepted Li Feng’s claim after he presented a token bearing the Heavenly Dao’s presence.

• Xu Xiao awoke in Zhenwu Hall badly injured, and Zhenwu apologized for failing to protect him from Sage Jieyin.
• Zhenwu urged Xu Xiao to recover and leave the world before Jieyin and Zhunti could attack him again; Xu Xiao agreed after restoring his immortal body with the Nine-Turn Golden Core.
• As Xu Xiao opened a World-Crossing Gate to depart, Li Feng appeared and blocked his way, prompting Zhenwu to attack him.
• Li Feng deflected Zhenwu’s strike, identified himself as a transmigrator, and said he had come to fetch Xu Xiao under the Transmigrators’ Alliance’s mutual aid agreement.
• Li Feng showed Zhenwu a token issued by Ancestor Hongjun that carried the Heavenly Dao’s presence, convincing Zhenwu and Xu Xiao that he was a fellow transmigrator.

Xu Xiao agreed to join Li Feng’s Transmigrators’ Alliance after hearing its terms, while Li Feng hinted that the alliance would handle Xu Xiao’s troubles. In Western Half-Godaniya, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable continued beating Jieyin and Zhunti for attacking a junior.

• Great Emperor Zhenwu verified Li Feng’s identity and returned his waist token.
• Li Feng explained the Transmigrators’ Alliance and offered Xu Xiao protection and help with his troubles.
• Xu Xiao questioned the alliance’s offer but agreed to join, deciding he could leave for another world if necessary.
• The Primordial Heavenly Venerable battled Jieyin and Zhunti, and their fight split Western Godaniya in two.
• Jieyin and Zhunti pleaded with the Primordial Heavenly Venerable to stop, but he continued attacking them for bullying a junior.

The Primordial Heavenly Venerable overwhelmed Jieyin and Zhunti, who tried to flee after their treasures and defenses were battered. Li Feng and Xu Xiao stopped their escape with a strange device, allowing the Primordial Heavenly Venerable to resume the beating until Hongjun's decree ended the battle for the time being.

• The Primordial Heavenly Venerable rejected Jieyin and Zhunti's pleas for mercy and continued attacking them with the Pangu Banner.
• Jieyin and Zhunti launched their Demon-Subduing Vajra and Blessed Divine Vajra, but the Primordial Heavenly Venerable's defensive treasures blocked them, and he struck both Sages in return.
• Jieyin and Zhunti tried to transform into the Dao and escape, but Li Feng and Xu Xiao arrived and used a remote-like object to suppress their Great Daos and freeze their departure.
• The Primordial Heavenly Venerable seized the chance to beat Jieyin and Zhunti again while Li Feng and Xu Xiao watched.
• Hongjun's decree brought the battle to a temporary end, and Li Feng told Xu Xiao he would get a chance to take revenge himself in the future.

Li Feng brought Xu Xiao to the Transmigrators' Alliance headquarters and explained its power and purpose. They arrived at the floating city of Aiyinuote, where the founding elder was waiting to meet Xu Xiao.

• Li Feng explained the Alliance's purpose as he led Xu Xiao away after the conflict with the Two Sages of the West had ended.
• Li Feng brought Xu Xiao through the Sea of Worlds to the Alliance's headquarters, where the world's Great Daos briefly suppressed Xu Xiao's cultivation.
• Li Feng explained that the Alliance controlled eight Great Chiliocosms and that the headquarters was sustained by the Great Daos of seven founding elders.
• Li Feng showed Xu Xiao the headquarters' diverse civilizations and explained that its natives served as cannon fodder and test subjects.
• Li Feng led Xu Xiao to the floating city of Aiyinuote, where a knight welcomed them and said His Supreme Majesty was waiting inside.

Xu Xiao and Li Feng visited the Transmigrators' Alliance headquarters, where they met Aiyinuote and shared their experiences and unanswered questions about transmigration. Seven days later, Xu Xiao left alone through his World-Crossing Gate to begin another journey.

• Lancelot, one of Aiyinuote's twelve powerful knights, guided Xu Xiao and Li Feng through the floating city to the laboratory.
• Aiyinuote finished his experiment, welcomed Xu Xiao and Li Feng, and asked them to set aside formalities.
• Xu Xiao and Li Feng told Aiyinuote how they had transmigrated, and Aiyinuote shared that he also did not know where his power came from.
• The three discussed the Transmigrators' Alliance's search for the truth behind transmigration and its mysterious powers.
• After seven days, Xu Xiao left the Alliance headquarters and stepped through his World-Crossing Gate toward an unknown world.