Chapter Summaries

Xu Xiao agreed to join the Journey to the West Calamity in Zhu Bajie's place after securing Grand Master Xuandu's promises about his duties, safety, and avoiding reincarnation as a pig. He then accepted Zhenwu's explanation that entering the struggle against Buddhism would earn him merit and the favor of Taoist immortals, and prepared to take part.

• Xu Xiao reasoned that Zhu Bajie was the only member of the journey west who could be replaced, but refused to take Tianpeng's place if it meant being reborn as a pig.
• Xu Xiao listed conditions for joining the journey, including clear instructions, protection from the Western Sect and Heavenly Court, and help if his plans went wrong.
• Grand Master Xuandu accepted Xu Xiao's conditions, assured him that no one could scatter his soul, and left the remaining arrangements to Zhenwu.
• Xu Xiao teased Zhenwu for bringing him into the scheme, then said he would enter the game for the Taoist cause.
• Zhenwu said Taoist immortals would owe Xu Xiao a favor whether he succeeded or failed, and Xu Xiao recognized the struggle over faith and incense offerings as too important for the gods to yield.

Xu Xiao asked Zhenwu about the Journey to the West Calamity and learned that it had only recently been approved, leaving him time to prepare before the journey began. Zhenwu gave Xu Xiao a gourd of immortal pills and advised him to cultivate until he formed his Dharma Body, then use the pills to reach the Heavenly Immortal realm and serve in the Heavenly Court.

• Xu Xiao asked Zhenwu to explain the Journey to the West Calamity and its current progress.
• Zhenwu explained that the Western Sect sought to settle its karma by spreading Buddhism eastward, and urged Xu Xiao to punish demons that preyed on humans in Western Godaniya.
• Zhenwu told Xu Xiao that the journey had only just been settled and that the spirit born from the calamity had not yet emerged.
• Xu Xiao realized he had centuries to grow stronger and considered meeting the monkey before its rise to power.
• Zhenwu gave Xu Xiao a gourd of immortal pills as an apology for telling their master about him without permission.
• Zhenwu advised Xu Xiao to form his Dharma Body before using the pills to reach the Heavenly Immortal realm, then serve as an official in the Heavenly Court.

Xu Xiao learned that Jin Chanzi’s reincarnations had begun and that the Daoist Sect wanted him to take a Heavenly Court post to influence the Journey to the West Calamity. Reassured he would not be listed in the Investiture of the Gods, he agreed, while Grand Master Xuandu and Zhenwu revealed they intended to use him as an outsider able to alter fate.

• Zhenwu showed Xu Xiao Jin Chanzi’s first reincarnation and explained that Buddhism had begun planting hidden pieces in the east.
• Xu Xiao worried that taking a Heavenly Court post would put him on the Investiture of the Gods, but Zhenwu promised he would not be listed.
• Xu Xiao accepted the arrangement and returned to cultivation after asking Zhenwu and Grand Master Xuandu to handle the preparations.
• After Xu Xiao left, Grand Master Xuandu appeared and Zhenwu reported that Xu Xiao had agreed to help.
• Grand Master Xuandu explained that he hoped Xu Xiao would reverse a major event in the Journey to the West Calamity, weakening Buddhism across the myriad worlds.

Xu Xiao comprehended the Reversing the Dao of Cause and Effect and learned to gather Power of Variables by quietly changing fated events. He condensed the Dao to minor accomplishment and prepared to form his Dharma Body and take an immortal pill.

• Xu Xiao studied the mottled Dao mark and concluded that reversing cause and effect meant guiding events and gathering variables rather than challenging the Heavenly Dao by force.
• Xu Xiao used his Golden Pupil of Myriad Phenomena to examine the Journey to the West World’s major fates and identify small changes that could accumulate Power of Variables.
• Xu Xiao saw possible alternate timelines and realized that the Dao could extract possibilities the Heavenly Dao had not adopted.
• Xu Xiao condensed golden threads of altered cause and effect into a ribbon, completing the Reversing the Dao of Cause and Effect to minor accomplishment and becoming undetectable to methods of perception and deduction.
• Xu Xiao decided to condense his Dharma Body and then swallow an immortal pill.

Xu Xiao condensed a Dharma Body by merging his Dao marks into his Nascent Soul and endured the gathering lightning without hesitation. His completed Dharma Body could reverse cause and effect, and he prepared to break through to the Heavenly Immortal realm.

• Xu Xiao began condensing his Dharma Body in a side hall on Mount Wudang, drawing in Spiritual Energy and merging his Dao marks into his Nascent Soul.
• Dark clouds gathered over the sanctuary, and Great Emperor Zhenwu told the golden boy and jade girl to keep the disciples away from the side hall.
• Xu Xiao continued forming his Dharma Body as the Heavenly Dao’s lightning punishment gathered overhead.
• Golden threads of cause and effect wrapped around Xu Xiao’s expanding Nascent Soul and transformed into a mystical robe covered in Dao patterns.
• Xu Xiao completed a Dharma Body that transcended cause and effect, then resolved to break through to the Heavenly Immortal realm.

Xu Xiao swallowed Laojun’s Golden Cores and became a Heavenly Immortal, triggering an immense tribulation that combined several calamities. He calmly withstood the divine wind and Heartfire Tribulations, then faced the first bolt of purplish-red lightning.

• Xu Xiao swallowed the Golden Cores and steadily raised his cultivation until he became a Heavenly Immortal.
• Taohua, the golden boy, and Mount Wudang’s disciples noticed the tribulation clouds growing vast and realized Xu Xiao faced an Immortal Ascension Tribulation.
• Cultivators from nearby sanctuaries gathered outside the tribulation’s range to watch, while beings above the heavens turned their attention toward Mount Wudang.
• Xu Xiao left the side hall and recognized that multiple tribulations had merged because his cultivation had advanced too quickly for the Heavenly Dao to react.
• Xu Xiao resisted the Divine Wind and Heartfire Tribulations, suppressed the desire flame, and captured some of its essence.
• The tribulation lightning struck Xu Xiao with a bolt of purplish-red lightning.

Xu Xiao endured the Six-Nine Heavenly Immortal Lightning Tribulation with his body alone and completed his transformation into a Heavenly Immortal. Great Emperor Zhenwu sealed Mount Wudang to keep outsiders from learning who had undergone the tribulation.

• Xu Xiao stood in the lightning and let it temper his Magic Power, fleshly body, and Dao principles, realizing the tribulation brought benefits as well as danger.
• The Zhenwu Daoist Sanctuary’s observers admired Xu Xiao’s strength, and Great Emperor Zhenwu judged that he might fight an ordinary Golden Immortal if he learned combat divine abilities.
• The tribulation clouds faded after the final bolt, and Xu Xiao sat cultivating as his Heavenly Immortal cultivation became evident.
• Great Emperor Zhenwu activated the sanctuary’s formation and closed Mount Wudang to outsiders as Xu Xiao completed his tribulation.
• Zhenwu refused visitors’ questions about Xu Xiao and drove away those who persisted with a shout of divine might.

Tathagata sent Bodhisattva Guanyin to search the realms for a newly emerged adept, while Xu Xiao completed his breakthrough to Heavenly Immortal and learned that he would receive a Heavenly Court post that could let him monitor the Journey to the West. Zhenwu took Xu Xiao to meet the Heavenly Emperor, telling him to conceal his Daoist affiliation for now and trust that their master would arrange his role in the calamity.

• Tathagata sensed a new adept who could evade cause, effect, and fate, and sent Bodhisattva Guanyin to search the realms for them.
• Xu Xiao emerged from meditation after breaking through from Dharma Body to Heavenly Immortal, and Great Emperor Zhenwu praised his concealment technique.
• Xu Xiao decided not to reverse the heavenly tribulation, wary of exposing his Power of Variables and attracting the attention of powerful figures.
• Zhenwu warned Xu Xiao that reversing cause and effect could not defy the Sages or the Heavenly Dao, and advised him to leave some flaws in his concealment.
• Zhenwu told Xu Xiao that their master had arranged a post for him as Nine Heavens Duty Officer of the Sky-Patrolling Bureau, giving him grounds to monitor variables in the Journey to the West Calamity.
• Zhenwu told Xu Xiao to present himself as a promising cultivator from the lower realm rather than a disciple of the Three Pure Ones Daoist School, then took him toward the Heavenly Court to meet the Heavenly Emperor.

Zhenwu brought Xu Xiao into the Heavenly Realm to receive his register and introduced him to powerful officials who tested his abilities. The chapter left Xu Xiao and Zhenwu arriving at the Ling Xiao Treasure Hall.

• Zhenwu led Xu Xiao through the Northern Heaven's Gate and into the Ziwei Enclosure.
• Great Emperor Ziwei tested Xu Xiao's concealed fate, praised his Dao, and gave him a Star God Guide that let him sense the stars and contact Ziwei.
• Wang Lingguan tested Xu Xiao with Samadhi True Fire, which Xu Xiao's Dao of Reversing Cause and Effect silently dispelled.
• Zhenwu warned Xu Xiao that some in the Heavenly Court opposed his involvement in the Journey to the West and told him to judge others' tests for himself.
• Zhenwu led Xu Xiao to the Ling Xiao Treasure Hall.

Xu Xiao faced the Jade Emperor and the assembled Heavenly Court officials as Zhenwu recommended him for a post in the Sky-Patrolling Bureau. The Jade Emperor appointed him Nine Heavens Duty Officer, but Guanyin arrived with a Buddhist greeting just as Xu Xiao was about to accept the appointment.

• Zhenwu brought Xu Xiao before the Jade Emperor and recommended him as a candidate for the Sky-Patrolling Bureau.
• The Jade Emperor examined Xu Xiao, but Xu Xiao concealed his presence and the laws of cause and effect he cultivated.
• Taibai Jinxing, Supreme Laojun, and other Daoist officials supported Xu Xiao’s appointment.
• The Jade Emperor appointed Xu Xiao Nine Heavens Duty Officer of the Sky-Patrolling Bureau and awarded him one flat peach and three Golden Cores.
• Guanyin entered the hall with the Buddha’s decree and congratulated the Heavenly Court, leaving the assembled officials in silence.

Guanyin visited the Ling Xiao Hall to deliver the Buddha’s message and questioned Xu Xiao about his origins, suspecting he might be a Daoist Sect pawn. After Xu Xiao received his Heavenly Court office, Zhenwu warned him about the Western Sect and offered to help him obtain protective divine abilities before his patrols began.

• Guanyin entered the Ling Xiao Hall, failed to divine Xu Xiao’s origins, and questioned him about his cultivation and background.
• Guanyin conveyed the Buddha’s wish for the Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain to cooperate, then urged Xu Xiao to patrol diligently before leaving.
• Nezha criticized the Buddhist Sect’s impatience, while Taibai Jinxing cautioned him and Zhenwu warned Xu Xiao that variables and dangers remained.
• The Jade Emperor gave Xu Xiao three days to prepare before patrolling the Three Realms, and Xu Xiao received his register, name entry, and divine seal.
• Zhenwu warned Xu Xiao that the Western Sect had noticed him and offered to take him to the Divine Ability Pavilion to request protective arts.

Zhenwu escorted Xu Xiao to the Sky-Patrolling Bureau and then took him to the heavily guarded Divine Ability Pavilion to choose cultivation techniques and divine abilities. After the pavilion’s formation recognized Zhenwu’s token and Xu Xiao’s official seal, the two entered.

• Zhenwu brought Xu Xiao to the Sky-Patrolling Bureau in the seventeenth heaven, where its officials and guards welcomed their new superior.
• Xu Xiao told the waiting officials he would formally take office in three days, then left with Zhenwu without entering the bureau.
• Xu Xiao explained that he disliked flattering subordinates and preferred to seek guidance from Zhenwu.
• Zhenwu took Xu Xiao to the Divine Ability Pavilion in the twenty-first heaven and explained that the Ziwei Enclosure’s Heavenly Cycle Star Formation guarded it.
• Zhenwu presented the Northern Emperor’s token, and the formation recognized Xu Xiao’s duty-officer seal and opened a path into the pavilion.

Xu Xiao visited the Divine Ability Pavilion with Zhenwu, who helped him choose abilities suited to his work as a Heaven Inspector and his Dao of Cause and Effect. Xu Xiao received three arts and began absorbing their insights, leaving with Zhenwu's advice to keep studying them and align them with his Great Dao.

• Xu Xiao asked Zhenwu to sort through the pavilion's countless divine abilities and recommend suitable choices.
• Zhenwu recommended the All-Heaven Star Translocation Divine Ability for travel and offered Xu Xiao his own Nine Heavens Lightning Tribulation Demon-Subduing Sword Art as an additional gift.
• Xu Xiao examined the cause-and-effect arts and chose the Cause and Effect Tribulation Sword, a fragment of a divine ability created by Lady Nüwa.
• Zhenwu explained the sword's origins and difficulty, then used his token to send the All-Heaven Star Translocation Divine Ability and Cause and Effect Tribulation Sword into Xu Xiao.
• Zhenwu advised Xu Xiao to study the arts and bring them into accord with his Great Dao, and Xu Xiao nodded.

Xu Xiao took up his post at the Sky-Patrolling Bureau and discovered that its All-Heavens Star Mirror could reveal the cause and effect and fates of beings across the Three Realms. He used the mirror to alter a mortal’s fate and watched to see what would happen.

• Xu Xiao formally began work at the Sky-Patrolling Bureau, where Wen Yuan welcomed him and handed him the bureau’s case files.
• Xu Xiao learned that the bureau monitored changes across the Three Realms and that its previous duty officer had been removed after failing to detect a disturbance in a lower world.
• Wen Yuan introduced Xu Xiao to the All-Heavens Star Mirror, a treasure that reflected the heavens and revealed causal connections and fates.
• Xu Xiao connected his Dao of Cause and Effect to the mirror and explored its visions of the Three Realms and countless worlds.
• Xu Xiao used the mirror and Reversing the Dao of Cause and Effect to quietly alter a line of cause and effect belonging to an ordinary mortal in the Southern Jambudvipa Continent.

Xu Xiao used the All-Heavens Star Mirror to change Li Laoshi’s fate from dying in poverty to becoming the wealthiest man in the region, then watched as the causes formed. Li Laoshi ate a mysterious flower in a cave beneath Yin Mountain, gained strength, and unearthed a chest of silver while working his field.

• Xu Xiao changed Li Laoshi’s recorded fate in the All-Heavens Star Mirror and watched new ties of cause and effect form around him.
• Li Laoshi entered a cave beneath Yin Mountain while searching for water and ate a small white flower he found inside.
• Li Laoshi returned to his field and discovered he had become much stronger and could dig the hard ground with ease.
• Li Laoshi dug into the wasteland beside his field, struck an iron chest with his hoe, and found it packed with silver.

Xu Xiao watched Li Laoshi’s fate change after he found a spirit herb and buried silver, and saw how those changes generated the Power of Variables. Tempted by the chance to use that power to attain the Dao, Xu Xiao decided to roam the worlds and alter destinies on a small scale.

• Xu Xiao watched Li Laoshi find a spirit herb and a chest of silver, setting him on a path to wealth and strength.
• Li Laoshi joined the village defense team, captured the brigand chief, and earned a reward and the title of “village brave.”
• Li Laoshi bought farmland, developed his martial skills and reputation, and his destiny to become wealthy and die peacefully grew certain.
• Xu Xiao observed that Li Laoshi’s changed fate had altered many lives in Qinglin County and generated Power of Variables for him.
• Xu Xiao considered intervening in the Journey to the West Calamity to gain enough power to attain the Dao, then chose to keep exploring worlds and changing destinies on a small scale.

Xu Xiao went to Flower Fruit Mountain to investigate the birth of the Stone Monkey and tried to reach him before the Western Sect could intervene. Guanyin stopped Xu Xiao from approaching, but he broke her restraint and attacked her, leaving them on the brink of a fight.

• Xu Xiao sensed the Stone Monkey's impending birth and traveled to Flower Fruit Mountain under the authority of the Sky-Patrolling Bureau.
• Xu Xiao discovered hidden traces of Western Sect involvement, then watched as the immortal stone cracked and the golden-furred monkey emerged.
• Xu Xiao prepared to approach the Stone Monkey, but Guanyin restrained him and urged him to leave the monkey alone.
• Xu Xiao broke Guanyin's restraint and insisted that investigating the newly born spirit was his duty.
• Guanyin used the Jade Purification Vase to stop Xu Xiao, but he severed its suction force with the Cause and Effect Tribulation Sword and sent more strikes at her.

Xu Xiao challenged Guanyin’s attempt to keep him from investigating the newly born stone monkey, then met the monkey on Flower Fruit Mountain and taught him basic knowledge of the world. Guanyin grew furious at the interference, while Xu Xiao stood ready to defend his actions.

• Xu Xiao rebuked Guanyin for obstructing his official duties, and she ultimately let him approach the stone monkey.
• Xu Xiao found the newly born monkey on Flower Fruit Mountain and sensed a subtle karmic connection between them, which he suspected came through Lady Nüwa.
• Xu Xiao warned the monkey about danger and imparted basic knowledge of the world directly into his mind.
• Guanyin accused Xu Xiao of overstepping and grew angry, but he insisted he had taught no cultivation method and challenged her to fight if she intended to stop him.

Xu Xiao granted the Stone Monkey sentience, provoking Guanyin into attacking him, and used the clash to expose her violation of Heavenly Court law. The Northern Emperor Heavenly Venerable intervened and confronted Guanyin with evidence, leaving her unable to justify her actions.

• Guanyin attacked Xu Xiao with lethal sweet dew after he granted the Stone Monkey sentience.
• Xu Xiao invoked thunder and formed a sword strike to block Guanyin’s attack while resisting her mantra.
• The Stone Monkey fled as Xu Xiao’s sword light collided with Guanyin’s sweet dew and Buddha light, threatening to unleash immense energy.
• The Northern Emperor Heavenly Venerable extinguished the collapsing energy and accused Xu Xiao of fighting without cause.
• Xu Xiao presented the All-Heavens Star Mirror’s causal reconstruction, which showed that Guanyin struck first.
• The Great Emperor Ziwei asked Guanyin to answer for the evidence, leaving her with no credible defense.

Guanyin admitted attacking Xu Xiao and faced punishment under the Heavenly Court’s rules, but Great Emperor Ziwei offered leniency if Xu Xiao forgave her. Xu Xiao accepted two of Guanyin’s treasures as compensation, and Guanyin went with Great Emperor Ziwei to receive her punishment, leaving Xu Xiao entangled with the Western Sect.

• Guanyin admitted her wrongdoing, and Great Emperor Ziwei excused Xu Xiao while laying out Guanyin’s possible punishment.
• Great Emperor Ziwei offered to treat Guanyin more leniently if she obtained Xu Xiao’s forgiveness.
• Guanyin apologized to Xu Xiao and offered him one of her treasures, but Xu Xiao demanded at least two.
• Xu Xiao took the Three Thousand Worlds Sand and the willow branch, while Guanyin kept the Eight Treasures Jeweled Necklace.
• Great Emperor Ziwei escorted Guanyin to the Heavenly Court to receive punishment after she and Xu Xiao settled the matter.