Recaps

The collision between Cult Master Tongtian’s Purple Lightning Hammer and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi’s Auspicious Cloud of the Heavens caused an explosion that buried and battered them both. After arguing over who won, the two Sages started a childish brawl that ended when Yuanshi kicked Tongtian in the groin.

• Cult Master Tongtian’s Purple Lightning Hammer shattered Celestial Venerable Yuanshi’s final barriers, and the Law Treasures’ collision exploded, sweeping both Sages away.
• Grand Pure One Laozi protected himself with his Exquisite Treasure Pagoda, then cleared the dust and dug Tongtian and Yuanshi out.
• Cult Master Tongtian and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi each claimed victory and challenged the other to fight again.
• Tongtian jabbed at Yuanshi’s eyes while Yuanshi grabbed Tongtian’s beard, and the two traded insults as Laozi tried to separate them.
• Tongtian and Yuanshi spun around while tugging and poking each other, until Yuanshi kicked Tongtian in the groin and sent him rolling in pain.

Cult Master Tongtian and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi brawled over who had won their last clash until Grand Pure One Laozi declared it a draw and proposed a new contest. After they recovered, he suggested they use Law Techniques to create Demon Beasts of High Antiquity and let them fight to decide who was better.

• Cult Master Tongtian caught Celestial Venerable Yuanshi off guard with a dirty counterattack, and the two began trading blows.
• Grand Pure One Laozi explained that the explosion had left both fighters powerless and that their last clash had ended in a draw.
• Cult Master Tongtian and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi kept wrestling until Grand Pure One Laozi persuaded them to rest and recover their Law Power.
• After about four hours, Cult Master Tongtian and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi prepared to fight again, but Grand Pure One Laozi stopped them.
• Grand Pure One Laozi proposed that they use water or flames to form Demon Beasts of High Antiquity and have the beasts fight in their place.

Cult Master Tongtian and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi traveled to an overseas volcano and sea to settle their contest by creating Demon Beasts from lava and seawater. Their six beasts began fighting, with Cult Master Tongtian gaining a slight advantage.

• Grand Pure One Laozi directed Cult Master Tongtian and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi to compete at an overseas volcano surrounded by the sea.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi used the Chaos Pearl to teleport himself and Cult Master Tongtian to the island.
• Cult Master Tongtian used lava to create a Phoenix, a Three-Legged Golden Crow, and Vermilion Bird.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi used seawater to create a Water Qilin, a Jiaolong, and Black Tortoise.
• The six Demon Beasts clashed in three matchups, and Cult Master Tongtian gained a slight advantage because his beasts could all fly.

Cult Master Tongtian’s Phoenix outmaneuvered Celestial Venerable Yuanshi’s Water Qilin in their contest of Law Techniques. As the Phoenix kept the Qilin at bay, Tongtian mocked Yuanshi, who angrily fired back.

• Cult Master Tongtian’s Phoenix used fiery whirlwinds and a feint to escape the Water Qilin’s white vapor trap.
• The Water Qilin summoned tens of thousands of water swords, but the Phoenix’s hotter flaming feathers burned them away.
• The enraged Water Qilin chased the Phoenix and sent more water swords after it, but the Phoenix evaded its attacks with ease.
• Cult Master Tongtian mocked Celestial Venerable Yuanshi over the Qilin’s defeat and temper.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi insulted Tongtian’s Phoenix, and Tongtian continued provoking him.

The Phoenix defeated the Water Qilin, giving Cult Master Tongtian the first victory in his contest with Celestial Venerable Yuanshi. The second battle began with the Golden Crow chasing the strange Jiaolong into the sea, and its outcome remained unresolved.

• The Phoenix outmaneuvered the Water Qilin’s shifting water shield, broke through it, and struck him down before slicing him in two with a wing.
• Cult Master Tongtian taunted Celestial Venerable Yuanshi over the Phoenix’s victory, but Yuanshi refused to be provoked and turned his attention to the next battle.
• The Golden Crow launched a massive sunlike fireball at the strange Jiaolong, who feigned resistance with three water shields before diving into the sea.
• The Golden Crow’s attack burned through the shields and pursued the Jiaolong underwater, evaporating the sea and leaving a vacuum around the sunlike attack.

The Golden Crow and Jiaolong clash with killer moves, then resume fighting after recovering from a mutual explosion. The Golden Crow tricks the Jiaolong into swallowing a fireball, leaving him writhing in pain as Cult Master Tongtian mocks Celestial Venerable Yuanshi.

• The Jiaolong chased the Golden Crow with a killer move, and both fighters detonated their attacks, blasting each other apart.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi criticized the Golden Crow’s self-destructive attack, while Cult Master Tongtian took the remarks as praise and gloated.
• After roughly a hundred breaths, the Golden Crow and Jiaolong recovered and returned to their battleground.
• The Golden Crow hid a powerful fireball in his mouth and spat it into the Jiaolong’s open mouth when he surfaced to attack.
• The Jiaolong sank back into the sea, twisting in pain, while the Golden Crow cawed triumphantly and Cult Master Tongtian laughed at him.

The Golden Crow and Jiaolong fought to a stalemate until Celestial Venerable Yuanshi used Law Seals to reveal a true dragon concealed inside the Jiaolong, who defeated the Golden Crow through deception. Celestial Venerable Yuanshi claimed victory in the second round, while Cult Master Tongtian accused him of trickery and received the same smug reply.

• The Jiaolong dragged the Golden Crow underwater, then escaped his grasp and returned to the volcano, giving Celestial Venerable Yuanshi the first victory in their exchange.
• The Golden Crow and Jiaolong resumed fighting over the sea, trading attacks until the Golden Crow struck the Jiaolong in the head and kicked him underwater.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi formed Law Seals, revealing a true dragon hidden inside the Jiaolong and using the water-filled shell to lure the Golden Crow into a trap.
• The true dragon tore the Golden Crow apart as the Golden Crow destroyed the Jiaolong's shell, earning Celestial Venerable Yuanshi victory in the second round.
• Cult Master Tongtian called Celestial Venerable Yuanshi a trickster, but Celestial Venerable Yuanshi insisted it was strategy and said he had learned it from Cult Master Tongtian.

Cult Master Tongtian and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi traded insults while their Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise fought. The Black Tortoise wounded the Vermilion Bird with a swift water arrow, but she changed tactics and began to damage his shell as the battle continued.

• Cult Master Tongtian reminded Celestial Venerable Yuanshi that he had once called three Sages for help, and the two Sages traded taunts before urging their beasts to fight.
• The Vermilion Bird attacked with a rain of fire feathers, but the Black Tortoise hid in his shell and withstood them.
• The Black Tortoise launched a water arrow that pierced the tip of the Vermilion Bird's wing.
• Cult Master Tongtian laughed because the Black Tortoise's cry had answered his long-standing question about what sound a turtle made, and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi retorted that Tongtian's Vermilion Bird was a feathered beast.
• The Vermilion Bird abandoned her ineffective fire-rain attack and made several deep marks on the Black Tortoise's shell.

Vermilion Bird exploited Black Tortoise’s retreat into his shell to stab his vulnerable backside and wound his head. As Vermilion Bird tried the trick again, Black Tortoise began spinning to protect himself, and Vermilion Bird adjusted her approach.

• Vermilion Bird circled Black Tortoise with four flaming spears, then repeatedly clawed his shell until she realized his Law Power repaired the damage.
• Vermilion Bird stabbed Black Tortoise’s unprotected backside with a flaming spear, making him thrust his head out of his shell in pain.
• Vermilion Bird slashed Black Tortoise’s head before keeping the spears circling him and taunting him.
• Cult Master Tongtian teased Celestial Venerable Yuanshi about the attack, and the two agreed to watch the match without using dirty tricks on each other.
• Vermilion Bird tried to repeat her scheme, but Black Tortoise spun in the opposite direction to guard his vulnerable spot.
• Vermilion Bird circled in a wide arc and matched Black Tortoise’s direction, hoping to find an opening.

Cult Master Tongtian’s Vermilion Bird and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi’s Black Tortoise fought until Black Tortoise killed Vermilion Bird underwater. Celestial Venerable Yuanshi won their contest.

• Cult Master Tongtian and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi traded insults as Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise circled each other in the sky.
• Vermilion Bird flew close to Black Tortoise, who stopped spinning and struck back, leaving Vermilion Bird badly injured.
• Black Tortoise clamped Vermilion Bird in his jaws and dragged her into the sea, where the pressure weakened her further.
• Cult Master Tongtian and Celestial Venerable Yuanshi followed Black Tortoise to the seabed as Vermilion Bird struggled to escape.
• Black Tortoise killed Vermilion Bird with one blow, giving Celestial Venerable Yuanshi the victory.

Celestial Venerable Yuanshi defeated Cult Master Tongtian, then closed the crack in his Dao heart and gained a deeper understanding of his Great Dao. Left alone, Cult Master Tongtian brooded over the destruction of the Jie Sect until a heart demon took hold and he vowed to destroy the Primordial World.

• Black Tortoise defeated Vermilion Bird, giving Celestial Venerable Yuanshi victory over Cult Master Tongtian.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi entered a state of clarity as his Dao heart healed, and Cult Master Tongtian stayed to protect him.
• After a day and a night, Celestial Venerable Yuanshi emerged stronger, thanked Cult Master Tongtian, and departed.
• Cult Master Tongtian recalled how the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation failed to save the Jie Sect and how its disciples entered the Western Sect.
• Cult Master Tongtian brooded over the Heavenly Dao's destruction of his sect until a heart demon formed and he vowed to destroy the Primordial World.

Cult Master Tongtian tried to destroy the Primordial World while controlled by his inner demon, but Ao Changsheng’s Great Dao of the Five Elements Dao body stopped him and repaired the damage. The Investiture of the Gods Immeasurable Tribulation ended, and the Numinous Stone Monkey was born in the Saha World and began searching for food.

• Cult Master Tongtian used the Six Souls Banner to evade the Heavenly Dao and shattered the source of the Primordial World's energy with the Immortal-Slaying Sword.
• Ao Changsheng's Great Dao of the Five Elements Dao body restrained Cult Master Tongtian and merged three thousand worlds into the Primordial World, restoring and strengthening it.
• Heavenly Emperor Haotian attained Sagehood and Fuxi became a Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal as the Primordial World shattered; Ao Changsheng then freed Cult Master Tongtian from his inner demon.
• Cult Master Tongtian went to Ancestor Hongjun's Purple Firmament Palace to reflect, severed his third corpse during confinement, and became a complete Heavenly Dao Sage.
• Ancestor Hongjun thanked Ao Changsheng for helping end the Investiture of the Gods Immeasurable Tribulation, then began arranging the next stage of his plan.
• A Numinous Stone Monkey emerged from an immortal stone in Aolai Kingdom and, hungry and newly born, followed a Flower-Fruit Mountain monkey to find fruit.

A Shui befriended the Numinous Stone Monkey, named him Stone Monkey, and took him to gather wild fruit. After Stone Monkey narrowly escaped a venomous snake, A Shui taught him about fear and death and warned him to flee from danger.

• A Shui asked the Numinous Stone Monkey about his family and learned that he believed he had sprung from a crack in a rock.
• A Shui gave the Numinous Stone Monkey the name Stone Monkey, and Stone Monkey celebrated having a name.
• A Shui led Stone Monkey to a fruit tree, where Stone Monkey ate more than a dozen wild fruits.
• Stone Monkey ignored A Shui's warning about a venomous snake, but crawled toward A Shui just as the snake attacked and caused it to miss and die in the river.
• A Shui explained fear and death to Stone Monkey and warned him to run from anything that seemed hostile.
• A Shui offered to take Stone Monkey to pick another kind of wild fruit.

A Shui invited Stone Monkey to join his tribe, but two black bears attacked them while they searched for food. After the monkeys fought them off, A Shui brought Stone Monkey to a peach grove to eat and gather fruit before returning to the tribe.

• A Shui offered Stone Monkey a place in his tribe, and Stone Monkey eagerly accepted when he heard there would be food.
• Two black bears ambushed A Shui and Stone Monkey, who escaped by climbing trees.
• The younger bear shook Stone Monkey’s tree, but Stone Monkey’s urine landed in the bear’s mouth, while A Shui blinded the elder bear with thorn-covered fruit.
• The black bears gave up and left, and A Shui called Stone Monkey down from the tree.
• A Shui led Stone Monkey to a peach grove, where Stone Monkey ate his fill while A Shui gathered fruit and warned him they had to reach the tribe before dark.

A Shui brought Stone Monkey to the troop, where the chief welcomed him as family. More than ten years later, Stone Monkey used his extraordinary strength to kill a black bear that had attacked A Shui and eaten one of their troop members, then left with A Shui to find food.

• A Shui led Stone Monkey back to the troop and asked the chief to let him join.
• The chief welcomed Stone Monkey as a member of the troop and declared that they were his family.
• Stone Monkey settled into troop life, and more than ten years passed as he grew exceptionally strong and agile.
• When a black bear pinned A Shui, Stone Monkey fought it off and told A Shui to return to the troop.
• Stone Monkey killed the bear to avenge a troop member it had eaten, and A Shui returned to find him still smashing the bear's corpse.
• A Shui warned Stone Monkey that the blood might attract other bears, and Stone Monkey went with him to find food.

After Stone Monkey protected the monkey troop from the black bears, A Shui grew old and died, leaving Stone Monkey determined to learn how to overcome death. The chief explained that Stone Monkey could seek eternal life by learning the Changsheng Technique.

• Xiong Laoda and Xiong Lao'er found Xiong Laosan dead and suspected Stone Monkey had killed him, so they resolved to avoid him.
• Stone Monkey and A Shui gathered fruit, and Stone Monkey later killed the two remaining black bears, making food-gathering safer for the troop.
• Years later, A Shui died in his sleep before he could tell Stone Monkey what he had planned to share.
• Stone Monkey found A Shui unresponsive, brought the chief to examine him, and learned that A Shui had died.
• The chief explained the limits of mortal lifespans and told Stone Monkey that learning the Changsheng Technique could grant eternal life.

Stone Monkey left Flower-Fruit Mountain to seek an immortal and the method of immortality, but the winds carried him to South Jambudvipa instead of his intended destination. He traveled west with Red Sparrow, who learned how powerful Stone Monkey was, and Stone Monkey explained that his strength had grown naturally.

• The chief told Stone Monkey about Mount Lingtai Fangcun, made him a bamboo raft, and directed him to paddle toward the setting sun.
• Strong winds carried Stone Monkey across the sea to South Jambudvipa, where he frightened people, took a man's clothes, and learned human manners and speech.
• Stone Monkey remembered his quest and continued west, where he met Red Sparrow and agreed to travel with him.
• Red Sparrow helped Stone Monkey find food and water, then tried to warn him when a black bear approached.
• Stone Monkey fought the black bear until it fled over a cliff, and he told Red Sparrow that his strength had increased as he grew up.

Stone Monkey and Red Sparrow continued their journey in search of immortality, and Stone Monkey explained that he wanted to save his clan and his new friend from death. After crossing South Jambudvipa, they reached the sea separating it from West Ox Hezhou.

• Stone Monkey told Red Sparrow he had never met an immortal or learned magic, and that he had become strong as he grew up.
• An eagle seized Red Sparrow, but Stone Monkey grabbed the eagle by a talon, smashed it into the ground, and killed it with a rock.
• Red Sparrow led Stone Monkey to a river and nearby fruit trees, where they ate and rested before resuming their journey.
• Stone Monkey explained that he sought immortality to save his clan and his deceased companion's loved ones, and promised to help Red Sparrow live forever too.
• Stone Monkey said that if he could not find an immortality technique, he would learn enough skills to reach the Netherworld Underworld and erase their names from the Book of Life and Death.
• Stone Monkey and Red Sparrow reached the border of South Jambudvipa, where they found a sea they needed to cross to reach West Ox Hezhou.

Stone Monkey and Red Sparrow searched West Ox Hezhou for Mount Lingtai Fangcun, traveling west for more than a month until they reached a mountain that seemed promising. After hearing a song about immortals, they followed it and found a woodcutter instead.

• Stone Monkey and Red Sparrow crossed the sea to West Ox Hezhou and decided to search for distinctive mountains that might hold an immortal.
• Stone Monkey carried Red Sparrow as they searched, and Red Sparrow pecked him after he called him a fat chicken.
• The two ate and rested on the first mountain, then traveled west for more than a month without finding signs of an immortal.
• Stone Monkey recognized an unusual mountain and led Red Sparrow into it, where they heard a song about immortals.
• Stone Monkey followed the song and discovered that its singer was a woodcutter.

The Stone Monkey followed a woodcutter’s directions to Mount Lingtai Fangcun and met Patriarch Bodhi, who accepted him as a disciple. Patriarch Bodhi named him Sun Wukong, and Sun Wukong vowed to learn eternal life for his tribe and Red Sparrow.

• The woodcutter told the Stone Monkey that Patriarch Bodhi lived at Mount Lingtai Fangcun, then revealed himself as an immortal sent by his master to guide him.
• The Stone Monkey and Red Sparrow reached the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars, where an immortal boy led the Stone Monkey inside.
• The Stone Monkey knelt before Patriarch Bodhi and explained that he had sprung from an immortal stone on Flower-Fruit Mountain.
• Patriarch Bodhi recognized the Stone Monkey as the Numinous Stone Monkey and gave him the surname Sun and the religious name Sun Wukong.
• Sun Wukong thanked Patriarch Bodhi and vowed to learn eternal life for his tribe and Red Sparrow.

After seven years of study, Sun Wukong rejected several teachings that could not grant immortality, then learned the Seventy-Two Transformations, the Somersault Cloud, and the Great Grade Heavenly Immortal Formula. He returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain, where exploring with Red Sparrow led him to discover something behind a waterfall.

• Sun Wukong delighted in Old Ancestor Bodhi's lecture, but refused the Technique, Flow, and Stillness schools because they could not grant immortality.
• Old Ancestor Bodhi struck Sun Wukong three times and left; Sun Wukong understood the signal and later received instruction in the Seventy-Two Transformations, the Somersault Cloud, and the Great Grade Heavenly Immortal Formula.
• After about three years, Patriarch Bodhi sent Sun Wukong back to Flower-Fruit Mountain and forbade him from revealing who taught him the Law Techniques.
• Ao Changsheng's Great Dao of the Five Elements Dao body met Old Ancestor Bodhi, who revealed that he was Ancestor Hongjun and had arranged for Sun Wukong to become a key figure in the second Immeasurable Tribulation.
• Sun Wukong and Red Sparrow returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain in less than half a shichen, and Sun Wukong explored the mountain with him.
• Sun Wukong followed a river to a waterfall, flew up its face, and spotted something behind the falling water.

After completing his training, Sun Wukong discovered the Water Curtain Cave and returned to rescue his monkey tribe from the Demon King of Havoc. He moved the tribe into the cave and set out to save captives held by three other Demon Beasts, beginning with the Red Tiger Demon King.

• Sun Wukong found the Water Curtain Cave behind the waterfall and decided it would shelter the monkeys.
• Sun Wukong killed the Demon King of Havoc, who had enslaved and eaten members of the tribe.
• Sun Wukong reunited with the aged chief, told him he had completed his training, and led the tribe toward the Water Curtain Cave.
• The chief told Sun Wukong that three Demon Beasts held other monkeys captive in the north, west, and east, so Sun Wukong flew off to rescue them.
• Sun Wukong found the Red Tiger Demon King keeping monkeys in cages as food and attacked him.

Sun Wukong killed the Red Tiger Demon King and freed the imprisoned monkeys, then sent them to make their home in the Water Curtain Cave. He set out to rescue the rest of his kin from the demon kings in the west and east.

• Sun Wukong defeated the Red Tiger Demon King with his bare strength and killed him using his own saber.
• Sun Wukong freed the imprisoned monkeys and told them to go to the Water Curtain Cave, where their kin had settled.
• Sun Wukong reunited with his old playmate Mutou and asked him to lead the monkeys to their new home.
• Mutou warned Sun Wukong that the western and eastern demon kings were sworn brothers of the Red Fox Demon King, but Sun Wukong assured him he could defeat them.
• Sun Wukong departed on the Somersault Cloud toward the western demon king, whom Mutou identified as the Demon Tiger Demon King, while the eastern demon king was the Jiaolong King.

Sun Wukong traveled west to confront the Demon Tiger Demon King and search for his missing companions, Dazhuang and Zhuzi. After easily defeating the cave guards Heng and Ha, he learned that the Demon Tiger Demon King treated his captured demons fairly and had even taught some of them cultivation.

• Mutou told Sun Wukong that Dazhuang and Zhuzi might have been captured by the other demon kings, and Sun Wukong hurried west.
• Sun Wukong arrived at the Demon Tiger Demon King's cave, where Heng and Ha tried to stop him from entering.
• Sun Wukong dodged the wolves' attack, knocked their heads together, and forced them to beg for mercy.
• Heng and Ha told Sun Wukong that the Demon Tiger Demon King had cultivated for over eight hundred years and captured demons to catch fish for him.
• Heng and Ha explained that the Demon Tiger Demon King kept his promise to release the captured demons after ten years and often treated them well, taught them cultivation, and let them stay as underlings.

Sun Wukong investigated the Demon Tiger Demon King and found that he treated the captured monkeys and his underlings well. He challenged the king for the monkeys’ freedom, and their contest began outside the cave.

• Heng and Ha, the Two Wolves, pleaded with Sun Wukong not to kill the Demon Tiger Demon King and told him the monkeys were treated well.
• Sun Wukong entered the cave and saw the monkeys eating with the lesser demons, healthy and unharmed, including his childhood playmate Zhuzi.
• Sun Wukong challenged the Demon Tiger Demon King: the winner would decide whether the monkeys could leave or whether new demons would be found to catch fish.
• After finishing his meal, the Demon Tiger Demon King moved the contest outside and let Sun Wukong strike first.
• Sun Wukong’s punch drove the Demon Tiger Demon King back, and the king answered by leaping toward him with a kick.