Primordial Era: A brick knocks Hongyun unconscious, and he seizes the throne at the start.

The Great Thunder Temple is resplendent in gold.

The Buddha sat high on a lotus throne, with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas arranged on both sides, bathed in Buddha's light, and chanting filled the air. Master Xuanzang walked into the Mahavira Hall and knelt in worship with his palms together.

"Disciple Xuanzang, by order of the Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty in the East, has come to seek the true scriptures. I beseech the Buddha to have mercy and bestow the scriptures upon me so that all sentient beings may be saved." Xuanzang kowtowed.

Buddha nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over Sun Wukong and the other two before finally settling on Lu Chen, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Tang Sanzang has had a long and arduous journey. Ananda and Kasyapa, lead Tang Sanzang to the Sutra Pavilion and retrieve the Tripitaka scriptures," the Buddha instructed.

Ananda and Kasyapa received the order and led Xuanzang to the scripture pavilion. The pavilion was filled with mountains of scriptures, a dazzling array. Ananda smiled and said, "Holy monk, the Tripitaka consists of thirty-five works, totaling fifteen thousand one hundred and forty-four volumes. You must carefully count them."

Just as Xuanzang was about to turn the pages, Kasyapa suddenly reached out his hand: "Holy Monk, is there anyone here?"

"Personnel matters?" Xuanzang was taken aback.

Ananda explained, "That's precisely the benefit. As Buddhist disciples, how can we transmit scriptures and bestow treasures empty-handed?"

Xuanzang's expression changed: "This humble monk has traveled westward all the way, and has nothing of value with him..."

Ananda's face darkened: "Then I will give you the wordless true scripture."

He casually picked up a few scrolls of scriptures and handed them to Xuanzang. Xuanzang opened them and found they were just blank sheets of paper, without a single word!

"What...what does this mean?!" Xuanzang was both shocked and angry.

Ananda sneered: "The true scripture is the one without words. All scriptures with words are illusions. Don't you understand?"

Sun Wukong was furious and drew his golden cudgel: "You two bald monks, how dare you trick my master?!"

Ananda and Kasyapa were so frightened that they stepped back. Lu Chen stepped forward, blocking Sun Wukong, and looked at Ananda and Kasyapa, then suddenly smiled.

"Ananda, Kasyapa, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Is your demand for compensation a Buddhist custom, or your own custom?"

Ananda and Kasyapa exchanged a glance and stammered, "Of course... it's a Buddhist rule."

"Buddhist rules?" Lu Chen nodded. "Then this humble Taoist knows a little about the rules."

He took out the Chaos Brick and tossed it gently. The brick hovered in mid-air, releasing billions of chaotic energies that instantly enveloped the entire scripture pavilion!

Ananda was shocked: "What...what are you going to do?!"

Lu Chen didn't answer, but simply raised his hand and pointed. Chaotic energy surged into the scriptures, and after a moment, countless golden light spots suddenly flew out from the mountain of scriptures, converging into a ball of light!

Within the sphere of light, countless illusory images of scriptures flowed and swirled, which were the contents of the Tripitaka!

Lu Chen reached out, and the ball of light fell into his palm, which he then put into his sleeve.

"You...you stole the true scriptures!" Kasyapa exclaimed in shock.

Lu Chen shook his head: "This is not theft, it's taking. You give me the blank scriptures, and I take the written scriptures. It's fair and reasonable."

Ananda and Kasyapa looked at each other, speechless with grief.

Lu Chen turned to Xuanzang and said, "Holy Monk, the true scriptures have been obtained. Let's go."

The master and disciple walked out of the scripture pavilion and ran into the Buddha. The Buddha looked at Lu Chen, his eyes flashing with Buddhist light.

"Master Qingfeng, what excellent methods you have."

Lu Chen cupped his hands in greeting: "Buddha, you flatter me. This humble Taoist is merely seeking justice for the Holy Monk."

The Buddha remained silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "Enough, enough. Ananda and Kasyapa were greedy and brought shame upon themselves. Tang Sanzang, since you are destined to receive this, the Tripitaka scriptures will be given to you. However..."

He paused for a moment: "The scriptures should not be passed on lightly, nor should they be taken for nothing. You must leave something behind to settle this matter."

Xuanzang thought for a moment, then took the purple-gold alms bowl from his hand and presented it with both hands: "This bowl was bestowed by the Tang Emperor. This humble monk wishes to keep it to thank the Buddha."

The Buddha accepted the alms bowl and nodded slightly: "Excellent."

The master and disciple turned around and left the Great Thunderclap Temple.

From the clouds, Sun Wukong glanced back at the magnificent temple and said with a pout, "Master, I have a bad feeling about this. It seems like Buddha is eager for us to leave."

Lu Chen laughed and said, "Because he knows that if he doesn't leave now, he won't be able to leave at all."

Xuanzang held the ball of light, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He had thought that seeking the scriptures was a sacred matter. But he never expected it to end up being a transaction.

"Master, is this scripture... truly the authentic scripture?"

Lu Chen looked at him and said earnestly, "Holy Monk, the scriptures are indeed true. But whether they can save people depends not on the scriptures, but on the people themselves."

Xuanzang seemed to be deep in thought.