Journey to the West: Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord

A remnant of the primordial world, he opened his eyes and beheld all living things; a thousand years spent alone, refining his heart and attaining Bodhi. He was no demon by birth, only a centipede born in the wilderness, instinctively pursuing the essence of the sun and moon. He was given the name Shenlou. When his intellect first awakened, he gazed upon this complicated world for the first time, caught between a demon's instincts and the call of the Dao. By a stroke of fortune, he entered an ancient cave dwelling and obtained the Thousand-Eyed Heavenly Scripture. Using his own body as a furnace, he devoured rare treasures from across the world and endured a hundred agonizing bouts of inner demons burning through him. At last, he opened all the eyes covering his body, one by one. Some could control the seven emotions; others could conjure illusions. Whatever his gaze fell upon, illusion and reality were his to command. In pursuit of the righteous path, he was enlightened by the mighty Bodhisattva Pilanpo and taken in as a disciple. But there he encountered the tribulation fated for him: seven senior Spider Demon sisters, especially the gentle yet steadfast Yun Zhi. As they practiced together day after day, the bonds between fellow disciples quietly changed into something more. Then a trial exposed his demonic nature, and his sect cast him out. In tears, he parted from the feelings he had never had the chance to confess. For the next thousand years, he lived in seclusion at Yellow Flower Temple, calling himself the Many-Eyed Daoist. He healed the sick and helped the suffering, while tempering the obsession and loneliness hidden deep in his heart into the Golden Light and Yellow Mist Formation, a formation feared throughout the Three Realms. He maintained a fragile alliance with the Spider Demon sisters, watching over one another until fate arrived. The coming of Tang Sanzang and his disciples was like a pebble dropped into the seemingly calm surface of his life. When Sun Wukong's golden staff swept through Pansi Cave, he chose to watch coldly as his seven junior sisters perished.