He is less powerful than other demon kings in the novel, but is considered one of the wittiest. He uses a plan called the "strategy of separating the plum blossom's petals" (分瓣梅花计) to lure Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing away from Tang Sanzang in three different instances and then captures Tang. Sun Wukong infiltrates his lair and casts a sleeping spell on the demon and his minions and saves Tang Sanzang. The demon is slain by Zhu Bajie just as he awakes, and his true form is revealed to be a leopard with mugwort-shaped patterns on its body. The Grand Saint of Nine Spirits (九靈元聖) is actually the Nine Headed Lion that Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun rides on. The boy in charge of looking after the lion once secretly drank a special potion and fell asleep for three days in Heaven (equivalent to three years in the human world). The lion seizes the opportunity to escape. He builds his base at Jiuqu Panhuan Cave (九曲盤桓洞) at Bamboo Links Mountain (竹節山) near the Kingdom of Yuhua (玉華國). The lion demons living around that area revere him as their grand ancestor. The Nine Headed Lion is different from most other demons in the novel in a sense that it neither harms humans nor seeks to taste Tang Sanzang's flesh. He is angered when he learns that his god-grandson, the Tawny Lion Demon, has been killed by Sun Wukong, and wants to take revenge. He captures Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing and the royal family of Yuhua, and has them whipped. He is eventually subdued by Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun and taken back to Heaven. The Tawny Lion Demon (黃獅精) is based in Tiger's Jaws Cave (虎口洞), Leopard's Head Mountain (豹頭山) in the Kingdom of Yuhua. He is armed with a Four Clears Spade (四明鏟). He is a god-grandson of the Nine Headed Lion. Once, overcome by greed, he steals Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing's weapons.