Grand Saint of Nine Spirits

The Grand Saint of Nine Spirits (九靈元聖) is an antagonist in the classic novel Journey to the West. He is actually the Nine Headed Lion that Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun rides on.

Biography
The Grand Saint of Nine Spirits is originally the Nine Headed Lion, the pet of the Taiyi Jiuku. One day, 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), allowed the lion to seize the opportunity to escape into the mortal realm. 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. Upon knowing that one of his god-grandsons, the Tawny Lion Demon was attacked by Sun Wukong, the Grand Saint of Nine Spirits leads his army of lions to avenge him. He is angered when he learns that the Tawny Lion Demon has been killed by Sun Wukong, and wants to take revenge by capturing Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing and the royal family of Yuhua, and has them imprisoned. Wukong had to met the Taiyi Jiuku to learn about his origins. Later on, Wukong lured the Grand Saint out, where he is eventually subdued by his master and taken back to Heaven.