Recaps

After exorcising Jimiao’s nightmare, Qu Zan learned that the Daha family’s Well-Salt Field was harming its workers and agreed to investigate it for the Sutra Academy. The Abbot assigned him the task, taught him about cultivating the Ten Abodes, and lent him the Wrath God Kangdong before his departure.

• Qu Zan exorcised the evil influence afflicting Jimiao, who offered him fifty taels of secret silver and asked whether the Well-Salt Field’s workers were in danger.
• Jimiao and Tuya returned to Daha Manor and learned that five salt workers had fallen unconscious while two others had attacked people; Jimiao told her father, Lieque Daha, that Qu Zan had identified an evil influence in the mine.
• Lieque decided to ask Qu Zan to exorcise the salt field, and the Sutra Academy’s Abbot, Qiong Re Ganbu, assigned Qu Zan the task in exchange for the temple’s future offerings and support for his Geshe examination nomination.
• Qiong Re Ganbu lent Qu Zan the Wrath God Kangdong, a horn made from a Vengeful Ghost’s leg bone, and explained the cultivation principles of the Ten Abodes through the sixth abode.
• Qu Zan connected the first abode’s practice of giving with helping people during his travels, then prepared to leave for the salt field the next day.
• Qu Zan received the Wrath God Kangdong in a Golden Box and heard eerie cries as he examined the sinister-looking ritual horn.

Qu Zan traveled to the Well-Salt Field and entered the salt mine to confront the evil haunting it. After defeating a specter with the Wrath God Kangdong, he discovered an Ancient Zhangzhung tomb and a portrait whose ruler had a left hand identical to his own.

• Qu Zan used the Wrath God Kangdong and the Wish-Granting Mudra while traveling with Gaoba and Sangci, deepening his understanding of giving and the three mysteries.
• Qu Zan arrived at the Well-Salt Field, reassured Lieque Daha, and entered the salt mine alone to investigate the evil.
• Qu Zan summoned the Wrath God Kangdong to destroy a black specter, then retrieved a Medicinal Mud Mask left behind by the creature.
• Qu Zan found an underground Ancient Zhangzhung tomb containing a headless corpse and collected fortune essence from three intact earthenware jars.
• Qu Zan examined a painted coffin board and recognized that the ancient ruler's left hand matched his own.

Qu Zan investigated the tomb, then performed a ritual to calm the frightened salt workers and attained realization of the First Abode, the Giving Abode. He stayed at the saltworks overnight and planned to enter the Form Realm to gather Fortune Essence and improve his Patience talent.

• Qu Zan found a portrait of a Guxiangxiong king on the coffin and read an inscription claiming the king would return to life through his enemies' flesh and blood.
• Qu Zan left the tomb after eliminating the evil presence, then went with Lieque to check on the unconscious and possessed people.
• Qu Zan arranged a ritual platform and preached to the salt workers, helping them overcome their fear through the ceremony.
• Qu Zan gave Fearlessness Giving during the ritual and attained realization of the First Abode, gaining progress in Consciousness, Great Sun Tummo, Mudra, and Giving.
• Qu Zan asked Lieque to distribute the food offerings among the salt workers, stayed at the saltworks, and applied his Fortune Essence to Patience.

Qu Zan reflected on his Dharma teaching, then entered the Form Realm to gather fortune essence and narrowly escaped a hungry Celestial Person. He used the fortune essence to advance Patience and returned to Corpse Camel Temple with the Wrath God Kangdong, keeping the Medicinal Mud Mask for further study.

• Qu Zan considered using himself as a tutelary deity image and realized that his image still lacked distinguishing features and ritual artifacts.
• Qu Zan found fortune essence in the Form Realm, but a Celestial Person tried to swallow him, so he escaped back to the Desire Realm.
• Qu Zan spent 1.9 fortune essence to advance Patience to level five and gained the Vajra Circle ability.
• Qu Zan used his remaining 1.7 fortune essence to strengthen his physical body and went to bed.
• Qu Zan returned to Corpse Camel Temple, handed the Wrath God Kangdong to the Attendant Monk, and kept the Medicinal Mud Mask to study.

Qu Zan asked Duo'erna to teach him Sanskrit and learned that he would first need to master Vajra Recitation and accept the samaya vows. After Duo'erna initiated him into the vows, Qu Zan gained the new talent [discipline-keeping].

• Qu Zan told Duo'erna about teaching the salt workers and discussed how rituals could help people gain faith.
• Qu Zan asked Duo'erna to teach him Sanskrit, and she explained her connection to He Yanjialuo and the form realm.
• Duo'erna said Qu Zan needed stronger speech-secret cultivation, including Vajra Recitation, before she could empower him with a seed syllable.
• Duo'erna arranged a mandala and initiated Qu Zan into the samaya vows, explaining their precepts and having him swear to uphold them.
• Qu Zan accepted the vows and received a panel notification that he had comprehended the talent [discipline-keeping].

Qu Zan gained the innate ability [Discipline-Keeping], became Duo'erna’s disciple, and searched for someone who could teach him Sanskrit. At Lanzha Temple, abbess Qiuji agreed to consider teaching him if he first dealt with a Vengeful Ghost threatening a nearby village.

• Qu Zan considered how [Discipline-Keeping] could strengthen his punishment of wrongdoing and resolved to develop the ability.
• Duo'erna accepted Qu Zan as her disciple and instructed him to cultivate his Throat Chakra alongside Vajra Recitation.
• After learning that few local elders knew Sanskrit, Qu Zan asked Magyala for help, and she wrote him an introduction to Lanzha Temple.
• Qu Zan rode Bodhi to Lanzha Temple, where Qiuji received him after reading Magyala’s letter.
• Qiuji offered to teach Qu Zan Sanskrit if he subdued the Vengeful Ghost harming Zuoze Village, and Qu Zan asked about the ghost’s powers and danger.

Qu Zan investigated reports of a Vengeful Ghost in Zuoze Village, where he noticed that the villagers had no women and learned that several had died. A red-cloaked spirit medium examined Zhuoma and warned that an evil spirit afflicted her, leaving Qu Zan to suspect the village’s haunting was connected to the mysterious Red Guanyin.

• Qu Zan left the old bhikshuni’s temple and reached Zuoze Village, where villagers made their living tanning hides.
• Qu Zan noticed that the village seemed to have no women, then met Bianba and his daughter Zhuoma, whose mother had died in childbirth.
• Qu Zan accompanied Bianba to his lodging, where Bianba’s father-in-law urged him to leave the village before nightfall.
• A red-cloaked spirit medium arrived, examined Zhuoma, and declared that an evil spirit afflicted her as it had her mother.
• Bianba told Qu Zan that the spirit medium had warned Zhuoma would die young unless the evil spirit was exorcised.

Qu Zan stayed in Zuoze Village and discovered that the villagers were preparing to sacrifice Bianba’s daughter, Zhuoma, to the Red Guanyin Empress. He confronted the shamaness and villagers at the ancestral temple, where Bianba learned that his wife had also been sacrificed and that his family had been marked as offerings.

• Qu Zan learned that the exorcism would happen that night and accepted Bianba’s offer to stay, while Bianba’s father-in-law warned him about the village’s taboos.
• After Qu Zan broke the spell that had subdued Bianba, Bianba discovered that Zhuoma and his father-in-law were missing.
• Qu Zan and Bianba found the village glowing with red lanterns, except for their home’s white lantern, and Qu Zan suspected someone other than Bianba’s father had summoned them back.
• Bianba led Qu Zan to the ancestral temple, where the villagers gathered around a blood-red statue as the shamaness prepared Zhuoma as an offering to the Red Guanyin Empress.
• Qu Zan and Bianba interrupted the ritual, and the shamaness and villagers revealed that Zhenduǒ had also been sacrificed and that Zhuoma’s family had been registered as offerings.

Qu Zan fought to save Zhuoma from the villagers’ sacrifice to Red Guanyin, only to discover the shrine’s statue held a corpse rather than the Vengeful Ghost’s true body. Trapped in Red Guanyin’s Ghost Domain, he used Zhuoma as bait and finally pinned the ghost when it attacked her.

• Puba explained that the village sacrificed women to Red Guanyin, while Bianba tried to rescue Zhuoma and the villagers turned against Qu Zan.
• Qu Zan used God-and-Demon Power against the shamaness, then tore apart the statue and found a decayed female corpse inside instead of Red Guanyin’s true body.
• Red-clothed corpses appeared in the temple and attacked the villagers; Qu Zan and Bianba escaped through the doors into Red Guanyin’s endless Ghost Domain.
• Qu Zan concluded that Red Guanyin sought women’s flesh and used Zhuoma as bait, while Bianba pleaded with him to protect his daughter.
• The shamaness’s phantom reached for Zhuoma, but Qu Zan’s Ghost Hands failed to capture it; when Red Guanyin attacked Zhuoma again, Qu Zan’s Indra’s Eyes pinned the ghost in place.

Qu Zan absorbed Red Guanyin’s power, developed new ghost abilities, and returned to Corpse Camel Temple after reporting the village’s fate and beginning Sanskrit lessons. There, Nyepa brought him to take five certification examinations, where he met Cangyang Konghai of the previously unknown Mahā Hall.

• Qu Zan absorbed Red Guanyin into Indra's Eye, used Indra's Hand to restrain the spreading eyes on his arm, and relied on the Bamboo Grove Vihara to stabilize the ghost power.
• Qu Zan gained the Blood Shadow Body and Shadow Ghost Binding abilities, then left the village with Bianba after Bianba burned the villagers’ remains.
• Qu Zan reported Zuoze Village to Bhikshuni Qiuji, who verified his account and began teaching him Sanskrit.
• Qu Zan returned to Corpse Camel Temple, spent two Form Realm visits’ points on Discipline-Keeping, and planned his cultivation and studies.
• Nyepa led Qu Zan to take five Virtuous Knowledge examinations, and Qu Zan met Cangyang Konghai, who revealed that Mahā Hall was one of the temple’s four inner halls.

Qu Zan passed the five-part Geshe assessment and was admitted to Mahā Hall, where Cangyang Konghai revealed that the temple had investigated whether he was the mysterious [Formless Tathagata]. Qu Zan argued that he was not, then entered the Inner Court's Scripture Repository with his new Talisman Plaque.

• Qu Zan explained his rapid advancement through his exceptional memory and passed assessments in Mantra Studies, rituals, yoga studies, Esoteric Medicine Studies, and Scriptural Studies.
• Cangyang Konghai awarded Qu Zan a five-treasure Knowledge Long Chain, confirmed his slave origins, and said he could enter the Four Inner Courts.
• Cangyang Konghai revealed that the temple had investigated whether Qu Zan was [Formless Tathagata], whose power could disguise identities and alter ālayavijñāna.
• Qu Zan argued that [Formless Tathagata]'s true aims made him an unlikely suspect, and Cangyang Konghai agreed to report his analysis.
• Cangyang Konghai assigned Qu Zan to Mahā Hall and gave him a silver Talisman Plaque, and Qu Zan entered the Inner Court's Scripture Repository.

Qu Zan studied chakra cultivation in Corpse Camel Temple's Esoteric Sutra Hall, then used what he learned to advance his throat chakra and master Vajra Recitation. Duo'erna began empowering him through her bound White-Robed Guanyin, and the ritual continued as she poured consecrated water over him.

• Qu Zan entered the Esoteric Sutra Hall and studied a text on subtle chakras and bindu, learning to warm the throat chakra gently with tummo.
• Qu Zan returned to Duo'erna and used the book's instructions to cultivate for two hours, opening his throat chakra and constructing a spiritual mandala.
• Duo'erna recognized Qu Zan's progress and agreed to give him the seed syllable empowerment.
• Duo'erna revealed that her bound god-and-demon was White-Robed Guanyin, a manifestation of Bodhisattva Guanshiyin, and began the empowerment ritual.
• Qu Zan recited the vows and samaya, visualized the precept knot around his wrist, and received the vase empowerment as Duo'erna poured consecrated water over his crown.

Duo'erna gave Qu Zan White-Robed Guanyin's vase empowerment and implanted the “Bam” seed syllable, which granted him powerful abilities including seeing sentient beings’ emotions. By using that ability to understand suffering and precepts, Qu Zan broke through into the third abode, then entered the Form Realm and connected with the seed syllable there.

• Duo'erna empowered Qu Zan with White-Robed Guanyin's “Bam” seed syllable and explained its abilities and the discipline required to use it.
• Qu Zan wrote the seed syllable onto paper and used [Seeing Sentient Beings] to perceive Duo'erna's joy and hidden suffering before she concealed her emotions.
• Duo'erna described Qu Zan's emotional colors, and Qu Zan practiced mindfulness to quiet his thoughts and continued learning about the seed syllable.
• Qu Zan observed the suffering and emotions of people on his way back, reflected on precepts and desire, and advanced into the third abode after speaking with Liuwa.
• Qu Zan entered the Form Realm at night and connected with the moon-white seed syllable in his Bamboo Grove Vihara, confirming that he could use its abilities there.

Qu Zan met Wo'ercha in the Form Realm and taught him the seven non-retrogression dharmas, prompting the new Azure Wolf Tribe leader to change how he governed. After Wo'ercha vowed to follow Indra’s advice, Qu Zan left the Form Realm exhausted and gained Fortune Essence and progress in discipline-keeping.

• Qu Zan used [Behold Sentient Beings] to assess Wo'ercha, who introduced himself as the fearful chieftain of the Azure Wolf Tribe and asked for strength to unite the grasslands.
• Qu Zan taught Wo'ercha the seven non-retrogression dharmas and promised that following them could help him become the khan of khans, then gave his name as Indra and vanished.
• Wo'ercha awoke in the Azure Wolf Tribe, addressed the old shaman respectfully, and recounted his encounter with Indra.
• Wo'ercha canceled the seven-day feast and ordered its prepared food and drink distributed among the people according to their merits and abilities.
• Qu Zan withdrew from the Form Realm after exhausting his mental consciousness, then gained [Fortune Essence +1.2] and raised [discipline-keeping lv3 progress] from 24% to 54%.

After discovering that their shipment of Nectar Scale-Moistening Paste had been stolen, Qu Zan and Guocuo set out with Warrior Monks to investigate. Qu Zan found signs of corpse fluid along the thieves’ route and hid in the forest while sending a Blood Shadow Body ahead as bait.

• Guocuo told Qu Zan that their medicine shipment, worth a thousand taels, had vanished along with Shi Long and the escort guards.
• Qu Zan and Guocuo decided to investigate with Warrior Monks from Corpse Camel Temple, and Qu Zan strengthened his [Discipline-Keeping] talent in the Form Realm that night.
• The next day, Guocuo led Qu Zan and six Warrior Monks along the road toward Gongga Dzong, where the shipment had been headed.
• Qu Zan followed the cart tracks and identified corpse fluid in the soil, suggesting the thieves might be dead beings wielding uncanny powers.
• Qu Zan created a Blood Shadow Body to lure the thieves onward while his real body hid in the forest.

Qu Zan subdued the corpses sent after him, then confronted the old woman controlling them and discovered that she had unleashed the Vengeful Ghost [Corpse-Subduing Arhat] to kill him. By examining her memories, he learned that Wangdui had arranged the attack to eliminate a rival in the Great Prayer Geshe examination, and Qu Zan planned to report him to Cangyang Konghai.

• Qu Zan used Shadow Ghost Binding to restrain seven walking corpses while he searched the woods for their controller.
• Qu Zan found the old woman, but she used Ghost Medicine to awaken the [Corpse-Subduing Arhat] and summon a horde of corpses.
• Qu Zan avoided the Vengeful Ghost with his Blood Shadow Body, took the old woman's head, and let the [Corpse-Subduing Arhat] remain free.
• Qu Zan used the Meditative Dream-Practice Treasure-Excavation Method to view the old woman's memories and learned that Wangdui had urged her to kill him.
• Qu Zan discovered that the old woman had used [Corpse-Rage Spirit-Awakening Dew] to accelerate the Vengeful Ghost's revival and planned to report Wangdui to Cangyang Konghai.

Qu Zan rescued Shi Long and his companions, recovered the Ghost Medicine manual and evidence implicating Wangdui, and secured Cangyang Konghai’s order to punish him. After Wangdui fell into the Scorpion Cave and died, Qu Zan returned to his Separate Courtyard to examine the Ghost-Skin Secret Manual.

• Qu Zan freed Shi Long and the other captives, recovered the Golden Box, gold, jewels, Ghost-Skin Secret Manual, and letters linking Wangdui to his mother.
• Qu Zan reported Wangdui to Cangyang Konghai, who ordered Wangdui stripped of his Geshe Degree and sent to the Snow Prison and Scorpion Cave.
• Qu Zan accompanied Bensen to the Snow Prison, where Gongga Cicheng intervened and demanded an investigation before Wangdui was punished.
• A Ghost Hand dragged Wangdui into the Scorpion Cave, and he died from his injuries and scorpion venom.
• Bensen recognized Qu Zan’s role in Wangdui’s fall, and Qu Zan returned to his Separate Courtyard to examine the Ghost-Skin Secret Manual.

Qu Zan discovered that the Ghost-Skin Secret Manual, Great Black Yama, answered him deferentially through Indra’s Hand, but warned that the Buddha was still alive and withheld parts of a prophecy about He Yanjialuo. After entering the Form Realm, Qu Zan used the Bamboo Grove Vihara to block the prayers reaching him, then transformed it into Sudarsana City.

• Qu Zan found that the Ghost-Skin Secret Manual responded to Indra’s Hand by calling itself Little Black and offering him discounted answers on credit.
• Qu Zan asked about the Buddha’s true name, and Little Black warned that the Buddha was still alive and might sense them if Qu Zan learned his name.
• Qu Zan learned that He Yanjialuo was in Rika City with the Maitreya Descending Birth Cult and planned to kill him, but Little Black blacked out details of her prophecy from the Form Realm.
• Qu Zan entered the Form Realm and heard Wo'ercha’s repeated prayers to Indra, which overwhelmed him.
• Qu Zan projected the Bamboo Grove Vihara into the Form Realm to block the prayers, then reshaped it into Sudarsana City.

Qu Zan used his Indra power to draw Wo'ercha into Sudarsana City, where he learned about the Azure Wolf Tribe and gained its chieftain's loyalty. After weighing the danger of rival Indra-binders, Qu Zan discussed ghost-gods and lifespan with Duo'erna, who said several methods could extend a Binding Monk's life.

• Qu Zan transformed the Bamboo Grove Vihara into Sudarsana City and drew Wo'ercha into it through his prayers.
• Wo'ercha pledged his devotion to Qu Zan and described the Azure Wolf Tribe's shamans, Spirit-Blood Warriors, Spirit Songs, and supernatural defenses.
• Qu Zan sent Wo'ercha back to his tent, then considered using the tribe as a distant force while focusing on cultivation and collecting Indra-related Ghost-God Relics.
• Qu Zan asked Duo'erna how she inherited [White-Robed Guanyin], and she explained that binding ghost-gods shortened a person's lifespan.
• Duo'erna told Qu Zan that several ways existed to extend one's lifespan.

Duo'erna explained methods of extending life and the legends of Heavenly Objects, then showed Qu Zan the incomplete yet symbolically complete manifestation of her [White-Robed Guanyin]. Qu Zan learned from Little Black that Ghost Divination could locate his missing fragments but would be dangerous at his current rank, and he considered trying it with help from the panel and the Bamboo Grove Vihara.

• Duo'erna described three ways to extend life and told Qu Zan that the Ancestral Temple on Great Snow Mountain controlled the making of Longevity Pills.
• Duo'erna recounted legends of ten Heavenly Objects, and Qu Zan suspected the enormous hand he had seen might be the Buddha's Hand.
• Duo'erna revealed her [White-Robed Guanyin] and explained that its symbolic objects were present despite much of its body being missing, then described the lost art of Ghost Divination.
• Qu Zan consulted Little Black, which warned that Ghost Divination could not locate imprisoned or gold-isolated beings and might draw more powerful Vengeful Ghosts to him.
• Little Black said Qu Zan might suppress and conceal his rank by borrowing higher-ranked God-and-Demon Power, and Qu Zan considered using the panel and the Bamboo Grove Vihara to try.

Qu Zan used the Bamboo Grove Vihara to divine the location of a Vengeful Ghost in Buze Village, then sought help capturing it. After finding no suitable criminals in the Snow Prison, he hired a practitioner through Sangyan Blind Monk and offered five hundred jin of gold to imprison the ghost.

• Qu Zan learned the Ghost Book's method for divining fate and agreed to repay his outstanding flesh, blood, and soul debts within seven days.
• Qu Zan successfully used Indra's aura to locate three possible Vengeful Ghosts and saw an image of Buze Village.
• Qu Zan decided to hire practitioners to investigate the ghost and searched the Snow Prison, but found only vulnerable people and refused to sacrifice innocents.
• Qu Zan disguised himself and visited the Naicang trading inn, where Sangyan Blind Monk introduced him to a young man bound to a Vengeful Ghost.
• Qu Zan offered the young man five hundred jin of gold to imprison the ghost in Buze Village, and the young man eagerly asked for a deposit so he could leave at once.

Qu Zan sought out bandits to feed to the Ghost Book, but found Mì Army soldiers had already killed a group attacking the Ando Tusi's party. He joined the party as bait for further attacks, while Alech'u waited in a mountain cave and learned his Dangqu Mountain recruits had been wiped out.

• Qu Zan hired Xia Ba to investigate Nabuze Village and paid him to locate the village and report useful information; Xia Ba told him about the mounted bandits near Dangqu Mountain.
• Sangyan Blind Monk questioned Xia Ba, who explained that he wanted to earn gold to provide for his family despite his decaying body and ghostly powers.
• Qu Zan rode to Dangqu Mountain in disguise, hoping to capture bandits for the Ghost Book, but discovered Mì Army soldiers had already killed the bandits who attacked the Ando Tusi's party.
• Qu Zan met Miss Nabuling and agreed to travel with her party after realizing it had been targeted and that more bandits might attack.
• In a cave on Dangqu Mountain, Alech'u offered the local bandit chief a place among his Scimitar Bandits, then learned that the chief's men had all been killed.

Qu Zan and Nabuling’s party were ambushed by Alech'u and the Scimitar Bandits after the bandits objected to being ranked last among the Ten Bandits. When the mounted charge broke Tuba’s formation, Sagai unleashed the [Wet-Print Boy], and Alech'u rode forward after ordering his men to surround the group.

• Nabuling explained to Qu Zan that the Five Hu were powerful bandit leaders and listed the Ten Bandits, prompting Alech'u to attack after hearing the Scimitar Bandits called thieves and ranked tenth.
• Alech'u ordered his riders to kill the men and spare the women, while the Scimitar Bandits charged through Tuba’s spear formation and crushed the Mìdì soldiers.
• Tuba urged Nabuling to flee, but Sagai revealed the Vengeful Ghost called the [Wet-Print Boy] and ordered it to kill the riders.
• The [Wet-Print Boy] touched scimitar bandits and left wet handprints that caused their bodies to rot from within, disrupting the charge and frightening Bunu.
• Alech'u ordered his bandits to scatter and surround the group, then rode down the slope as Qu Zan sensed that Alech'u had Bound a Vengeful Ghost.

Alech'u used his corpse-oil-coated ghost horse to capture Nabuling and escape, while Qu Zan secretly seized and fed twelve Scimitar Bandits to the Ghost Book. Qu Zan later confronted Alech'u and rescued Nabuling, but the awakened ghost horse protected Alech'u and galloped away.

• Alech'u's ghost horse trapped Wet-Print Boy in corpse oil, dragged Nabuling from the crowd, and carried her away as the Scimitar Bandits fled.
• Alech'u discovered that twelve of his men were missing and turned back to search for them.
• Qu Zan captured the twelve rear-guard bandits with ghost hands and fed them to the Ghost Book, which devoured them all.
• Qu Zan returned to the road and faced Alech'u, then used his ghostly power to kill the bandits around him and free Nabuling.
• Alech'u's ghost horse blocked Qu Zan's attack with corpse oil, awakened into a frenzy, and carried Alech'u away at great speed.

Qu Zan attended Tuya’s family banquet at her invitation, where the new Dongzi Dzongben, Sanglang, announced a crackdown on bandits and unrest. Sanglang demonstrated a government musket’s deadly range, leaving Qu Zan to recognize the weapon from his previous life.

• Qu Zan freed Nabuling, declined to remove his mask, and rode away after she thanked him for saving her.
• Tuya invited Qu Zan to a banquet at her family Manor, explaining that her mother hoped to secure the new Dzongben’s support.
• Qu Zan attended the gathering, where Madam Yangjin welcomed local religious and political leaders and Tuya appeared reassured by his presence.
• Sanglang arrived and declared that he would restore order and suppress bandits, serf resistance, and flight from service.
• Sanglang loaded and fired a government musket at a distant wooden target, demonstrating its power to the gathered guests.