Chapter Summaries

After transmigrating into a sixteen-year-old Nangsheng serf in Mìdì, Qu Zan fled Bado Manor with his younger sister Meiduo to escape being used as a living sacrifice. As overseers caught up with them on the mountain, Qu Zan spent all his available points to strengthen his body and fought back.

• Qu Zan awoke in Mìdì with the memories of the original Qu Zan, a low-class serf marked for the Five-Extremities Offering, and realized he had escaped with Meiduo.
• A blue information panel appeared, and Qu Zan gained the Extensive Learning talent after his past-life knowledge awakened.
• Qu Zan and Meiduo climbed into the mountains to evade two mounted overseers, Nima and Tsering, who pursued them with tracking dogs.
• Nima and Tsering discussed capturing Qu Zan and exploiting Meiduo, then followed the dogs up the mountain as night approached.
• Qu Zan and Meiduo used a pile of robes to deceive the overseers, and Qu Zan struck Tsering with a stone before Nima released the dogs on him.
• As the dogs bit him, Qu Zan put all 1.3 available points into his body stat, gaining strength and losing his hunger.

Qu Zan protected Meiduo from a terrifying ghost that hunted by sound, then scavenged food and money after surviving the night. As they continued downhill, he resolved to seek a way out of hereditary slavery by becoming a monk.

• Qu Zan fought off Nima and his vicious dogs while protecting Meiduo, until a hair-covered ghost appeared and devoured Tsering.
• Qu Zan realized the ghost was drawn to sound, covered Meiduo's mouth, and remained perfectly still until dawn, gaining the Patience talent.
• After sunrise, Qu Zan took food and silver from the dead and shared provisions with Meiduo.
• Qu Zan found Nima's skeleton and collected the coins and food left in his pouch.
• Qu Zan considered his status as a hereditary Nangsheng and decided that becoming a monk was his only chance to escape slavery.

Qu Zan and Meiduo fled Bado Manor on stolen horses and sought shelter with an elderly woman named Duimu. After they used her cookware to make supper, Duimu revealed that she was Black Bone and ordered them out.

• Qu Zan led Meiduo east along streams to hide their trail, bought clean robes and black tsampa, and burned their filthy clothes.
• Qu Zan and Meiduo shared roasted dog meat while traveling, then followed smoke to Duimu's isolated felt tent as night fell.
• Duimu let the siblings stay but refused their food, and Qu Zan helped with her chores before cooking black tsampa gruel.
• Duimu saw Qu Zan using her cookware, explained that she was Black Bone and forbade them from touching her belongings, then ordered them out.

Qu Zan learned that Duimu was shunned because her late husband had been a blacksmith, then decided to enter Corpse Camel Temple to pursue its extraordinary powers. He settled Meiduo with Duimu near the temple and began planning how to gain entry.

• Duimu explained that her blacksmith husband had made her unclean in the eyes of the Hidden Land, and Qu Zan and Meiduo reassured her that they did not disdain her.
• Duimu told Qu Zan that Corpse Camel Temple stood on Corpse Camel Ridge and was known for powerful monks, so Qu Zan decided to investigate it.
• Qu Zan rode with Meiduo to the temple, saw its warrior monks and their strange incantation tattoos, and resolved to enter and cultivate.
• Qu Zan sold their horses, rented a house near the temple, and hired Duimu to care for Meiduo.
• Qu Zan promised Duimu that Meiduo would be her daughter and that he would arrange scripture recitations after her death, then turned to planning his entry into the temple.

Qu Zan bribed his way into the Corpse Camel Temple and was ordained as a servant monk with the Dharma name Gyatso. After learning the limits and hardships of his new rank, he attended his first scripture lesson, eager to study.

• Qu Zan and Bage persuaded the Zhacang Qiangzuo to admit Qu Zan, and Qu Zan paid secret silver to be made a Gegan rather than a fire-tending servant.
• A scripture teacher taught Qu Zan the Three Refuges, shaved his head, gave him a monk’s robe, and bestowed the Dharma name Gyatso.
• Miba warned Gyatso not to secretly learn the warrior monks’ chakra cultivation and explained the servant monks’ demanding daily schedule.
• Gyatso woke after a deep sleep, met the plump monk Doje, and followed him to a sparse dinner of tsampa cake and weak butter tea.
• Though he was exempt from evening lessons on his first day, Gyatso went to the scripture lecture courtyard to begin studying.

Qu Zan began learning to read Mìdì script at the temple and discovered that focused study increased his [Extensive Learning] progress. While assigned to wipe Buddhist statues at the Secret Medical Institute, he learned that a thangka depicted fetal development, leaving him deeply uneasy.

• Qu Zan ignored Doje’s suggestion to skip lessons and asked the scripture teacher to teach him basic literacy.
• Qu Zan concentrated intensely in class, learned the Mìdì characters, and advanced [Extensive Learning lv1] by three percent while Doje fell asleep.
• The next morning, Qu Zan and the other menial monks completed their chanting and duties, and Doje led him to wipe statues at the Secret Medical Institute.
• Doje explained that the institute’s thangka showed fetal development through images resembling a fish, a turtle, and a pig.
• Qu Zan felt a sudden chill and an inexplicable unease as he heard Doje describe the thangka.

Qu Zan’s work and scripture study improved his physique, consciousness, and Extensive Learning talent, while a classroom recitation test exposed the students’ poor preparation. Guru Huode called on the young monk beside Doje after Doje failed to recite, leaving Qu Zan next to be tested.

• Qu Zan made Doje realize that medicine monks may have learned about fetal development by cutting open pregnant women, and Doje recoiled from the thangka.
• Qu Zan and Doje polished Buddha statues, saw warrior monks receiving massages, and joked about Doje’s ambitions and his village abbot’s supposed practice of abstinence.
• Qu Zan worked and studied over the following days, raising his physique to 2.1, his consciousness to 1.9, and his Extensive Learning progress to 97%.
• Boren asked Guru Huode why an activation script had failed to work on his ritual implement, and Huode warned that chanting esoteric script without proper training could invite calamity.
• Guru Huode tested the students on the Praise to the Thirty-Six Taras; Boren recited with flaws, Dunzhu stumbled, and Doje could barely begin.
• After Doje failed, Guru Huode pointed to the young monk beside him and told him to try.

Qu Zan’s flawless recitation impressed Lama Huode, who gave him a One-Eyed Dzi Bead containing Fortune Essence and offered him a chance to become a scholar monk. The chapter left Qu Zan preparing to absorb the bead’s essence and memorize two major scriptures for a Great Dharma Assembly in three months.

• Qu Zan recited the Praise to the Thirty-Six Taras from memory and raised his Extensive Learning talent to lv2.
• Lama Huode questioned Qu Zan about his sudden ability, then rewarded him with a day’s leave and a One-Eyed Dzi Bead.
• Qu Zan saw a prompt asking whether to absorb the Fortune Essence in the bead and hid it without activating it in front of Huode.
• Lama Huode offered Qu Zan a chance to become a scholar monk if he memorized the Sutra of the Excellent Lion's Roar and the Treatise on Weighing the Twenty Actions for the Great Dharma Assembly in three months.

Qu Zan absorbed Fortune Essence from the dzi bead, increasing his available points, then continued his monastery duties and scripture studies. After seven days studying the Sutra of the Excellent Lion's Roar and the Treatise on Weighing the Twenty Actions, he asked Lama Huode whether the sutra could kill ghosts.

• Qu Zan absorbed Fortune Essence from the dzi bead, raising his available points from 0.2 to 0.6, and decided to keep the bead rather than sell it.
• While washing robes, Qu Zan explained his memorization of the Praise to the Thirty-Six Taras, and Doje asked him to teach him scriptures.
• Qu Zan carried water with Doje and received a prompt that his body had improved by 0.1.
• Lama Huode assigned Qu Zan to study the Sutra of the Excellent Lion's Roar and the Treatise on Weighing the Twenty Actions, which he read through over seven days.
• Qu Zan asked Lama Huode whether the Sutra of the Excellent Lion's Roar could kill ghosts, and Huode asked if he had encountered one.

Qu Zan learned that the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra could be mastered through years of practice or a master's empowerment, and kept his panel-assisted achievement secret from Huode. After receiving a day away from the monastery, he visited Meiduo and learned that Duimu Aji had taken work milking yaks; he resolved to help feed the girl and took her to the market.

• Qu Zan questioned Huode about Vengeful Ghosts and learned that Living Buddhas and Lamas could deal with them, while ordinary humans could not.
• Qu Zan realized his talents and panel had helped him comprehend the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra, and decided not to tell Huode.
• Huode helped Qu Zan obtain a day's leave from Miba, and Qu Zan promised Doje he would bring back dried milk curds.
• Qu Zan visited Meiduo, who welcomed him and explained that Duimu Aji had found work milking yaks to support them.
• Meiduo roasted an egg Duimu Aji had found, and Qu Zan let her eat it before suggesting they buy beef and mutton at the market.

Qu Zan took Meiduo to the Mìdì Market, where they encountered religious punishment and unsettling black goats that seemed to plead for help. After returning home with beef and ritual materials, Qu Zan prepared to test the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra.

• Qu Zan and Meiduo explored the busy market, and he bought her milk candy and supplies for a ritual.
• They witnessed monk soldiers flogging a man accused of worshipping the Outer Dao while some onlookers threw stones at him.
• Qu Zan found no mystic resonance among a jewelry stall's wares and bought common woods for the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra's sang ritual.
• Qu Zan and Meiduo saw a herd of black goats with humanlike faces, and one appeared to mouth a plea for help; they hurried away with their beef.
• After they cooked the beef at home, Qu Zan sorted the ritual materials and left to test the mantra.

Qu Zan celebrated becoming an honored monk with Duimu and Meiduo, then accepted Dajie's offer to recite funeral scriptures for his deceased mother through the night. As he kept vigil, a breeze brought the stench of decay into the room.

• Qu Zan burned incense and used the Sutra of the Excellent Lion's Roar, exhausting his consciousness but gaining a means to act.
• Duimu returned and recognized Qu Zan in his red monastic robes, and he shared a beef dinner with her and Meiduo.
• Dajie arrived at night and invited Qu Zan to perform rites for his deceased mother, offering ten taels of secret silver and a coral pendant.
• Qu Zan sensed a secret resonance of blessings when he touched Dajie's offering and agreed to recite scriptures until dawn.
• Qu Zan reached Dajie's home, burned incense beside the body, and chanted while Dajie's children fell asleep.
• A night breeze swept through the vigil room, carrying the smell of decay and corpse stench.

Qu Zan used the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra to destroy the cat-faced old woman's evil presence and stop her summoning the Great Black Protector. After returning home, he shared his payment with Meiduo and absorbed the mystic resonance from Dajie's coral pendant.

• Qu Zan suppressed the bloodstained shroud with the Lion's Roar Heart Mantra, but Dajie's mother transformed into a cat-faced ghost and frightened Dajie's family into fleeing.
• Qu Zan trapped the cat-faced old woman with fragrant smoke, but she chanted a name that summoned the Great Black Protector's ominous presence.
• Qu Zan unleashed a spiritual lion's roar that burned the old woman to ash and caused the darkness above to vanish.
• After sunrise, Qu Zan told Dajie that his mother's resentment had turned her into an evil presence, then refused Dajie's offer of more Secret Silver and left.
• Qu Zan gave Meiduo five taels of Secret Silver for household needs and absorbed 0.7 available points from Dajie's coral pendant.

After returning from his leave, Qu Zan worked at the temple and joined Doje in serving a lavish private banquet and Dharma assembly at Madam Yangjin’s residence. As they waited for the ceremony to begin, they learned that the consecrated thangka was an ancestral heirloom said to hold a family secret.

• Qu Zan returned to the temple, resumed his labor, and shared dried milk curds with Doje while continuing his scripture practice.
• A steward assigned Qu Zan and the other laborer monks to serve at Madam Yangjin’s private banquet, promising each five taels of secret silver and warning them to keep what they saw confidential.
• Qu Zan and the monks changed into silk clothes and entered the wealthy, secluded lay devotees’ compound, where they prepared the ritual platform and offering altar under a Lama’s direction.
• Doje told Qu Zan that Madam Yangjin’s family brought out its ancestral thangka each year for lamas to investigate its rumored secret.
• Qu Zan and Doje waited beneath the covered walkway, discussing the thangka and the immense expense of the assembly.

At Madam Yangjin’s thangka consecration, Qu Zan discovered that the ancient human-skin painting concealed a martial art in the poses of its guardian heavenly maidens. Doje instead fell into a seductive illusion, then emerged shaken and warned Qu Zan that the thangka was strange.

• Doje lamented that the wealthy could spend in one night more than poor people earned in a lifetime, and Qu Zan reflected on the hardship of life in Mìdì.
• Madam Yangjin arrived and asked the Lama to consecrate her treasured thangka.
• The Lama unfurled the human-skin thangka, and Qu Zan recognized its unsettling material and studied its painted figures.
• Qu Zan’s panel announced that he had comprehended “Sun Salutation Twelve Forms” by contemplating the guardian heavenly maidens’ poses.
• Doje stared at the figures, became trapped in an illusion of them seducing him, then recovered and told Qu Zan what he had seen.

Qu Zan and Doje realized they had gained different forms of the Sun Salutation Body Yoga Method from the thangka, then attended Madam Yangjin’s ceremony and banquet. Afterward, a gap-toothed old man recognized their cultivation insight as the Sunlight Yidam’s Anuttarayoga Tantra and began to explain it.

• Doje told Qu Zan about dreaming of celestial maidens and learning six movements from the thangka, while Qu Zan concluded he had comprehended twelve forms of Sun Salutation.
• Madam Yangjin distributed offerings after the thangka ceremony and hosted the monks at a lavish banquet.
• Qu Zan and the other servant monks received five taels of secret silver, then an additional two taels from the steward.
• Doje struggled with a gap-toothed old man over a leftover chicken leg but let him take it when Qu Zan intervened.
• The old man revealed that he knew Qu Zan and Doje had comprehended a cultivation method and identified it as the Sunlight Yidam’s Anuttarayoga Tantra.

The Gap-Toothed Old Man explained Anuttarayoga Tantra and predicted Doje would become a warrior monk while Qu Zan would become a Scholar Monk. As Qu Zan and Doje practiced the Sun Salutation together, Qu Zan gained the Giving talent and later discovered a potential healing ability tied to Patience.

• The Gap-Toothed Old Man described Anuttarayoga Tantra and told Doje he might enter the Warrior Monk Academy while Qu Zan would enter the Sutra Academy.
• Qu Zan corrected Doje's Sun Salutation movements, then taught him the twelve forms while they took turns practicing and sweeping.
• After Doje practiced the forms Qu Zan taught him, Qu Zan gained the Giving talent, which reduced the goodwill beneficiaries' hostility toward him.
• On the third day, Qu Zan saw his Body stat rise by 0.2 and used his available points to advance Patience to level two.
• Qu Zan's panel revealed that Patience could develop into Unmoving Radiance at level three, granting healing and the ability to expel possessing evil entities.

Qu Zan studied Buddhist scriptures under Lama Huode and demonstrated the memory and understanding needed to become a Scholar Monk. While cleaning the Ancient Empty Courtyard with other menial monks, he encountered a gruesome death scene and a bodhisattva statue streaked with red liquid.

• Qu Zan told Lama Huode that he had memorized the Sutra of the Excellent Lion's Roar and the Treatise on Weighing the Twenty Actions, then recited a passage from the sutra.
• Lama Huode praised Qu Zan's memory and comprehension and said he would likely become a Scholar Monk at the Dharma Assembly.
• Qu Zan and the other menial monks received an assignment to clean the Ancient Empty Courtyard, where several people had recently fallen and died or been injured.
• Qu Zan and the others entered the courtyard with Rinchen, who showed them the hole in the roof where a monk had fallen to his death.
• Doje noticed red streaks running down the bodhisattva statue's shoulder, and the monks stared at the eerie sight in fear.

Qu Zan and the other monks discovered a Vengeful Ghost called Ghost-Fallen Guanyin in the Ancient Empty Courtyard. As they tried to flee, the ghost killed Nacang, leaving the survivors trapped in danger.

• Doje teased Rinchen about the supposed blood streaks on the statue, while Qu Zan remained uneasy about the body and blood around the roof.
• Rinchen counted eight figures besides himself among the workers, and Qu Zan spotted an unfamiliar, corpse-like figure pacing in the opposite side room.
• The figure revealed itself as a six-armed Vengeful Ghost wrapped in scripture banners inscribed with the name Ghost-Fallen Guanyin.
• Qu Zan realized Tseten had vanished as the monks fled toward the main hall, away from the ghost.
• Nacang was forced to smash his head against the ground by an invisible force and died despite the others' fear of helping him.

Qu Zan studied the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin’s attacks and identified signs that preceded its killings, while searching for the missing Tseten. The monks survived another attack by shielding their faces with their robes, and Doje asked Qu Zan to explain the ghost’s rules.

• Doje and the other monks panicked after a monk suddenly killed himself, while Qu Zan watched the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin and searched for Tseten.
• When the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin returned its head to its spine, Gonbo’s candlestick seemed to attack him, and Qu Zan suspected the movement warned of an imminent killing.
• Rinchen urged the monks to escape, but Qu Zan insisted they wait and look for Tseten.
• Tseten’s shattered corpse fell into the courtyard, and Qu Zan raised his robe to shield his face as the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin prepared to move again.
• The other monks copied Qu Zan, and Rinchen’s robe slapped his face without anyone being killed or injured.
• Doje thanked Qu Zan for saving them and asked him to explain the Ghost-Fallen Guanyin’s killing rules.