Lu Feng

Biodata

Power Progression

• Academic rank and cultivation are separate systems. Academic degrees ascend from the sixth rank toward the first, while cultivation begins at the first stage and progresses toward higher-numbered stages 43.

Background / History

Ganye Temple and Student Years

Lu Feng comes from Ganye Temple, whose Dharma Lineage has been severed. The temple lost its Dharma seat, lineage, honorific title, and college system; its remaining support for him ceased after a Malevolent Ghost occupied it. He spent ten years studying at Endless White Pagoda Temple, supporting himself through paid work and struggling to afford instruction, necessities, and advancement offerings 1 2 8 25 49.

The Human-Skin Ancient Scroll gives him three unfinished tasks: establish a Dharma Lineage, return to Ganye Temple, and investigate its decline. He recognizes that restoring a lineage will require followers and resources, not merely personal religious status 1 7 26.

Gaqila Tusi’s Fortress

Seeking money for the Great Offering, Lu Feng accepts scripture-chanting work for Gaqila Tusi’s grandmother. The scroll reveals that she is a tiger-faced Malevolent Ghost. At the fortress, he meets Zhuogedunzhu, receives limited mantra authorization, and assists the Lama amid the household’s destruction 1 3 4.

Lu Feng survives both the ghosts and the dangerous aftermath of Zhuogedunzhu’s struggle with White Vajra. Zhuogedunzhu permits him to act in his name, on condition that Lu Feng answer a future request for help. Left as the fortress’s only living person, Lu Feng searches its treasury for portable wealth to fund his advancement and future lineage 6 7.

Temple Politics and the Examination

Lu Feng takes evidence of Outer Dao activity to Zhiyun, knowing it provides the abbot’s faction with a pretext to intervene in Gaqila’s territory. The report wins him support, examination materials, and a Kapala rosary, but also binds him to a faction whose enemies may target him 8 9 10 12.

Before the examination, Mingfa attempts to draw Lu Feng under his influence and plant a terror seed in him. Lu Feng resists with the scroll and his mantra until Mingzhi destroys the seed. During the debate, Lu Feng detects six hostile students, dispels an atmosphere of supernatural terror, and defeats opponents through tightly structured questioning before passing Zhiyun’s final question 19 20 21 22 23.

Ordination and the Ancient Hall

Zhiyun rushes Lu Feng through registration and ordination, then locks him overnight in an ancient hall to comprehend the Immovable Mind. There, the Kapala rosary’s accumulated cultivation brings forth his Compassionate Mind. He subsequently survives a fire-offering ordeal and subdues six ghosts of eminent monks 24 27 28.

A black sheep delivers a Thangka containing cultivation instructions but no empowering yidam. Lu Feng suspects that its transmission lineage is broken within Endless White Pagoda Temple and postpones relying on it until he understands its deity and seed syllable 28 29.

Mingli’s Disciple and the Sunrise Temple Transmission

After choosing King Mingzhu, Lu Feng becomes Mingli’s disciple and receives a clerk’s post. Mingli intends him to inherit his Dharma Lineage and shelter his descendants, but warns that six previous disciples became Malevolent Ghosts during their first empowerment 32 34.

At Sunrise Temple, Lu Feng undergoes an empowerment in which an apparent Mingli crumbles after Lu Feng declares that no Lama exists before his eyes. He realizes that the true transmitter is the Abbot Dharma Venerable. The transmission directs him to recite the Diamond Sutra for fifteen years, observe restrictions on discussing what occurred, and seek the Treasure Tent Protector Mandala at Zajuben Temple if he cannot visualize a yidam 40 42.

Journey to Wula Station

After attaining Divine Strength Perfection, Lu Feng treats injured attendants and helps the villagers around Sunrise Temple. He then travels with Mingli toward Wula Station, learning wilderness customs and dangers from the accompanying monks 43 44 45.

A terrifying storm and the appearance of a Dakini interrupt the journey. Mingli carries him to safety, and Lu Feng awakens at Wula Station. When Zhiquan returns afflicted by a shape-shifting ghost, Lu Feng attacks it with golden compassionate flames. Zhiquan stops him, warning that killing the Ubao God’s companion deity would provoke the god’s wrath 47 48 50.

Appearance

• Upright and handsome, with a resonant voice likened to a great bell 1.
• Has close-cropped hair 43.
• After ordination, wears red monastic robes, cowhide boots, and a tall hat distinct from those of the elders 30 35.
• Carries a prayer wheel, with other ghost-derived ritual implements hanging from his waist, legs, and back 29.

Personality

Lu Feng is ambitious but chiefly motivated by survival and the desire to return home. He refuses to accept spending thirty or forty years earning the money needed for advancement, yet regards the Secret Dharma Region as dangerous even for powerful monks. His response is to study, obtain backing, and build strength of his own rather than rely entirely on another Lama 1 6 14 24.

He is calculating about patronage and institutional power. He deliberately chooses Zhiyun as the recipient of his report because of the factional benefits it offers, understands that Zhuogedunzhu’s name protects him, and carefully memorizes information about monks and temple politics. When facing unexplained supernatural phenomena, his preferred approach is to remain still and observe rather than investigate recklessly 8 10 18 42.

His compassion is practical and constrained by his position. He chants for impoverished students who die, treats wounded attendants, and declines offerings from poor villagers. He nevertheless recognizes that he cannot overrule Discipline Hall punishments simply because he objects to their consequences 25 43 44.

Abilities & Skills

Scripture Learning and Debate

Ten years of study give Lu Feng a strong foundation before the scroll enhances his intellect 1 18.

• Fluently recites scriptures including the Diamond Sutra, Heart Sutra, and Avatamsaka Sutra 1.
• Builds debate traps by inserting small questions into larger doctrinal topics, then presses opponents with rapid, substantive questioning 22.
• Remembers classmates’ backgrounds, specialties, debating habits, and opening arguments 18 21.
• Remains inexperienced in wilderness travel and practical ghost-subjugation despite his academic learning 44 47 50.

Human-Skin Ancient Scroll

The scroll combines supernatural detection, mental protection, and temporary intellectual enhancement 1 3 4.

• Ghost depiction: Reveals nearby ghosts through images, including Gaqila’s grandmother and the entity hidden at Sunrise Temple 1 41.
• Protected awareness: Preserves a thread of consciousness under supernatural suppression and helps him resist spiritual coercion 3 6 19.
• Wisdom blessing: Absorbed ghost energy improves comprehension, recall, sensory clarity, and simultaneous mental processing 4 5 11.
• Finite duration: The accumulated wisdom blessing has only a little over five days remaining when he examines it in the ancient hall 26.
• Detection limit: New images do not automatically alert him; ordinarily, he must take out the scroll and inspect it 23.
• Replenishment limit: Subduing the six karmically connected protectors does not grant another blessing. Lu Feng concludes that he needs forceful victories over ghosts to sustain its benefits 29 46.

Six-Syllable Great Brightness Mantra

Lu Feng’s recitation produces Great Compassion Resonance and eventually a Compassionate Mind 13 27.

• Dispels oppressive terror and disrupts harmful ghost resonance 21 40.
• Restrains and subdues ghosts, including the six monks outside the ancient hall 26 28.
• Assists treatment of fire sickness through the chanting of his six ghost monks 44.
• Manifests golden flames that form a sword and bind and scorch Zhiquan’s attacking ghost 50.
• Has not reached a level capable of instantly healing injuries or restoring patients completely 46.
• Its exact level remains unknown to him; equating opened lotus petals with mantra levels is his own assumption 50.

Immovable Mind

His Immovable Mind allows him to withstand the fire offering’s repeated assaults on his body, senses, and consciousness without surrendering to terror 28.

• Uses contemplation of emptiness to withdraw from external phenomena and contain supernatural influence 37 38.
• Complements his Compassionate Mind when confronting ghosts 50.
• Is not absolute protection: the Dakini’s appearance causes it to waver 47.

Mudras and Wisdom Visualization

The six eminent-monk ghosts enable Lu Feng to acquire bodily practices he had not previously studied 36.

• Forms the Meditation, Inner Lion, Outer Lion, Demon-Subduing, Teaching, and Wisdom Fist Mudras 36.
• Uses the Wisdom Fist Mudra to visualize a sword of supreme wisdom that severs surrounding impurity 36.
• The sword is a mental manifestation, not a physical weapon 36.

Tummo and Divine Strength Perfection

The secret transmission grants Lu Feng the Vajra Bodhi Mahā Mahāmudrā. He circulates wisdom fire and Compassionate Resonance upward through his central channel using breathing and the syllable “Om” 42 43.

• Fills his root chakra to attain the first bodily perfection 43.
• Experiences strength sufficient, in his estimation, to drag a yak backward or carry a horse; he subsequently transports injured attendants through repeated trips 43.
• Retains exceptional vigor after the journey’s supernatural disaster 48.
• Has not completed the first cultivation stage, which contains seven perfections, or attained full Great Mudra perfection 43.
• Must continue observing dietary and sexual restrictions while pursuing bodily and mental perfection 44.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Human-Skin Ancient Scroll / Human-Skin Sutra Scroll — His ghost-detecting, mind-protecting artifact and source of wisdom blessings; also records his three tasks 1 4 26.
• Six-bead Kapala rosary — Given by Zhiyun; made from eminent monks’ brow bones and bearing lingering consciousness. Its accumulated cultivation completes the special empowerment that produces his Compassionate Mind 10 27.
• Six ghost-derived ritual implements — A prayer wheel, Vajra Bell, vajra, Dharma Conch, Damaru, and ever-burning butter lamp, associated with his six subdued Dharma Protectors 29.
  • The prayer wheel bears the Six-Syllable Great Brightness Mantra and accompanies his combat recitation 50.
  • The butter lamp conceals him from ordinary Malevolent Ghosts 29.
  • The Damaru soothes ghosts; it later sounds alongside the bell and conch to protect and bless him 29 48.
• Black Sheep’s Thangka — A mysterious Dharma Mandala with the seed syllable “Om.” It lacks an empowering yidam and is invisible to Mingli during their initial examination 28 35 37.
• Ivory token — Granted by Mingli with his appointment as a monastic clerk 34.

Relationships

• Zhuogedunzhu — Early benefactor and protector. Grants three mantra uses and permission to invoke his name, while requiring future assistance if requested 3 6 10.
• Zhiyun — Scripture teacher and political sponsor. Supplies study materials and the Kapala rosary, oversees his examination and hurried ordination, and later asks him to protect his illegitimate son should his lineage suffer disaster 10 23 24 30.
• Elder Mingli — Personal-deity Lama and intended lineage predecessor. Provides office, resources, and instruction, but expects obedience, succession, and protection for his descendants 34.
• Abbot Dharma Venerable — Hidden Dharma transmitter at Sunrise Temple. Gives Lu Feng cultivation provisions and directs him toward Zajuben Temple if his yidam practice remains incomplete 42 43.
• Elder Mingfa — Hostile senior monk who attempts to compel him and implant a Great Terror seed 19 20.
• Elder Mingzhi — Intervenes against Mingfa and burns away the terror seed threatening Lu Feng 19 20.
• Six eminent-monk Malevolent Ghosts — Sources of the rosary’s cultivation inheritance; become his subdued Dharma Protectors and support his practice and healing work 27 28 36 44.
• Black Sheep — Uncanny visitor that delivers the Thangka and later searches his quarters without finding him 28 35.
• Zawa — Horse-tending monk whom Lu Feng tells to stay close during the dangerous journey; later helps explain the storm’s aftermath 47 48.
• Zhiquan — Fellow traveling monk whom Lu Feng attempts to aid against a ghost; stops Lu Feng from killing the Ubao God’s companion deity 50.

Notable Quotes

“There is no Lama before my eyes. Everything is unreal, like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, like a dream beneath the southern bough.” 42