Qing Lham materialized in a sudden burst, and the entirety of Mount Karsi seemed instantly draped in a pall of black, deathly miasma. Coupled with the roiling thunderheads in the sky and the ceaseless flashes of lightning, the scene became utterly terrifying, a sheer horror that chilled the bone.

Compared to this spectacle, the evil miasma unleashed by Xuling’s earlier conjuration of the Five Ghosts and Five Plagues felt like mere child’s play, like a true god awakening, roaring its indignation at the world, enraged by the profanation of a sacred place and the blatant disrespect shown to the divine.

Xuling and Xukong stood transfixed. Xuling stared, unable to reconcile the beautiful, fair-skinned Meiduo of moments ago with the monstrous figure before him now—a creature clad in flayed human skin, skeletal beneath, with a greenish face and blazing red hair, truly demonic in appearance. He scrutinized Meiduo again, and a sudden, dreadful realization struck him, causing him to cry out in shock: “You are the reincarnation of Bandarama? Impossible!”

Bandarama manifests in two forms: the White Bandarama, symbolizing benevolence and serenity, possessing exquisite beauty, grace, and dignity; and the Blue Bandarama, symbolizing death and fury. Crucially, when faced with a formidable foe, the beautiful White Bandarama transforms into the terrifying Blue Bandarama, the Demon-Subduing Protector!

Though Xuling and Xukong had been sealed within the Litian Panhuang Bell for nearly a century, they were seasoned practitioners and instinctively understood the sheer terror associated with the Blue Bandarama.

In the seventh century CE, when King Songtsen Gampo was constructing the Jokhang Temple, he invited Bandarama to serve as its protector. Later, Bandarama was elevated to become the chief protective deity of Lhasa City. Unlike the wrathful subjugation methods employed by deities like Acalanatha (Fudō Myō-ō), once Bandarama appears, regardless of the enemy’s strength, anyone caught in the gaze of the Blue Bandarama’s Wrathful Eye is irrevocably dragged down into hell alongside her!

However, the Blue Bandarama is inherently the supreme master governing the Three Realms in Tibetan Buddhism; thus, she can resurrect endlessly from hell, while the souls of her adversaries are perpetually imprisoned within the blood-filled skull bowl she holds.

For millennia, Tibet has endured countless invasions by foreign peoples and the encroachment of foreign cultures and religions, yet Tibetan Buddhism has always stood firm. Bandarama’s contribution to this resilience is unparalleled. To commemorate her meritorious service as a protector, the Tibetan people spontaneously organize the Gelug Wangmo (Jixiang Tianmu Huanyou) festival every year on the tenth day of the tenth lunar month.

Xuling and Xukong were well aware of these terrifying legends surrounding Bandarama, yet they remained fixed on Meiduo, seemingly unable to process that the delicate, beautiful Tibetan girl had instantly morphed into a terrifying demon lord.

It was only after the Blue Bandarama’s transformation was complete—when she closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and unleashed a heaven-shaking roar and shriek—that Xukong finally snapped out of his stupor, his face etched with panic. He quickly leaned toward Xuling and whispered urgently. Though Xuling involuntarily took a step back, his face showing fear, an irrepressible, greedy avarice still flickered in his eyes. He swiftly glanced at Li Yundong and declared, “Run? Don’t make me laugh. This Taoist hasn't claimed that fellow's magical artifact yet, nor have I secured the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus!”

Xukong looked frantic, pulling hard on Xuling’s arm, ceaselessly murmuring in his ear.

Xuling finally erupted in anger, “Do you think I don’t understand the principle of preserving one's strength for future endeavors? Must our first endeavor since regaining our sight end in failure? No, absolutely not! What will people say if we fail? How will we restore the glory of the Vacuum Sect?”

Before his words died away, a terrifying wave of coldness rushed toward him.

Xuling instinctively turned his gaze toward the source of the chill. One look, and Xuling’s entire body convulsed violently.

He saw the Blue Bandarama facing him. She slowly opened her eyes, which bulged wide and were filled with a swirling mist of crimson blood. At the center of her brow, a Celestial Eye was also slowly opening—round like the others, but within it, a deep, bottomless black pupil projected a horrifying black radiance that shot directly toward Xuling.

The moment this beam struck Xuling, their gazes locked, and he instantly trembled violently, rendered utterly immobile.

From the skull-staff held in one of the Blue Bandarama’s hands, countless black wraiths flew out, howling mournfully as they lunged toward Xuling. From the blood-filled skull bowl in her other hand, the crimson liquid boiled fiercely, flowing over the rim like molten lava, cascading onto the ground in a waterfall.

As the blood spattered the earth, it instantly melted the snow, emitting a sizzling sound, and the ground turned pitch black, rapidly creeping toward Xuling’s position, as if the gates of hell were slowly creaking open.

Although Xuling was at the Golden Body realm, against the tyrannical and terrifying Blue Bandarama, he possessed no leverage or means of resistance. He could have escaped in time, but his momentary greed sealed his fate; he was instantly paralyzed by the Blue Bandarama. The wraiths issuing from her staff bound his primordial spirit, preventing any flight.

Xuling’s fear reached an apex in that instant. He struggled desperately, roaring madly, but it felt as if an invisible hand gripped him, making even the movement of a single finger an absurd fantasy!

Beside him, Xukong watched his senior brother instantly ensnared by the Blue Bandarama’s wrathful gaze. Terrified, he wildly tugged at Xuling, trying to wrench him free from the binding.

But no matter how hard he pulled, he could not shift Xuling by an inch; it was as if Xuling had turned to stone, fused with Mount Karsi, weighing a thousand pounds.

Xukong, watching the bloody liquid streaming from the Blue Bandarama’s skull bowl inch closer to his senior brother, was both alarmed and anxious, fearful and panicked, finally letting out a cry of despair.

It was amidst this desperate shriek that Li Yundong finally finished chanting the mantra. Before him now stood an Amithayus Buddha, over three meters tall. This divine figure shimmered with golden light, holding the primary mudra of Amithayus, radiating majestic authority and imposing presence that instilled immediate awe and dread in any observer, forbidding combat.

While chanting, Li Yundong’s spiritual consciousness had reached a state beyond self, beyond others, beyond sentient beings—deaf and blind to the external world. When he completed the mantra and his consciousness returned, just as he was about to unleash a great hand seal, he was horrified to discover that Meiduo had transformed into the Blue Bandarama!

Li Yundong knew well that when the Blue Bandarama appears, anyone she locks in her Wrathful Eye is dragged into hell, and in the process, her earthly vessel—her incarnation—will also perish. This was Bandarama’s ultimate technique: one life traded for another!

While eliminating Xuling was desirable, Li Yundong never wanted Meiduo to trade her life for his!

Li Yundong roared, “Meiduo, no!”

But Meiduo, now the Blue Bandarama, had lost her higher consciousness and could not hear him. The fierce, savage light in her eyes intensified. Especially as the blood flowing from the skull bowl in her hand made contact with Xuling’s body, hell itself seemed to instantly connect with him. From the Blue Bandarama’s skull bowl, countless souls previously dragged to hell boiled forth.

These souls shrieked and roared, scrambling fiercely to swarm Xuling.

Bandarama, having fought countless battles over the millennia, had utilized the Blue Bandarama’s Death Gaze to slay innumerable formidable enemies. The spirits contained within her skull bowl were almost all far more powerful than Xuling; even a single one possessed the ability to rip Xuling’s three hun and seven po souls from his body, let alone this dense swarm attacking simultaneously!

In that instant, heaven and earth wailed, the wind and clouds darkened, and the sky seemed to lose all light, save for the rushing, dark-red spirits hurling themselves at Xuling.

Li Yundong’s heart burned with anxiety. He knew that once these spirits dragged out Xuling’s three hun and seven po, they would immediately turn to drag out Meiduo’s souls as well, leading to mutual annihilation in hell. If that happened, nothing could reverse it; even if he manifested as the true form of Acalanatha, reality could not be altered.

Li Yundong’s mind raced. He instantly directed his great hand seal toward Xuling.

In the dark sky, a streak of golden light abruptly ignited. This light was like a golden sword piercing through thick layers of dark clouds, striking through the shrieking wraiths and landing heavily upon Xuling’s body.

Xuling, paralyzed by the binding force of Bandarama’s spirits, took the full impact of Li Yundong’s most potent Great Hand Seal like a wooden post.

Instantly, Xuling’s body shuddered violently. The spiritual bondage holding him was instantly dispersed by Li Yundong’s vast and powerful Holy Spirit energy, and Xuling regained his mobility in a flash.

But even though the restraint was broken, Li Yundong’s Great Hand Seal was not finished. Xuling’s protective Golden Body was instantaneously shattered, blasted away from his core and flying into the air, disintegrating into countless specks of golden light.

Beside him, Xukong watched as his senior brother’s Golden Body state—his primordial spirit—was shattered by Li Yundong’s hand seal. His physical body reeled, every bone seeming crushed, and he nearly collapsed to the ground. Struck dumb by horror, he shot a terrified glance at Li Yundong, and without another word, tried to drag his brother away from this dreadful place.

But as Xukong moved, a piercing shriek lunged toward him.

Xukong instinctively turned his head and saw that the Blue Bandarama, having failed to drag Xuling into hell with her Death Gaze due to Li Yundong’s interference, had subconsciously redirected her target toward Xukong.

Xukong looked up and saw the Blue Bandarama’s deathly black eye, situated on her brow, fixed intently upon him. Terror flooded him, making his entire body turn cold.

Having witnessed how a mere glance from the Blue Bandarama nearly cost his brother his life, Xukong, in his shock, did not hesitate. He raised his hand, jabbed two fingers forcefully into his own eye sockets!

With a wet pop, Xukong’s eyeballs were violently gouged out. He let out a scream of agony, pulled his brother Xuling, and instantly shot into the sky, fleeing rapidly toward the horizon.

“Trying to run?” Li Yundong gritted his teeth, preparing to give chase, when he heard another sharp, piercing howl, and an icy, terrifying presence instantly locked onto him.

Li Yundong’s body froze, a dark premonition flashing through his mind: Could it be that the Blue Bandarama is staring at me?

Li Yundong’s body stiffened. He slowly turned his head and, sure enough, saw the Blue Bandarama staring directly at him with those horrific black eyes of death, an abominable energy rushing toward him!

After a long day, I woke up at 5 AM this morning... dizzy...