"I know what's going on."
Wan Lei looked at the monkey, his gaze deep and tinged with horror.
"These people were swept by a powerful wave of mental force, their souls directly shattered.
But this mental force still exists in this small town. They live within the mental force, their souls fused with their bodies.
They believe, they pray, and the faith they sent to the Great Sage Equal to Heaven was returned to them, along with the wishes they made.
The collective mental force, the illusions each person experienced, merged together and were accepted by the mental force of this town, forming an illusion similar to that of the Happy Town.
A very clever method. The illusion formed by mental force is not a mere illusion, nor does it have the foundation of an illusion array. Even a master of illusions might not be able to discern its secrets."
"But you came, and you happen to possess mental force, hmm..."
The monkey pondered for a moment, then chuckled,
"And a sharp mind."
"The one who sent this mental force is the statue of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, right?"
The monkey immediately nodded in affirmation.
"Then... why did the Great Sage Equal to Heaven kill them? What was his motive? Was he conducting an experiment, or did he have some other purpose? The lives of tens of thousands of mortals are almost insignificant to a Saint, aren't they?"
The monkey smiled.
"Reasoning, continue your reasoning. It's fascinating, and I'm eager to know the correct answer."
"I can only guess this far. I can deduce how they died, but I don't know the Great Sage Equal to Heaven's purpose in killing them. The actions of a Saint are beyond the comprehension of a mere Tai Xu realm cultivator like myself."
"Alas, what a pity."
The monkey jumped down from the cart, his hands behind his back, and chuckled placidly.
"Now, you have two choices. One, you can go back and report truthfully that my Great Sage killed them because they were rebellious commoners.
Two... I can take you to see the truth, but then, you won't be able to leave."
The monkey was speaking the truth, and Wan Lei understood. A Saint would not allow him to leave alive with such a huge secret.
Wan Lei was in a terrible dilemma. If he left, he would be unwilling to do so. If he went to see, he would die.
If only there were a way to see without dying.
"Um... before I go, can I send a message to the Five Elements Hall?"
Wan Lei asked honestly.
The monkey looked shocked, his six ears twitching.
"What do you think? Do you think I would let you send a message back?"
This person looks quite intelligent, not like a complete fool.
Upon hearing this, Wan Lei gritted his teeth.
Forget it, he had already prepared himself to be killed by a Saint before coming. For the sake of tens of thousands of innocent souls, he would go and see.
He had the protagonist's halo with him; there was no situation that was absolutely fatal. He could fight for a sliver of a chance.
If the Saint really attacked him, he would immediately contact the Five Elements Hall and request them to send a Saint to rescue him. He still had a treasure that could withstand a Saint's attack, so he should have enough time.
He would take the gamble!
"Alright, I'll go with you."
Wan Lei nodded seriously.
"Heh, for the sake of that so-called truth, you're willing to throw away your life? Very well, since you are determined to die, then this monkey shall fulfill your wish."
The monkey finished speaking, reached out, and placed his hand on a protruding stone on the pedestal of the statue of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
As the stone was pressed down, the eyes of the statue of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven instantly emitted a black-blue light, and a spatial black hole appeared.
Wan Lei's heart was greatly alarmed, and he immediately retreated.
If he were going to another space, his phone wouldn't work!
However, it was too late.
The spatial black hole erupted with a strong suction force, pulling both him and the monkey into it.
Wan Lei was very familiar with this sensation; he had experienced spatial jumps several times.
Unlike the instantaneous arrival of ordinary spatial jumps within the same realm of the immortal world, this time the duration was noticeably longer.
He knew that he might be going to an异空间 (yì kōngjiān -异空间 can mean alternate dimension, parallel universe, or simply another space, but in this context, given the following description, "异宇宙" is more fitting) this time.
Only after several breaths did Wan Lei emerge from the spatial passage and realize that he had been naive.
This was not an 异空间.
This was an 异宇宙 (yì yǔzhòu -异宇宙 means alternate universe, parallel universe)!
He stood in mid-air, gazing into the distance at a dead and silent starry sky. There was not the slightest trace of spiritual energy in this world.
A void-spirit plane!
This meant that only mortals existed here, with no supernatural powers.
After looking into the distance, Wan Lei lowered his gaze and was startled by the sight before him.
He was in the sky above a continent. This continent was not entirely desolate; it also had lush vegetation.
Looking ahead, in the very center of this continent, stood a colossal statue, towering majestically.
It was the statue of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
Most shocking of all were the hundreds of millions of people surrounding the statue, kneeling piously. Their gazes were all fixed upon the statue.
The ground was densely packed with kneeling humans, their lips moving in silent recitation, their faces filled with blissful contentment, as if kneeling before this statue was the most sacred of acts.
"This... this is..."
Wan Lei was dumbfounded, speechless for a moment. The scene before him was too overwhelming.
"Can't you tell? These people believe in the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, they worship the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. The Great Sage is the supreme deity, capable of granting them everything they desire."
The monkey smiled kindly.
"Impossible, this is a void-spirit plane, all mortals.
With so many people kneeling here and not working or producing anything, what do they eat and drink?"
Wan Lei turned and questioned.
"Why do they need to eat and drink? They only need to believe in the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. The Great Sage can give them everything.
As long as their faith in the Great Sage remains, they will live forever and ascend to eternal bliss."
Wan Lei suddenly remembered the name of this mission...
The Blissful Pure Land
Is this the meaning of the Blissful Pure Land? Living in false illusions?
"Are they all immortal, or... have they already died, so they no longer need to die?"
Wan Lei's eyes turned slightly red, looking at the monkey in disbelief.
The scene before him reminded him of the town outside.
If killing tens of thousands of people for an experiment could be understood, then...
Annihilating hundreds of millions of people in an entire universe for an evil purpose was something Wan Lei absolutely could not tolerate.
He couldn't even comprehend it!
"What's the difference? As long as they believe they are happy, that's enough.
Look at their faces, they are all filled with happy smiles, and that is sufficient."
The monkey looked at Wan Lei with a half-smile,
"This is the truth you wanted. I've given it to you."
Wan Lei was still in shock. He steadied himself and asked the final question.
"Why do you kill so many people and collect so much faith and mental force?"
"I don't know the reason. I am merely following orders. The Great Sage said he needed incense and faith, so I collect it for him."