"Invite the Buddha?"
The Ghost Emperor exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, this is beyond the scope of mental power and illusions. We need to invite the Buddha. The Diamond True Yang energy of Buddhism is most effective at counteracting such dark-attribute mental power and energy.
With the Buddha here, he and I will work together to wear down and dispel these dark forces, reclaiming Wan Lei's Sea of Consciousness.
If the Buddha is also insufficient, we will have to invite the Celestial Venerable. Daoism's vast righteous energy might have some effect, but it's not as fierce as Buddhism's. Buddhism's effect is better."
"Alright, I'll call him right away."
After the Ghost Emperor finished speaking, he sent out a divine thought, heading straight for the Immortal Realm.
"Let's go, take them to the rear sleeping quarters. They can't keep lying on the floor of the main hall."
Li Mengran stood up, and the members of the Thunderstorm Squad immediately carried Xi Sha and Wan Lei, following the Ghost Emperor and his wife towards the rear sleeping quarters.
Although the Ghost Emperor was the lord of the Ghost Realm, and the entire suspended Ghost Emperor Island was his private domain, the Ghost Emperor Hall was not large. It was far less grand than the Five Elements Hall, and not even comparable to the imperial palace in Chang'an City of the Great Tang Empire.
The reason for this was that the previous Ghost Emperor had been alone, and the current generation consisted only of the couple, who had not yet had time to procreate.
The Ghost Emperor, Wang Xiaohang, was also very troubled by this. He had longed for a child for a long time. This desire wasn't very strong initially, but after seeing that the Immortal Venerables all had children, his longing became even more urgent.
However, whenever he brought this up with Li Mengran, she would put on a very cute and innocent expression, saying with a hint of grievance,
"I'm still a child..."
Heh, a child over fifty thousand years old...
Upon reaching a side hall, everyone placed Xi Sha on a large bed inside. The servants of the Ghost Emperor Hall brought another bed and placed it in the middle of the side hall, laying Wan Lei on it.
Li Mengran conjured an ancient bronze mirror and placed it by Xi Sha's bedside. Under the mirror's illumination, she slowly dispelled the illusions left by the Illusion Heart Demon Emperor in Xi Sha's Sea of Consciousness.
This mirror had quite a history.
During the Second War of Immortals and Gods, the Celestial Venerable refined the Illusion Sea Mirror and fought against the primary gods. Later, the Illusion Sea Mirror was shattered by the Sun God and cast into other cosmic dimensions.
This cosmic dimension was called the Primordial World.
It was the world where the Five Elements Hall Master, Wan Hong, had once traversed, a world where myriad races thrived and humans were treated as livestock.
After being shattered, the Illusion Sea Mirror transformed into the Illusion Sea Realm, forming a forbidden zone in the starry sky of the Primordial World.
Later, Wan Hong, the Demon Emperor of the Dark Empire's universe, set aside his ambitions and returned to the Primordial Continent to retire. Out of boredom, he led a team to explore the Illusion Sea Realm.
At that time, the Third War of Immortals and Gods was also raging.
Xia Dayu and Li Mengran arrived at the Primordial Continent to bring Wan Hong back to preside over the grand affairs of the Immortal Realm, but Wan Hong had become trapped within the Illusion Sea Realm.
Li Mengran battled the spirit of the Illusion Sea Mirror, eventually obliterating the artifact spirit and rescuing Wan Hong. The Illusion Sea Realm then re-condensed, becoming the Illusion Sea Mirror once more.
Upon returning to the Immortal Realm, Li Mengran handed the Illusion Sea Mirror to the Celestial Venerable for repair, and Wan Hong began his grand plan to unify the Immortal Realm and resist the divine race.
From then on, the Illusion Sea Mirror became the foremost illusionary artifact of the Immortal Realm. Later, it was nurtured by Li Mengran for fifty thousand years, becoming her life-bound artifact.
The Demon Race's Illusion Heart Demon Emperor had long coveted the Illusion Sea Mirror, always wishing to kill Li Mengran and seize it, especially since the Demon Race's artifact refining skills were notoriously poor.
With the Illusion Sea Mirror to assist Xi Sha, everything was naturally foolproof.
After everyone had finished their tasks, a Buddhist chant of "Amitabha" echoed from outside the side hall.
Everyone looked towards the sound and saw a monk standing at the doorway, with his palms pressed together in a bow, his head lowered.
The Buddha's appearance was vastly different from what everyone had imagined. There was no dazzling golden radiance, nor was he corpulent and clad in a purple-gold kasaya. Instead, he was extremely plain.
He appeared to be around thirty years old in mortal years, of medium build, tending towards slender, and not particularly tall. He was barefoot, wearing a simple, greyish-white homespun robe, and a benevolent, compassionate smile graced his face, making him look like an ordinary wandering monk.
If Wan Lei were to see the Buddha like this, he would likely be very surprised, finding it hard to associate the compassionate, high monk before him with the trickster who had tricked the Monkey King.
"Greetings, Buddha."
Everyone bowed.
"This humble monk greets His Majesty the Ghost Emperor, and all benefactor patrons."
The Buddha was devoid of any pretension and was very polite.
In Buddhist terminology, "tan yue" (ζͺθΆ) is a respectful term for a donor.
"Buddha, please examine Wan Lei's condition. I need you to assist me in rescuing him."
"Oh? What has happened to young benefactor Wan Lei?"
The Buddha, with a smile, entered the side hall and carefully examined Wan Lei.
"Such heavy malevolent energy, such profound karma."
The smile on the Buddha's face gradually faded, and his gaze turned solemn.
Fang Xiaoyu explained Wan Lei's situation to the Buddha in detail.
After listening, the Buddha sighed,
"No wonder. In my righteous realm, with its bright heavens and earth, such intensely karmic artifacts would never appear. Only beings with evil hearts, like the demons, could create such a thing.
It would be best to destroy such an evil object as soon as possible, or at the very least, suppress it beneath my West Desert's Bodhi Sarira Pagoda, never to see the light of day again."
"Buddha, you're coveting the treasure's power, aren't you?"
Wang Xiaohang looked at the Buddha with a dark expression.
"Not at all, His Majesty the Ghost Emperor, please do not cast aspersions without cause. Our Buddhist teachings emphasize purity of the six senses; how could we succumb to greed and anger? This humble monk acts for the welfare of all beings."
"Buddha, you want to use this treasure to enhance your strength to fight the Monkey King, right? I heard that a few days ago, the Monkey King attacked the West Desert and beat you up?"
Li Mengran chuckled, covering her mouth.
"Not so, benefactor Li. Your words are amiss. Venerable Wukong came to discuss Mahayana Buddhism with this humble monk. We have been friends for tens of millions of years, so a little sparring to mutually improve is normal. It's just that the Monkey King is a bit quick-tempered."
The Buddha remained calm and composed.
"Looking at Buddha's depleted vitality, you must have lost, haven't you?"
Li Mengran teased.
"Not at all. Our Buddhist teachings value harmony above all else. How could this humble monk go all out when fighting with the Monkey King?"
"Oh, so you were beaten by the monkey."
"...This humble monk is unwilling to argue with him. The Monkey King is unruly and violent. This humble monk is merely advising him to restrain his temperament and diligently study Buddhist scriptures."
"You were beaten by the monkey."
"Benefactor Li, please do not jest. Our Buddhist sect has twenty ancient Buddhas, hundreds of Bodhisattvas, tens of thousands of Arhats, not to mention tens of millions of Buddhist disciples and hundreds of millions of believers. How could we fear him, the Monkey King?"
"You were beaten by the monkey."
"Let's not talk about this. This humble monk observes that young benefactor Wan Lei's karma is too heavy, and his Sea of Consciousness has been completely eroded. Fortunately, our Buddhist sect's most powerful scripture, the Avatamsaka Sutra, possesses the most powerful righteous energy in this world, making it effortless to remove benefactor Wan's karma."
"You're bragging, and you were beaten by the monkey."
"...Can we not mention the monkey?"