"…What?"
Wan Lei was completely bewildered. He had been unconscious for so long, only to wake up to an old monk wanting him to become a novice monk. What was going on?
"It is like this. While this humble monk was helping the benefactor Wan Lei expel his karmic obstacles, I also took the opportunity to examine the young friend's aptitude. I discovered that the young friend's aptitude is truly rare and unprecedented.
Of course, benefactor Wan Lei's aptitude is already renowned in the Five Elements Hall. What is important is that this humble monk discovered that benefactor Wan Lei possesses excellent roots of wisdom and is quite fated with our Buddhist sect. If he were to cultivate Buddhism, our Buddhist sect would surely gain another Buddha in the future.
Moreover, our Buddhist sect is strongest in the cultivation of the sea of consciousness and willpower. If the young friend cultivates our sect's Prajna Vajra Art, then when he uses that magical artifact again, he can use the cultivation technique to guard his spiritual platform.
Not to mention being completely uncorrupted, it would at least greatly slow down the speed of corruption, giving the young friend more time to fight and preventing him from being too severely corrupted.
In fact, without even needing this humble monk's intervention, the young friend's own Prajna Vajra Art could cleanse the impure spiritual power on its own."
The Buddha was an old schemer. He knew that talking about wisdom roots and universal salvation was useless. Everyone acted for their own benefit; without some incentive, Wan Lei would never leave the Five Elements Hall for his humble Buddhist sect.
"This… is this true?"
Wan Lei's eyes lit up, and he was immediately tempted.
Fang Xiaoyu was unhappy upon hearing this.
"What, you still want to use that thing? I'm telling you, it's impossible. I'm keeping it, and I'm not giving it back to you."
Hearing this, Wan Lei lowered his head sheepishly.
The Buddha smiled slightly.
"Benefactor, nothing is absolute. Who can guarantee that you will not encounter powerful enemies throughout your life? Just like this time, if not for you, benefactor Xi Sha would have been captured by the demon race. You sacrificed yourself and saved her life."
Fang Xiaoyu was even more displeased. This old monk didn't seem like a good person; he was full of schemes, trying to tempt Wan Lei to use the demonic ring and even wanting to recruit Wan Lei into the Buddhist sect.
"By the way, how is Xi Sha?"
Wan Lei quickly asked.
"She's doing well. Illusion Saint is using a magical artifact to treat her, and she'll be awake soon."
Fang Xiaoyu said grumpily.
"That's good, that's good. Buddha, where were we just now?"
"We were discussing benefactor Wan Lei joining the Buddhist sect."
The Buddha smiled even more kindly, his invisible spiritual power influencing Wan Lei, initiating his brainwashing technique.
Wan Lei suddenly remembered something.
"Buddha, I heard that monks in the Buddhist sect cannot marry and have children, is that right?"
"That is correct. The Buddhist sect is detached from all desires, unstained by the secular world, and does not concern itself with matters of love and affection…"
Fang Xiaoyu's face darkened to the point of dripping water. This Buddhist sect was truly despicable, actually wanting Wan Lei to give her up!
Hmph, damn Wan Lei! You'd better be careful with your next words, or I'll skin you alive!
"I'm not going."
Wan Lei refused directly before the Buddha could finish speaking.
What a joke! Sister Xiaoyu was more important to him than his own life. Giving her up was absolutely impossible.
The Buddha turned to look at Fang Xiaoyu and sighed.
"Amitabha, such a beauty brings ruin."
"You old monk…"
Fang Xiaoyu gritted her teeth.
"You old monk, don't even think about seducing Wan Lei, or I'll make you regret it!"
From outside the door, a sweet voice could be heard.
Wan Lei looked up and saw the familiar sweet figure, his eyes widening in shock.
"Mengmeng? You… why are you here?"
"Mengmeng is Illusion Saint, the wife of the Ghost Emperor."
Wan Lei was stunned. No wonder Mengmeng appeared in the Ghost Immortal Secret Realm; it was like this.
He had always thought Mengmeng was a meme in the Ghost Immortal Secret Realm.
Mengmeng walked over, hands on her hips, and snorted coldly.
"Hmph, Wan Lei, don't listen to him. That old monk has ill intentions. He broke up the little monk and Fairy Minghua before, and now he wants to break you and Xiaoyu up. I'll beat him to death sooner or later.
He's tempting you with useless cultivation techniques like Prajna Vajra Art, which is trash. You can cultivate Dragon Elephant Prajna Art; that's the number one divine art in the Buddhist sect, and you can exchange for it directly in the Five Elements Hall. Why go to the Buddhist sect?"
The Buddha's face lost its composure from Li Mengran's rebuke, and he knew he wouldn't be able to take Wan Lei away today. He didn't linger any longer and got up to leave.
"Buddha, for your life-saving grace, this junior will surely repay you in the future."
Wan Lei called out to the Buddha's rapidly disappearing figure.
"Mengmeng…"
"You've just recovered from a serious illness, and your body is still a bit weak. But now that you're awake, get more active, go for a walk, and don't leave Ghost Emperor Island these days. I need to check on you later to see if everything has been completely cleared."
"Thank you."
"It's nothing, we're good friends."
Li Mengran bounced over to Xi Sha and carefully examined her.
"How is Xi Sha?"
Wan Lei, supported by Fang Xiaoyu, got out of bed.
The physical damage caused by the Illusion Heart Demon Emperor, and the mental damage from the demonic ring, were both severe. He was indeed very weak now.
"It's okay, don't worry. She'll wake up in less than half a month."
"That's good."
Wan Lei nodded.
Li Mengran suddenly wrapped her arms around herself, nonchalantly walked over to Wan Lei, nudged his arm with her elbow, and winked, "I heard Xi Sha is your concubine?"
As soon as she said this, Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu were dumbfounded. Immediately, Wan Lei felt murderous gazes from his side.
"No, no, don't talk nonsense, don't listen to She Yu's nonsense."
Wan Lei denied it three times.
She Yu? Wood Immortal Venerable? Alright, if Wood Immortal Venerable said so, it seemed this was not just idle gossip.
Fang Xiaoyu was becoming increasingly displeased with Xi Sha. Wan Lei had been unconscious for so long and was so badly injured saving her, yet this little vixen actually wanted to be his concubine. Let's see how I deal with her later.
A Saint? What's wrong with being a Saint? I'll deal with her anyway!
Seeing Fang Xiaoyu's displeased expression, Wan Lei quickly took her out of the side hall, under the guise of taking a walk, but in reality, to escape the battlefield.
Fang Xiaoyu also felt sorry for him. After pinching him a few times, she stopped bothering him.
She led him away from the Ghost Emperor Hall and flew towards the south of Ghost Emperor Island, where there were many cities in the ghost realm. They could take the opportunity to see the local customs and practices of the ghost realm.
Through Fang Xiaoyu's narration, Wan Lei also learned that Fire Phoenix had gone to the Dragon Clan with Ao Lie, and the four little ones had gone to explore the footprints of their ancestors.
The two casually entered a city and started to wander around.
The cities in the ghost realm were quite ancient, unlike the modern metropolitan cities of the Five Elements Hall and Chang'an City, but they were still very lively.
Fang Xiaoyu bounced around happily, wanting to buy and eat everything she saw.
In the afternoon, they had walked from the north of the city to the south.
Wan Lei saw someone selling candied hawthorns and stopped to buy one. Fang Xiaoyu saw someone selling cotton candy outside the city gate, and without waiting for Wan Lei, she directly ran outside the city gate to buy it.
She was happy like a child.
She took the cotton candy and took a bite, savoring it. Suddenly, she heard a surprised voice from behind.
"Fang Xiaoyu?!"