The Buddha Said, This World Is Real!

As Li Yan sat inside Abyss Palace, constantly taking Purple Mansion Bright Wisdom Pills and devoting himself to cultivating Candle Dragon Rewind Power,

inside White Jade Capital, aside from Great Exorcist Siming, whom Li Yan had gravely wounded,

the remaining five Simings—Eclipse Moon, Longevity, Lamp Holding, Glutton Head, and Dysentery Butcher—were gathered together, discussing something.

They had sent their servants away this time. Only the five Simings remained.

Glutton Head was getting impatient. "Li Chang Sheng, are you still playing with your coin?"

"Ghost-faced Dragon Nightmare was subdued by Li Yan. Now it'll be even trickier for us to enter the Abyss of the Netherworld."

"If you still can't come up with a way to deal with Li Yan, I'm going in first."

The bald man had a big belly, and some unidentifiable sauce clung to the corners of his mouth. Both his hands were greasy and sticky.

He seemed unwilling to wait any longer and wanted to take action himself.

Everyone turned to look at Longevity Siming. Li Chang Sheng was still lying lazily in the clouds, tossing that coin into the air from time to time, as if it served some special purpose.

Faced with the other Simings' questions, Li Chang Sheng remained unconcerned. "If you want to go in, then go. Don't mind me."

"My big show has to be the grand finale. The Dao Patterns are still being arranged. What's the rush?"

As he spoke, Li Chang Sheng turned his mocking gaze toward Eclipse Moon.

"As far as I know, every Siming has a plan for dealing with the Abyss of the Netherworld."

"We're all running around taking care of things, while little sister Eclipse Moon has been keeping a low profile."

"I'm quite curious. How exactly does little sister Eclipse Moon plan to deal with Li Yan? How will you capture your old flame?"

Seeing Li Chang Sheng steer the conversation toward her, Eclipse Moon snorted. "No comment."

Seeing everyone fooling around, Lamp Holding Siming finally lost his patience.

"Enough!"

"If none of you will act, then I will!"

The six lanterns in the hands of Lamp Holding Siming, who had six arms, began to sway.

Golden light flickered now and then within their ghostly blue flames, which began to dance wildly.

As the six-armed Lamp Holding recited an incantation, his hoarse voice made one feel drowsy.

"Layer upon layer, lantern shadows sway; into a scroll, they weave their play. Li Yan, hear my command: let your soul turn with the light.

Three steps tread the void; each step sinks deeper into illusion. Seven souls sink into shadow; every shadow is bound by fate.

The wick shall guide, break free of worldly chains; the lantern's shadow shall form a boundary, linking earth and sky.

This journey is neither dream nor mortal realm. Once you enter the trap, the illusion shall reveal itself."

Seeing Lamp Holding cast his spell, Li Chang Sheng grinned and asked,

"How interesting, Old Lantern. How did you hook Li Yan's Shadow Soul?"

The six-armed Lamp Holding, still casting his spell, raised his head and smiled smugly.

"Li Yan once entered Jun Tian Bai Cang. His residual shadow left traces behind."

"With just a little effort, I can draw out his Shadow Soul."

"As the saying goes, a person leaves a shadow as he passes, and a shadow leaves a trace as it goes. I caught Li Yan's shadow trace."

Glutton Head Siming patted his round belly. "Old Lantern, why didn't you use this sooner? Watching you has made me hungry. Now I want something to eat."

Dysentery Butcher, the frail-looking scholar, spoke in a soft, timid voice.

"He... He didn't want to act, so Great Exorcist wouldn't get half the credit."

Exposed, the Simings exchanged smiles and pointed at one another.

"You old foxes, all of you want to suck someone else dry, don't you?"

Watching these Simings, each with their own agenda, Eclipse Moon thought to herself, They all want to capture Li Yan and claim credit with their respective masters.

Clearly, the Simings weren't under one another's command. Their Dao Patterns all came from different gods.

They schemed against and competed with one another; none of them wanted someone else to get ahead.

They could sit here chatting away, all polite on the surface, but in truth, each was watching to see who would lose patience first.

Meanwhile, Lamp Holding Siming used the shadow traces Li Yan had left in Jun Tian Bai Cang to draw Li Yan into his lantern-shadow illusion.

At that moment, Li Yan—

[Detected that the host's Shadow Soul has been drawn away. Reversing side effects!]

Inside Abyss Palace, Li Yan felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself inside a Buddhist shrine!

Sitting before the shrine, Li Yan looked up.

In the main hall of the temple stood a golden Buddha statue at its center.

The Buddha's eyes were lowered, its face filled with compassionate pity for all living beings.

Looking around, he saw rows of red candles on both sides, their flames swaying gently in the breeze.

Dong, dong, dong.

The sound of a bell rang out in the distance. The air filled with the sound of sutras being chanted. Listening closely, they seemed to be reciting the Heart Sutra.

Realizing he had suddenly appeared in this place, Li Yan understood that he had somehow been dragged into an illusion.

"Strange..."

"To pull me here from the Abyss of the Netherworld without a sound or trace?"

"No."

"My existence is neither flesh nor soul. So what is this?"

Li Yan felt baffled. He had entered this temple illusion neither in the flesh nor as a soul.

If it wasn't his body or his soul, what part of him had been dragged here?

"Hmm? My shadow?"

Li Yan lowered his head. Under the candlelight, he had no shadow at all.

Could it be...

Was this the Shadow World?

His shadow had been dragged into this mysterious place.

A shadow...

"Could it be Lamp Holding Siming?"

Li Yan guessed that Lamp Holding must have some special ability that allowed him to drag other people's shadows into an illusion.

And his consciousness had entered this "Shadow World" together with his shadow.

As Li Yan was still thinking, a kindly voice came from behind him.

"Good sir, perhaps you feel lost, or perhaps you're confused."

"I imagine you must want to know why you've come here, to Lamp Shadow Temple."

Li Yan turned toward the voice. An old abbot, his face full of wrinkles yet kind and benevolent, had appeared behind him at some point.

The old abbot patted Li Yan's shoulder with great warmth. The whole gesture made him feel utterly at ease.

Li Yan raised an eyebrow. A line of text appeared before his eyes.

[Detected side effect of the Shadow World—bewitchment. This Shadow World is filled with Yao Jue Dao Patterns, which will cause people to have misconceptions and make them more susceptible to bewitchment.]

[Immunity to side effects activated for the host! Make the false real!]

Hmm?

Wasn't Lamp Holding one of Bloodline Emperor Lord's people? Why did he have Yao Jue Dao Patterns?

Could it be that Old Lantern worshipped two gods, serving both sides? Did he believe in two gods and wield two kinds of Dao Patterns?

But when Li Yan saw "make the false real," he was already starting to grin.

After all, the thought of what would happen when the side effect was reversed made him look forward to whatever Lamp Holding Siming would pull next.

Li Yan decided to play along and asked, "This is the Shadow World? Then what am I doing here?"

The old abbot before him shook his head and objected.

"You think shadows are illusions? You're wrong—the living are merely shadows cast by the lamp.

"The flesh is but the remnant left when the lamp oil burns away; thoughts are the tangled patterns shaken from the wick. You think you tread solid ground in what you call reality? It's no more than a phantom footprint, stamped upon the wall of reincarnation by light slipping through the cracks in your bones!"

"What is real? What is false?"

"The Buddha said, this world is real!"