The Buddha of Infinite Light

Ten years ago.

During a campaign in a minor world, Pang Yue chanced upon an ancient monolith.

Upon the stone, fragments of the primordial Dao were naturally etched, imbued with the majestic resonance of the world’s first dawn.

Gaining this monolith, Pang Yue felt a sudden surge of inspiration. Perhaps it was due to his years of bitter cultivation of the “Netherworld White Bone Canon,” having refined all ten major artifacts of the White Bone Demon Sect into treasures. He himself had become a master of artifact forging. Upon acquiring the stone, an embryonic vision of a new artifact began to take shape in his mind.

Over the next decade, he devoted himself to the task, and at last, he succeeded in creating his own method for refining a unique artifact.

Not long ago, this artifact was finally brought into the world by his hands. Though it was but a supreme-grade magical tool, its wonders were unmatched, and its potential even surpassed that of the “Tome of Endless Sorrows.”

He named this artifact—the Innate Infinite Stele.

Yet, due to the limited amount of ancient monolith, this artifact had never advanced to the rank of a true magical treasure.

…

In the secret chamber.

Before Pang Yue lay more than a dozen ancient monoliths, each as massive as a small mountain.

The chamber was filled with intertwining Dao resonance. Spiritual light flickered in and out of the void, runes whirled ceaselessly, flowing in endless cycles.

“I never imagined the Myriad Phenomena Sect would possess so much ancient monolith…” Pang Yue mused inwardly.

All the ancient monolith he had gathered in thirty years was not even a tenth of what he now possessed!

This time, it would be enough to elevate the Innate Infinite Stele to a true magical treasure!

Forty-nine days later.

A profound fluctuation of energy emanated from the secret chamber.

Seated cross-legged on a meditation mat, Pang Yue now faced a monument over ten feet tall!

Countless runes flowed across its surface, so intricate and mysterious that an ordinary cultivator would have their very soul torn asunder with a single glance.

Pang Yue’s hands wove in the air, channeling the formidable power of his peak Golden Core to drive the Innate Infinite Stele, striving with all his might to unravel the mystery that had haunted him.

It was a strange sensation that had lingered since the Demon Banquet at the Void Abyss of Luzhou, through to his later meeting with Ziyue.

A sense of déjà vu, yet utterly alien.

Now, as the newly ascended magical treasure emitted layer upon layer of pure light, it was as if the dust that cloaked his memories and soul was gently wiped away by a silken cloth.

Memories long buried surged forth—

The Demon Sigil Sect...

The Xu family...

The Devouring Demon Hall...

Ran Yunxin...

The Demon of Samsara!

“What a revelation!”

Pang Yue let out a low laugh, his eyes flashing with brilliance.

So, he had been trapped in the illusion of the Demon of Samsara all along!

This illusion was not merely spatial; it subtly entangled itself with the very Dao of reincarnation, blurring the line between reality and illusion.

It was even possible that the Void Abyss of Luzhou, the Seven Luminaries Heaven, the World of Ten Thousand Puppets, and the Ancestor Wuhua were all real entities.

With the aid of the Innate Infinite Stele, Pang Yue at last pierced through the enigma surrounding his predicament.

The Demon of Samsara had ensnared his true body, seized his soul, and pulled him into a demonic illusion, making him a living character in this fabricated world.

In other words, his soul was trapped, and his true body was likely being used by the Demon of Samsara as sustenance for its demonic form.

If he could not escape in time, his only fate would be endless entrapment—until his body was utterly “consumed” by the demon.

Pang Yue’s soul stirred, and he was about to tear apart the veil and return to reality when suddenly, the purple chains formed by the Forbidden God Talisman flared with light, binding his soul tight!

“Ancestor Wuhua…”

Pang Yue growled, enduring the agony radiating from the depths of his soul as he struggled fiercely.

But the purple chains only tightened, a powerful force locking his soul in place, preventing his escape.

A suspicion crept into Pang Yue’s mind—was Ancestor Wuhua a contingency left by the Demon of Samsara, designed specifically to entrap him?

“Unless I possess methods of the Nascent Soul stage, escape is impossible.”

Pang Yue’s gaze flickered.

To leave the demonic illusion, he must break the Forbidden God Talisman.

Yet this talisman was forged by a Nascent Soul master, requiring powers at the Nascent Soul level to break.

…

World of Ten Thousand Puppets, Hanjigong, Sutra Pavilion.

With Ziyue away on campaign, Pang Yue was the master of this domain.

As vice palace master, his authority within Hanjigong was vast. Over the past thirty years, he had made a name for himself throughout the entire Nine Gods Sect.

Were it not for Ancestor Wuhua’s direct discipleship, he would surely rank among the top ten Golden Core cultivators in the World of Ten Thousand Puppets.

Since returning from the Seven Luminaries Heaven, Pang Yue had secluded himself in the Sutra Pavilion, receiving no visitors.

After piercing the veil of illusion, he pondered for nine days and nights, combining it with his previous life’s experience in the game “Dusit Heaven,” and finally conceived a method to break the impasse.

Since the Dao of this world was flawed, and cultivators could not reach the Nascent Soul stage—

Then where did Ancestor Wuhua, a Nascent Soul master, come from?

For tens of thousands of years, no one had seen Ancestor Wuhua’s true form. He traversed the world only through nine Nascent Soul-level puppet incarnations.

So why not forge a Nascent Soul puppet?

The Nine Gods Puppet Forging technique handed down by Ancestor Wuhua covered only the three realms of Qi Absorption, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core; the stages above Golden Core were never revealed.

Pang Yue’s inspiration came from the Buddhist ultimate art in his previous life’s game “Dusit Heaven”—the Great Salvation Technique.

This method could convert all beings under heaven, causing them to devote themselves as Buddhist followers, reciting sutras and offering faith daily, thus condensing supreme relics.

As long as there were enough believers, the power of Buddhist relics was virtually limitless.

Using these relics as a foundation, and combining them with the Infinite Light Buddha Puppet refining technique from the Nine Gods Puppets, there was a glimmer of hope to forge a Nascent Soul-level Infinite Light Buddha Puppet.

The Nine Gods Sect, in its campaigns across the heavens, had collected countless arts and inheritances, its foundation rivaling the greatest sects of Crimson Firmament Heaven.

Secluding himself in the Sutra Pavilion for a year, Pang Yue used the Innate Infinite Stele to gain insight into the great Buddhist canons of the heavens, eventually simulating a version of the “Great Salvation Technique.”

He then set the White Bone Demon Sect to gather every treasure they could muster for the forging of the Infinite Light Buddha.

With the stele’s aid, his progress was swift.

In just ten years, a late-Golden Core Infinite Light Buddha came into being!

This Buddha stood a hundred feet tall, its golden radiance subdued, body like crystal, with a perfect halo of light behind its head.

From the void, waves of chant resounded, and a gentle voice echoed—

Return… Return… Return… Return…

During the forging, Pang Yue embedded the simulated Great Salvation Technique as a divine ability within the Buddha.

Of course, compared to the game version, this divine ability was far weaker, so Pang Yue simply named it the “Lesser Salvation Technique,” to distinguish it!

Outside Hanjigong.

In the volcano’s hot spring lake.

Pang Yue and Ziyue soaked together in the warm waters.

Spiritual fruits and fine wine floated on the surface, ready for their enjoyment.

Lounging lazily in the water, Ziyue cast him a sidelong look. “I heard you’ve spent the last ten years forging the Nine Gods Puppets. How goes your progress? Do you need my help?”

Pang Yue shook his head. “Though it’s not complete, I can refine them at my own pace. No need to trouble the palace master.”

Ziyue pouted. “Must you still be so formal with me?”

They had known each other for decades now, their bond deep.

Pang Yue had become her indispensable right hand, resolving countless troubles for her.

The only barrier remaining was that Forbidden God Talisman.

His life or death hung on Ziyue’s whim.

This was why Pang Yue never dared to tell her the truth: that they were both trapped in the illusion of the Demon of Samsara.

Given Ziyue’s current state, she would never accept this truth on mere words alone.

And so, it was impossible for her to remove the talisman for him.

Unless…

“So, have you considered that matter?” Ziyue’s snowy face flashed with a faint, hard-to-detect sorrow, as she asked, seemingly offhandedly.