I am the villain in the book

The entire Yun An Temple is a phantom array.

The surprise in Wei Changtian's heart upon hearing these words was immense.

He originally thought the phantom array was in the Great Hero Hall, and he would only enter the illusion upon entering the hall.

But he never expected the entire Yun An Temple to be a phantom array.

As Pu Xuan said, if that were the case, he would have been in the illusion long ago.

And the pilgrims, monks, every plant and tree in the temple would all be illusory objects within this illusion.

Good heavens, such a grand scale?

To set up such a large array in just one night?

Wait, something doesn't seem right...

As Wei Changtian's expression gradually changed from surprise to astonishment, he seemed to realize something.

Clearly, it would be impossible to set up such a huge phantom array silently in just one night.

And that would mean that this formation had already existed for a long time.

Then, the so-called Yun An Temple...

"There is no Yun An Temple at all."

Opposite him, Pu Xuan, seeing that Wei Changtian had guessed the truth, no longer concealed anything.

"This place is just a phantom array, disguised as a temple."

"As a person幻生 (huàn shēng - illusion-born) from this array, I have been here since the moment I was born, and in the blink of an eye, more than three hundred years have passed."

"I never thought that no one would see through this array in three hundred years, and sometimes even I can't tell whether this place is real or fake."

"Alas, perhaps things in this world are like this, what you see as real is real, and what you see as fake is fake..."

"."

Pu Xuan sighed softly, with a very complex expression on his face.

Somewhat lost, somewhat calm, somewhat regretful.

And Wei Changtian, looking at him like this, listening to his rather profound words, now roughly guessed the truth about this Yun An Temple.

In short, someone set up this huge phantom array here three hundred years ago.

It is still unknown what that person wanted to do with this array, but in order to cover it up, he disguised the array as a temple.

Saying "disguised" is not accurate, strictly speaking it should be "illusioned."

The temple buildings, flowers, trees, monks, and everything in the temple are fake, only the pilgrims who come and go are real.

As long as the people of Linchuan City step into the temple gate, they enter the phantom array.

They burn incense and worship Buddha in the fake temple, kowtow and pray before the fake Buddha statue, and talk to the fake monks.

As for what their "bodies" are doing at this time, Wei Changtian didn't know.

Perhaps they are standing there blankly, or perhaps they are running around like headless flies in an empty space where there is nothing.

And when they finish burning incense, worshiping Buddha, and walk out of Yun An Temple, they leave the phantom array and return to reality.

No one knows that everything they just experienced was fake.

Because what they see and hear are the most "real" feelings.

When the distinction between truth and falsehood has reached the point where it is indistinguishable, perhaps the truth or falsehood itself is no longer important.

Just like Pu Xuan said.

What you see as real is real, and what you see as fake is fake.

".I understand."

Wei Changtian smiled wryly, not knowing what his mood was now.

He didn't seem to care that he had fallen into a deadly trap, and after a long silence, he slowly said:

"So, the person who controls this array is that old beggar?"

"Yes."

Pu Xuan nodded: "He is called Guan Kong."

"Guan Kong... what a bald donkey."

Wei Changtian muttered, and then asked: "But didn't you just say that this array has been around for three hundred years? How could he have lived so long?"

"He was not the one in charge of the array before."

Pu Xuan answered every question: "The previous array master died fifty years ago, and he took control of this array."

"Oh."

Wei Changtian raised his eyes to look at Pu Xuan, and then asked: "Then is he really your elder brother?"

"I am just an illusory person, where would I have relatives."

A trace of loneliness appeared in Pu Xuan's eyes: "He asked me to call him that, perhaps he wanted to make up for some regrets."

Make up for regrets?

The old beggar's younger brother died, so he created a fake one in the phantom array to comfort himself?

Shaking his head, Wei Changtian was too lazy to care about these trivial matters, but suddenly smiled for no reason and asked the last question.

"These words you just said... were they said by you, or by him?"

"."

Said by you? Or said by him?

At first glance, Wei Changtian's question seemed a bit nonsensical, but upon closer inspection, it was actually quite profound.

If Pu Xuan was really just a phantom created by the array, then his "life and death", and even his every move, should be under the control of the old beggar.

But Wei Changtian didn't think the latter would explain so much to him at such a critical moment, after all, he didn't have the protagonist's halo of "villains die from talking too much."

So...

"It was me."

The next moment, Pu Xuan's answer confirmed Wei Changtian's guess.

As expected.

Although he didn't know the reason, Pu Xuan, who should not have had any "personal will", had actually developed "thinking" over the long three hundred years.

And the reason why he said so much was perhaps because he couldn't talk to anyone else about these things, and now he finally had a "dying person" who could listen to his rambling.

"You, or rather that Guan Kong, seem to be certain that I can't escape this array."

Slowly raising the Longquan Sword, Wei Changtian finally made a move again after chatting for so long.

The countless long swords suspended in mid-air began to gather, forming a dense sword net behind him, and the sword light gradually spread around, soon supporting a silver sword array in the vast golden light.

At the same time, the tall Buddha statue also stepped down from the lotus seat, looking down at Wei Changtian, who was like an ant, just like the Tathagata Buddha in Journey to the West who suppressed Sun Wukong for five hundred years with one palm.

The aura of the Second Rank realm surged wildly, Wei Changtian turned to look at the golden Buddha statue, took a deep breath, and prepared to rush out.

But before he could move, Pu Xuan's sigh sounded from behind him.

"Alas, it's useless."

"This is a phantom array, what you see and hear is illusory, which also means that he can create anything he wants."

"True immortals, true Buddhas, true gods... these can all appear in front of you."

"Here, he is the Heavenly Dao."

"."

Clearly, no matter how many "miracles" Wei Changtian had created before, Pu Xuan still didn't think he had the slightest chance of escaping.

Even Wei Changtian himself was not particularly confident.

But since that's the case, he can't just accept his fate and wait for death, right?

"Heavenly Dao?"

Sneering, Wei Changtian didn't turn his head, but suddenly turned into a black shadow and shot out, wrapping countless long swords and rushing straight towards the golden Buddha statue.

"Heavenly Dao is bullshit!"