My brother is so cunning

Chapter 1142 The Whole Nation's Fear of Charm
As the ceremony concluded, the bugle call to march into battle sounded, its sound piercing through the sea of ​​clouds and echoing to every corner of the Kunlun Mountains.

The immortals of the Chan Sect were the first to set off: Guang Chengzi rode on auspicious clouds, with the Heaven-Turning Seal hovering above his head. The seal was covered with runes and exuded a pressure that suppressed heaven and earth.

Taiyi Zhenren rode the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Steed, whose four hooves spewed fire, leaving a trail of flames as it ran. Behind him followed hundreds of disciples of the Chan Sect, who rode on swords, their sword light flowing like a silver river across the land for miles.

Dao Xing Tianzun followed closely behind, wearing a gray-blue Daoist robe. The demon-subduing pestle in his hand gleamed with a dark golden light, and a soul-stabilizing bead hung from the tip of the pestle, which could suppress evil spirits. Wherever he passed, the shadows hidden in the sea of ​​clouds disappeared completely.

Huanglong Zhenren transformed into a giant golden dragon, its body winding for dozens of feet. Its scales reflected a metallic luster in the sunlight. On the dragon's back sat a hundred disciples of the Chan Sect, holding long swords and pointing them in unison toward the sky. The sword light converged into a cyan blade of light, exuding an imposing aura.

Master Yu Ding stood on a floating jade sword, surrounded by seventy-two smaller swords, seemingly ready to unleash a sword formation at any moment.

The entire Chan Sect formation was neatly arranged, with the magical treasures gleaming in a well-organized manner, resembling a grand celestial military parade.

The Western religious delegation was equally imposing, but with an added touch of Buddhist solemnity.

The nine-tiered lotus platform of the Buddha radiated boundless golden light.

The twelve-petaled lotus platform of the guiding saint transformed into a giant lotus city. Within the city, chanting of Buddhist hymns continued, and countless rays of Buddhist light condensed into flying goddesses who held flower baskets and scattered petals downwards. The petals, upon landing, transformed into a protective shield of Buddhist light, enveloping the entire Western Religious group.

The Seven Treasures Tree of the Sage Zhunti led the way, and as the tree's shadow swayed, countless Buddhist runes appeared in the air. Wherever the runes passed, the sea of ​​clouds condensed into a glass-like staircase for immortals and Buddhas to tread.

Beneath the lotus throne, Manjushri Bodhisattva rides a blue lion, whose open mouth spews forth crystalline light, its wisdom sword pointing diagonally to the ground, its blade inscribed with Sanskrit; Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva rides a golden-haired lion, its vase drooping with willow branches that sweep across the sea of ​​clouds, condensing into white lotus blossoms; Samantabhadra Bodhisattva rides a white elephant, its trunk curling up a large Mani jewel, its radiance illuminating and making the spiritual power of the surrounding immortals and Buddhas appear even purer.

Further back, three thousand Jiedi stood in neat square formations, each clad in black armor and wielding a demon-subduing pestle. They marched in unison above the sea of ​​clouds, the clanging of their armor resounding like thunder across the sky.

The Dharma protectors followed closely behind. Eight Dharma Kings, including Acala and Lakshmi, each held a Dharma weapon and were surrounded by blazing Buddhist light. Acala held a wisdom sword and a lasso, and his Buddhist light exuded majesty. Lakshmi rode on a wheel of fire and wind, and the flames around his body were bluish-black, radiating an aura that could deter evil spirits.

The entire Western Sect procession, from Bodhisattvas to Dharma protectors, was arranged in a solemn and imposing formation, with constant chanting of Sanskrit, which complemented the celestial atmosphere of the Chan Sect.

The moment the allied forces of immortals and Buddhas took off, the entire Kunlun Mountains were enveloped in light.

The Taoist robes of the Chan sect glowed with rosy light, the Buddhist robes of the Western sect shone with golden light, the magic treasures shimmered with light, and the flying swords flashed with cold light, all intertwining together to make the sea of ​​clouds look like a seven-colored brocade.

Cranes and golden-winged rocs soared together in the sky, while the chanting of Taoist scriptures and the humming of magical artifacts resonated. Even the mountain streams seemed to be affected by spiritual power, rippling with crystalline patterns of light as they flowed along the mountainside, resembling a silver ribbon.

Yuanshi Tianzun stood atop the clouds, a phantom image of the Nine-Dragon Throne hovering behind him. His gaze swept over the immortals and Buddhas under his command, and his voice was filled with majesty: "Set off! Destination: Freedom City. Slay the demons and restore the rightful order!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he flew south first, followed closely by the allied forces of immortals and Buddhas like a surging tide—the Chan Sect's army led the way, with each Golden Immortal leading a squad, and the disciples following closely behind their master, their formation perfectly orderly. The Western Sect's army followed behind, with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the center, and three thousand Jiedi and Mingwang protectors positioned on either side, forming a band of light stretching for dozens of miles. The light pierced through the clouds, and even mortals thousands of miles away could see the magnificent scene on the horizon.

When strange phenomena occur in the sky, ordinary people on earth would usually be terrified and collapse to their knees, prostrating themselves in prayer and making wishes, begging the gods and Buddhas in heaven to send some blessings through their fingers to change their endless suffering and save them from their misery.

However, this time was different.

As the rosy glow of the combined forces of immortals and Buddhas pierced through the clouds on Kunlun Mountain, Wen Rui, inside the intelligence center of Free City, was watching the live footage on the screen and ordered the communications officer: "Activate the live broadcast signal across the entire mortal realm and transmit the footage of the immortals and Buddhas' expedition to all television, mobile phones, and tablet terminals simultaneously."

The moment the command was issued, countless screens in the mortal realm lit up simultaneously.

In the rest areas of the factories in Liberty City and Coastal City, workers put down their lunch boxes and gathered around the wall-mounted television.

In a classroom at the Daqi People's Autonomous Region School, the teacher paused the lesson and switched the projector to a live broadcast channel.

In front of the large screen on the street in Bishui Town, Dachu Autonomous Region, people stopped to watch, and even the vendors on the stalls forgot to greet their customers.

On the screen, the grand lineup of the allied forces of immortals and Buddhas on Mount Kunlun is clearly presented, while in the corner of the screen, a narrator with a clear voice is methodically introducing the background of each god and Buddha.

"What you are seeing now is Yuanshi Tianzun, the leader of the Chan Sect. The phantom of the Nine-Dragon Throne he is currently riding is one of his signature magical treasures, which is said to be able to mobilize a portion of the power of the Heavenly Dao. However, according to historical records, during the Investiture of the Gods, this Heavenly Venerable disregarded celestial virtues and the feelings of fellow disciples, and instead colluded with the Western demon monks. Relying on the favoritism of his senior brother, Taishang Laojun, he only dared to fight our sect's Tongtian Jiaozhu to a draw after gathering four sages."

The commentator's voice came through the speakers, and a list of Yuanshi Tianzun's past achievements popped up on the screen, clearly showing even his experience of being suppressed by Tongtian Jiaozhu.

When the scene switched to the array of Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect, the narrator's introduction became more detailed: "The one on the left, standing on auspicious clouds with the Heaven-Turning Seal on his head, is Guang Chengzi. Although the Heaven-Turning Seal is said to 'suppress heaven and earth,' during the Investiture of the Gods, he liked to hide in the back and throw bricks to ambush people. He only hit the female immortals of my sect. He doesn't know how to fight unless he ambushes or fights outnumbered."

"The one riding the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Steed beside him is Taiyi Zhenren. Don't let his fat head and big ears fool you into thinking he's harmless. His magic weapon, the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover, is quite domineering. But without the magic weapon, his only commendable skill is refining the Lotus Sacred Body. If he doesn't use the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover, he's no match for my second-generation female disciple, Lady Shiji."

The screen even displays a diagram analyzing the magical artifacts: the rune structure of the Heaven-Turning Seal, the energy circuit of the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover, and even marks the "attack blind spots" and "defense weaknesses".

Inside the Liberty City factory, an engineer pointed at the screen and laughed, "Isn't this just an enlarged version of a 'gravity hammer'? It looks impressive, but its core principle is similar to our factory's gravity forging press. Both have a force limit!"

The surrounding workers nodded in agreement, their initial awe of the "magical artifact" largely dissipating after the "explanation of its principles."

Another engineer scoffed, "The core technology of the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover is just a nuclear fusion furnace, right? Its extreme temperature might not even be higher than that of a nuclear fusion furnace. We upgraded our factory's technology and built three new ones. And you know what? The smelting efficiency is indeed quite good. Do those gods use this thing to fight?"

(End of this chapter)