Chapter 436 - 388: Mystic Heart Zhengyi Forbidden Technique

It rapidly swelled, expanded, and spread!

Like an invisible wall, it thunderously rose between Heaven and Earth!

In just three breaths!

A Vast Righteous golden light barrier, one that sundered heaven from earth, reaching up to the highest heavens and down to the Nine Netherworld, now stretched between the Demon Dynasty and Central Earth!

The barrier was entirely pale gold, with halos of light swirling about it, as if the brilliance of a billion suns had been compressed, condensed, and forged into a boundless wall of light!

On the surface of the wall of light, countless golden characters appeared, swirled, and faded in and out of existence!

Each character was as large as a house, its strokes ancient and square, exuding a Vast Righteous Qi that had persisted through millennia, unquenchable.

These characters were densely packed and interconnected, converging into sentences, paragraphs, and finally, a magnificent literary tome!

They flowed slowly across the golden light barrier, like great golden rivers of text, emitting the resounding sound of recitation!

That sound was not a single voice, but a divine, Vast Righteous chorus formed from the convergence of countless voices!

There were the voices of the old and the young, deep male voices and clear female voices, the unabashed cries of children and the weathered tones of those in their twilight years...

All the voices converged to recite this magnificent tome, one that contained the righteous energy of Heaven and Earth, the core tenets of human morality, and the teachings of sages!

"Righteousness exists in Heaven and Earth, taking many forms.

Below, it is the rivers and mountains; above, it is the sun and stars.

In man, it is called the Vast Righteous, and it fills the boundless void..."

"When the imperial path is clear, the court is harmonious and bright. When times of crisis come, true integrity is revealed, immortalized in the annals of history..."

The sound of the recitation, as clear as chimes and as vast as the rivers and seas, echoed between Heaven and Earth, cleansing all that was sinister, evil, and foul!

Behind the golden light barrier, countless figures stood suspended in the void!

They were the Righteous Cultivators of Central Earth!

They stood behind the Vast Righteous golden light, their auras varying—some upright and pure, others sharp and fierce, some gentle and warm, others profound and heavy.

At this moment, they all gathered as one, forming a majestic presence that was in no way inferior to that of the Demon Dao!

In the lead was a group of elderly men dressed in wide-sleeved long robes and Confucian caps.

They stood at the forefront with their hands clasped behind their backs, their gazes defiant. Their eyes pierced through the vast golden light, staring directly at the surging Demon Dynasty that blotted out the sky as it advanced.

Within their gazes, there was no fear and no retreat—only a resolve that had remained unshaken for millennia.

Like a reef against a monstrous wave.

The vanguard of the Demon Dynasty came to a sudden halt.

A million Demon Cultivators, suspended in the void, gazed upon the Vast Righteous golden light that separated Heaven and Earth. They felt the Vast Righteous Qi radiating from it—an energy that was the natural bane of the Demon Dao’s aura—and their faces showed a mix of expressions.

Some were grave, some wary, some astonished and doubtful, and some were filled with a crazed eagerness to test it.

The rolling demonic clouds and the Vast Righteous golden light, at the edge of the desolate plains destined to become a battlefield, created a suffocating—standoff.

The silence lasted for several breaths.

"Mystic Heart Zhengyi Forbidden Technique."

A calm voice sounded from the very front of the Demon Dynasty.

The voice was not loud, yet it clearly penetrated the barrier of Vast Righteous golden light, reaching the ears of every Righteous Cultivator.

Qi Yun stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his Deep Blue Daoist Robe utterly still amidst the fierce gales stirred by the demonic clouds.

Those vast, Cyan Gold eyes calmly gazed upon the golden light barrier that sundered heaven and earth, upon the monumental tome formed by countless golden characters, and upon the innumerable Righteous Cultivators standing defiantly behind it.

The corner of his mouth slowly curled into a faint arc. An arc that held no wariness, no gravity—only a detached indifference that saw through all things, and—

Recognition.

"So the Vast Sacred Land... is laying all their cards on the table."

He spoke lightly, his voice still calm.

Beside him, Qian Xin Master’s expression was grave as he said in a low voice,

"The Mystic Heart Zhengyi Forbidden Technique. The Supreme Great Method of the Vast Sacred Land."

"It is said this formation can gather the will of the people and the mandate of the saints, transforming it into a Vast Righteous barrier.

"Unless a True Monarch takes action..."

He paused, not finishing his sentence.

Qi Yun nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the golden light barrier.

"Unless a True Monarch takes action, no one can break it."

He finished the sentence for Qian Xin Master.

In the depths of his Cyan Gold eyes, there were no ripples, only an unfathomable calm.

It was as if he had long foreseen this moment.

...

At the exact same moment the Northwest Demon Dynasty and the Central Earth Righteous Dao were locked in a standoff across the Vast Righteous golden light—

「On the East Sea Shore.」

The seawater suddenly began to boil!

Countless massive columns of water shot toward the sky, and within each, the sinuous shadow of a dragon could be faintly seen!

On the surface of the sea, a dense, innumerable army of the Sea Race surged forth like the tide!

There were Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals clad in Profound Armor and wielding Tridents, arranged in grim battle formations with Evil Qi that shot to the heavens;

There were Sea Taming Envoys riding giant whales and vicious sharks, their ferocious mounts roaring and churning the clouds;

There were True Dragons hovering in the void, their bodies wreathed in the Water Element Dao Principle, their dragon eyes cold as they gazed down upon the distant lands soon to be engulfed in the flames of war!

And at the very front of the Sea Race army, three towering figures stood side by side in the void.

The one on the left had the appearance of a middle-aged man. His features were archaic, with a high brow and long, narrow eyes. Fine lines like dragon scales extended from the corners of his eyes to his temples.

He wore a simple, dark blue, wide-sleeved robe, his ink-black hair casually tied back with a sinew of ice-crystal dragon tendon. This was the North Sea Dragon Lord.

The one in the center was even more powerfully built, with the head of a dragon on a human body and magnificent horns. His eyes were like two miniature cyan suns, and he radiated a draconic might even more domineering and ancient than that of the North Sea Dragon Lord.

It was a sliver of the East Sea Dragon Lord’s will, an incarnation. Though not his true body, it was more than enough to dominate the region.

The one on the right was slender, dressed in a fiery-red robe. His face was bewitchingly handsome, and his eyes held an inborn fervor and arrogance.

Faint red flames swirled around him. Where they touched the seawater, they let out a SIZZLE of evaporation, yet he showed no discomfort. Instead, there was a strange harmony in the fusion of fire and water.

This was the South Sea Dragon Monarch—the lord of the South Sea lineage, the one rumored to be secretly colluding with the Northwest Demon Path, his ambitions vast.

The three Dragon Monarchs stood shoulder to shoulder, backed by the endless army of the Sea Race.

Their gazes pierced the void, fixed in the direction of Central Earth.

That was precisely where the Vast Righteous golden light had risen.

A cold glint flashed in the East Sea Dragon Lord’s cyan, sun-like eyes. His voice was as deep as the tolling of an ancient bell:

"Those pedantic fools from the Vast Sacred Land... they’re really willing to go all out."

The North Sea Dragon Lord spoke slowly, his voice like a cold current from the deep sea:

"The Mystic Heart Zhengyi Forbidden Technique is indeed a troublesome thing."

The South Sea Dragon Monarch chuckled, his laughter laced with a playful arrogance:

"Troublesome? So what?

"With the forces of three seas combined, even if those pedantic fools possess heaven-defying power, how long can they possibly hold back my Dragon Race?"

He paused, his crimson eyes gazing toward the faintly visible golden light in the distance, the corner of his mouth hooking into a sinister smile.

"Besides—we aren’t the only ones eyeing this prize."

As his voice fell, the endless army of the Sea Race behind the three Dragon Monarchs began to advance with a thunderous roar!

...

And at the same time as the Sea Race began their advance from the East Sea Shore—

In a hidden Pure Land even farther Overseas, one shrouded in the endless golden light of Wish Power.

A vast will slowly awakened.

It was the Buddhist Cultivators.

The very same Buddhist Cultivation Bodhisattvas who had been forcefully expelled from Central Earth by Qingyuan Dao Seeking True Monarch and given a one-year deadline.

At this moment, the phantoms of those revered Bodhisattvas stood within the Pure Land, their gazes piercing the void, looking toward Central Earth as well.

What the Vast Righteous golden light cut off was their "land for spreading the faith," the "Earthly Buddha Country" they had spent thirty years cultivating.

Now, however, it was occupied by a group of the "Outer Dao."

Cold, savage smiles appeared simultaneously on all three faces of the Vidyārāja Bodhisattva:

"The Central Plains Righteous Dao... the Northwest Demon Path... the Overseas Dragon Race..."

He paused, his voice like thunder, echoing within the Pure Land:

"Fight. Go on and fight—"

"The bigger the conflict, the better."

"Wait until you’ve all torn each other to shreds..."

"In the end, this Central Earth will be my Buddhist Sect’s—land for spreading the faith!"

...