My brother is so cunning

Chapter 1128 The war is coming
Upon hearing this, the hall fell silent instantly. Many of the Twelve Golden Immortals hesitated—Jiang Ziya's words, though blunt, had hit the nail on the head.

Before they could think it through, the face of the Primordial Celestial Venerable had darkened completely, and the auspicious clouds beside the Nine Dragon Throne suddenly surged, carrying a chilling pressure.

"Insolence!" Yuanshi Tianzun slammed his hand on the armrest of his throne, the sound of which made the jade pillars in the hall vibrate.

"Jiang Ziya, how dare you defend evil! People's livelihood? It's nothing but an excuse for the greed of mortals! As the saying goes, 'When people are well-fed and clothed, they think of lust.' It's not that people are not full, it's that they are too full, which is why they have so many improper thoughts!"

“What our Chan Sect upholds is the ‘Heavenly Way and Moral Order,’ not ‘wealth, rice, oil, and salt’! Those evil spirits lure sentient beings with ‘being well-fed and clothed,’ yet we, as dignified immortals, must compete with them to please sentient beings. Our status is reversed, and we become slaves to sentient beings. What kind of decorum is this? If we abandon our reverence for the Heavenly Way and our respect for immortals and Buddhas, where is the order of the Three Realms? Where is the majesty of immortals and Buddhas?”

Jiang Ziya hurriedly explained, "Master, I am not advocating for evil spirits, nor am I trying to please the masses. I simply feel..."

"shut up!"

Yuanshi Tianzun interrupted him sharply, his eyes flashing with disappointment and anger: "You have lived in the mortal realm for too long, and have become tainted by too much worldly defilement, forgetting the very foundation of the Chan Sect! Mortals are inherently greedy. If their basic needs of food and clothing are met, they will pursue more, ultimately coveting the positions of immortals and Buddhas, shaking the very foundation of the Three Realms! As a disciple of the Chan Sect, instead of upholding the orthodox tradition, you make excuses for their greed, which truly disappoints your master!"

He raised his hand and waved it, an invisible force pushing Jiang Ziya back two steps. His tone was authoritative and unquestionable: "Don't mention today's matter again! If you dare to question the actions of the Chan Sect again, you will be removed from your position as the Kitchen God and sent back to Kunlun Mountain to reflect on your mistakes until you understand what the 'orthodox way of Heaven' truly means!"

Jiang Ziya staggered to his feet, looking at the furious face of Yuanshi Tianzun, his heart filled with helplessness and sorrow.

The Primordial Celestial Venerable and the Twelve Golden Immortals have been high above for too long, unable to see and never deigning to look at the true needs of the beings in the Three Realms. They only look up at the heavens, never lowering their noble heads.
They regard people's livelihood as "greed" and people's wisdom as "threat".

"Disciple... obeys Master's command."

Jiang Ziya lowered his head, bowed, and retreated to a corner. He looked at the mortals still discussing in the water mirror and knew in his heart that if the Chan Sect insisted on this, even with the help of the Heavenly Court and the Western Sect, it would not last long if it lost the hearts of the people of the Three Realms.

Inside the hall, the anger of the Primordial Celestial Lord had not yet subsided. He swept his gaze over the assembled immortals, his tone commanding:

"The Western Saint will arrive in three days. You must be fully prepared. When besieging the mortal cities corrupted by the evil thoughts of the Intercepting Sect, you must destroy all of Wen Rui's 'television' and 'radio' platforms used to bewitch people, cutting off his channels for misleading the masses! Anyone who dares to obstruct you, whether mortal or demon, shall be killed without exception!"

"This time, we must eradicate evil completely, leaving no one alive from the Jie Sect. We will burn all the Jie Sect's heretical scriptures, destroy all their so-called technological monsters, and exterminate all demons and monsters, so that this world can return to its original state and return to its proper course!"

"As the leader commands!"

The Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect responded in unison. Although their voices were loud, a few of them had a flicker in their eyes. Clearly, Jiang Ziya's words had planted a seed of doubt in their hearts.

Only Guang Chengzi and other disciples who firmly upheld the "orthodoxy" had fighting spirit in their eyes, as if they had long since thrown "people's livelihood" and "people's hearts" to the winds.

Three days later, the Kunlun Mountains were shrouded in auspicious clouds and filled with spiritual energy. In the square in front of the Jade Void Palace, the Golden Immortal of the Chan Sect led his disciples in a battle array, their golden magical treasures suspended in mid-air, exuding a fierce fighting spirit.

On the other side of the square, Western Christian reinforcements were slowly landing.

The Buddha sat regally on a nine-tiered lotus throne, surrounded by golden Buddhist light. The two saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, rode in lotus thrones alongside him, followed by Kasyapa and hundreds of Buddha's disciples, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas. The sounds of chanting and recitation of Buddhist sutras intertwined with the celestial aura of the Chan sect, creating a powerful aura that shook the three realms.

Yuanshi Tianzun personally came out of the hall to greet them, his gaze sweeping over the Western Sect followers, his tone somewhat polite: "Thank you, Buddha Tathagata and the two sages, for coming from afar. With the help of the Western Sect, the eradication of that extraterrestrial demon is just around the corner."

The Buddha raised his hand in a gesture of respect, and the chanting gradually subsided: "You are too kind, Celestial Venerable. That Creator Celestial Venerable is spreading heresy and disturbing the Three Realms. Our Western Sect should naturally lend a hand to help and jointly protect the orthodox Heavenly Way."

The Sage Jieyin nodded slightly, while the Sage Zhunti looked sharply in the direction of the Free City of Jambudvipa, as if he couldn't wait to make a move.

The group moved to the main hall of the Jade Void Palace and took their seats according to their status. The Primordial Heavenly Venerable sat at the head of the table, while the Tathagata, the Amitabha Buddha, and the Cundi Bodhisattva sat on either side. The Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect and the disciples of the Buddha of the Western Sect were arranged in the middle of the hall.

Yuanshi Tianzun raised his hand and waved it, and the water mirror in the hall suddenly lit up, reflecting the scenes of major cities within the territory of the Jie Sect.

Upon seeing this, all the immortals and Buddhas in the hall had their pupils shrink, and their previous composure and disdain were instantly replaced by shock.

Within the water mirror, the dozens of cities directly under the Demon Alliance's jurisdiction are no longer what they used to be: each city is surrounded by a light blue anti-aircraft energy shield, and beneath the shield, thousands of silver mechs are lined up in neat rows, the cannons on their shoulders gleaming coldly.

In the sky, swarms of drones, dense as bees, with missiles clearly visible under their wings, patrolled along the air defense perimeter.

On the plains surrounding the city, floating turrets are scattered about, their muzzles occasionally flashing with faint energy.

Even more alarming is that above each city, at the edge of deep space between the celestial realm and the mortal realm, dozens of giant warships are anchored, their hulls engraved with the runes of the Jie Sect, clearly demonstrating a fusion of technological and magical power.

As the camera zooms in, we can see mortal pilots focused on operating instruments inside the mech cockpit; disciples of the Jie Sect and mortal technicians working together at the drone control console; and mixed-race soldiers wielding energy weapons conducting pre-battle drills on the warship deck—the entire combat readiness system is well-organized and its scale far exceeds the imagination of immortals and Buddhas.

"What...what kind of military equipment is this?" Guang Chengzi exclaimed in shock, pointing to the boundless mech formation reflected in the water mirror: "How come we didn't discover this scale in our previous encounter?"

The Celestial Venerable of Primordial Beginning had a solemn expression. He raised his hand to manipulate the water mirror and calculated the strength of the troops. The Jie Sect alone had more than 500,000 mechs, over a million drones, and thousands of warships. In addition, there were mortal soldiers and mixed-race soldiers controlling the drone swarms and unmanned warships in the rear, bringing the total strength to several million.

In contrast, the Chan Sect had a total of just over three thousand disciples, and the Western Sect had over five thousand disciples of the Buddha, totaling less than ten thousand. Compared to the Jie Sect's millions of soldiers, the difference was like heaven and earth.

(End of this chapter)