The demon tide surged before them, while their strength was exhausted behind them. The Academy stood at the brink of despair. Xuanjizi forced his wounded body to stand at the very front, yet there was not a trace of fear in his heart.
Only the thought of Guardian burned fiercely within him. He turned back and glanced at his junior brothers and sisters, who supported one another. Though their faces were pale, their gazes remained resolute.
Then he looked toward the Hall of Enlightened Morality standing silently deep within the Academy grounds. A power inherited from their teacher and rooted in the very foundation of the Confucian Dao surged through his blood.
"Fellow disciples!" Xuanjizi's voice was hoarse but clear. "The demon calamity is raging, seeking to destroy our Dao Lineage and sever our Firewood of Inheritance.
Yet our Confucian Dao bears Heaven and connects Earth, establishes the heart and fulfills destiny. Why should we fear external evil?
Our master once roamed the chaos, was trapped in forbidden lands, and rose in defiance! Today, we guard our territory and protect our Dao. How can we retreat even half a step?"
He took a deep breath and used his remaining Literary Qi to activate the Academy's foundational grand formation. His voice shook the surrounding lands. "Form—the Inheritance of Fire Array!"
This array had not been created by Xuanjizi. When Wanhua founded the Academy, he had already inscribed this ultimate defensive inheritance into the Academy's Earth Vein and Literary Heart.
It could not be activated lightly unless they stood at the threshold of life and death.
The array was named Vitality Succession, signifying that Civilization would never cease and the Dao Lineage would endure forever. Even if it was weak as a spark for a time, it could still set the plains