Coercion

Yet just as Buddha Tathagata's words fell, at the very moment everyone believed Lin Zhu had been driven into a dead end with no room left to turn things around—

A majestic, grand voice descended as if from the highest heavens, carrying the supreme authority of the Nine Heavens and yet a faint, almost imperceptible note of approval. It seemed both distant and near, ringing clearly and unobstructed through the skies above Spirit Mountain, now filled with Buddha Light, Dragon Might, and Vast Righteousness.

"Well said! My beloved minister, you said it... very well!"

The voice came without warning, incomparably majestic, like thunder rolling down from the Nine Heavens and like a hammer weighing billions of tons smashing against the solid foundation of Spirit Mountain's laws!

The supreme imperial aura contained within it was vast, mighty, and beyond dispute. In an instant, it broke through the oppressive field woven from Buddha Light, Dragon Might, and Vast Righteousness, reaching the ears and souls of every living being present!

Then, beneath the utterly shocked and disbelieving gazes of all present—whether the Buddhas of Western Heaven, the Nine True Dragons, or the people of Ninth Heaven Prison—the Buddhist canopy over Great Thunderclap Monastery, whose Buddha Light had been diluted by Vast Righteousness, was abruptly torn apart by an even nobler, more magnificent radiance of golden light, as though it ruled over all heavens and worlds!

Within the golden light, a figure slowly stepped forth.

He wore a nine-emblem imperial robe embroidered with the Sun, Moon, and Stars, mountains, rivers, and State Altars. Upon his head rested a twelve-tasseled Peaceful Heaven Crown, its pearls and jade hanging down to obscure his face, yet unable to conceal those eyes that seemed capable of seeing through the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, filled with endless majesty