Zi Zhen sat upon his throne. Cold winds slammed into the barrier that surrounded the group around him. A blizzard was raging around Mo Li’s stronghold within the North Frozen Krill mountains. Poor Mo Li had been given a stern warning nothing more. Yes, she may have missing limbs for allowing a Zhong to trespass through her territory so long ago and hide in his domain, but she was alive. That was a blessing he made sure she thanked him for profusely.

It had been some time since he had sent out the Zhong boy and his plaything to fulfill the task he had given them. Too much time. He had not and would not consider checking up on their existences and their accomplishments until them and the group they’ve infiltrated finally exited theBleak Forests.It was a matter of danger to himself and to his sect, but also a danger of theCalamityfiguring out their communication lines. The risks were too great.

The one thing they could use against such a powerful monstrosity was the fact that it was disconnected from human existence. It could not think in the ways they thought, nor did it plan in the ways that they planned. He doubted something so intelligent could see a world where others did not plot and plan at such an incredible level. It would be complacent, ignoring the little insects crawling around it as it focused on killing the lion.

It was the greatest weakness of the most intelligent beings he had ever faced, the greatest planners. They never could consider that a simple buffoon or any one below their rank could, by chance and happenstance, defeat their meticulous, well thought out plans. The thought of a pathetic individual stumbling through destiny and fate to defeat them was not within their sphere. Zi Zhen had seen it happen to himself before. Sheer blinding luck.

That was just the way of life. That was how the way the world worked. Plan as you may, but not all things go your way.

“Zi Zhen?” Zhong An, theGreat Flameand patriarch of the Zhong sect and clan, said. The old man looked far more vibrant and capable having broken through to the next realm not so long ago. “Are you listening to this?”

Zi Zhen looked around the room within the open stronghold. Before him were three of the most powerful beings that have existed alongside him within this planet, grown and raised by its fruits and labor; Peng Du, Su Qui of the Flowered Sect, and Zhong An. This was a gathering unlike any in the past century, mostly because Su Qui never left her little enclave of ladies. Even when they had invited her the first time to discuss the issue of theCalamity’sarrival.

Only after witnessing nearly a week of world shaking powers that made the very ether and Qi that surrounded them tremble violently and turned the process of cultivating entirely too difficult and dangerous to attempt did she venture that it may be wise to accept their invitation to plan and discuss the future. All in the hopes to figure out what the hell was happening and what they had laid out to prevent assured annihilation by the hands of theCalamity.

Yet, from what Zi Zhen was hearing, the situation was far worse than anyone could have expected, or maybe better if he thought about it in a different way.

Zi Zhen’s face morphed into a deep frown. None of what he had been told so far made any sense to him.

Weren’t they bothCalamities? Ancient monstrosities that have existed for longer than he could imagine? Powerful beyond comparison?

Why would one be afraid of the other? Or maybe it wasn't another tactic that they could not understand? Peng Du then went on to mention that theseCalamitiesmade it a point of pride of entering lower leveled worlds. Ascended beings that came to dominate and destroy, and for what purpose one might ask?

To grow stronger?

What the hell did that even mean? How can these words be possible?

What did the business of the ‘powerful becoming more powerful’ have to do with entering their world? A supposedly dry canvas without any Qi to sustain them for eras and comparably destitute to where they had come from. To add onto his confusion were all the records of the firstCalamityand what it had come for. It had not entered to enslave and to turn this place into a potential cauldron, but rather to annihilate the very existence of life and destroy them.

What are they after? If only we can figure out their objectives, then we can properly plan against them.

Zi Zhen zoned them out as he returned to his own thoughts and concerns. He couldn't help the strange worry that passed his thoughts every time the Qi within the world trembled ever so slightly since he felt the couple approach theCalamity’scamp. He couldn’t help the fear that filled his chest every time the thought to keep an eye or check their condition happened to cross his mind, even from this distance–

He perked up to catch the tail end of what Peng Du was saying.

“—manipulate the second calamity to encounter the first. Hopefully they will fight it out, killing each other and injuring the survivingCalamityenough that we can mount a final attack on its weakened form. Force them to solve our problems for us instead of a direct confrontation!” Peng Du said with a puffed chest. Happy with his little plot and the potential of it working well.

Zi Zhen wanted to smack his forehead. Brutes and the inexperienced tended to reach enough competency in a field that they feel as though they were elite at what they did rather than just slightly better than average. “I was under the impression that the secondCalamitywas terrified of the first? Or has that changed already?”

“Yes, it is. Yet, whatever they are searching for seems so important that they are willing to fight until the death four. Just the opportunity was enough to bring the second into this realm knowing full well that the primary was here. Based on her words, this was an invitation. A perfect opportunity for us to take advantage of.”

Zi Zhen’s eyebrows rose slowly as he heard the last two sentences.

The thing is so bored it brought in competition to hunt? How fucking powerful is this monster?

“I-I think you're underestimating this Calamity,” Zi Zhen stood up from his discus throne. “Have you not noticed how the world reacts whenever he so much as gives his attention towards it? Have you not noticed the ether and the Qi violently react whenever he so calls upon it? When have we seen anything like this before? Has this second calamity done anything similar? Anything close to this? It is more dangerous to underestimate such a monster than it is to face two of them.”

“She hides her presence. I'm sure she could do the same. The tales of the old war against the originalCalamityhad similar stories and rumors of power.” Su Qui said from behind a white, unadorned mask. No one knew what she looked like other than she was a woman of a voluptuous figure and always wearing pure white clothing. Not even her hands were exposed.

“I agree with Zi Zhen,” Zhong An said. “Have you forgotten the six dragons as well?”

“We can release them from his clutches. I'm sure they are willing to join our cause for the freedom of existing without a master binding them.” Su Qui said.

Zi Zhen remembered the Dragons. He didn't like recalling moments where he had zero control over his emotions and reactions. It was very similar to how he felt about thisCalamity,the fear and the terror that they brought him. Yet, there had been too much static for him to have a clear understanding of what their power scaling looked like in comparison to their master. Were they at the levels of smallerCalamitiesthemselves? Or were they just overly powerful dragons that he and others would be able to hold off until the more ancient beings awoke to deal with them?

Had it been the dragons to have ripped open the rift? Or was it the ancient monster and they just so happened to expand it? That made a big difference when it came to power scaling as well. Opening a door that's already cracked was very much unlike shattering the barrier between realities and planes of existence itself. One was far more terrifying than the other.

Their little argument continued for another hour before they stood up and took a moment to relieve themselves from the constant bickering. It was unlikely for them to come to a final decision anytime soon. It would take weeks, maybe even months, of back and forth arguments and fighting as well before they resolved themselves into a direction that they could finally head towards.

It wasn't that they were inefficient or incapable of making decisions, but rather an issue of egos and the differences in the way they viewed the world itself. Having contradictory beliefs and morals tended to make conversations like this far more difficult than necessity would have. Zhong An would never agree to turning a few hundred million souls into cultivation cauldrons for the three of them. Zi Zhen would never agree to sacrificing his core and the countless centuries he had spent cultivating to self-sacrifice and take theCalamitieswith him in tandem with the other three.

Zi Zhen did not enjoy this arguing with the others, some of their ways were simply irreconcilable. Then again, he could think of a dozen other ways he could be using his time more efficiently.

Most importantly, he could think of a dozen villages he could turn into cauldrons to increase his power. Groups of peoples that would need to receive punishments for allowing Dong ZhenKang, or was it Zhong Da to cross his territory without anyone noticing what he actually was. All of which would consume a great amount of time and effort in order to fulfill. Time being wasted right here and now.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com