32 Talks Of War

*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*

Within the room behind thick metal doors and unbreakable formations on the top floor of the main pagoda, many powerful figures were sat around a huge stone table.

The circular room had walls made of unimaginably thick marble with grand chiselled pillars embedded within it. The entire place was a work of art, with many detailed carvings and famous scriptures carved onto the pillars and walls.

The walls convened into a domed ceiling which was so high it made one dizzy when they looked up. Paintings of figures wrapped in thick fur descending upon a blue planet were depicted in artistic fashion on the ceiling, with a famous figure at the centre of the piece of art.

Light entered the place through small windows circling the very top of the walls just beneath the start of the ceiling. The place was made of white stone so the light would reflect and make it look like the room was shining with holy light. However, the place was still dim as the windows were truly too small and few.

The huge stone table in the room was made of some unknown material that looked extremely sturdy. The table was shaped like a circle, with a small portion of it sticking out irregularly with that point being the head of the table.

Circular tables usually represented equality among all that sat among it but the table was not a real circle, with a grand throne at its head. From this, everyone who sat at the table was equal apart from one.

The chairs lined around the table were extremely extravagant thrones made of grey stone and lined with precious metal and rare gems. Anywhere else, a throne like this would be at the head of any table. However, around this one, there were hundreds of such thrones with an even grander one at the head.

Its colour was black, contrasting the entire room which was white and grey. Gold and diamonds of all colours were embedded within it forming mesmerising patterns that seemed to even contain mysterious profundities of the Dao. From this, anyone with a keen eye would be able to tell it was a treasure produced by a Forgemaster with Laws themselves as materials.

Every single thing in this room shone with the light of a formation of some kind, making it virtually impenetrable and the safest place on the entire planet and maybe even the hundreds of planets over. The irony was that the only people allowed within it certainly did not need protection.

The many thrones were by no means empty as figures blurry to the weak sat in the majority of them, with few thrones to go without a master. The blurry figures quietly convened and talked about matters which were worthy of their attention. The atmosphere seemed to be the moments before a meeting, with people greeting each other and exchanging pleasantries before sitting silently with their eyes closed.

The thick metal doors serving as the only entrance to the room would open every few minutes and another figure would waltz through. Donned in varying robes that all shared the characteristic of being extremely luxurious, every figure entered the room and declared their presence toward the figure sitting on the huge throne at the head of the table before taking a seat.

Most only received nods in return while some even exchanged words with the grand figure reigning over the many powerful cultivators within the room.

Whenever another would announce their presence to the room, many figured would direct glances over in courtesy and recognition of their peer. Faced with the many gazes that represented thousands of years of experience and enlightenment, however, each figure responded in kind.

The gazes of the figures contained no hubris, no hypocrisy, for all of it had been washed or tempered away by the power of innumerable experiences. The ideologies of those present were something that could not be looked down upon by some arrogant youth who thought that his way of life was the truest.

These were figures that couldn't be underestimated by anyone, even those stronger. The shrewd and callous eyes were ever-present among every figure, for they wouldn't have made it this far if it was not. Even though most here wholeheartedly believed in righteousness over evil, that didn't blind them to the truths of existence.

They understood what many evil beings perceived them to be ignorant about. It was just that in their quest for meaning, they had ended up at existentialism over nihilism. This was the true source of "good and evil." Beings pursued enlightenment to the truths of existence and they ended up at one of two destinations.

...

Understanding that the universe was chaotic and without meaning, yet striving to achieve inner peace and harmony within oneself. They understood that they were an individual being in the universe with only their will to guide them along the path of their choice. One must create and find their own purpose and use it to achieve longevity within the all-encompassing universe. This is what the true righteous path was. Unfortunately, this pure belief was poisoned by hypocrites and snakes that aimed to undermine the authority of heaven for their own gain.

That was but a single destination on the road to finding true meaning. The other was much more sinister in comparison.

It was understanding that the universe was chaotic and without meaning, yet striving to achieve inner peace and harmony by resonating with this. The natural order of the universe is disorder, and to be truly natural is to be chaotic. Existence will eventually return to darkness so true meaning cannot exist as nothing is truly immortalised. On the basis of everything being meaningless, a subjective realisation that oneself is the centre of one's own reality is born. They are all that truly matters when considering their own perspective. This gives rise to selfishness, pride, superiority and sadism. But can these feelings be disdained when it was these thoughts that gave rise to them?

However, there was a third path that people did not talk about. It was a path of neutrality through unremarkability. Understanding that they were only a cog in the machine known as existence and just another fish in the pond, people would detach themselves from either path and solely seek to validate themselves through power. Feelings for either side of the coin was hypocrisy, everything in existence was just an action for fools to label. Neutrality, impartiality was the true path to godhood. Acting solely in one's self-interest as it was the natural course of things, nothing more, nothing less, nothing bad, nothing good.

Either path is true. To disdain any of them would be to be the incarnation of ignorance. Making light of a great path of understanding solely because you thought it was inferior was to challenge the Dao itself!

...

A relatively young-looking man stood behind the head throne and watched the many elders of the Qing Clan enter the room and take a seat, gradually filling up the table with beings of immense power.

Something like this had not happened for a long time. Every single elder of the Qing Clan had been summoned to Qingpu Planet. Obviously, the Clan was facing a huge crisis, but none of the elders knew what it was of yet. They didn't seem anxious to find out and acted calmly as some exchanged words and the others rested before the summit began.

The source of their confidence was obviously each other. Knowing that they were a rare strength in the Mortal World that would be a powerhouse in any force was not cause for overwhelming confidence. However, when the elders sat amongst hundreds of others that were just as strong as them and stronger, the pride they felt in their own strength let them become conceited.

The young man looked at this conceit with pity. He would rather kill himself than find luxury before his path was finished.

Seeing the elders that could kill him with a bit of their aura talk about mundane things even when this mass summoning was happening, the young man looked at the figure sitting before him on the head throne.

'Father, you have let them dull their senses and become content... Now that we face a divine reckoning, I can only blame our incompetences on you.' Outrageous thoughts swirled within the mind of the young man as he just stood silently. He was not permitted a throne like everyone else.

The young man saw that only a few seats remained around the round table, with one seat not expected to be filled. Although he greatly respected his father for his power, the young man could not stop the disdain brewing inside of him.

'If I was the Patriarch, I would never let these elders feel comfort before we have reached the peak. Even then, it would be something I would despise. Alas...I suppose this is the best any righteous force can expect. Being too just to rule efficiently by fear lets us become this way, unable to stop it.' He suddenly scoffed under his shallow and controlled breath.

'Haha, it's funny. If those demons on the evil path were to create a force, it would surely be the most formidable. But those animals can't help killing each other.' A sorrowful flash appeared in the young man's eyes. 'If they just understood that bowing their head would give them an unimaginable collective power, the righteous path would've been long destroyed.'

However, the young man knew he was asking too much. But he could not help but imagine what a force would look like... A force ruled by evil morals yet instilled with loyalty. He wanted to create it.

Thinking these thoughts that he had kept hidden for hundreds of years, he greedily eyed the huge black throne upon which his father, the Patriarch Qing Xie Han, sat.

The commencing of the meeting was near and now only two lofty thrones fitting of an elder lay empty. It had been so long that a few dozen thrones should've started to gather dust. However, the formations in this room kept the air completely pure, so no dust could exist within it.

With nothing to entertain him but his thoughts that always leaned towards treachery, the young man let his eyes unfocus as he stared like an idiot toward an empty corner of the dome ceiling.

However, all of a sudden, the mumblings of the elders toward each other ceased and they all looked at a certain corner of the floor, as though they could see through it. Even the elders that sat quietly resting their eyes opened them to stare at the same spot.

The young man also looked but saw nothing. He could tell that all the elders were looking through the floor at something occurring outside, however, his eyes were not powerful enough to see through the thick formations.

Silence ensued as the elders just stared at the same spot on the floor, their eyes shifting from time to time. The young man could only wonder what was happening for all of the elders to watch.

He glanced at the elders' faces from the corners of his eyes but could not read them. These old fellows were too shrewd and experienced to let what they were feeling surface on their faces for all to see.

Understanding that there was no use keeping his eyes open any longer, the young man promptly shut them. He resumed standing behind his father's throne, with the decorum expected of a mature young master.

After a few moments, the elders diverted their gazes and shut their eyes once again. A few of them sneaked a peek at the Patriarch's expression but were greeted with bland stoicism.

Silence ensued.

After what seemed like a brief moment, the young man heard the huge metal doors open. He opened his eyes to see a light blue-robed elder with sharp features and an annoyed look on his face walk into the hall.

Before he could even declare his presence and greet the Patriarch, the young man saw his father speak toward him with an inquisitive and suggesting tone.

"Quite a ruckus you made, Elder Bing." The words clearly demanded an explanation.

The young man's eyes widened. He had never seen his father so authoritative before. He had always viewed him as a person that tried his hardest to imitate Buddha due to his own ideological weakness. After all, if you're not confident in your own words, speak another's.

Elder Bing bowed his head deeply before stating in a somewhat submissive tone. "I am terribly sorry, Lord Patriarch. My impatience and impulsive nature got the better of me. I hope you and the Clan can pardon that small incident."

The young man watched the scene with curiosity. Obviously, some sort of scene had happened outside the main pagoda, caused by Elder Bing. However, that was not where his curiosity lay. He had his eyes fixed on his father, waiting to see how he would respond to this admission of guilt.

He hoped that his father would burst out! He hoped that his father would establish his dominance over the elders and grasp them firmly by the neck! After all, he certainly had the power to. These elders stayed away from Qingpu for hundreds of years at a time, overseeing the many planets under Qing Clan's control. Who knew what treacherous thoughts they may hold toward the Clan? After getting a lick of power by ruling a planet on his father's behalf, the young man was so suspicious to bet that they might even harbour thoughts of rebellion!

He watched with his eyes peeled on the back of his father's head. He could feel the eyes of his father narrowing at Elder Bing's bowed head. This was it! Maybe the young man could truly trust his father to accomplish his dream!

"Take a seat." The words echoed through the hall. Elder Bing strolled to one of the two remaining thrones and took his seat upon it. The elders showed no reaction to this, but that didn't reassure the young man.

'Sigh. Father, I knew you would disappoint me. I hoped I could've left that throne in your hands, but... It seems that only I can do it after all. I must start making preparations to secure my claim to the seat of Patriarch.' The glimmer the young man once had when he looked at his father had dimmed and now only a hollowness remained. He truly did not lust after power, or the throne, he only wanted Qing Clan to thrive.

By any means necessary.

The Patriarch closed his eyes and waved his hand toward his son without looking back.

"Hongji."

"Yes, Lord Father." Receiving confirmation to start the meeting from his father, Xie Hongji took it upon himself to address the elders before him. He took a few steps forward, stopping only just behind his father's throne and spoke out.

The elders looked on at him impassively as he was but a mere Stage 5. Although only one Stage beneath themselves, the distance was greater than between that of a mortal and a Quasi Stage 6. It was that immense.

"Greetings, elders. Now that everyone has arrived, the summit shall commence. Now, there are a f-" However, before Xie Hongji could digress the extremely important reasons which begot all of the elders convening, he was interrupted by a black-robed elder.

"How can the meeting have started? There's a throne empty. One of us still needs to get here." If it was the Patriarch speaking, no one would've dared to interrupt like this. However, it was only the Patriarch's Stage 5 son. They, as elders, had authority far outstripping Xie Hongji's.

"Elder Hei, I assure you that every living elder of the Qing Clan is present." Xie Hongji's tone was bland while still retaining respect for the black-robed elder. He had long passed his days where he would create unnecessary ire if he felt offended. Such behaviour was for the young and the stupid.

As soon as Xie Hongji said those words, the room exploded into indistinct mutterings and exchanges of looks. If one tried to read the thoughts of every shrewd elder right as those words were said, they would surely die from an overload of information.

The Patriarch and a few extremely powerful elders were not surprised at the information. It was only the elders that had amassed from dozens of worlds that were stupefied.

Who would dare to kill an elder of the Qing Clan? Some sorry fool, a great expert or even worse: a member of a huge force just like them.

The elders' minds were instantly riddled with hundreds of thoughts. Although they all belonged to the Clan, each man's cultivation was but his own.

And yet, no one spoke out to ask for more. They sat, deep in thought. The rest just sat silently and looked to the Patriarch. No decisive words had been spoken about the death of an elder, but everyone had caught on in a matter of seconds.

The Patriarch opened his eyes. He knew that his son would no longer be able to control this audience, thus, he decided to do it himself. Alighting from his huge black throne, Xie Han looked over the elders.

"This is the main matter that the elders have been summoned for. Our esteemed elder, Qing Changshou, has tragically died at the hands of the head of the Huoyan Clan. It was a cowardly act to exchange blows with our elder when he himself is Stage 7. Naturally, our Qing Clan won't take this lying down." The Patriarch spoke with power and authority. He acted as the lighthouse in the storm that was this upcoming conflict, guiding the Clan in whatever direction he thought best.

The unsure faces of the elders visibly calmed down and returned to normal. Now that they knew who exactly was the aggressor, they acted with tact to evaluate the Clan's circumstances. Naturally, they didn't view the Huoyan Clan as a massive threat nor the vengeance due vicious.

A cyan-robed elder spoke out. "If you don't mind me saying Lord Patriarch, is this a conflict needing the entirety of this council? The external affairs of the Clan will come to a halt and we could be feeling the losses in the next seven days. I'm sure that the External Hall of Affairs Elder can tell you, but with a population like ours, dozens of new trade deals must be established every single week to ensure constant supply to Qingpu planet and the hundreds under our rule."

The cyan-robed elder continued.

"And while I mourn the passing of fellow elder and true genius Changshou, I also understand that the power of this entire council is not required. The Huoyan Clan is substantially smaller than ours and, while they have a Stage 7 leader, I doubt that the Clan plans to go to war." The cyan-robed elder spoke with intellect and sense.

War did not benefit anyone. And, of course, the murder of an elder of the Qing Clan is something that cannot be pardoned. Most of the elders thought that some sort of pressure must be put upon the Huoyan Clan and compensation must be demanded of them at most. This was understood by all of the elders already. A summit of this scale was certainly not required for the situation.

Xie Hongji watched the cyan-robed elder speak with undeniable facts, however, the cyan-robed elder did not know the full story. Xie Hongji took this chance to speak to the elders once again and put his plans of securing the throne into action already. First, he would subtly establish his presence among the elders and also renew the pride his father had in himself.

"I value your unwavering diligence unto your duties, elder. However, the situation is much more serious than that. I can speak on my father's behalf by telling you that the Clan has found itself in dire circumstances. If handled poorly…" Xie Hongji started while feeling the glares of many elders. Before he could finish, he halted his tongue when he saw his father raise his hand.

The Patriarch spoke solemnly. "We must go to war. During the conflict concerning elder Changshou, the beloved daughter of the head of the Huoyan Clan also lost her life. Unfortunately, the head of the Huoyan Clan claims that elder Changshou killed his daughter and will wage war on us within the next hour. The Huoyan Clan must vanish." These words made all of the elders furrow their brows.

"But my Lord, the losses we would incur-" An elder belonging to the External Hall of Affairs felt his heart ache when he thought of the economic damage.

Hearing this elder wavering, another orange-robed elder burst out. "If we don't eradicate them, the Qing Clan will perish!! Vanish into the ashes of fallen Clans throughout history! The Qing Clan has always maintained friendly relations with all of the surrounding forces, but this is the time to act! Do you have no backbone?!" His voice openly condemned the elder which caused a disgusting look to appear on his face. But, ultimately, he kept his silence.

Arguments between elders ravaged the room for dozens of minutes before they had all come to a decision.

The Qing Clan will strike first and completely wipe out the Huoyan Clan.

*3,617/3,000 words*