Meeting 3

"Ah same old same old. Those darn Snowy Mountain Demonic Beasts have been attacking us since the first emperor of Hua. How much could it change?" Tang San Ze yawned. 

The four clans represented the four borders of the Land of Hua. In the Northern Border, the Tang Clan oversaw expelling the attacks of the Snowy Mountain Demonic Beasts. The weather in that region was always snowing and ever since the first emperor of Hua, those Demonic Beasts had not stopped rampaging against the Northern Border. 

"What about the Eastern Border? Is Dracquorse still as quiet as usual?" 

In the Eastern Border, the Meng Clan oversaw coastal invasions by the Dragon Horse Empire. The Sea Dragon Empire was an alliance formed by one of the strongest Demonic Beast in the world of Terra. Their ruler was the Dragon-scaled Sea Horse, Dracquorse, that ruled one of the seven seas, the Sapphire Abyss Sea. 

There are 9 ranks in the power scale of Demonic Beasts, 1 to 3 being the lowest rank, 4 to 6 being middle rank and 7 to 9 being high rank. When a Demonic Beast's power is rank 7 and above, the Demonic Beast shall develop a consciousness and have a certain amount of intellect. The ruler of the Snowy Mountain Demonic Beasts was the Yeti King, Glacierthorne, a rank 8 existence. The same rank was given to the Dragon-scaled Sea Horse. 

Meng Zi sipped his tea. He replied, "That old sly beast has only been sending his weakest minions to test out the waters. It's definitely not as lively as both Old Li's and Old Zhuge's side." 

In the Southern and Western Border, both the Li Clan and the Zhuge Clan oversaw expelling attacks from the Sun Scorch Desert Demonic Beasts and the war efforts from the country, Al-Qazir. The Demonic Beast leader of the Sun Scorch Desert, the Scorpion-tailed Lion, Venomclaw was also ranked as one of the strongest Demonic Beast in the world. Al-Qazir was a strong powerhouse country, that also bordered the Sun Scorch Desert and its territory was nearer to the Zhuge Clan, who were situated in the Western Border. The Li Clan, being in the Southern Border, was also aiding the Meng Clan with the coastal invasions as the border was split between the Sun Scorch Desert and the Sapphire Abyss Sea. 

"Mmm…" Zhuge Ming Yu agreed with Meng Zi. He stroked his long white beard as he continued, "Recently, Al-Qazir's military movements have become bolder. They do not seem to fear us as much as the past. I have already contacted Hua's government to ask for more spies to infiltrate Al-Qazir to attain more information." 

"Venomclaw has been sending more rank 5 to 6 Generals for skirmishes. It may not be long before a small invasion would occur." Li Kui added. His arms were folded as he was deep in thought. "What does everyone think of the Land of Hua taking the initiative to push the Demonic Beasts of the Sun Scorch Desert back?" 

"If we take the initiative, the risk of Al-Qazir attacking together with a Demonic Beast invasion shall be lowered. Sitting duck will do us no good." 

"So, you're suggesting that the Southern border army shall covertly attack the Scorch Desert's Demonic Beast?" Meng Zi asked Li Kui. 

"Yes," Li Kui looked over at Zhuge Ming Yu, "I've discussed this with Old Zhuge over the phone already. Him and the Western Border shall distract Al-Qazir's side, while my troops attack and weaken the Scorch Desert's forces." 

The room went silent for a short moment. Li Kui had sent over several documents detailing the Southern border's reconnaissance report on the Demonic Beast army. Using this, the patriarchs of the Meng and Tang clan considered Li Kui's suggestion. Within the Land of Hua, when considering military might, the four major clans wielded the most amount of power. Thus, when making any decision, the four patriarchs would make them together, unless the situation does not allow for communication. 

"I think that the plan is a good move. You're right in striking the iron while its hot." Eventually, Meng Zi agreed with their plan. 

"Since Meng Zi agreed, naturally I have nothing to disagree on." Tang San Ze agreed right after. As the Tang Clan was only in charge of the Northern Border, only the Meng Clan, which had intersecting borders with the Li Clan, would have some logistical issues they had to solve themselves. 

"Alright, the plan is settled then." Li Kui nodded. His gaze got serious as he thought about the upcoming fight his army had to face. "The Li army shall lead the charge into Scorch Desert in 2 months. Before then, collate any potential logistical issues within your armies and hand a report over to my Head of Command." 

Within the Li army, Li Kui had a rather hands off approach. Although he was the strongest swordsman in the Land of Hua, he does not find leading a whole army to be interesting. Rather, he left the Head of Command of the army to his eldest son, Li Bu. Li Kui had two more sons. Li Kang, the second oldest, was the Head of Strategies of the Li army. Li Kong, the third eldest, was a Divisional Commander of the Li Army. In recent years, of his three sons, only Li Kong would normally head out to battle. The man loved the battlefield too much and chose to continuing fighting to improve him strength. This battle, Li Kong would be the one spearheading the charge. 

The four patriarchs finished discussing official business right before lunch. On the other side, Li Xian had ended the call with her father. She went over to the cute chubby baby on her left and rubbed his full cheeks. 

"Oh, my cute, adorable Tian Er is so smart!" 

"Hehe…" Li Tian giggled in his mother's embrace. 

Shortly after reading the dictionary again, Li Tian's 'Mandarin Proficiency' mission was completed. 

Ding… 

[You've completed the mission 'Reach Tier C 'Mandarin Proficiency''] 

[Reward 'Receive a random Cultivation Manual' shall now be distributed.] 

Ding… 

[You've received the 'Chaos Annihilation' Cultivation Manual.] 

When Li Tian read the name of the cultivation book, the boy knew that whoever created this cultivation method was most likely a very powerful individual. If he were to rate the coolness of the name out of 10, he would have given it a 1000! The name 'Chaos Annihilation' gave off the same vibes as the 'Chaos Emperor' in one of his all time favourite Martial Arts Anime, 'Ruler of the Heavens'. 

Clicking into the description of the manual, Li Tian got another shock. 

[Chaos Annihilation Cultivation Manual – Incomplete (1/3)] 

The Chaos Annihilation Cultivation Manual, attributed to Qin Li, the 3rd Emperor of Hua, also known as the 'Chaos Emperor,' is renowned for his awe-inspiring destructive abilities. Qin Li achieved the remarkable feat of uniting the four fundamental elements – Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind – to forge Chaos energy, an entity of unparalleled corruptive and annihilative potential, surpassing even the formidable Darkness element. Those unfortunate enough to approach one of the Chaos Emperor's orbs would find themselves instantly consumed by the unforgiving void, vanishing into oblivion. 

Restriction: Must have elemental affinity with Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. 

[Note that 'Chaos Annihilation' Cultivation Manual is complete up till the Qi Refinement Realm] 

'Damn!' 

Just as Li Tian had thought about anime, the character 'Chaos Emperor' turned out to be a real emperor of Hua. Li Tian was lucky to have obtained his cultivation manual, even though it was only a portion of it. In the future, Li Tian was not worried about getting the two parts of the book. For now, Li Tian had integrated the 'Chaos Annihilation' cultivation into his mind. 

'System, can I ask if I were to modify the 'Chaos Annihilation' cultivation to fit six elements instead of four, will there be any potential complications?' 

[Sorry, the system is currently unable to answer this question. The system was constructed upon the foundational principles of humanity, where every idea or reward within the system is a consequence of the cause-and-effect relationships inherent to human existence. Consequently, the system is incapable of furnishing predictions to problems that remain unresolved by humanity, as it operates within the boundaries of human knowledge and achievements.] 

'If the world was built on the principle of cause and effect, then why did I begin in the world with a 'SSS' tier Intelligence Stat and have a 'Perfect Unity of Elements' Body Type?' Li Tian couldn't understand how or why he was reincarnated with such abilities. In the anime world, the main characters would just accept the fact that they were given this crazy ability for free. However the idea of not knowing what brought about this change, scared Li Tian. 

[You were reincarnated... Error detected... Bzz...zbz wsjswjswos… Apologies, but the system is currently unable to provide an answer due to the user's security clearance being below the required level.] 

'Security clearance too low?' At this point, Li Tian knew there was something fishy about the system. There was nothing he could do at this point.