Chapter 5: The Storm

"Athena, what should our next step be? Should we seek out the Dragon Kingdom authorities?"

Moments ago, Mu Changge had learned from Athena the methods for achieving godhood. There were six paths in total.

The first: possess a divine vessel and luckily summon a deity, after which it depends on whether the deity is willing to merge with you or simply replace you.

The second: receive a deity's inheritance, thereby acquiring their divine status, power, and rank, effectively becoming the second incarnation of that deity.

The third: follow the Confucian path of ascension, aiming for sainthood through self-cultivation, regulating the family, governing the state, bringing peace to the world, or nurturing the spirit of righteousness. The supreme deity of Confucianism is the Haotian Shangdi.

The fourth: follow the Buddhist path of ascension, aiming for Buddhahood through methods of sudden enlightenment, self-discipline, spiritual practice, and the cultivation of the Way. The supreme deity of Buddhism is the Awakened One, Shakyamuni.

The fifth: follow the Taoist path of ascension, aiming for immortality. The realms of cultivation are divided into: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Void Refinement, Mahayana, Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, True Immortal, Mysterious Immortal, Golden Immortal, Taiyi Golden Immortal, Daluo Golden Immortal, Hunyuan Golden Immortal, and Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal. Upon reaching the Void Refinement stage, one must undergo the Heavenly Lightning Tribulation, and at least once more for every major realm thereafter. Taoism has three supreme deities: Taishang Laojun, Yuanshi Tianzun, and the Grandmaster of Heaven. As for their teacher, the Ancestral Daoist Hongjun, Athena described him as the "boss behind the scenes" of Taoism.

The sixth: follow the path of the Yan-Huang ancestors, aiming to become an Ancient God by communicating with the Origin Ancestor Star. The introductory levels include Body Refining, Consciousness Forging, Soul Gathering, Source Condensation, Heaven Questioning, Foundation Casting, Meditation, and Ascension, after which one is recognized by the Origin Ancestor Star as an Ancient God.

The Origin Ancestor Star Athena spoke of was none other than Blue Star. Ancient Gods are divided into Pseudo-Gods, Orthodox Gods, Heavenly Gods, Ancestral Gods, and Heavenly Emperors. The Heavenly Emperor Di Jun is the supreme figure of this faction.

As for the paths to godhood outside the Dragon Kingdom, Athena felt there was no need for Mu Changge to learn about them.

Among the supreme deities of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism that Mu Changge learned of, he was most deeply impressed by Haotian Shangdi. After all, he had previously crammed books on Chinese mythology and naturally knew that the Dragon Kingdom's official recognized supreme deity was Haotian Shangdi.

Haotian Shangdi's status was extraordinary. During the Song Dynasty, emperors who favored Taoism once attempted to merge the worship of Haotian Shangdi with the Jade Emperor. Although the Jade Emperor was the Lord of the Heavenly Court commanding the Three Realms, this event was recorded in history, and the Song emperors played an unflattering role in it. To put it in terms a child could understand: they were the villains.

Although the Jade Emperor's full title contains the words "Haotian" and "Shangdi," he is truly not the Haotian Shangdi of Confucianism. To acknowledge him as such would mean bowing to Taoism, and Confucianism—which viewed Buddhism as barbaric and Taoism as heterodox—naturally would not stand for it. Thus, after the worship of Haotian Shangdi and the Jade Emperor was separated, Taoism was added to Confucianism's "little black book."

Confucianism: "You can only acknowledge what I give you. If you dare to overstep, don't blame me for crushing you."

The petite, white-haired girl pondered for two breaths and then said, "No rush. I have something that needs verification."

With that, Athena closed her eyes and used her divine power to scan the entire Blue Star through the owl in the high sky. When she scanned the East African Rift Valley, Athena immediately halted the scan, her brows knitted tightly and her face darkening.

Athena looked at Mu Changge and said, "We must reformulate the plan. The situation has severely exceeded my capabilities."

***

Above the East African Rift Valley.

A colossal figure over 300 meters long hovered in the air, watching the world of Blue Star. It possessed a body similar to a fierce tiger, with two pairs of giant wings resembling those of an eagle. Behind its terrifying tiger head was a large, nine-colored halo. While Qiongqi, one of the four great evils in Chinese mythology, was also a winged tiger, the difference was that this 300-meter winged tiger was merely shedding keratin; the true body was that nine-colored halo!

Approximately 66 million years ago, this taboo entity arrived on Blue Star from the distant Storm Nebula; it was the culprit behind the mass extinction event of that time! The gods worshipped by aliens called it the "Ultimate Beast," the only entity of its kind at the universe's limit!

The true name of this cosmic creature is—Storm.

Storm knew it was being watched by beings on Blue Star, but it did not care. Because those peeking at it were nothing more than ants.

Storm looked up and let out a tiger roar.

"ROAR!!!"

The roar, like a divine sound, instantly resounded across the entire Blue Star, more earth-shattering than the previous one! Even though Storm only let out a single roar, the divine sound refused to dissipate, instead circling around Blue Star. The alien fleets outside Blue Star seemed to be targeted by this roar and were all pulverized into dust. More than 200,000 three-thousand-meter-class alien warships vanished into nothingness!

Affected by this roar, the East African Rift Valley cracked further, and the very crust was shattered. A super-massive ring cloud appeared in the sky above the rift.

But it was not over yet!

Across the continents, torrential thunderstorms suddenly began, river levels surged, and floods raged! In the oceans, Category 6 hurricanes were forming, preparing to ravage the coastal regions! Volcanoes erupted across all continents of Blue Star, and undersea earthquakes occurred in every ocean, with tsunamis swallowing islands!

In the extreme north and south polar circles, heavy blizzards began to fall! In the arid and semi-arid regions, super-strong sandstorms were sweeping toward human settlements! Whether it was the life living on Blue Star or the aliens who had come to act as pirates, all were now equal!

It was not just humans who felt despair; the aliens were desperately trying to flee Blue Star, but all were blasted apart by the aftershocks of the divine roar. The aftershocks formed by the roar shrouded the entire Blue Star like a celestial dome!

...

Storm's emotionless gaze ignored the passing of life on Blue Star. Even if its actions were equated to the world-ending black dragon Nidhogg or the seven-headed, ten-horned great red dragon of human legend, it would have no thoughts on the matter. From the moment it emerged from the forbidden zone until now, it had only let out a single roar.

In the face of the series of natural disasters triggered by Storm, the life within Blue Star was utterly powerless. Storm had no intention of shattering Blue Star, unless the time had come for the universe to restart. When the day of cosmic restart arrived, Storm would instantly subject the universe to a great cleansing, equivalent to what humans call "formatting." All celestial bodies, civilizations, life, and matter in the universe would be wiped out in an instant. Afterward, Storm would become the source of the universe's rebirth.

***

Dragon Kingdom Imperial Capital, Supreme Command Room.

The old man watched the figure of Storm on the giant screen, while the adjacent screens broadcasted the natural disasters occurring across Blue Star. The old man sighed, seeming to age significantly in that moment.

But soon, he made a major decision, his eyes sharp, his hands clenched tight.

"Issue the order! All theaters are to target Forbidden Entity D with intercontinental missiles!"

"The Second Artillery Corps is to activate sixth-generation nuclear weapons! Target: Forbidden Entity D!"

"Send all of the Dragon Kingdom's mythological inheritors and immortals to the East African Rift Valley!"

"Notify all countries of the world: the Dragon Kingdom will fight until the very last moment!"

"Also, order the Central Theater to forcibly activate the Imperial Jade Seal!"

"Hurry!"

"Yes, sir!"

Hearing the old man's heroic voice, the command room immediately burst into frantic activity.

***

[Character Profile]

Storm

A unique cosmic entity at the limit of the universe, hailing from the distant Storm Nebula. It is essentially the "restart button" for the universe to return to chaos. It is the strongest level of existence in the universe, possessing terrifying combat power capable of instantly destroying the universe; it is unequivocally cosmic-level.

It has no fixed form. The form it took upon this awakening was a tiger with eagle wings; the form it took during the last extinction of the dinosaurs was a tyrannosaur with pterosaur wings; its form in the Storm Nebula remains unknown. Its true body is the large, nine-colored halo behind its head.

Over 300 meters in length, its body is harder than any other matter in the universe, and its defensive capabilities are so extraordinary they can be called unreasonable. Its attack power is beyond imagination; its chaos breath brings the end to whatever it strikes.

Except when summoned by the universe, it has no intention of destroying celestial bodies, but it has the malicious habit of destroying civilizations and extinguishing life, a habit as natural as eating or drinking. For the civilizations and life on a planet, it is a source of helpless despair.

Its mere appearance on Blue Star triggers various world-ending disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, torrential thunderstorms, volcanic eruptions, sandstorms, and tsunamis; it can be called the Lord of Natural Disasters.

Referred to by the Outer Gods of the "Cthulhu Mythos" as: Ultimate Beast.

The main boss and final antagonist of this work.