77: Chapter 77 Calamity is Approaching

Leaving the Municipal Building, Zhang Mu headed home.

He hadn't expected that just as he was pondering how to bring up the subject of his Tribulation, the sky would coincidentally turn overcast.

With a turn of his head, he came up with a rough plan.

Sitting on the sofa, he recalled the potion recipes that could be of use to him.

"My Mental Energy hasn't reached the level of qualitative change yet, so I can't lift myself up for the time being. I need to brew a few potions that allow me to levitate."

And thunder.

As for this, if I upgrade my Lightning Spell to Greater Lightning Spell and add the blessing potion, I reckon I can create the spectacle of thunder filling the sky.

Before I undergo my "Tribulation," I need to maintain this celestial phenomenon of dark clouds blotting out the sun, and there must be lightning flashing inside from time to time. It would be best if I could throw out a couple of lightning bolts to smash something.

Otherwise, just the sound and lightning wouldn't make people truly feel how terrifying the power of the "Tribulation" is.

Fortunately, Zhang Mu had learned all the potions that could achieve these conditions from Potter; otherwise, he really wouldn't be able to stir up trouble.

"Use Mental Energy to guide the lightning to strike some uninhabited buildings; that way, I won't hurt anyone, but I can still display its power."

"I'll spend these two days brewing potions in the Other World and wait for Frederica by the way."

"Once the groundwork is done, I'll reveal the Cultivation Sect, but I need to change my initial idea slightly..."

Zhang Mu narrowed his eyes.

Originally, he intended for the Cultivation Sect to exist only in words, rather than actually building one; that was too difficult.

Not to mention that most places on Blue Star were monitored by satellites, and there weren't enough "Cultivators" to support the scale of a sect.

However, as he deepened his understanding of the Other World, he discovered that it had spatial magic items, such as Potter and Avril's mage robes, and the storage bag they gave him.

Although they were all very small, since "spatial" items existed, it meant that there must be ones with larger space.

Building a Cultivation Sect in a sufficiently large dimensional space was much simpler than creating one from scratch on Blue Star.

The reason for changing his plan was that Zhang Mu thought it seemed too abnormal for a Cultivator to always be seeking "mundane objects."

Why does the Immortal want these "toys" from us? Is he afraid?

It's fine if the thought doesn't arise, but once it does, it can't be stopped.

Simply put, if he maintained his "air of superiority," the authorities wouldn't have the slightest suspicion.

Then even if the whole plan had some minor unreasonable points, they would fill them in themselves.

But if they had suspicions, even a tiny bit, then even if Zhang Mu didn't show any flaws, they would take things that weren't flaws and convince themselves they were.

The saying "suspecting one's neighbor of stealing an axe" describes exactly this.

Therefore, Zhang Mu refined his plan.

Imitating the methods of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he would create a "Blessed Land" in China.

Then, as for the Cultivation Sect, it's normal to have its own rules for exchanging "Immortal items," right?

How to exchange? Contribution points. How to earn points?

Bring things to exchange.

The official authorities of various countries would inevitably bring out everything they could, trying one thing after another to test which item was worth more points.

By setting higher point values for the items he wanted, they would obediently send what Zhang Mu wanted, and everything would become normal.

By the way, there would also be an explanation for why the Immortal never appeared.

The only thing to ponder was what to prepare as "Sect" items for point exchange.

As before, Zhang Mu would never allow Blue Star to master supernatural power.

But it was impossible not to give any benefits at all. The authorities were unfamiliar with magic, but they weren't stupid; if it was only input and no output, others would eventually quit.

This needed careful consideration: it had to provide benefits while keeping the supernatural firmly in his own hands.

He hadn't thought of a perfect solution yet, but Zhang Mu wasn't in a hurry.

"Blessed Land" didn't even have a shadow yet, so it was a bit early to worry about this.

Do the immediate things first.

Muttering to himself, Zhang Mu first went to buy the herbs needed for brewing potions, then headed to the Other World.

...

Municipal Building.

A week had passed since witnessing the "Cultivator."

These days, everyone who was present at the time, including the Old Leader himself, had been eating, drinking, and sleeping in the building.

Everyone was from within the system, and not at the grassroots level.

They were either soldiers and secretaries responsible for protecting important leaders, or people like those in the Special Investigation Bureau who, although they hadn't done anything substantial in the past, were frequently in contact with confidentiality regulations.

Therefore, everyone's emotions were very stable.

Except for Zhao Qi.

Yue Ruo and Ye Ming moved chairs and sat on the rooftop terrace, looking up at the cloud layer that hadn't dispersed over the past seven days, but instead had become darker and larger.

Watching the lightning flashing from time to time from afar, both of them felt very heavy-hearted, yet they still had to listen to Zhao Qi, who was sitting on the threshold of the rooftop door, muttering.

"When on earth can we leave?"

Finally, Yue Ruo couldn't help it: "Since when did you become so impatient? What's the rush to go out?"

"I'm in a hurry to go out and beat the bastard Taoist and the stinky bald donkey who scammed me out of my money to death!"

"A few days ago, you were still calling them masters." Ye Ming turned back and said with a smile.

"Master my ass!" Zhao Qi stood up, cursing, "Immortal Xu already said those are mundane objects. If they aren't scammers, what are they?"

Smiling without speaking, Ye Ming, to soothe his mood, changed the subject: "Where did the Bureau Chief go? I don't see him every day."

"He's hiding in his room, secretly happy." Yue Ruo rolled her eyes, "The Old Leader not only agreed to increase his funding but also said that if he lacked manpower, he could go to other departments to ask for it. Any person from any department, if he liked them, he could take them."

"The Bureau Chief has probably already figured out how to bare his fangs at those ministers who used to push him around when he gets back."

Hearing this, Zhao Qi couldn't help but twitch his mouth: "I sleep next to the Bureau Chief. Last night in the middle of the night, he was laughing in his room with a suppressed voice. I thought there was something unclean."

"Hey, by the way, where did the Chief Team Leader go?"

"The Bureau Chief said he came a step ahead, but the Bureau Chief himself has been here for several days, and we haven't seen him."

"Don't know, maybe..."

"Boom—"

The sky suddenly sent down a bolt of lightning as thick as an arm into the courtyard downstairs. The explosive thunder deafened the three of them.

After coming to their senses, the three hurriedly stood up and rushed to the edge of the rooftop terrace, clinging to the railing to look down.

In the courtyard, glass shards were scattered all over the ground. In the center, a large crater about three meters in diameter appeared. The crater was charred black, and wisps of blue smoke were rising.

Before the three of them could react to what was happening, the Bureau Chief's voice appeared behind them.

"What are you doing here? It's too dangerous! Get into the corridor quickly!"

Turning back, the Bureau Chief was gripping the door frame with his right hand and waving frantically with his left.

They hurriedly ran inside and found the Old Leader, who was wearing a Zhongshan suit, was also there.

"Just received a call. Various regions of Su City have been struck by lightning. Fortunately, the control order was issued seven days ago; there was no one on the streets, so there were no civilian casualties."

"Old Leader, what should we do now?"

The Bureau Chief's face was anxious, his two thick eyebrows furrowed together. If this abnormal celestial phenomenon continued or even became more severe, it was possible that large-scale lightning strike fatalities would occur.

"I have already ordered the municipal government to evacuate citizens out of the city, and surrounding cities will also send police forces to support."

The Old Leader said, seemingly thinking of something, and turned to instruct his secretary: "Go tell them they must ensure there is no chaos, so as to avoid stampedes."

"Okay." The secretary took the order and went downstairs.

"What about us?" Yue Ruo asked.

"We have cars coming to pick us up. Everyone must move together..."

"Boom—Boom—"

The dim sky sent down bolts of lightning one after another. Looking from a distance, it seemed as if more than a dozen silver snakes were twisting their bodies between heaven and earth.

The sky grew even darker.

The people standing on the roof looked down through the rooftop door at the tall buildings and low houses, as well as the dark, lightning-flashing horizon.

The entire Su City seemed as if it were about to be swallowed and drowned by the terrifying darkness.

They watched helplessly as a terrifying thunderbolt struck a nearby spire. There was no concrete debris falling; the spire was simply blasted into powder, scattering between heaven and earth.

This was nature; self-important humans had never conquered it.

Zhao Qi shuddered subconsciously and scanned the crowd; everyone's eyes revealed horror, as well as the fear hidden deep within.

The Old Leader's lips moved for a long time before he suddenly shouted: "Xiao Wang!"

"Quick! Notify the municipal government to evacuate the citizens with all their might!"

"Tell the neighboring cities to provide support as quickly as possible. Whoever dares to delay, I'll shoot them dead!"