Zi Zhen looked up at the sky. Watching as calamity nearly ended all of existence around them. The world had nearly depleted itself of all Qi, sucking away at the life-force of all living things in an attempt to power an attack that was beyond anything he had ever had the misfortune of experiencing.

Then it disappeared. Something stopped the process. Mending the damage that nearly shattered existence as they knew it. The damage to the dimensional barriers that prevented other calamities from entering this plane disappeared. The Qi that had started to siphon away returned unceremoniously. The frozen world returned to life as though nothing had happened.

As though death had not been had.

Why? Why is The Calamity doing this? What does it gain from a pseudo demonstration? Has its message not been clear enough with Cai Xuefang? Or did it notice my attempt to spy on it? No, omnipotence is beyond anything that had a beginning.

Zi Zhen couldn't figure it out. Whoever this was remained a thorn in his mind, grating at his senses and inability to figure it out. So many questions filled his head. More than he could keep up with even with the aid of incredulous amounts of time cultivating to the peak of this world.

He was a monster that only a handful of people could match strike for strike. A confused monster.

Zi Zhen's eyes drifted to the Zhong boy. Days had passed ever since he had found the fool. Snake Face and a hundred talismans to conceal his identity for decades, hiding in plain sight. Zi Zhen would need to have certain discussions with different parties around his territory. People and sects that should have been looking out for exactly this kind of trickery.

To think they would get infiltrated by some nobody. Had it been anyone of note, maybe even a slight bit of talent, he might have made an excuse for them. Might have.

Who was he kidding?

Zi Zhen knew without a shadow of doubt it would not have mattered. They failed and that was enough. Had they feared him they would have not. Had they respected him, they would not have neglected their duties. It all boiled down to them getting too comfortable in their positions instead of the military level awareness he had instilled in them. All because he had taken it easy the past two decades.

Such a small time frame, and yet, people would dare to take advantage of him.

Have they forgotten who he is?

What he is?

The horrors he was capable of when angered or even irritated?

"Zhong Da, which area did you say you entered from? My memory is no longer as good as it used to be. Old age has started to catch up with my abilities it seems."

The Zhong boy gulped audibly. Still caring for his little toy he called a friend. The lady seemed to lose consciousness and the ability to do anything other than stare in abject horror whenever Zi Zhen's name was mentioned, or when she saw him.

It stroked his ego. Zi Zhen loved the fear in her eyes.

"N-North Frozen Krill Path."

"I see. You looped quite the distance to make it all the way there before entering my territory."

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Zhong Da nodded but said nothing else.

Mo Li. Always busy with her little parties. I'll visit her soon enough, once I've made sure this idiot reached his destination. Not that he could escape me.

He had placed a tracking hex on Zhong Da. One so powerful, he doubted anyone could remove it except others in his ranks. And the calamity. Then again, nothing made sense when it came to it. Testing weaponry on the planet? Did it not intend to conquer them? Had it been a genocidal, mad thing, it would have killed them all already, right?

Or was it like them, a Demonic Cultivator? Taking joy in the suffering of others as much as they do.

Zi Zhen shook his head. Cai Xuefang was quite clear that whatever it was, it did not have a demonic core. The man had experienced its Dao. Felt the destruction it could have wrought upon the world more intimately than anyone else so far. There had been no inkling of such tendencies, if Cai Xuefang was to be believed.

He usually was.

Peng Du kneeled.

It had been thousands of years since he had last been forced to a single knee. Not since he had been a child. A distant memory he had made sure to use as the drive to never be weak. To never trust others again. To never slow down or become complacent.

He had turned into something beyond mere cultivators. The greatest of a generation. The peak of true power on this plane. Above the likes of Zi Zhen, Zhong An, Su Qui, and others he had bested. Even if they were unwilling to admit it in the case of the Heavenly Demon Zi Zhen.

Yet, here he was. Head down low, unable to rise. Unable to stand tall and defend himself against a monstrosity he thought his match.

"So, you're telling me another person made it here before me? And what…? Shattered the very existence of the barriers I've been attempting to even scratch for eons, only to heal it back the moment I entered? You do understand how ludicrous that sounds?"

Peng Du grit his teeth. Attempting to fight off the energies that kept him down. "I speak no lie, bitch."

She laughed.

Nothing he said could get her to kill him. Nothing he did could make her angry, upset, or change her state of mind. A true cultivator that had ascended eons and generations before their own. A true immortal. A Sage Immortal.

"Come here, little boy."

Peng Du felt his body rise up against his will. His head looked up to the gorgeous Fox-Tailed, jade beauty that sat before him on a floating throne of white cushions. Laying on her side. Head held up her hand, propped up by an elbow. Voluptuous. One he wished with all his soul and body he could stab her chest with his spear. Watch as life faded from her eyes. Dead.

Deader than dead.

"I love the way your eyes look when you think of killing me… what was your name again? I keep forgetting such frivolous things."

"P..Pen…Peng Du!" He said. Fighting back did not help.

He stepped to her, mechanically in the way that golems walked. Each step felt like the walk to the gallows. A moment closer to his execution, only that it wasn't. She had no interest in him. No interest in killing him. Only wishing to get information before either beginning her rampage and conquering of this realm to strengthen herself, or find the true Calamity that invited her here.

Both of which were terrible prospects for everyone alive.

Peng Du had hoped. He had dreamed of everyone, every creature and beast gathering together, working as one to kill off the true Calamity as their forefathers had done. Yet, now that he stood before one, he doubted it was possible. He doubted they could kill this filthy whore, much less the stronger, more fierce true Calamity that had made it clear they were nothing but insects.

He stopped directly in front of her floating throne.

She trailed a long finger nail on his jaw, giggling. "Tell me, Peng Du," her voice was husky. It grinded at his ears. "Where is this Calamity person? I want to meet them. Return the favor for inviting me here, and more importantly, kill them before they can claim this realm as theirs. Not that it's anything personal mind you. Just business really. The business of the powerful to grow more powerful."

"I… don't… know!"

"What?"

Peng Du grit his teeth, fighting against the urge to speak, but he spoke anyway. "Sixty years, almost seventy, and it has not shown itself. Letting us gather our strength. Waking our ancestors, stirring the ancient beasts and primordial beings. All so that it can fight them at once. Its arrogance will be its downfall!"

The fox-tailed lady blinked at him incredulously. "What? Why the hell would they do that? Are they stupid?"

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